Born Once Is Not Enough Series

“BORN ONCE IS NOT ENOUGH”

John 3:3; 1 Peter 1:23-25; 1 John 3:9

FBCF – 1/7/24

Jon Daniels

INTRO – Funny bumper stickers:

- “The closer you get the slower I drive.”

- “Do you follow Jesus this close?”

- “Free airbag test for tailgaters”

- How many of you resonate w/ these???

Some are sad:

- “God is just pretend.”

- “The Bible: A Grim Fairy Tale”

- “What an imaginary friend we have in Jesus.”

Here’s the one that I believe got my attention the most when I saw it & made my heart break for the person who was driving the car it was on:

- “Born OK the first time”

- This person has been deceived & deluded by Satan & maybe damaged by someone, possibly in the church.

- May be someone who is deconstructing their faith.

- Sad truth is that, if this person truly believes this & stays in this condition, they will die in their sins & go to hell.

o Born once – Die twice

o Born twice – Die once

Starting new series today – “Don’t Stop!” – The importance of discipleship from the moment of new birth to the moment of death. Focusing on our church’s mission statement: “Making Much of Jesus.”

EXPLANATION – John 3:3; 1 Peter 1:23-25; 1 John 3:9

Let’s do some studying! There’s a theological term that is synonymous w/ being born again. That word is REGENERATION. It’s the first stage of the process or order of salvation.

- Regeneration/Justification

- Sanctification

- Glorification

These are important terms for us to know as Christ-followers. Let’s define them.

- Regeneration – This is what the Bible calls “born again” or “born of God” & the one we will focus on the most today.

o Some of you remember when Jimmy Carter was elected President in 1976 – Made headlines as the President who was “born again”, terminology that most journalists knew nothing about.

o John 1:12-13 – “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” (NIV)

o 1 Peter 1:3 – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…”

o Author, Whitney Capps: “Regeneration happens when the Holy Spirit makes us a new creation, resurrecting us from being dead in sin and making us alive in Christ. This process is completely the work of the Holy Spirit, and not dependent on our works at all.” (https://www.lifeway.com/en/articles/what-is-regeneration-justification-sanctification)

o Grudem – “Regeneration is a secret act of God in which He imparts new spiritual life to us.” (Systematic Theology, p. 699)

- Justification – Happens at same time as regeneration. At the moment you are born again, you are justified.

o Declared free & righteous before the Father for all eternity.

o We don’t earn our justification. It was made fully possible by Jesus & His finished work on the cross.

o “It is finished.” – Our justification was included in that proclamation from the cross before He breathed His last breath.

o Joe Shelton – “Just if I’d never sinned.”

- Sanctification – This is the ongoing, lifelong process of becoming more & more like Jesus. It’s the part of the process that every Christ-follower is in today.

o 1 Thessalonians 5:23 – “May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through & through.”

o And we cooperate & participate w/ Him in this process continuously throughout our Christian lives until we die.

- Glorification – The final step happens after we physically die. It’s that moment when Jesus returns & raises our bodies from the dead at the Rapture, changing them into perfect resurrection that He has promised us.

o This stage will happen at the same time for all of us who are Christ-followers.

o 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 – “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

Our focus for this message is on the regeneration stage – the “born again” stage because…

APPLICATION – To make much of Jesus, you need to be born again.

BORN AGAIN TO SEE THE KINGDOM OF GOD – John 3:3