The New Birth: Necessity

Review: The Necessity of the New Birth

0:06 We turn again this evening to the third chapter of John's Gospel, where we began this morning a brief series of studies in this portion of the Word of God, which is the most complete, single portion dealing with the subject of the new birth.

0:24 The record that John gives us of this interview, this pastoral counseling situation, is the one existing between our Lord Jesus Christ and a ruler of the Jews, a Pharisee named Nicodemus. Will you follow as I read verses 1 through 8? We read the entire passage through verse 15 this morning, but since our study will focus again upon the first half of the paragraph, I shall read only through verse 8. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

1:00 The same came unto John. He said unto him, that is, unto Jesus, by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, or truly, truly, I say unto thee, except one be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said unto him, How can a man be born when he is old?

1:31 Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, he must be born anew.

1:59 The wind bloweth. The wind bloweth. The wind bloweth. The wind bloweth where it will, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh and whither it goeth.

2:09 So is every one that is born of the Spirit.

2:15 As we approached our study of this passage this morning, I suggested that the passage gives to us two main divisions of thought, or we might say, what our Lord teaches on the subject of the new birth can be divided into two categories, first of all, these assertions concerning the necessity of the new birth, and then secondly, those things he tells us about the nature or the essential ingredients of the new birth. Time only permitted our dealing with the first of those two main categories this morning, the necessity of the new birth. And our Lord states its necessity in these categorical statements of verses 3, 5, and 7. Truly, truly, I say unto thee, except one be born anew, he cannot. It is impossible for him to see the kingdom of God. Again, verse 5, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except one be born of water in the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

3:19 And verse 7, marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must, or it is necessary for you to be born anew. We considered the materials. We considered the materials ranging under that general head of the necessity of the new birth as teaching us that it is, first of all, an unchangeable necessity. Unchangeable because of the one who states it.

3:43 It is Jesus Christ speaking. It is he who is God's final word who says ye must be born anew. Jesus is saying, Nicodemus, I, this unique person, the one described in chapter 1 of the Gospel of John, the one who is the word made flesh, this one who is God's voice to us, he says in the plentitude of his authority as the incarnate God, the anointed prophet of God, the final word of God to men, he states it, therefore it is an unchangeable necessity. And then it is not only unchangeable because of the one who states it, but the way it is stated.

4:25 Our Lord gives these two amen, amen structures, which are unchangeable. It is an underscoring of the tremendous importance. In fact, this is the only place, to my knowledge, where that's found in the teaching of our Lord. He says verily many times, but here it's verily, verily, back to back, underscored in thick red pencil so that none may miss its import.

4:48 And then it is an unchangeable necessity because of the great issues at stake. The issues are nothing less than perceiving, savvying, as we saw this morning, and entering the kingdom of God. But not only is it an unchangeable necessity, but it is an unchangeable necessity because of the great issues at stake. It is an unchangeable necessity because of the great issues at stake.

5:02 We saw that it is a universal necessity. Jesus uses a form of words which generalizes the statements. He does not say in verses 3 and 5 to Nicodemus as an individual, except you are born anew. He says, I say unto thee, Nicodemus, except anyone be born anew.

5:19 And he generalizes the principle and gives it a universal application to all men, in all ages, and in all circumstances. And then finally, we concluded our study by noting, that it was a consequential necessity. Not only an unchangeable and a universal, but a consequential necessity. That is a necessity that is based upon the reality of verse 7.

5:44 We must be born anew as a consequence of what we were constituted by our first birth. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. And our Lord is giving Nicodemus a lesson in the biblical truth concerning the world. Concerning the native depravity and pollution of all men, and therefore their need of the new birth.

Introduction to the Nature of the New Birth

6:08 So much for our review. Now we move to begin tonight a consideration of what our Lord teaches us concerning the essential elements or the nature of the new birth. And we shall see what our Lord teaches about the source of the new birth, the character of the new birth, the results of the new birth, the pattern of the new birth, and the instrumental means of the new birth. Five categories of truth found in the words of our Lord.

6:37 First of all then, we address ourselves to the question, from whence does this spiritual birth come? Our Lord has said, without it you cannot see the kingdom of God. You'll never perceive the King Himself in all the beauty and the glory of His person. And that's why men do not embrace the Lord Jesus.

