Jesus and Nicodemus Part 2 - What Does it Mean to Be Born Again - John 3:5-8

1:39It's a discussion between Jesus and Nicodemus. And I love how the words of Scripture take us back to that night. It's like the scripture takes us back to this evening and it lets us be a fly on the wall, a spectator in the room, and lets us eavesdrop on this conversation that deals in sinners on this age-old question. Today we're in part two of the discussion. And the discussion is about who is going to heaven. Who is going to heaven? The king is speaking about his kingdom, and he speaks in no uncertain terms who goes there and why. Last time, part one, we looked at the first four verses, and Jesus answered the basic question: who goes to heaven? If we put that basic question there, who goes to heaven? Verses one through four, Jesus gives us an emphatic answer that only those who are born again go to heaven. Are you going to heaven? The follow-up question is: Are you born again?

2:50How do you know if you're born again? These are the questions that surround this passage, and Jesus makes it clear: only those who are born against the born Those who are born again, born from above, go. So then it's a follow-up question, which we'll be looking at today in verses five through eight. If only those who are born again go to heaven, it's very important that we understand what being born again means. That's the title of this message. What does being born again mean?

3:26Part two of Jesus's and Nicodemus' discussion. But first, I just want to, it's been a while, I just want to bring you up to speed of where we are. Remember in chapter two, remember in the first 12 verses, we see the power of Jesus on display. He is able to transform the water into wine, take something that which is common, and turn it into something for noble purposes. And then in verses 13 through 17 of chapter 2, we see the passion of Jesus. He has his passion that there be true worship in the world. And as you go through the book of John, you get this picture, this understanding that Jesus is going to use his power and all of his resources to bring about true worship in the world. That's the course we're set upon. Of course, then you get through verses 8 through 25 and you see the opposition that comes up and rises up against Jesus. And it's going to be a religious protectionism. Those who do not want to be informed by the scripture, by Christ about who God is. And then there are those who are superficial, protectionists, and superficialists. This is what's going to nail Jesus to the cross. And you come to the end of chapter 2. And the chapter ends by stressing the existence of a faith that Jesus has no faith in. There is a kind of faith that Jesus has no faith in. And you can just look at this in verse 23 of chapter 2. Now, when he was at Jerusalem in the Passover during the feast, many believed in his name, observing the signs which he was doing. But Jesus, on his part, was not entrusting himself to them, for he knew all men, and because he did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for he himself knew what was in man. So the chapter ends with this expression of the kind of faith, or the existence of a faith that Jesus has no faith in. Then look at chapter 3, verse 1. Now there was a man. Do you see how he's talking about how he has no confidence in what is in man, and now comes before us Nicodemus, a man, who has the kind of faith that Jesus has no faith in. And that's going to be how this rolls on. Here's a living example. And remember, Nicodemus was really the best.

6:00Man that Jewish society can produce. He was religious. He was a Pharisee. He was very influential. He was a ruler. He was very patriotic, very committed to his country and his people. He came from a very distinguished family. He had every credential that would commend him to man and to God. Or so he thought. And Jesus' conversation, as it unfolds in these next 15 verses, gives the reason why Jesus did not believe in his kind of faith. And the question comes before us today: what kind of faith do you have? Do you have the kind of faith that Jesus would put his faith in? Or is it something of the origin of man that is weak and failing?

6:52Pick it up in verse 1. Nicodemus comes because he wants to know more about Jesus. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher. For no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. So Nicodemus has this emphasis on, I see the power. No one has the power. And there's a real emphasis upon power in these next few verses. Ability. No one can do the things that you are doing unless God is with him. You have the power to do things. That unquestionably speak of God.

