How is truth defined? Biblically, we see truth by looking to Jesus. As Pilate continues to question Jesus, Jesus will teach that he has a kingdom that is not of this world. Pilate misunderstands and Jesus will give the further clarification that Jesus has a kingdom which is based In truth which is comprised by those who follow the truth.
Category: Faith
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Water and Spirit. Studying John 3:1-8
In John 3, Jesus is approached by a leading religious teacher named Nicodemus. Nicodemus had heard of Jesus and his teaching and wanted to learn more. Jesus would tell him that he had to be born again.
In John 3:4, Nicodemus says:
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?”
Water and Spirit
In John 3:5, Jesus will elaborate further and say to Nicodemus:
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
Water and Spirit.
Jesus has said unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3).
And Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
They’re both obviously important in what Jesus is saying about how one can enter the Kingdom of God.
But what do they have to do with each other? Because they’re both connected to seeing and entering the kingdom of God.
The key to answering that question is found in Ezekiel 36. In that passage, water and Spirit are both present, and it says that the Lord will give the believer a new heart.
25 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. 26 And 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. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
God giving his Spirit and a new heart.
“I will sprinkle clean water on you”
“I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you.”
“I will put my Spirit within you”
Where Jesus says we must be born again, it is by the Holy Spirit that we are born again. Jesus justifies by his perfect life and by his blood and it is the Holy Spirit who indwells the believer. It’s not up to us to save ourselves.
The rebirth is through the Holy Spirit.
New theological term. This is referred to as baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Baptism of the Holy Spirit is different from water baptism.
That idea is first mentioned in John’s Gospel in John 1:33 when John the Baptist is speaking of Jesus and says:
He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.
All four gospels make this same point. That Jesus brings a filling of the Holy Spirit to such an abundant degree that it is a baptism.
It is a privilege which all Christians share, as we see in 1 Corinthians 12:13: For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body
This indwelling of the Holy Spirit is foretold in the Ezekiel passage.
And Ezekiel isn’t the only passage. Joel 2:28:
it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh
This initial pouring out of the Spirit happens in Acts 2 at Pentecost.
All Christians have the Holy Spirit because all Christians are born again, which is of the Spirit. And all Chrisitans are baptized in the Holy Spirit at the moment they come to faith.
There is no way to be a Christian without these events happening in your life.
Romans 8:9-10 is a great passage which communicates this idea.
9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
The Spirit sanctifies us, he sets us apart.
Romans 8:11: If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
The Spirit works to transform a believer:
2 Corinthians 3:18: we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Spiritual life can only come through the Spirit. That’s what Jesus means in our passage when he says in John 3:6: That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
The flesh begets worldly sinful life. The Spirit begets Spiritual life, the new life that God promises his people.
There are many other things which the Spirit does in the life of a believer. All three persons of the Trinity are active in the gospel. We can’t just look at the love of God without the work of the Christ who died for a sinful world.
And we can’t discount the work of the Holy Spirit because without the Holy Spirit, a person does not have faith in the gospel because true faith in the gospel means a person has the Holy Spirit.
We must be born again.
Titus 3:4-6: 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior
Salvation and the Spirit go together.
Jesus is the one who died for sins. But we are given new life through the Spirit. A person who truly has faith has the Spirit.
And once you have the Spirit, you cannot lose it. In fact, it’s because we need a work of the Holy Spirit that we can have assurance of salvation. Because it is God who works in us through the Spirit.
Jesus has said that we must be born of water and Spirit. Returning to our passage in John 3.
Is John 3 talking about water baptism?
Some take that to refer to water baptism. It seems logical. But there are a few things to keep in mind: Water baptism is not mentioned anywhere else in this passage. The Great Commission and the command to baptize have not yet been given.
Just because water is mentioned does not mean that baptism must be in mind. In our next chapter, John 4, Jesus talks of the water he provides and how the one who drinks of it will never thurst. In John 7, Jesus talks of the living water which he supplies and in that Jesus is using water to refer to the Holy Spirit.
Jesus criticizes Nicodmeus for not understanding what he’s saying. If he’s referring to water baptism, that rebuke makes little sense. How would Nicodemus be expected to understand the ordinance of water baptism before it had been given to Chrsitians?
But it would make sense to expect Nicodemus to understand Ezekiel 36.
Baptism IS important, but baptism is an action that is symbolic of your inward faith, a faith where God has poured his Spirit upon his people. Baptism does nothing if you are not ultimately born again. And that’s true regardless of if someone believes in believer’s baptism or infant baptism. The baptism must ultimately be accompanied by faith.
Given his study of the Bible, given the promises of God giving his spirit, given the Ezekiel 36 promise of a new heart, for all of these reasons, for Nicodemus, it should not be a logical leap that a new birth, a new life would be necessary in truly coming to faith in God.