6:55 It is because they see no beauty in Him. They see nothing in Him that is not His. He is desirable. If the human heart once sees the desirableness of Christ, the human heart will embrace Him.

7:08 You cannot behold the glory of God in the face of Christ and be indifferent to it. You'll fall at His feet like Thomas and cry out, My Lord and my God. You cannot see without this new birth. You cannot enter.

7:25 You cannot begin to possess the privileges of the kingdom of God in its present aspects and in its future. Well then, what is this new birth without which we cannot see and enter? Where does it come from? To whom shall we look in order to experience it?

7:43 If we are born anew, to whom shall we render the praise? You see, this question of the source of the new birth is not an academic question. It is a deeply religious question. You and I must be born anew or we will never see or enter the kingdom.

7:58 Well if that be true, where shall I look for this new birth? If I am born anew, to whom shall I render praise? If I want others to be born anew, to whom shall I look to effect that new birth in them? This is a deeply religious, practical question that is before us, and our Lord does not leave us without a clear answer.

The Source of the New Birth: God Alone (Monergism)

8:19 You will notice that our Lord states that the source of this new birth is nothing other than the living God Himself in the person and work of the Holy Spirit. This is why Jesus describes this birth in verse 6 as a birth of the Spirit. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.

8:48 And the Holy Spirit in His person and work is viewed as it were the womb out of which this spiritual birth comes. And therefore our Lord is teaching, teaching us that the source of this spiritual birth, the source of this new birth is God Himself and God alone. Now immediately we are head on into one of the most thorny controversies in the history of the Church. It is the controversy of monergism as opposed to synergism.

9:23 You say, now what in the world is that? Well, I'll explain to you. I never use words like that, 50 cent words without breaking it down into nickel words. Now, what is a monograph?

9:35 When you write something, graph, mono, something you produce. One man has produced it, alright? What is a monogram? It has your name on it, doesn't it?

9:46 Monergism, one energizing, one working. Synergism, synthetic, put together, synchronous, from the Greek word sun, which means with. It means more than one working, working together. And the great controversy that has plagued the Church throughout our history is this controversy between monergism, is salvation in all of its aspects the work of God and God alone, or is it the work of God plus man in terms of its efficient cause?

10:26 Well, our Lord teaches pure monergism in this passage. The issue that our Lord teaches is the one that the Apostle Paul, the Apostle, picks up and wrestles through with the Galatians. It's the issue that Augustine thrashed out with the heretics in his day, particularly Pelagius. It was the issue wrestled through with the Synod of Dort, with the Remonstrants.

10:48 It was the issue between the General and the particular Baptist there in England. It was the issue, in great part, between old school and new school theology here in America. And it's the issue before us this day. What is the source of the Nuber?

Evidence for Monergism: Direction, Term, and Person

11:04 And our Lord addresses himself to the issue very explicitly. Now let's break down his teaching into several very clear categories. First of all, notice what he says about the direction from which it comes. Then secondly, the term itself.

11:20 And thirdly, the person to whom this work is explicitly ascribed. Now the word our Lord uses for born again is a very flexible word. It's a word which is used frequently by John himself the word anothen. And it's translated in every other instance in John's writings as from above.

11:43 It speaks of direction. It's the word used in this chapter in verse 31. He that cometh from above is above all. It's used in chapter 19 verse 11 and chapter 19 in verse 23.

11:58 It's the word used when it speaks of the veil being rent from the top, from the above place to the bottom. It's the word James uses when he says, every good and every perfect gift cometh down from the Father of lights, cometh down from above from the Father of lights. In chapter 3 in verse 15 of James and only one other time in the New Testament is it translated again. That's in Galatians 4 and 9.

12:21 And so you have commentators and exegetes who battled over this issue should the proper rendering be except a man be born from above or born again. And those who take the position that it ought to be rendered born from above say the whole weight of general usage is on the side of born from above, therefore we ought to understand it born from above. Others say, no, the contextual consideration is that Nicodemus understood our Lord to mean born again. That's why he says, how can a man be born a second time?