7:35So Nicodemus comes with a question in his own heart. He says, Okay, I know that you are a teacher, but perhaps maybe you are more. Are you the Messiah? Remember, they're under Roman occupation. They're looking for their Messiah. Verse 3: Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Unless one is born again, he has no power, he has no ability to see the kingdom of God. You've come to be, Nicodemus, but you're not even going to be able to see who I am, understand who I am, or understand the kingdom of God without being born of God. You cannot see. You don't have the power. Nicodemus said to him, How can? How can this possibly be? How can this be? How can a man be born when he is old? Notice that? When he is old. I think Nicodemus is saying, he's asking about himself, isn't he? When he is old. How can a man be born, for instance, say if he's old, like me? How can he be born again? It's a very personal question that he's come to omit. He cannot. He has no ability to enter into a second time, into his mother's womb, and be born, can he? So what starts out as a conversation about who Jesus is quickly becomes a teaching about the kingdom of God and those who enter it.

9:00And specifically, the reasons why Nicodemus is unfit to enter it. And Nicodemus is aware of this. Nicodemus comes to scrutinize Jesus, but Jesus, in a loving way, scrutinizes Nicodemus. You may think that you're coming to scrutinize Jesus, find out who he is, but guess what? He is the one who is scrutinizing you. He comes as a peasant, he comes unassuming, and yet he's the judge. And Jesus makes three truly, truly statements in your Bibles. And I want you to circle them. Look at, you know, there's a first one there in verse 3, verse 5, verse 12, verse 11. Truly, truly, I say to you, truly, truly. In fact, some versions will say, most assuredly, what does the King James say? Verily, verily, what's another one? Anyone got the NIV?

10:04Very truly, very truly, I say to you. Circle those words. Most assuredly, whatever in the NASB, it's truly, truly. Circle those words because they'll help you navigate through this passage. The passage operates very simply. There's a statement or an implied question, and then Jesus's response: truly, truly, I say to you. Then Nicodemus is going to ask a question. Then Jesus is going to say, Truly, truly, I say to you. And then Nicodemus. Demos is going to ask a question, and Jesus is going to say, truly, truly, I say to you. So, if you circle those, you'll just be able to walk right through the text as it unfolds.

10:40But in these verses, Jesus reiterates what he said in verse 3: unless one is born again, he cannot. He does not have the power, he does not have the ability to see the kingdom of God. And then he goes on to give more detail about what it means to be born again. So, this morning, I want you to understand what it means to be born again. And I want to make four observations from this text about what being born again means. Now, already, when we looked at last time, there is implied in the word, there's meaning implied in the very words being born again. You could literally translate it being born from above. But the idea is being born again, and I'm fine with those terms, I prefer it, but it's of a heavenly origin. In order to have to be born again, but the quality of that regeneration, rebirth, has to be of a heavenly nature. It's not just being born again, like John Denver goes up into the Rocky Mountains, and he says he's born again, because we're not talking about some kind of a human epiphany, we're talking about a regeneration that comes from above, rebirth.

11:56So, but in addition to what's already implied in In the very meaning of the word born again, or in the very words itself, I want to make four observations about being born again from the verses five through eight. Let's just read those. Verses five through eight. Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, and this is in response to Nicodemus' question: can a man be born when he's old? How does this be? Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the spirit. He says to him, Truly, truly, I am saying to you, you must, unless you are born again of water and spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom of God. And what Jesus is doing is he's making a parallel statement. In verse 3, he says, unless you are born again.

13:15And that expression, being born again, is equivalent to being born of the water and the spirit. So he's taken being born again and he's expanded it. So being born again is synonymous with being born of the water and the spirit. The Spirit. And he goes on to make it crystal clear that unless one is born of the water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. So, what does this phrase being born of the water and the Spirit mean? So, what does being born again mean? Number one, first observation: being born again is being born of the water and the spirit. Now, what does that mean? As you can imagine, there are a whole bunch of interpretations on this.

14:08What does he mean by using the expression water and spirit? First, you have to ask: is this just one act? Like is being born of the water and the spirit speaking of one event, or is it two events? You have to be born of the water and then subsequently to that, be born of the spirit. So, are there two actions in view, or one action in view? Well, there's many interpretations that see this as two different actions. Some would see it as the physical birth, the amniotic fluid, water, physical birth, and spiritual birth. So, one must be born physically, and then one must be born spiritually to enter the kingdom of heaven. I'm not going to dwell too much on that. Eric has already covered that many times, and I want to Look at some others.

