Born of Water and Spirit | John 3:1-15
Brian Hedges | February 5, 2017
Turn in your Bible this morning to John chapter 3. We’ll read John 3:1-15. We’re continuing in our study of the gospel of John, and this morning we come to a passage that is, no doubt, familiar to many of us. This is Jesus’ conversation with the religious leader, the Pharisee Nicodemus.
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. (John 3:1-15)
This is God’s Word.
Throughout the history of the church, almost every time that there has been some kind of a great awakening or revival or a period of spiritual renewal, it has come as people have rediscovered the doctrines of justification by faith—justification through the free grace of God, that we are accepted by God as righteous for the sake of Jesus’ obedience alone—and then, along with that, a rediscovery of the doctrine of new birth: that it is through new birth—the mystery and the miracle of regeneration—being born again, that we enter into the kingdom of God.
This was true for Martin Luther, as he rediscovered the doctrine of justification by faith studying the book of Romans, and he said he felt that he was born again and that he entered through the gates of Paradise.
It was true in the Great Awakening, that evangelical awakening in the 18th century. George Whitefield. . .he’s this very religious, very rigorous, moral college student at Oxford University, part of the Oxford Club, who has no spiritual life. Someone gives him a copy of Henry Scougal’s The Life of God in the Soul of Man. He reads it and he’s born again and he’s changed.
And then it happens to John Wesley. John Wesley is the same way: absolutely miserable! Trying to be a good person, even trying to do ministry—he’s an evangelist—but totally unsuccessful. . .then he goes into that little chapel on Aldersgate Street. He hears the preface of Luther to, I think, it’s Romans read, and he says that his “heart was strangely warmed,” and he was born again. And then it happened for Charles Wesley. . .and you can go on through the history of the Church, and you can see that something like this dynamic happens every time that God brought about reawakening, reformation or revival.
One of the passages in Scripture—in fact, it is THE passage in Scripture that says the most about this doctrine of new birth, or regeneration—is the passage before us. And so, I’m going to use these words interchangeably this morning. When we’re being “born again” or “born from above” (either translation will do in this passage), we mean “new birth” or “regeneration” (if you want to use the theological word).
And so, what I want to do is just try to expound what Jesus says here by asking three questions: Why do we need it? What is it? and How does it happen?
I. Why do we need new birth?
I want to give you three reasons from the text.
(1) First of all, look at what Jesus says to Nicodemus in verse 3: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Then, verse 5: Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
So, this is the first reason: in order to see and enter into God’s kingdom, you must be born again. We need new birth for that reason. You can’t enter the kingdom of God—you can’t even see the kingdom of God—Jesus says, unless you’re born again.
We’ve got to understand what the kingdom of God is. The kingdom of God does not just mean, “Go to heaven after you die.” The kingdom of God is not to be identified with the church. Jesus is not saying that you can’t enter into the church and he’s not saying, merely, that you can’t go to heaven after you die unless you’re born again. Now, that’s true—it’s true that new birth is necessary for peace with God in the afterlife—but this phrase, “the kingdom of God” is a very specific phrase, and it has a specific connotation. Nicodemus would have understood this and we need to understand this. We could define it in this way: the kingdom of God is eternal life under God’s reign (because He’s king) in the age to come. This is what the Jewish people were looking for. They were looking for the age to come; they were looking for the time when God would bring his kingdom to earth in a unique way—in a way that they had not seen—that the kingdom of God would be realized on earth.
We even pray it in the prayer, don’t we? “That your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” That is what we mean when we’re talking about God’s kingdom coming. That’s what Nicodemus would have been looking for, and so Jesus says to him, “Unless you’re born again—or born from above—you can’t see the kingdom of God; you can’t enter the kingdom of God.”
Now, in the ministry of Jesus, we need to understand, the kingdom of God, and eternal life, have been inaugurated. They have begun, but we still wait for the fullness. And what Jesus is saying is, “You can’t come into this reality—you can’t experience this reality, you can’t enter into the kingdom of God, the saving reign of God which makes all things new—you can’t enter into that unless you’re born again.”
So, that’s the first reason. This simply means that, in order for you and I to be a part of what God is doing in the world—through Jesus and through his Spirit—and what God is yet to do when Jesus returns and makes all things new. . .in order for us to be part of that, we have to be born again. We have to experience this thing called “regeneration.”
(2) We need new birth because of the darkness of sin. This is another reason we need it. This is really the explanation for why we cannot see or enter the kingdom of God. I want you to notice verse 2, going back in the text of verse here: Nicodemus, this ruler of the Jews, a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, he’s a Pharisee. . .notice that it says: “This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.’”