12:53 Well, I frankly feel that the weight of the second class is a bit heavy and therefore I have read it to you as it appears in the 1901 edition, born anew. Born again. But it's one of those words by the very nature of its ambiguity could very well have been used by our Lord to convey the very concept that not only is there this repetition, born anew, there must be a second birth, but the very direction from which that birth comes. And if that was the intent of our Lord when he said, or used this word on of him, then what he was saying to Nicodemus is this, Nicodemus, you need a birth if you are to enter in and see the kingdom of God that will never come to you by looking within to the energy and abilities of your own natural man. Nicodemus, you need a spiritual birth that will never come from anything you can perform within. Nicodemus, you need a birth that will come not in any way connected with anything you can do without, in the ceremonies of religion or the activities of other men. Nicodemus, you need a spiritual rebirth that comes from God, and from God alone it comes from above.

14:10 In other words, Nicodemus had to be stripped of all hope within himself, either his blood lines, which were pure, he was a Pharisee, or his religious cultivation and training and all that was involved in that as we sought to expound certain aspects of it this morning. Nicodemus, the source of hope, Nicodemus, the source of this birth is outside of yourself. And that which needs to be told to men today, not just men in the world, in all of the stupor and ignorance of their raw cultured paganism, but within the evangelical church, is that it is not in the prerogative of men to effect the new birth, not in the sinner himself, nor in the manipulations of the personal worker, nor in the pleas of the preacher, nor in the incantations of the priest. This birth without which we cannot see and enter the kingdom is God's prerogative to give. And our Lord underscores it by pointing out the direction from which it comes. And secondly, the very term which he uses.

15:18 Now the word beget, which our Lord uses in this context, can refer either to the paternal function in conception. We read in the Old Testament, so and so begat so and so. Well, it's speaking of the man, speaking of the man. Well, he wasn't actually there on the delivery table bringing forth the child, but it says he begat.

15:37 That's the paternal function. Or it can refer to the maternal function, the actual bringing forth from the prenatal state into the world. But in either case, the analogy is clear. That which is begotten, whether we think of the father's function or the mother's, that which is begotten or born owes its existence to factors totally outside of itself.

16:04 You were born physically, not because at a certain point you decided to be born. You thought it was a nice idea that you ought to be conceived and gestate for nine months and then put in your appearance with a little squawk in a delivery room somewhere. No, no. You did not decide to be born.

16:21 As Professor Murray has said, commenting on this text, we were not begotten by our father because we decided to be. We were not born of our mothers because we decided to be. We were simply begotten and we were born. Now, you see, our Lord uses a term that underscores the source of the second birth.

16:44 It is a birth. It is a birth. And whatever is given life in birth owes that life completely to the activity of another. Now, it does not owe the sustaining of that life totally to the activity of another.

16:57 The loving providence, yes, but there comes a time when you must learn to hold a cup to your mouth and you must scratch for your own food and obtain your own sustenance in the sweat of your own brow. But the impartation of life we owe solely to the activity of another. And then our Lord underscores the source not only by pointing to the direction from which it comes, born from above, the term itself, born, begotten, but the person to whom this work is explicitly ascribed. Notice in verse 5, Except one be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

17:39 Verse 6, That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Now, notice the parallel. As the birth out of the flesh, that is, our human natural birth which had its overtones of sinful involvement in sin did my mother conceive me, that is, I was conceived a sinner. As that which is born out of the flesh excludes all influence of the Spirit, so the birth out of the Spirit excludes all influence of the flesh.

18:14 It is God's work. That which is born of the flesh owes its existence and its character and its nature to that which gave it birth. It is flesh that gave birth to flesh and flesh it will always be. In its blindness, in its bondage, in its rebellion, in all of those things that we saw this morning.

18:34 So likewise, that which is born of the Spirit partakes of the nature and the character of the Spirit. It owes its existence to the activity of the Spirit. And therefore, our Lord teaches again that the source of the new birth is God the Holy Spirit and God the Holy Spirit alone. You know what the key words in these verses are?

18:59 Only alone and one. As one man has said, two is the fatal number in theology. Signs are fatal in Christian theology. Precious words such as grace and faith and God are prostituted when you put anything after them other than the word only or alone.

19:29 No one who names the name of Christ would say that faith doesn't enter in somehow to our acceptance with God. Oh yes, we lay hold of God's provision. Faith has something to do with it. But you see, the great contention of the Apostle Paul in the book of Galatians is faith alone.

19:42 That's the great issue. That was the great issue of the Reformation. Not only is the issue faith alone, but grace alone, God alone. That's the great issue.

