John 1: 12-13 WHAT DOES THE BIBLE MEAN, TO BE BORN AGAIN? 1-3-09
I believe this is the appropriate message to start the New Year out with, becoming a new creature in Christ Jesus.
Listen as I read today’s text found in JOHN 1:12-13
12But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
We might be surprised if we really knew how many people there are that really don’t understand, what being “born again” really means, and what being “saved” really consists of.
Today Lord willing I’m going to talk for a little while on what “being born again and being saved” means according to the Word of God, not according to any denominational doctrine, we need to understand right off that being a Baptist, or any other denomination you care to name has nothing to do with our [salvation].
On my mother’s side of the family are people of the “holiness denomination” I’m really not sure about my Dads side of the family back in those day’s.
I remember going to church one Sunday with my Grand Pa Wright, my mothers Dad, I remember going forward and doing, as for as I could understand, what the Preacher told me to do; I was only a young boy about the age of 7 or 8.
When I left there that morning I was of the opinion that I was saved, I knew absolutely nothing about the Bible, in fact I didn’t know what book “John 3:16” was in until I was 40 years old.
That was when I started going to Church and began to learn what the Bible taught about various subjects, my wife and I attended the Pendleton Street Baptist Church of Easley S.C., where she was already a member, we begin going the 1st Sunday after our son’s funeral, I remember Preacher Burrell Hendrix preached that morning, I don’t recall the text, I knew nothing about the Bible.
But I will never forget the drawing power of the Holy Ghost, I felt the strong, strong urge that I needed to go to the Altar, so I went, I remember Preacher Hendrix telling me to TALK TO God in my own words, I remember asking God to forgive me of my sins and help me to be a better Christian, I didn’t know how to pray, and I didn’t know what to say, I made things right with God that morning, it so happened that there were people there that were to be Baptist there that night, so I was Baptized that same night, I didn’t really understand what it meant at that time, but I knew it was the right thing to do, I was eager and wanted to do right.
I was a Babe in Christ, I had to be fed as the Word says in 1 Peter 2: 2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
As a Babe in Christ I didn’t know how to walk, the walk, or talk the talk, but I had taken the 1st couple of steps in the right direction.
But you know what, there are people that have attended Church most of their lives and still are only Babes in Christ, they have been faithful to attendance, but really have not been fed the Word as they should have been, and they have been in that situation so long that that have the mind set that that is the way it is as for as Church goes.
I’ve not said all that to make you doubt your salvation, but if you do wonder about wither your saved are not, that is a real good reason to make your calling and election sure.
Don’t take chances on where you’re going after you die, it’ll be too late then to make things right with God.
I heard a dear Christian lady say one time, that she didn’t believe any body could no for sure that they were saved until after they died, and this dear lady has been saved a long time, but she has been under such teaching and preaching like this so long that she wonders about what eternal life means and what being “born again” means.
I venture to say that there are multitudes of Church goers that are not really saved, they have never been born again, many think that because they have gone to Church the biggest part of their lives that they surely must be saved.
But we need to realize that it’s not what we think about it, or how we may feel about it, but what counts is what Gods Word says about it.
People must understand that having a good case of religion is not the same as being saved, you recall Nicodemus in John 3; had religion, and Jesus told him that he must be born again. –And if Jesus said it was a must, then people “must” be born again.
Listen as I read to you the conversation between Jesus and the religious teacher and leader of Israel was.
John 3: 1-8 1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2The same came to Jesus by night, --I believe Nicodemus came after dark to keep people from seeing him talk to Jesus because he didn’t want to be kept from the Jewish Synagogue. - and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily,** I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
4Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
That was a reasonable and logical question, he wanted to hear it from Jesus just exactly what it meant, “to be born again”, if a person don’t know, if he don’t have some one to explain it to him, how is he ever going to know?
We can see here that just because Nicodemus was a great worker in the Synagogue, church if you please, that, that wasn’t the same as him being saved, being “born again”. So religion is not what it takes to be saved.