Why does it say that he came by night? Well, on one level, of course, that’s just what happened—he came at night. Scholars have speculated for years, “Why did he come by night?” Did he want to be incognito? Did he not want to be seen by others, that he was coming to Jesus? Perhaps that’s the case.
But, in the gospel of John, night and darkness have a very strong symbolic significance. So, for example, in John 9:4-5, Jesus says, “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Or in John 11:10: “But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” Or just take the next paragraph, John 3:19: “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil…”
And, you see, I think when it says Nicodemus came by night, John is not only telling us what happened historically—it’s also symbolic of what was going on in Nicodemus’ heart: he’s in the night, he’s in the dark, he’s a person who is in darkness; he’s walking in darkness rather than in light. And that’s why Jesus said to him, “Unless you’re born again—unless you’re born from above—you can’t enter, you can’t see the kingdom of God. Why couldn’t he see? He was in the darkness, and you can’t see when you’re in the dark!
What this does is, it confronts us with the problem and the reality of sin in the world. It’s because of sin, and how sin incapacitates human nature, that we are not able to see or enter into the kingdom of God.
G. K. Chesterton, that 20th century Catholic journalist, in his book Orthodoxy, called original sin, “the only part of Christian theology which can really be proved.” And it’s pretty easy to prove when we just look around the world, right? Just read the headlines—and I don’t care if you read from CNN or Fox News—it’s pretty obvious that the world has gone to rot. There are problems, and the problems are the problems of sin deep in the human heart. . .and, indeed, woven throughout all the systems of our world.
But you don’t even have to look at the news; you can just look at your own heart. . .or you can look at the innate selfishness that is true, even of children. Maybe you’ve heard these before:
The property laws of a toddler
1. If I like it, it’s mine.
2. If it’s in my hand, it’s mine.
3. If I can take it from you, it’s mine.
4. If I had it a little while ago, it’s mine.
5. If it’s mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way.
6. If I’m doing or building something, all the pieces are mine.
7. If it looks just like mine, it’s mine.
8. If I saw it first, it’s mine.
9. If you are playing with something and you put it down, it automatically becomes mine.
10. If it’s broken, it’s yours.
We see it in kids, right? If you raised children, you know that there’s something innately selfish in children. And we kind of laugh it off with kids; it’s kind of funny when we see it children. But we all know that if those children are not steered, if they are not disciplined, if they’re not reined in—if they’re not changed—if there’s not something, at least externally, that holds them in check, then that child is going to wreak havoc in society later on because of the selfishness—the self-centeredness—of the heart.
A great illustration of this is in C. S. Lewis’s novel The Great Divorce. I allude to this often; it’s my favorite novel, my favorite book by Lewis. And, of course, the story is about this busload of ghosts from hell, who go to the borderlands of heaven and have a chance to stay, if they would like. And they all choose to go back, except for one.
And what Lewis is showing is that people who are accustomed to vice rather than virtue, people who are still fundamentally self-oriented, who are self-serving. . .people who are still in the grip of their obsessions, their addictions, and their idolatries. . .are utterly unable to welcome and to grasp the weighty glory of the kingdom of God. . .because we prefer ourselves to the glories of God’s kingdom.
Now, Lewis didn’t believe such a condition was irreversible. This is what he said (this is from the preface of The Great Divorce; this illustrates why new birth is needed):
“I do not think that all who choose wrong roads perish; but their rescue consists in being put back on the right road. A sum can be put right: but only by going back till you find the error and working it afresh from that point, never by simply going on. Evil can be undone, but it cannot ‘develop’ into good. Time does not heal it. The spell must be unwound, bit by bit, ‘with backward mutters of dissevering power’— or else not. It is still ‘either-or’. If we insist on keeping Hell (or even Earth) we shall not see Heaven: if we accept Heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell.”
Lewis is saying, it can be set right—but only if you go back to where things wrong and start all over. And what Jesus is saying is, that means you’ve got to be born all over again, because we’re wrong from birth. There’s something in us, this principle—original sin—this disposition fundamentally self-centered rather than God-centered or other-centered. And that’s the source of all the darkness in our hearts and all the darkness in the world. . .and because of that, we cannot enter the kingdom of God.
(3) We need new birth because we can’t rescue ourselves. This is the third reason: we can’t rescue ourselves. It’s significant that Jesus says to Nicodemus, “You [Nicodemus] must be born again.” He says to Nicodemus, unless you’re born again you can’t see and you can’t enter the kingdom of God. Now, think about who this is: Nicodemus. As I’ve already said, he’s a Pharisee. Do you know what “Pharisee” meant? It meant “separated one.” They were the separatists of their day; they were the purists of their day; they were the religious political conservatives of their day; they were the most moral people of their day! And, Nicodemus, more than that, was a Bible scholar! Jesus calls him “a teacher of Israel.” So, here is a theologian, here is a moral man, here is someone who, externally, is as religious as you can get. And Jesus says he’s got to start all over again!