19:50 Monergism as opposed to synergism. God working sovereignly, powerfully, unilaterally and unilaterally and unilaterally and unilaterally and unilaterally and unilaterally and unilaterally and unilaterally and unilaterally and unilaterally born of God. That's the emphasis. Therefore, the source of the new birth is God's activity.

Biblical Affirmation of Monergism

20:12 Well, someone says, Pastor Martin, aren't you squeezing a little bit too much out of those verses? No, I don't think so. A preacher's job is not to squeeze anything out of the verse that isn't there. It's to open up what is there.

20:26 And I believe I've accurately and honestly opened up what's there. However, if we only found the truth asserted here and what I've said our Lord is teaching here did not accord anywhere, then we should have to ask the question, is there another possible understanding of the words of our Lord? But you see, just the opposite is true. When we turn to other portions of the word of God, we find that what I have said our Lord is teaching here is affirmed again and again in categorical statements.

20:55 Turn back to John, chapter 1. John, chapter 1, verse 11. He, the Lord Jesus, came unto His own and they that were His own fellow countrymen, His own Jewish countrymen. But as many as received Him, to them gave He the right to become the children of God, even to them that believe on His name who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

21:37 Now do you see what John is doing? He is saying that these two things cannot exist together as the ultimate source of spiritual birth. You cannot have a spiritual birth that has its roots in the efficient working of the will of man and also the efficient working of the will of God. He said, it's not this, not this, not this, but it is this.

22:03 And if you mix one of these into that, you've destroyed that. Oh, but you say, what about man? What's the text say? Yes, but what about whosoever?

22:16 What's the text say? What does this text say? What does it say? Look at it in your Bible.

22:21 It says, if you will attribute the new birth as being brought about by the activity of the human will, you have a new birth not recognized in the Bible. They were born not of blood, referring to their spiritual rebirth, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Again, the same truth is taught by James in James chapter 1, verse 18. Of his own will he begat us. The rendering of the authorized version, the 1901. He brought us forth by the word of truth. To whose will does James say our new birth is to be attributed?

23:24 By our will, deciding to accept Christ, we brought ourselves forth or we then gave God the green light to bring us forth. No such thing is taught. He says of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth. Now if this be the nature of the new birth as to its source, then the question I press upon the conscience of everyone present here tonight is this.

Pastoral Application: Examining the Source of Your Spiritual Life

23:53 Now you'll see how deeply religious is this issue. We're not just shouting up a storm in a theological teapot that has no practical implications. Listen. If this be the source of the new birth, the mighty, sovereign, unilateral activity of God, what is there about you as you sit here tonight that defies any explanation but that Almighty God has imparted life to you as a dead sinner?

24:20 What is there about you that defies any other explanation other than this? Almighty God has intervened in your life, imparted his own life. For that which is born of the Spirit partakes of the nature and character of that which gave it birth, just as surely as that which is born of the flesh partakes of the nature and character of that which gave it birth. More of that in a moment.

24:55 But I press the question upon your conscience. Nicodemus, you're an Orthodox Jew. Nicodemus, you're a zealous Jew. Nicodemus, you're an informed, active Jew.

25:06 You are externally moral and upright. You live a, quote, very Christian life. But Nicodemus, you can be explained in terms of the activity of the flesh. For the flesh is very religious.

25:20 The Apostle Paul was the counterpart of Nicodemus and outstripped him. But Nicodemus, there is nothing about your understanding of who God is. There is nothing about your understanding of who I, the Son of God, am. There is nothing about your understanding of the kingdom I've come to institute, a rule and reign of grace in the hearts of men.

25:41 There is nothing about you, Nicodemus, that cannot be explained in terms of natural phenomena, in terms of natural human effort and human desire and human influence. What about you, my friend? You've come into contact with the gospel. It's commended itself to your reason.

26:00 The standard of living by which the people of God govern themselves appeals to your sense of right and wrong and justice and uprightness. And so you have absorbed Christian standards and you've absorbed Christian notions very well. But I press the question upon your conscience. Do you have a view of Jesus Christ that defies any other explanation than that God has given you eyes to see the kingdom and its king?

26:25 Are there longings after holiness and desires after conformity to the image of Christ, a concern for His glory that bears no other explanation other than this? God has intruded. An imparted life. You see how practical is the teaching here?