5Jesus answered, Verily, verily,** I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
To be born of “water” means, the Word of God”. Ephesians 5: 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
Jesus told the woman at the well in John 4: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
Jesus continues to talk to Nicodemus in verse 6
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
To be born again has nothing at all to do with our fleshly birth, it’s to do with our spirit, it’s a spiritual birth, it’s completely a different birth, it’s a birth that only the Holy Spirit can accomplish, and let me say too, that it’s easy to understand that it’s impossible for us to be born bodily again of our mother, that will never happen again.
The same truth applies to being born more than one time of the Holy Spirit; it’s also a one time happening, it can never happen again. That’s why we that are once saved, meaning ‘born again”, it’s impossible for us to be unborn of the Holy Spirit, we can no more be unborn of the Holy Spirit any more than we can be unborn of our flesh.
Jesus said one time, you must be born again, not; ye must be born again and again and again.
Jesus continues to talk to Nicodemus in verse 7
7Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
No one can do any thing about the wind blowing, it will blow in the direction that it’s going, we can some time hear it if the wind is blowing strong enough, but we don’t really know where it started from, we couldn’t see it when it first started, if it strong enough we can see the results many times, it’s the same when a person is born of the Holy Spirit, we can’t see it taking place, we don’t hear the new birth as it’s going on, but we can see the effects afterward. There will be a noticeable change in a person life after The Holy Spirit; does His Office Work. The new birth takes place.
The new birth changes us.
2 Corinthians 5: 17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
When we are born-again, we are changed and made new. We begin to conform to Christ’s nature. We put aside the old; all things are made new. We repent, turn aside from our old sinful ways, and follow our new Master, Jesus. We stop serving Satan. We begin serving the only begotten Son of God. Not out of necessity, but because we want to.
After a new born Child of God grows for a time, he’ll learn that what we do now as Christians is referred to as, “stewardship”, in other words, what we do now for Jesus will be recorded in His record books, and at the “judgment seat of Christ, we’ll be rewarded because for these deeds.-- what we do for Jesus after we’re saved, will have an effect on what He will allow us to do for Him yonder in the ages to come, in His Kingdom.
2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad—
1 Corinthians 3:13-14 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. 14If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
It seems that a lot of misinformed people have the idea that after their saved that that’s all there is to it, their either miss informed or have never heard that saved people has all of eternity to live, and how important it is to live right now, we must not be fence straddelers, your either in or your out, Jesus didn’t half way die on the cross, he completed what He was sent to do, you and I must complete what we’ve set out to do, and that’s to live for Jesus every day, He died for us, lets live for Him. We cannot serve two masters: both Jesus and the world.
If we live for the world, we do not belong to Jesus. The Holy Spirit spoke through the prophet Ezekiel, saying, Ezek 36:26 –27 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27And I will put my spirit within you,--
So I ask you dear heart, have you been born-again? Have you received God’s Spirit in you?
Romans 8: 9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit,** if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
John Bunyan gave a good illustration he said, “the egg is not a chick by falling from the hen, Nor man a Christian till he’s born again.”
To be born-again, is to be born of the Holy Spirit of God. He didn’t save us, by us turning over a new leaf, or by us quitting this or that, He births us into His Family when we repent of our sins and ask Him to save us, to come into our hearts and lives and help us day by day to do the things that we as Christians ought to do, we don’t ask Him to save us again, but to direct our paths that we might please Him.
We’re not saved or kept saved by doing good works, but we will do good works because we are saved.
Titus 2:5 –7 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 7That being justified by his grace,** we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Ephesians 2: 8-10 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. ***
IN HIS GREAT MERCY HE HAS GIVEN US NEW BIRTH-
1 Pe 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again--**
I have never been lost in sin again since I was reborn of the Holy Spirit of God.
Some time we may not feel like we’re saved, but thank God we’re not saved by our feelings, our feelings change all the time, but what God does never changes.
Ecclesiastes 3:14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: --
Our state of mind changes regularly, but our standing with God as our Heavenly Father never changes.
Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Dear heart don’t continue to mess around with the most important decision you’ll ever be confronted with, it depends on your eternal destiny, heaven or hell.
Jesus said in Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
John 6:37--- him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
Don’t put it off another day dear heart, make things right with God before it’s to late.