We often miss this point too.
The Bible constantly talks of the necessity of faith, the Bible constantly talks of our sin. Throughout the gospels, we see constant references to Jesus’ death for our sin.
And yet we so often face the temptation to think our standing before God is based on ourselves.
Verses 7 and 8, Jesus says: 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.”
Jesus gives an illustration based on the weather.
Jesus was telling this to people before modern meteorology.
But even still, to the average person, we don’t really know how the wind works, or what causes its changes. Yet we feel it, we see the impact it has, we hear it.
Jesus says “so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
The point is that there is evidence of the work of the Spirit in the life of a believer. We don’t always understand how the spirit works but his work in the life of a believer is evident.
And I again refer us back to Ezekiel 36:27:
I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
Israel was given the law and continued to sin. In the new covenant, God gives his Holy Spirit and it is by his Spirit that we are enabled to follow his laws.
God works within his own people enabling us to do the will of God. That is a tremendous grace which God gives to the world.
That’s not to say that you will never sin again. That’s not to say you will never struggle again. At the moment you come to faith, you are justified before God by the justifying work of Christ. You’re forgiven in an instant, indwelled with the Holy Spirit. But the rest of life is meant to be a journey of growing in faith and holiness.
You must be born again
Have you been born again? Has your life been changed by the gospel?
God does a heart transplant whenever someone comes to faith. He gives a new heart. Do you have joy in the Lord? Love for God? Are there areas where you’ve seen fruit in your life?
Do you have confidence in God’s goodness and his promises? Do you have a greater appreciation for the weight of your own sin? Do you feel like your life has been oriented around God?
Being born again results a life that is transformed because it is not about our strength to live in a Godly manner but God works in us.
So that is the command which Jesus has given. That for a person to enter the kingdom of heaven, being born again is necessary. Again, it’s not just my opinion on the subject.
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The positive, encouraging message isn’t always the message we need
It’s interesting to me to consider the popular Christian music. It’s almost always easy listening.
I was looking at some of the slogans for popular Christian radio stations.
Perhaps the biggest in America, K-Love, which plays on 440 stations “positive – encouraging.”
The River, which was the Christian radio station in Columbus, “uplifting and encouraging.”
Smile FM, which is a popular station in Michigan says “positive hits.”
Air1 which plays on 123 stations in 43 states: “positive hits.”
Joy FM which is in Florida “helping you find joy.”
Way FM “uplifting, upbeat, real.”
There’s no Christian radio stations that advertise as being “convicting and sanctifying.” None advertise as being “sackcloth and ashes.”Now there’s nothing wrong with being positive, there’s nothing wrong with being encouraged.
But is that the way Christians are always supposed to feel? Our society likes the easy listening message. The American church likes the positive and encouraging message.
But we come to the second of the Beatitudes, in the Sermon on the Mount, and it’s: “blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”Life verses
I think of popular life verses people pick. Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”
Or Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 says:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.Positive, encouraging verses.
There are churches where there’s almost this pressure on people to always be smiling, happy, positive.
Because we like a positive, encouraging culture. But what about when you’re not doing well?
Is a church to be another place where a person has to put up a front? Or is it a place where people can be honest?
Now I’m not saying we should be unkind or rude to one another. But sometimes people are hurting. And there’s no virtue in white-knuckling it when you’re struggling.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Church is not a place that’s primary mission is positivity and encouragement.
It’s preaching Christ crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2).And in studying God’s word, the primary goal should not always be the easy listening, K-love, positive and encouraging message.
Because blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
The first of the Beatitudes is “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
And that is for the person who realizes that they are nothing and have nothing to offer God, to warrant favor, to merit grace, to earn heaven. And the blessedness is realizing that the grace of God is your only hope.
The second of the beatitudes flows from the idea of the first. For a person who realizes how small they are before God and their utter need and dependence on God, that in seeing sin, there is blessedness in that.
In the first case, you realize that God is your only hope.
In the second, it’s having a greater sense of the state from which God redeemed you.
Blessed are those who mourn.
That word. “Blessed.” It’s one of those theologized and churchy words. Another way to translate it would be fortunate are those who mourn” or “happy are those who mourn.”
And abundant, supernatural heavenly blessing for those who mourn.
Part of what the beatitudes are doing is showing us that the values of heaven are not the same as the values of this world. In fact, it’s a set of values that are utterly incoherent to our world.
Perhaps none of them more starkly displays the difference in the values of heaven and earth than the second of the beatitudes. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
That’s not the K-love message. That’s not the positive and encouraging message.
And that’s ok.
In fact, I hope you don’t always leave encouraged.
That’s not saying I want you to be discouraged. That’s not to say I want you feeling hopeless. That even when a text hits us hard, that we might rejoice all the more because of the hope that we do have in Christ.
But in studying the Bible, I hope there are times when the weight of God’s word eviscerates you.