26:45 If the source of the new birth is God's sovereign unilateral activity, then I must ask the question, O Lord, has He thus worked in me and upon me to give me life? That's another great implication with reference to our prayer lives. Do you believe that God and God alone can give life to dead sinners? Then your greatest activity with reference to the salvation of men is that which you do upon your knees, crying to that God that He who alone can give life to the dead would give them life.

27:22 It has great implications for evangelism, for preaching, for parental nurture. What is your hope that your children will be brought into the fold? Is it that if you catechize them regularly, family worship, pray with them, instruct them, take them to the house of God, then everything will just sort of turn out all right? It will turn out perfect little Nicodemus.

27:51 Just as blind and dead as he, a perfect little Pharisee who may even become teachers in the Israel of God. But they'll see nothing glorious in God. All they'll say is there's something special about Him. That's what Nicodemus said.

28:09 You're a man sent from God. Something special about you. But he didn't see Him as God sent to man. That's all your kids will say.

28:17 Something special about Jesus. That's all. They'll never see Him as God. Fall at His feet in their hearts and love Him and worship Him and count Him their most precious possession and be willing to live and to die for His sake.

28:32 Oh, dear parents, if you believe that God alone is the source of the new birth, the greatest ministry you have for your children is upon your knees. Not the only, but it's the greatest. Crying to God, Lord, give them life. We together gave them life in the flesh.

28:49 They are born of our flesh. Lord, Thou must give them life in the spirit. And the fact that they've got genetic connection with people who are in a state of grace doesn't put them one iota closer to the Kingdom of God apart from that new birth. It puts them in a greater place of privilege.

29:11 There's a greater prejudice in favor that they may ultimately be saved. But there is no genetical connection between flesh and spirit. It wasn't even true in the days of Israel. It's not true in the church.

29:30 There's a teaching that says if my children are born of me, a Christian parent, I may presume they shall be brought to grace because of that connection of genes. No, no, they are not born of blood but of God. Oh, what implications this has. And will be done with all the clever salesmanship techniques of evangelism because we have so many visitors, some of you who frequent the streets of Israel.

30:06 Lest we forget them, why do we stand aloof from the campaigns and the programs that are nothing but sales techniques applied to the gospel? It's because they focus upon getting man to do something rather than crying to God that he shall do something through the simple unadorned proclamation of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Well, we must hurry on to touch on some of the most important things that we have to do in our lives. The first thing I want to say is that we are not born of water but of the Spirit. We are not born of water but of the Spirit into the Kingdom of God. Born of water, that is, the character of this new birth, is to be recognized as a birth involving spiritual cleansing, born of the Spirit, a birth characterized by spiritual renewal. Now, what is this water?

The Character of the New Birth: Water and Spirit

31:32 Some of you have just been chomping at the subject of baptism. Is our Lord teaching as some have said He is teaching? Nicodemus, you, to see and enter the Kingdom, must submit to baptism, the baptism of John, which is now merging into Christian baptism, and also be born of the Spirit or you cannot see or enter the Kingdom of God without the baptism of the Spirit. So, this is the biblical reading of the appendix of Ryle's exposition of John 3, 1-8, in Ryle's Expository Thoughts on the Gospels. He has a most helpful treatment of this passage. It is a means of bringing about this spiritual rebirth. Also, Professor Murray in Redemption Accomplished and Applied does, I think, an excellent job in showing that our Lord is not making an explicit statement about baptism.

32:59 If those two source materials do not satisfy you, then come and we will spend the rest of our time with you. I hope you have a good time with me. I hope you have a good time with me. I hope you have a good time with me.

33:39 I hope we all have a good time today. I hope that our Lord has given us some tools that we can use if we have the right assumptions to make up a point in he chides Nicodemus for not being aware of this because he's the teacher in Israel, then there should be something quite obvious in the Old Testament Scriptures that would have helped Nicodemus to understand what Jesus meant when he said, you must be born of water, but a birth of water that subsists under the operation of the Spirit. For he uses in verse 6 just the Spirit. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born not of the water and of the Spirit is water and Spirit. Whatever this water is, it subsists

34:40 under the mighty operation of the Spirit. And I believe the key to opening up what our Lord meant is approaching it from the perspective of verse 10 and turning back then to Ezekiel 36 for what I deem to be the clearest Old Testament exposition, and then we'll turn forward to Titus chapter 3 for what I believe is the clearest New Testament exposition.

35:09 Ezekiel 36. Ezekiel 36. Beginning with verse 22. Ezekiel 36. Beginning with verse 22.