15:03There's also the idea that we're speaking about the baptism of John. One must be baptized, have John's baptism, or maybe repentance, and then be born of, and then be baptized of Jesus. So you need the baptism of John or the baptism of Jesus. Others see it as maybe Christian baptism and spirit baptism. That's what's in view. So those would see two different actions. There are also a number of interpretations that see water and the spirit as referring to just one action: that the water and spirit is just water baptism or just spirit baptism. I don't intend to go through all of the differing interpretations or even deal with all the ones I just mentioned. Plenty of books out there. But I do want to deal with two of the interpretations that I believe have caused the most harm to the church and then explain what I think is the best interpretation. And I want to use my time here so I can go in depth a little more with those that I think have caused some of the greatest harm to the church. The first is the idea that we're just speaking about water baptism only. That what's in view here is Christian baptism. They argue that Christian baptism is being born of the water and of the Spirit, and we get this idea of baptismal. Regeneration. So you have to be baptized in order to be saved.

16:36That's what these would argue. It's speaking of water baptism only. Well, there's a couple of problems I just want to quickly point out on this. Number one, if being baptized of the water or being born of the water and the Spirit is water baptism, and it's so important to entering the kingdom of God, it's surprising that the rest of the discussion never mentions it again. It focuses on the work of the Spirit in verse 8, on the work of the Son in verses 14 through 15, on the work of God Himself in verses 16 and 17, and it emphasizes the place of faith in verses 15 and 16. It just seems to go quiet on if water baptism was really the saving work.

17:29In fact, it also would be kind of odd to say that the analogy between the mysterious wind and the sovereign work of the Spirit would even be a mystery if putting them in water saves them because it would not be mysterious at all. But another problem, and really, I think you have to, is the idea, the promise that Jesus made to the thief on the cross cannot Be reconciled with these words to Jesus. They cannot be. They cannot be. Let me just refresh your memory. Remember in Luke chapter 23, there were two criminals that were hanged with Jesus, or crucified with Jesus. And one of them started mocking Jesus. But the other answered and said to the one mocking Jesus, said, Do you not even fear God? Since you are under the same sentence of condemnation. All three of us are under the same sentence of condemnation here. And we are suffering justly because we did the things that we're suffering for.

18:38But the thief said, but this man has done nothing wrong. You can picture him looking at Jesus. This man has done nothing wrong. And then he looks at Jesus and he says, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Listen to what Jesus said to him. Truly, truly, get it. Truly, most assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. Now, this truly statement that Jesus makes to the thief on the cross cannot possibly be reconciled with the truly, truly statement that he made to Nicodemus, right? He says to Nicodemus, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you were born of the water and the Spirit, you Cannot enter the kingdom of God. And yet he says to this thief, just with the same emphasis, truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. He was not baptized in water, nor was he baptized by the church.

19:49And the way people get around this is they have to, because there is a loud, glaring contradiction that cannot be reconciled. So the way you get around this is by saying, well, let's put the thief of the cross in a different dispensation. He just fits over there. That was real then, but not now. That's when your dispensationalism goes mad. And it needs to be abandoned. That's ultra-dispensationalism, and it does not square with the truth of Scripture because you get convenient in just drawing the lines where you want them. And that's not stewarding the scripture properly. Listen, the reality, something took place on that cross.

20:39Something took place in the heart of the thief. Something wonderful took place. What was it? When you put it together, there's only one thing you can conclude. At that moment, he was born of the water and the Spirit. That's what took place. Place. He was born. If you're using the words that Jesus spoke to Nicodemus, surely this man was born of the water and the Spirit, because no one else can go. Very clear. So, another interpretation is that, okay, we're not talking about water baptism only, we're talking about water baptism as the means of conveying the grace of rebirth. So, water baptism is that means through which God bestows rebirth. Get the difference? One is just water baptism only, one is water baptism as the means of conferring grace. And this interpretation argues that Christian baptism is the means through which the grace of regeneration comes. And you can see this position held by the Catholic Church. Many Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox will hold some of the same positions, and a number of infant baptizing traditions will also score this. But the position is very well laid out in the Catholic Catechism. And I'll just put it up here just so that you can see this, not just listen to it, but I want you to see this. The Lord Himself affirms, this is paragraph 12, 57, the Lord Himself affirms. That baptism is necessary for salvation. The church does not know of any means other than baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude. This is why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see that all who can be baptized are reborn of the water and the spirit. See how they bring the scripture in here. God has bound salvation to the sacrament of baptism. And the emphasis there is theirs.