What is needed is a transformation that is so radical, so new, that it can only be described as being born all over again, being born again. You cannot see, you cannot enter the kingdom of God, unless this happens to you. What Jesus is telling us here is that we cannot change ourselves. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” (vv. 6-7).
You should study, sometime, the great “cannots” of Scripture: You cannot see the kingdom, you cannot enter the kingdom, John 3:3; or, 1 Corinthians 2:14: “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” So, we cannot even understand. Or, we cannot submit to God’s law, Romans 8:7-8: “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” We cannot even come to the Father, unless he who sent Christ draws us to him, John 6:44.
We sang it this morning:
We were blinded by our sin
Had no ears to hear His voice
Did not know His love within
Had no taste for heaven’s joys
A lack of capacity. We don’t have the capacity to rescue ourselves, to change ourselves, to get out of the darkness. That’s why we need this miracle called new birth.
II. What is this new birth?
I hope you feel the need for it! I wanted to start there. . .Here’s what I don’t want to happen: I don’t want us to be just listening to something like an academic description of a theological concept called regeneration—and feel far removed from it. . .okay? You need this! If you haven’t experienced it, you need it. I need it. Unless you’re born again, you cannot escape the darkness of sin, you cannot enter into God’s kingdom, you cannot live under God’s reign and you cannot save yourself. So, what is it that we so desperately need? What is this new birth?
I’m going to give you a definition, and then unpack it: Regeneration (or new birth) is a deep cleansing of the heart, the gift of new (spiritual) life, that is effected by the indwelling of God’s Spirit. Let’s take that apart, one phrase at a time.
Regeneration is a deep cleansing of the heart. Look at verse 5: Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God “
What does it mean when Jesus says “born of water and spirit?” There have been lots of perspectives on this. Some have thought this is a reference to baptism. And so, Jesus is saying unless you are both baptized in water, and in the Spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom of God. Now, some who have said that have believed in what is called “baptismal regeneration”—that somehow the water is what effects the change. There are others who believe this is a reference to baptism, who would say, no, the water is simply the sign of the renewal that the Holy Spirit brings. Others have said that this refers to both natural birth and supernatural birth: “born of water”—that’s our first birth; “born of the Spirit”—that’s the second birth.
I think it’s best to read this in light of the Old Testament. Jesus, in fact, says as much, when he tells Nicodemus that as a teacher of Israel he should know about these things. The key passage, I believe, is the book of the prophet Ezekiel, chapter 36. I want you to listen to what Ezekiel says; these are the words of God through Ezekiel: “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you” (Ezekiel 36:25).
Now, that’s pretty typical Old Testament language, using water as a symbol for cleansing. . .and I think that is what Jesus has mind. I think what he is saying here is that unless you experience a deep cleansing of the heart—an inward cleansing, an inward transformation—you can’t enter the kingdom of God. And, notice, it is a deep cleansing of the heart—it’s inward.
It deals with our sin, our uncleanness, but it’s deep in that it deals with the core motives and desires of the heart. The passage says, “from your idols I will cleanse you.” Well, that’s a problem. Calvin said it: our hearts are “idol-factories,” little factories that make all kinds of idols. We’re always worshipping the wrong things, we’re seeking the wrong things, we’re putting our happiness and trust in the wrong things. That’s a problem! We are idolaters in heart, and the only thing that will change that is this deep cleansing of the heart.
I think that’s what Jesus has in mind when he says, “born of water and of the spirit.” This is confirmed in the second part of this definition.
“Regeneration is the gift of new (spiritual) life.” That which is born of water and the spirit; then verses 5-6: Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Again, Ezekiel 36 is the key; look at the next verse, verse 26. He says, not only will God cleanse us, but he says: “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Again, the imagery here is so powerful! What’s a heart of stone? It’s a hard heart! God says he will take out the heart of stone and he’ll put in a heart of flesh. A heart of stone is a heart that’s impenetrable. Poke a stone with a needle and you break the needle! But flesh. . .the needle can go into flesh. So, this is the promise—the promise of a cleansed heart, the promise of a new heart or a new spiritual life: “I will put a new spirit within you.” It’s the promise of newness.