There should be times where you’re convicted because of it. Times where you reexamine your life, your heart, your decisions, your motivations because of it.
There should be messages that ring in your heart long after the benediction.
But again, not to be left in total despair, but to be worshipful and rejoicing in the tremendous grace that Jesus gives.
And that might not always be cheery and positive. Because we’re sinful people. And for a thoughtful Christian, sometimes we get hit by stark realities about ourselves and our hearts as we study his word.
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Originally published March 6, 2019
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New life in Jesus – Studying John 3:4-6
In John 3, Jesus is approached under the cover of night by a leader among the Jews, a Pharisee named Nicodemus. Just as a reminder, the Pharisees were people who were highly respected within the Jewish community. Nicodemus would have been a man of stature in his community.
The Pharisees were devout in their lifestyle, their love for the word of God, their study of God’s word. For a man like Nicodemus, he would have had the first five books of the Bible memorized. He was an expert in the law of God.
He would have always been at church, always at Sunday school, always at the Sunday night study, always at the potluck. A stand up guy.
And he comes to Jesus and says to him “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God” (John 3:1) and as Nicodemus talks to Jesus, he talks about the signs Jesus has done. Nicodemus says in verse 2: “no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”
With a guy like Nicodemus, it would be easy to never question his salvation. Clearly he was walking with God.
Nicodemus receives Jesus command to be born again with confusion. Again, Nicodemus is a teacher. He knows God’s word. He’s very moral. And Jesus stops him dead in his tracks: Unless one is born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
John 3:4:
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?”
Nicodemus is either totally dumbfounded by what Jesus says or he’s giving a bit of a sarcastic response, but he responds to Jesus referring only to the physical process of birth.
Verse 5-6:
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.
Again, we’ll talk about this more next week, but regeneration, being born again is a work of the Holy Spirit and Jesus touches upon that in these verses.
It is a Spiritual rebirth. And it’s because regeneration is spiritual that it necessitates a life that is changed and transformed by the gospel. Because it’s not us who change ourselves. It’s the Spirit in us.
The gospel is meant to change your life.
We just assume that a person who goes to church is a Chrisitan. You’re not if you haven’t been born again. Not if you haven’t truly turned from sin and turned to Jesus.
So I ask again: what do you actually believe? Have you trusted in Jesus as your Lord and savior? Have you confessed him to be the Lord? Have you turned away from sin? He didn’t die to keep us the same. Not when we’re given the Holy Spirit. We’re born again. We are a new creation. And that means a changed life. Has your life changed because of Jesus?
Be honest.
Has it really?
Or are you going through the motions? Saying the right things because you need to toe the company line but without really believing what you’re saying?
He makes us new.
The Bible says that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).
It’s not just about saying “well I don’t want to go to hell. Sure I’m a Christian.” It’s having an actual faith that Jesus is the way. That Jesus is your savior. It’s not about believing that you’re basically the key to your own salvation but Jesus is some formality.
It’s that there is no other way apart from Christ and falling at his feet in thankfulness for his mercy.
Have you surrendered your life to Christ? If he’s not your Lord is he really your savior? Is Jesus the Lord of your life?
Philippians 2:12 says to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. And that puts our focus on the cross, and what Jesus has done for us. Do you believe that you’re a sinner? It’s hard to accept Christ as your savior if you don’t believe you’re a sinner. It’s hard to trust in Jesus as your savior if you don’t believe you have anything to be saved from.
Too often in our culture, we like to emphasize the love of God without wanting to ever even talk about the justice of God. God is love. But he is also just. And there is a price to be paid for our sins. Do you believe that? Or do you find yourself thinking that you’re actually not that bad, that your sins really aren’t such a big deal, but you believe that there is a God and say you’re a Christian but you don’t belong to Christ?
Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
For a person who is walking in faith, let us thank God for the work of regeneration that he has done in your life. But for the person who knows in your heart of hearts that you don’t really believe. Stop trusting yourself and your own goodness for your salvation.
Have you been born again?
You don’t have to be a master of theology. You don’t have to figure it all out. You don’t have to have all of the answers before coming to Jesus. It’s about trusting in him. You can come to Jesus this moment. And trust in him. To say, “Lord, not my will but your will be done.”
The Bible says salvation is in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).
And it also says all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13). Coming to Jesus in faith. And when we do that, the grace and forgiveness that Jesus extends is sufficient.
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You must be born again. Studying John 3:1-3
Look at the picture at the top of the post. What do you see? Look at the design of this lobby. Just think to yourself for a moment if it reminds you of anything?
This picture is of the Liberty Hotel, a luxury hotel in the heart of Boston.
The cheapest rooms at this hotel can go for several hundred dollars a night. It features amenities such as concierge services, overnight shoe shines, in room safes, and free valet parking.