23:03I just underlined the phrase that pertains to our text. But God has bound salvation to the sacrament of baptism. This is how, this is the means by which it comes. You can read this again. You kind of get this thinking about infant baptism in para 1250. Born with a fallen human nature and tainted by original sin, children also have the need of the new birth in baptism to be freed from the power of darkness and brought into the realm of the freedom of the children of God to which all men are called. The sure gratuitousness of the grace of salvation is particularly manifest in infant baptism. The church and the parents would deny the child the priceless grace of, and get this, becoming a child of God, were they not to confer baptism shortly after birth.

24:00That's the act of making children of God. Para 1250. And just to get an idea of what they mean by baptism, just look at 12, 63. By baptism, all sins are forgiven, original sin and all personal sins, as well as all punishment for sin. In those who have been reborn, nothing remains that would impede their entry into the kingdom of God, neither Adam's sin, nor personal sin, nor the consequences of sin. The gravest of which is separation from God.

24:40Could go more on this, but this is very typical of those traditions that would assert that baptism is the means of conferring grace. A couple of problems with this view. It has the same problems as the others mentioned earlier. If this is the case, why is there seems to be such a silence in the rest of the discussion? Why, even in the epistles, 13 epistles don't even mention baptism. Romans, that great expansive work of Paul, only mentions it twice. If it was so important, there seems to be so little of it spoken of in the New Testament. Jesus' promise on the thief to the cross cannot be reconciled with this position either. The thief was not baptized. At all, let alone by the church. So the thief certainly couldn't have gone. But beyond that, you have the evidence from Acts chapter 8 about this sorcerer named Simon. He was baptized by Philip. If baptism could confer grace, why did this guy not get any?

25:55But Peter said to him, Your silver and your gold is going to, may your silver perish with you. You have no part or portion in this manner. Your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness of yours, for I see you are in the gall of bitterness and the bondage of iniquity. That's not somebody who has been born from above. But if Nicodemus, just more, if Nicodemus, if Jesus was telling Nicodemus that water baptism or water purification brings the grace of entering into God's kingdom, guess what? Nicodemus would not have been shocked. He would not have been surprised. But he is blown away in this passage. He understood proselytite conversion. He understood water purification. That would not have blown his mind. In fact, that's probably somewhere along the lines of what he was expecting.

26:58No. I do hold that these two positions have caused more damage in the church than any others. Let me read to you. I think J.C. Ryle says some good things that really sharpens the focus on what I mean. If we accept the theory that baptism is the ordinary means of conveying the grace of regeneration, that all baptized persons are necessarily regeneration, and that all who are born of water are at the same time born of the Spirit, we are irresistibly involved in the most dangerous and pernicious consequences. We pour contempt on the whole work of the Spirit and on the blessed doctrine of regeneration. We bring into the church a new and unscriptural kind of new birth, a new birth that cannot be seen by its fruits. We make out that people are born of God when they have not one of the marks of regeneration laid down by the Apostle John. We lead people to suppose that they have grace in their hearts while they are servants of sin, and they have the Holy Spirit within them while they are obeying the lusts of the flesh. Last but not least, we pour contempt on the holy sacrament of baptism. We turn it into a mere form in which faith and prayer have no place at all. We lead people to suppose that it matters nothing in what spirit they bring. Their children to baptism, and that if water is sprinkled and certain words are used, an infant is, as a matter of course, born again. Worst of all, we induce people secretly to despise baptism because we teach them that it always conveys a mighty spiritual blessing, while their own eyes tell them that in a multitude of cases it does no good at all.