Notice, all this is effected by the indwelling of God’s Spirit – v. 6: “that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Ezekiel 36:27 makes this clear: “And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”
So, here’s the definition: New birth (or regeneration) is a deep inward cleansing and the gift of new (spiritual) life, effected by the indwelling of God’s Spirit. It is what the Puritan Henry Scougal called “the life of God in the soul of man.” Here’s how Paul describes it in Titus 3:4-6 (which was our assurance of pardon reading this morning): “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy,” [how?] “by the washing of regeneration” [there’s the water!] “and renewal of the Holy Spirit” [there’s the newness!], “whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.”
I mentioned, a few minutes ago, John Wesley and George Whitfield, and of course Charles Wesley was a part of this group as well. Charles was John’s brother. Like his brother, John, was very religious and moral, but knew nothing of the real life of God, the real life of the Spirit. He was challenged by the Moravian, I think a preacher, Peter Bohler and by Whitefield, who had experienced this dramatic conversion. And then, by reading Luther on Galatians. That began a process for Charles where he began to wrestle with these things, and it eventually led him to an understanding of the freeness of the gospel and of justification by faith alone.
He wrote, on May 20, 1738: “I now found myself at peace with God and rejoiced in hope of loving Christ…I saw that by faith I stood.” Two days later he began a hymn about his conversion – we don’t know exactly which hymn it was (he wrote over 2000 of them!), but it just might have been this one, “And Can it Be:”
Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
That’s new birth! The eye of God looking on us in the darkness and in the bondage of sin, and giving us light and life so that we are free! We have walked into the life of God.
III. How does it happen?
This is the third question, and I think we have to understand two aspects of this: both God’s initiative and our response…
(1) First, God’s initiative. Look at John 3:8 (Jesus has said, “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.): [continuing Jesus’ words]: “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
This is a play on words. In both Hebrew and Greek, the word for “Spirit” is also the word for “wind” or “breath.” Jesus is using this to teach us something about the spiritual, the divine role, in new birth. God’s initiative! This shows us that the Spirit is sovereign in this initiative. We can’t control the wind and neither do we control the Spirit. There’s a mystery to his work. Jesus says, “You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” There’s a mystery to the Spirit’s work. It’s not that you can actually see the Spirit do it (the Spirit is invisible), but you can see the effects. You can see the effects of transformation.
Just as with the wind in its power, it has effects. Sometimes the wind blows very softly; sometimes it’s a tornado, right? Either way you can see the effects: just a soft, gentle breeze, and you can see the leaves blow across the sidewalk. Or you can see a dust storm on the horizon. Or we can see the devastation of a tornado that uproots trees, demolishes buildings and levels whole cities. In the same way, the Spirit’s work is sometimes very quiet (like that gentle breeze), bringing with it effects. And sometimes, the Spirit is like a storm that rips through a community—where multitudes all at once are born into the kingdom of God. That’s what we call “revival” or “great awakening.”
And again, I think the picture behind Jesus’ words is from the prophet Ezekiel. I’ve already read these passages from Ezekiel 36 about cleansing of the heart, a new spirit, and God’s Spirit dwelling within us. But then, in Ezekiel 37 you’ve got another famous picture. This is when Ezekiel had this vision of a valley full of dry bones. Do you remember this? And the Lord says, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And then he tells him (Ezekiel 37:9): “Prophesy to the breath [or to the wind]; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.’” And then, the bones are joined together.
Remember the old spiritual, “Dem Bones?” “The toe bone’s connected to the-foot bone. . .” and so on. I don’t remember all the words right now. The bones are joined together and this army is raised, and it’s a picture for Ezekiel of the restoration the people of God in Israel from exile. And it’s a picture, also, of spiritual resurrection or new birth. The Spirit gives new life – he brings this resurrection. This new creation. He brings about this new birth through his mysterious, powerful, life-giving influence. Wesley, again, had it right:
He speaks, and, listening to His voice,
New life the dead receive. . .
That’s what we need. We need the work of the Spirit—so that’s the first piece of it. That’s the divine initiative, God’s initiative.