What do you see? Is there anything this reminds you of?
Before becoming a luxury hotel, once upon a time, the Liberty Hotel was a prison. Boston’s Charles Street Jail was built in 1851 and was an operational jail until 1990. It served as the county jail for Boston’s Suffolk County. In the nearly 140 years of operation, the jail housed civil rights leader Malcolm X, the notorious 1920s anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti as well as Frank Abagnale, whose life inspired the movie Catch Me If You Can.
The place that once housed criminals is now a place of luxury. It’s the same structure, but internally a totally new creation. Jail cells became bedrooms. Guards replaced with bellhops. Cots replaced with comfortable beds. Prison food has been replaced with gourmet cuisine.
In the Gospel of John, one of the themes that we see is new creation.
We see creation themes in the opening prologue. I’ve written before about Jesus’ first miracle in John 2 when he turns water into wine. Also in chapter 2, we see Jesus compare himself to a temple who would be torn and raised up in three days. Jesus is the new temple.
In John 3, Jesus talks of the new life and new birth that he offers and how a person must be born again.
Regeneration = born again
Good theological term to know for today’s message. Regeneration.
It’s the theological term used to refer to being born again. In other words: born again and regeneration are synonymous.
Being born again is new Spiritual life which causes a person who is dead in sin to be alive to the gospel of Jesus Christ through faith.
It’s a supernatural work of God. All Christians are born again because all Christians have experienced regeneration. There’s no such thing as an unregenerate Christian. That’s not a Christian!
An unregenerate Christian is a vegan who eats meat. In other words, it doesn’t exist.
John 3, verse 1 into 2:
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night
So at the beginning of our passage, Jesus is approached under the cover of night by a leader among the Jews, a Pharisee named Nicodemus. Just as a reminder, the Pharisees were people who were highly respected within the Jewish community. Nicodemus would have been a man of stature in his community.
The Pharisees were devout in their lifestyle, their love for the word of God, their study of God’s word. For a man like Nicodemus, he would have had the first five books of the Bible memorized. He was an expert in the law of God.
He would have always been at church, always at Sunday school, always at the Sunday night study, always at the potluck. A stand up guy.
And he comes to Jesus and says to him “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God” and as Nicodemus talks to Jesus, he talks about the signs Jesus has done. Nicodemus says in verse 2: “no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”
With a guy like Nicodemus, it would be easy to never question his salvation. Clearly he was walking with God.
Unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God.
What is Christianity to you? What is the gospel to you?
Is it that you believe in God? That isn’t being born again. Nicodemus believed in God. Is found in liking Jesus? That doesn’t make you born again either. Nicodemus saw the signs Jesus was doing. Is it in being a good person? Nicodeus was a very moral person. That isn’t being born again.
Jesus says: “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).
It’s not up for debate. Jesus said you must be born again. He doesn’t say “it’s good to be born again,” or “I really think you should be born again,” or “the best way to live life is to be born again.”
You must be born again.
And Jesus is the one who died so you could have a hope of redemption so his words on the subject are authoritative.
To not be born again is to be dead in sin and not raised to life in Christ.
In the process of being born again, you trust in Jesus as your Lord and savior and you turn from sin to Jesus. When we come to him, there is grace. There is forgiveness for our sins.
But here’s a point that people too often miss. It needs to be a genuine faith in what Jesus has done. And the validation of that sincerity will manifest itself in a life that is transformed by the gospel. And if there is no change in your life, if there is no fruit, if there is no greater love for God, if there’s no appreciation for the work of Christ, if there’s no recognition of the cost of sins for which Jesus went to the cross, then for the sake of your own soul, you need to question if you really believe in Jesus and if you’ve really been born again.
There are so many things that we like to tie to regeneration. For some, they want to look at baptism. Baptism doesn’t confer regeneration to you. Baptism doesn’t make you born again if you don’t have faith. Baptism doesn’t mean anything if you don’t ultimately believe in the triune God in whose name you were baptized.
Some people like to tie faith to their family. Mom and dad are Christians, or were Christians. Grandpa was a Christian. That’s how you were raised. That’s a wonderful blessing. But that doesn’t mean you’ve been born again. The faith has to be your own.
For others, it might be the Sinner’s Prayer. “I asked Jesus into my heart.”
But did you believe it? Did you place your trust in him? If there’s never been any evidence in your life that Jesus is in your heart, is he really? Don’t go through life thinking “I said this prayer one time,” or “I got baptized one time,” and that that’s all that matters if you’re living a faithless life.
A person who’s never had faith still isn’t saved. And empty words don’t change that. And water doesn’t change that. The only thing that can change that is recognizing your inability to live up to a God who is absolutely perfect and holy. And that while you could not live up to it, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for you (Romans 5:8).
It’s not some inconsequential change. It is a monumental miraculous work of almighty God.
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