Have you been born again?

Today I had the privilege of being guest speaker at the Colonel Light Gardens Church of Christ in Adelaide.
Here is an outline of the message I brought.
I did add and subtract from the sermon as I went but the main gist of the presentation is here.

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Sermon for 16/3/14 at Colonel Light Gardens Church of Christ

Bible  Verse John 3:1-17

The New Birth

3 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 and said to him, “Most assuredly, 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, “Most assuredly, 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 the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

⁹ Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”

¹⁰ Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? ¹¹ Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. ¹² If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.^{[a] 14} And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but^[b] have eternal life. ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

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BORN AGAIN

Born again!

What does the Bible say about this?

What does it mean to be born again?

How can I know I have been born again?

As a young man and a boy and teenager growing up I had some vague ideas about God.

I believed in God and I had tried to read the Bible and had had a few short  years in an Anglican Sunday school.

I was aware of Jesus and knew He had died on the cross and rose again and ascended into Heaven.

I did not have enough interest to ponder these things too deeply or even if they were true.

I just accepted them.

I lost interest in the church at about age 12 as I thought it was all a bit too sissy.

I didn’t start go to church again until in my 20’s I started attending with my lovely Christian wife.

These days I am a Christian who will tell you if you ask that I have been born again.

IF WE ARE BORN AGAIN we can  know we are going to Heaven.

IF WE ARE BORN AGAIN we can  know our sins have been forgiven.

IF WE ARE BORN AGAIN we can  know that God is real and Jesus is our Lord and Saviour.

We are slowly being transformed by the Holy Spirit.

IF WE ARE BORN AGAIN we can  know we are already experiencing eternal life and we don’t need to wait till we die!

IF WE ARE BORN AGAIN we can  know all these things are part of being born again.

IF WE ARE BORN AGAIN we can  know none of this is any cleverness on our part  it is by the grace of God.

Being born again is what Jesus told Nicodemus if he wanted to experience and enter into God’s Kingdom.

He said unless you are born again you cannot enter the kingdom of Heaven.

This is what He told Nicodemus.

³ Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, 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, “Most assuredly, 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 the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

⁹ Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”

Notice Nicodemus raises a concern in his question of Jesus in that he mentions his age.

He was a man of mature, perhaps old age.

“How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

Is it true, as some have said that we need to become Christians when we are young?

That when we get old we are too set in our ways!

That we think it is too late to get into this God stuff now!

Nicodemus could see  even as an older man he needed to know about his eternal destiny and the answers were with Jesus.

Probably it was a little bit of pride that caused him to seek Jesus out at night and maybe for safety.

He was a ruler of the Jews, A Pharisee.

The other Pharisees were already plotting against Jesus at this time but Nicodemus knew this was no ordinary man.

It may be a little bit of pride that causes our hackles to rise when we hear for the first time, or many times, that we need to be born again.

The term “born again” is used time and time again these days in the media to ridicule Christianity and Christians.

You see until we are Christian we have an inbuilt desire to be in control of our own destinies.

To be a self made man or woman!

We want to be as someone said “masters of our fate and captain’s of our soul.”

We also want people to think well of us , not as if we are some loopy religious person.

We also don’t want to think or admit that we do have sin in our lives.

Of course if we have been born again that should not be a problem for us as we have died to self.

That is, if we have been crucified with Christ!

We are told about this in Romans 6

Romans 6  (St Paul speaking)

New King James Version (NKJV)

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

6 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? ² Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? ³ Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?⁴ Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

⁵ For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, ⁶ knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. ⁷ For he who has died has been freed from sin. ⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, ⁹ knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. ¹⁰ For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. ¹¹ Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Notice the connection between Baptism and being crucified with Christ.

This where we can truly say it is no longer I that live but Christ who lives in me.

So what happens or how do we become born again?

Many Christians and others have some different answers on this.

Some will tell you that you ask Jesus into your heart.

Some will tell you that you have to believe the Bible but work very hard to be a good person to be justified by God and allowed into Heaven.

Some will tell you that you need to do all the above and then be baptised in the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues or you haven’t really arrived.

Some will say just believe in Jesus.

Some will say I was christened as a child and that is my passport to Heaven.

Some will say that Jesus died for everybody and everyone regardless will go to Heaven. (That’s called Universalism.)

Some will say God is a God of love and He would never allow anyone to go to Hell.

Some will say we just keep getting re-incarnated  into other creatures or persons and our good or bad karma determines what will happen to us.

Some will says we are all gods.

The Atheist will tell you we just go 6 feet under and that’s it.

Some will say you need to give up all you have and follow Jesus.

And the list goes on  and on.

What Nicodemus was asking Jesus was the most important question that any of us can ask.

He was asking this question of the Living Son of God.

How can we enter into God’s Kingdom?

It is a question we need to get right.

We need to know the answer.

We run a terrible risk if we don’t respond to Jesus.