(2) But we also need to understand our response. Theologians are always wrestling with how to put these two things together. Which comes first, which comes second? Is there a chronological order? Can there be a gap between one and the other? I’m not going to try to answer all those questions, but I think what’s really clear in the text is that there is a mystery to God’s work in this, and there’s a very clear answer to Nicodemus’ questions, “How can this happen? How can these things be?” And the answer has to do with our response to God, and you see that in John 3:9-15: Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Carson says this should be translated, “How can this happen?” Then, drop down to verses 14 and 15, and Jesus says, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”
Again, it’s an Old Testament allusion—this time to the story of the brazen serpent. Remember that? In Numbers 21, God’s people were murmuring and complaining, and so God’s sent judgment—poisonous snakes into the camp that bite the people, causing them to languish and die—and God says, “This is the remedy, Moses, make a brazen serpent and put it on a pole. Tell the people to look at the serpent and they’ll be healed.” That’s all they have to do, just look at the serpent, and they’ll be healed. What is the serpent? It’s a sign of God’s judgment against their sins. And Jesus uses that. He says as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
“Lifted up.” That phrase has a double meaning in the gospel of John. It means to be exalted, lifted up, as in “We lift up the name of God in praise.” It means to be exalted, but it also means to be lifted up on the cross. In John 12:32-33, “Jesus said, ‘And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.” So, here’s the answer to Nicodemus’ question. “How can this happen?” The way we enter into eternal life, in the kingdom of God, is by trusting in—or believing in—the Son who is lifted up, crucified, for our sin.
Our response to God’s work—and the saving word of the gospel—is to believe. And you just see this throughout the gospel of John. John 1:12-13: “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 3:36: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” John 6:40: “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” John 20:31: “But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
So, you ask the question, “What must I do to have eternal life? What must I do to enter the kingdom of God?” Here’s the answer: believe on the Son, trust in the Son, look to the son.
Let me give you one more story. I’ve used this before but it fits so well with this passage, I’ll risk repetition. Charles Haddon Spurgeon. He was another one of these great pastors of another century, this time from the 19th century. Spurgeon, as a young teenager, was also trying really hard to live a good life. In his Autobiography he talks about these ten back steeds (horses) were plowing his heart. He was talking about the ten commandments. He was trying so desperately to live a good life, but he couldn’t find his way to Christ and salvation. Until one night he wanders into a Methodist chapel and he hears a layman preach, and he’s preaching on that passage from Isaiah, “Look to me all the ends of the earth and you’ll be saved!” And he looked at Spurgeon and said, “Young man, you look miserable! Look to Christ, look to Christ, look to Christ. Look, look, look!”
And Spurgeon said the guy was actually pretty ignorant, and the only thing he knew to say was “Look!” But he just kept saying it! And Spurgeon looked, and he was saved! And, seventeen years old, he started preaching. And by the end of his life, Spurgeon could say that there wasn’t a Sunday when somebody wasn’t converted under his ministry. It was a period of revival that coincided with the 1857-59 prayer revival. I love the way that Spurgeon tells us to look to Christ, and so here’s the final exhortation to us all. Listen to Spurgeon: “Remember, sinner, it is not thy hold of Christ that saves thee – it is Christ; it is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee – it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that is the instrument – it is Christ’s blood and merits; therefore, look not to thy hope, but to Christ, the source of thy hope; look not to thy faith, but to Christ, the author and finisher of thy faith…”
You must be born again? Unless you are born of water and the Spirit, unless you utterly deeply transformed—started all over again, made brand-new by the power and work of the Spirit of God—you cannot enter into the eternal life of God’s kingdom. But Jesus says, if you believe in the Son of Man, who’s lifted up on the cross, if you believe, you will have eternal life.
And so, this morning, if you have never believed, I invite you to do so now. If you have believed, then do it again. We never quit believing, as Christians, right? As John Piper says sometimes, “I get saved all over again, every day.” And I know what he means by that, even though justification and regeneration are one-time events, there is a renewal of faith. That’s one thing we come to do here, at worship at Fulkerson. It’s what we do when we come to the Table: is look to Christ, look to him to be renewed—once again—by the gospel, by the Spirit as we look to the Savior. So, let’s do that right now. Let’s pray.
Gracious Father of mercy, thank you so much for the gift of new birth. Thank you for the gift of eternal life. Thank you for the gift of your Son, who bore our sin—our judgment—on the cross, and rose in triumph over sin, death, and the grave in his resurrection. And then, now, in his ascension has sent his Spirit to the church. And God sends the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, by whom we cry “Abba, Father!” And Father, there are many of us who have experienced this. We have known this reality in our hearts—we have been born again. We have believed and we have entered into life. Yet, so often we find ourselves in something like a backslidden condition. And it’s not that we need regeneration all over again; it’s that we need renewal and restoration to the life that we received. So, for any that need that this morning, I pray for that—that in a fresh look to Christ, there will be a fresh life-giving influence, restoration of spirit. And I pray for all who do not know Christ in a saving way today, that they would look to the Son and they would be saved. Thank you for your word, which tells us what you have done through the Son and the Spirit, and thank you for the Table, which shows us our crucified Savior. As we come to the Table, as we take the juice and bread this morning, may we do so relying on—trusting in—the work of the Son, the work of your Spirit. We pray it in Jesus’ name, amen.
Brian G. Hedges