29:00No, it creates more problems. It's not what Jesus had in mind, it's not what Nicodemus was hearing, it's not what John was writing. And to go down that path, seeing baptism as a means of conveying grace, you cease following Christ and start following the teachings of man. So, then, what does it mean? What does it mean? Told you what I believe it doesn't mean and why. So, what does born of the water and the Spirit mean?

29:41Well, I'll say it like this: being born of the water and the Spirit is equivalent to the cleansing and life-giving work of the Spirit, the cleansing work, the cleansing and life-giving work of the Spirit. And this interpretation, this This is the one I would advocate and hold. Sees that being born of the water and the Spirit is being cleansed and resurrected by the Spirit. This is Spirit baptism. The washing. Jesus is the true baptizer. The water brings to mind the cleansing work of the Spirit. The Spirit brings to mind that life-giving vitality. You see, it doesn't do any good just to wash sins away if you're still dead in your sins. So there's a washing, a renewing, a cleansing, but there has to be a reviving effect so that you do not continue in sin, cleansed from the guilt, cleansed from the stain, but also resurrected into a new life. This is what it's implied in being born of the water and the Spirit. And this, by the way, this interpretation fits very well with John's Gospel. Back in John chapter 2, remember, he's already brought to our minds the six stone water pots that was there for the Jewish custom of purification, chapter 2, verse 6. So the idea of purification very much on John's mind. Right after this section, in verse 25, chapter 3, 25, guess what happens? A discussion arises between John's disciple and the Jew about purification. This issue of purification is a big deal. And then when you get to John 13, 8, what does Jesus say to Peter? Peter, I come to wash you, your feet. Never, Lord, never will you wash me. If you do not let me wash your feet, Peter, you have no part with me.

31:38Okay, wash, wash, wash me all, right? Now, there's a very washing. John's Gospel very much sees Jesus as the one washing, the true baptizer, the washer. This interpretation also fits well in the greater context of the Bible. Throughout Scripture, water and washing are commonly used metaphorically to describe the spiritual cleansing work of God. Remember David in Psalm 51, wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Create in me a clean heart, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Jeremiah 4:14 says, Wash your hearts from evil, O Jerusalem, that you may be saved. How long will your wicked thoughts lodge within you? This is what makes a person unclean, those wicked thoughts lodging within you. Wash yourself. That's what Jeremiah is saying. Ezekiel 36 says, I will take you, speaking as a promise to the nation of Israel. I will take you from the nations. You're going to be scattered. And I'm going to bring you back to your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness, from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. And I will remove the heart. A stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. It could go on and on in the Old Testament. Certainly, Paul in the New Testament, when he speaks of salvation in Titus 3:5, he says this, He saved us not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit. Same concept: washing of regeneration, renewing by the Holy Spirit, who he poured out in us in Jesus. So being born again involves a spiritual cleansing. Being born again involves being given a life-given, having received a life-giving vitality to desire the things of heaven. And only those who have been given spiritual vitality are going to go to heaven.

33:53Four observations. I'm not going to rush through the rest of these. So we're going to go into part three and then a part four. But what we have here is what before Christmas, I told this story about the Christmas cat. You remember? Something had to change within the, you could take this cat and trans and you could teach that cat to speak a new language, to wait on tables. To converse intelligently, but when those mice were released, that cat demonstrated it was still a cat. And that's what we have here. Unless one is born again, unless you are changed from above, born from above, cleansed, and are given a washing and a vitality, you will by no means go to heaven. Something new has to happen. Only those who are born of heaven are going to go to heaven.

35:04Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we just thank you for the truth of your word. We thank you, Father, for renewing our minds this morning. Father, just listening, Lord, being touched by your work of grace. Father, that by looking upon you, like the thief looked upon you, something wonderful happening, something supernatural happens by believing your words. Father, you cause us to be born anew, to be born of the water, cleansed, to be born of the Spirit, resurrected from the dead. Father, we just thank you. In Jesus' name, amen.