If you believe the Bible and Jesus then we can know the answer.

When Jesus speaks of being born of the water and the spirit He is talking about the enabling power of the Holy Spirit and when he talks about water he is talking about Baptism.

^{1 Peter 3: 20-21  ---} in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. ²¹ There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²² who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.

In a moment I will outline what the Bible teaches about how we can be born again.

Rather than rely on the opinions of men and women would you not rather rely on what God’s word says?

At various points in your Christian walk you can evaluate you standing with God by checking the scriptures and your response.

None of  these things the scripture tells us are too difficult or unattainable for us to be born again.

Note that in our passage Jesus didn’t actually spell it out how Nicodemus could become born again.

Here is a check list of the essential steps to be born again.

Note these things are not based on feelings or some ecstatic experience you may have had.

They are based on the Word of God only.

In the early days of Churches of Christ we had a saying where the Bible speaks ,we speak! 

This message is given with that in mind.

So this is what I believe the Bible tells us we need to know and act on if we are to be born again.

1.    We are all sinners.. Romans 3:23. ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

2.    Because we are a sinner we need saving. Romans 6:23²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

3.    Jesus and Jesus alone can save us. Acts 4:10-12¹⁰ let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. ¹¹ This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’^{[a] 12} Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

4.    In order for us to be saved by  Jesus, we must deliberately and definitely receive Jesus as our personal saviour. John 1:10-12¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. ¹¹ He came to His own,^[c] and His own^[d] did not receive Him. ¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

5.    We receive Jesus as our saviour :

Through Faith,Repentance and Baptism.

1.Through Faith Acts 16:29-33²⁹ Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰ And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

³¹ So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” ³² Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. ³³ And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized.

2.We must repent, Acts 2:38³⁸ Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.,  and in

Acts 17:30-31(Paul speaking to the Greek Philosophers about their unknown God)³⁰ Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, ³¹ because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”

3.We must be baptised, Acts 2:38³⁸ Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.,

 We must be buried with Christ in which we die to our old life and rise to a new life in Christ. Romans 6:3-4 ³ Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?⁴ Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Now if you go through your life and check that all those things are true about yourself, then you are born again.

I have this little Bible that Pastor Harold Long gave me when I was baptised.

I was 28 years of age.

The little certificate in it  is dated 26^th May 1974.

I had gone to the front of the Church in early February that year to signify I wanted to become a Christian.

I went through some studies with Pastor Harold Long after that and came to decide I needed to be Baptised. 

I did not fully understand the significance of Baptism in that process at the time.          

I can look at this and know that I can say on that day I was born again. 

Ie. according to the scriptures that on that day I had fulfilled all for me to actually do to receive God’s Grace of a New Life. 

I am still fulfilling those conditions.

Being Born again!  A new beginning!

The Authority of God’s word says I am.

No matter what others may say, you have, and are fulfillng your part in being born again when you go through this checklist and realise that you have done this.

Besides these verses quoted you will find many others that support what I have been saying.

We need to be diligent in checking that we are reading the Bible accurately in these assessments.

You may think you have been sprinkled or “baptised” as a child.

That has been  the case with many  but many have  come to the realisation,myself included, that this was not a Baptism according to the scriptures.

There can be no repentance or belief on our part when we are a baby.

Your “God parents “ while they might fullfill a great role in your life and do the best they can that you might live a Godly life, they cannot receive Jesus for you.

I have come to realise also that when we read the scripture that Baptism is much more than just an outward sign of something happening on the inside.

Folks we really need to get this right , this question of being born again.

We are never to old to settle it and not too young if we can understand and make rational decisions on these things.

Of course like human birth, our spiritual birth when we are born again, is just the beginning.

We will need the right food to grow as a Christian.

 

We need to progress beyond a milk diet.

Have you been born again?

Is God speaking to you today?

Do you want to be born again?

Are you unsure about this?

Even though it is not recorded I have no doubt that Nicodemus followed through on Jesus’ teaching.

He supplied Jesus’ embalming oil and also helped get Him down from the cross.

He would have become aware of or even present on the day of Pentecost when Peter preached his amazing sermon as recorded in Acts 2.

If you wish to indicate that you want to take the first steps to being born again today please come down to the front and tell me that’s what you want to do as we sing this last Hymn.

I will ask you if you believe you are a sinner needing God’s salvation and that you wish to receive Jesus as your Saviour.

That He is the Christ ,the Son of the Living God.

I will then acknowledge this decision you have made before this group of supportive people. 

After the service I will discuss with you briefly what the next steps might be.

I know that it is hard to do that, it took me 3 years sitting in Church listening to sermons like this one before I could hold out no longer.

Pride sometimes has a very tight hold on us.

Let us sing this last Hymn.

It’s no longer I that liveth but Christ that liveth in me.

Does He live in you?

Have you been crucified with Christ?

Have you been born again?

Do you want to be?

Is God speaking to you today?