35:44 Ezekiel 36. Beginning with verse 22. Ezekiel 36. Beginning with verse 22.

36:16 Ezekiel 36. Beginning with verse 22. That's the curse of Phariseeism. Our Lord's not going to reestablish it. He's seeking to tear it down. This passage tells us that God has promised in the blessings of the new covenant a cleansing that will touch spiritual filthiness and idolatry. And then he goes on to say, a new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh, and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep mine ordinances and do them. You see the two elements here? There will be the sprinkling

37:30 of water unto inward purification. There will be the impartation of the spirit unto spiritual renewal. And I'm personally convinced that it's this very passage out of which our Lord gets the phrase, is born of water. And of the spirit. And think how this would come to the ears of Nicodemus. Here was the man who lived his life in the waters of ceremonial cleansing. Washing day and night pots and pans and cups and his person. And now Jesus says, you aren't clean enough yet. You aren't clean enough yet. You need a cleansing, Nicodemus, or you'll never see the kingdom, let alone enter it. He thought he was in the kingdom. And his cleansing got him in and kept him in. He was the separator.

38:20 He did one. The Lord says, no, no, no, no, Nicodemus. You need to be born of water. You need a birth that is in some way parallel to that which Ezekiel is saying. It is that birth of spiritual cleansing. You cannot purify yourself, and no ritual purification will ever take away that native pollution, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, Nicodemus. And no application of water or any other ceremony. Externals can ever cleanse you, Nicodemus. You need to be born of water. You need a birth characterized by spiritual cleansing, which only God himself can impart. Now the New Testament parallel, the clearest passage, I believe, is the Titus 3 passage. The Titus 3 passage, and I do not intend to give a detailed exposition, only to show the broad lines of parallel thought. Paul is exhorting Timothy to remind the Christians to be gentle gentle to sinners, not to clobber them on the head and to beat them into the ground because they're so obstinate and stubborn.

39:30 And he says, Timothy, if you just remember what you once were, that'll help you. Verse 3, we ourselves were foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lust and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love toward man appeared, not by works done in righteousness which we did ourselves, but according to His mercy He saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. Washing, renewing. Washing, renewing.

40:07 Which, both of which blessings He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior. Washing, renewal. What's the character of the new birth? I suggest in the light of this passage, it is characterized as a birth of spiritual cleansing and secondly, as a birth of spiritual renewal.

40:31 As the animating, life-giving Spirit, He will come to implant a principle of obedience. That's what He means when He says, I'll give a new heart. He doesn't mean He'll take out this physical organ. He doesn't mean He'll change us in our basic psychological construction as human beings.

40:46 But He says, at the spring of your being, as a man thinketh in his heart, so is the out of the heart. At the heart of the issues of life, at the deepest springs of what makes you, you, there will be a new principle of obedience. I will cause you to keep my statutes and to keep my judgments. It's what John calls in 1 John 3, 9, the divine seed.

41:08 Speaking of the Christian who cannot perpetually abandon himself to sin because his seed, the principle of divine life, remains within him. Now notice, both the cleansing and the renewal. Both are the operations of the Spirit. Hence, our Lord can summarize the teaching of verse 5 in the words of verse 6, that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.

41:35 Oh, my friend, what Nicodemus needed to know, you and I need to know, that we are totally unfit to see or enter the kingdom until God effects in us a spiritual birth characterized by cleansing and by renewal. By dealing with the pollution of our nature, and then by equipping us for the new life to which he calls us in Christ Jesus. And that brings us very quickly then,

The Result of the New Birth: Manifesting the Spirit's Life

42:07 I'll just enunciate the head and then we'll leave it to develop it next week, to the result of the new birth. For he says, now that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. In other words, when the Spirit has done this work of spiritual cleansing and renewal, there will be the evidence, of his work. As that which is born of the flesh manifests the character of flesh, if you're a parent, you know that it doesn't take long for the truth of verse 6 to be evident before your eyes.

42:40 There's only one time I ever would doubt the doctrine that that which is born of the flesh is flesh. That's when my children were sleeping. Only time. Now, I never had serious doubts, but you look at them lying there in their beds, even when they get quite old and you can remember some of the real outbreaks of sinful human nature, but they just look so innocent.

43:00 And you say, can that thing really be what God says it is? Well, just wait a half an hour after it's awake. Maybe half a minute in some cases. That which is born of the flesh is flesh.

43:11 And our children are a constant monument to the reality of that. A fleshy nature will manifest that nature in the total lifestyle that it lives. Now, in the same way, Jesus said, that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. When the Spirit has brought that cleansing and renewal, the life will manifest the transforming power of the Spirit.

Personal Examination: Have You Been Born of Water and the Spirit?

43:35 And God willing, in our next exposition, we'll look at just precisely how that comes to pass and what are the manifestations of that work. But tonight, let me close our study by bringing home to your conscience again this very personal question. Has God the Holy Spirit done this in you? Has He brought you to that birth of water and of the Spirit?

44:02 Has there been an application of the blood of Christ to your conscience by the power of the Spirit so that, fully aware of your pollution and defilement, you dare approach a holy God because you know that the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses from all sin? You see, some people feel at home with God because they are ignorant of two things, what they are and who God is. And if you are ignorant of how bad you are and how holy God is, you can feel at home with God. Anyone can.

44:34 But you get a true sight of who God is and what you are, and you wonder, who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings? That's the question of the prophet. And that's not a question about hell. That's a question about who among us sinful Israelites can dwell with a God who is a consuming fire.

44:53 And yet that God says, I will sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness and all your idols. And dear ones, that's the great truth to which we bear witness in baptism, among other things. As the old confession says, it is to be a sign unto the party baptized of His cleansing from sin. And as the baptismal waters engulf us and we rise again from that temporary burial, we now stand cleansed.

45:21 Symbolically, why? Because inwardly, personally, powerfully, the blood of Jesus Christ has been applied to the conscience and we are cleansed and we are renewed. Have you been born of the Spirit? Has there been the impartation of the life-giving power of God giving you a new heart?

45:42 Not only giving you the sense that sin is forgiven, but a longing that you shall no longer sin? And the two are always given together. Don't you tell me God's whispered peace and told you your sins are pardoned if the same God hasn't given you a longing to be done with your sin and to be a holy man or woman, boy or girl. God never speaks pardon without imparting the longing for holiness.

46:04 Born of water, cleansing. Born of the Spirit, renewal. God never gives one without the other. Now what about all these, quote, born-again Christians?

46:17 Saved by the blood. Saved, and I know it. But I'm just a carnal Christian. I'm not surrendered.

46:26 I'm not yielded. You see what that's saying? That's saying they're born of water but not of the Spirit. Yes, it is.

46:35 It's saying you can be born of water, cleansing, but not of the Spirit. Renewal. No, no. Unless you're born of water and the Spirit, you cannot see, you cannot enter the kingdom.

46:45 Oh, my friend, are you born of water and of the Spirit? If not, I plead with you this night. Give yourself no rest until you are. You say, where shall I look?

The Instrumental Means: The Gospel

46:55 Well, we've told you that. The source is God. As we'll see in our last study, the instrumental means is the preaching of the gospel. That's why our Lord ends in verses 14 and 15, He begins by saying, you must be born again.

47:06 He ends by saying, the Son of Man must be lifted up. He begets us of his own will, but it's by the word of truth. If you're serious about the new birth, you better get serious about the gospel. The gospel of the glory of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Concluding Exhortation: Gratitude and Spirit-Led Living

47:15 Dear child of God, have you been able to answer with some degree of joy in your own heart? Yes. God has done something in me that better than anyone else. And I'm going to do it.

47:22 I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it.

47:26 I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. With some degree of joy in your own heart, yes, God has done something in me that bears no explanation but his own work.

47:39 I do believe I've been born of water and of the Spirit. My friend, trace back how you were brought to that place. Somewhere along the line, you know where you're going to find yourself? Standing at the foot of Calvary.

47:51 God brought the message of God's redeeming grace in Jesus Christ before you. For he pours out these blessings abundantly through you. Jesus Christ, our Savior. You should bless him tonight that ever he brought the gospel into the sphere and orbit of your concern.

48:11 That he ever moved your heart to show an interest and a concern in that gospel. That he ever brought you to see your desperate need of him who died upon that cross and rose again. May God stir us up in a renewed sense of gratitude that we shall live as men and women, boys and girls, who are born of God, manifesting the life of the Spirit who gave us life. If ye live by the Spirit, Paul says, by the Spirit, let us also walk.

48:44 Let us pray.