John 3:1-8
The work of the Trinity is displayed in the salvation of sinners.
In John chapter 3, we see the love of God the Father, the sacrifice of God the Son, and the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing us to new birth.
Nicodemus, a respected Jewish teacher, came to see the Lord Jesus at night to find out more about Him.
He discovered some very important truths that night. He learned that being religious does not guarantee a place in heaven. The Lord Jesus told him that to enter the kingdom of God, a person had to be born again.
Why must we be born again?
There is good reason to believe that Nicodemus became a follower of Christ. His attitude to the Lord Jesus in the face of hostile Jewish leaders and the fact that he assisted Joseph of Arimathea in the burial of Jesus indicate that he became a Christian.
The new spiritual birth is vital for salvation.
Have we been born again?
We must be born again.
The work of the Trinity is displayed in the salvation of sinners.
In John chapter 3, we see the love of God the Father, the sacrifice of God the Son, and the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing us to new birth.
Nicodemus, a respected Jewish teacher, came to see the Lord Jesus at night to find out more about Him.
He discovered some very important truths that night. He learned that being religious does not guarantee a place in heaven. The Lord Jesus told him that to enter the kingdom of God, a person had to be born again.
Why must we be born again?
- Because of our sinful human nature.
We are born of the flesh and we are all sinners by nature. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. - Because of our spiritual blindness.
Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. - Because our eternal destiny depends upon it.
Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
To be in the kingdom of God means to have eternal life and inexpressible joy.
To be out of the kingdom means to perish, having the wrath of God upon us.
On the Day of Judgment, those who are not born again will wish that they had never been born at all!
There is good reason to believe that Nicodemus became a follower of Christ. His attitude to the Lord Jesus in the face of hostile Jewish leaders and the fact that he assisted Joseph of Arimathea in the burial of Jesus indicate that he became a Christian.
The new spiritual birth is vital for salvation.
Have we been born again?
We must be born again.
Isn’t it odd that if Baptists and evangelicals are correct that their “born again experience” is the true and ONLY means of salvation, the term “born again” is only mentioned three times in the King James Bible? If “making a decision for Christ” is the only means of salvation, why doesn’t God mention it more often in his Word? Why only THREE times? Isn’t that REALLY, REALLY odd?
ReplyDeleteWhy is it that the Apostle Paul, the author of much of the New Testament, NEVER uses this term? Why is this term never used in the Book of Acts to describe the many mentioned Christian conversions? Why is this term only used by Jesus in a late night conversation with Nicodemus, and by Peter once in just one letter to Christians in Asia Minor?
If you attend a Baptist/evangelical worship service what will you hear? You will hear this: “You must be born again: you must make a decision for Christ. You must ask Jesus into your heart. You must pray to God and ask him to forgive you of your sins, come into your heart, and be your Lord and Savior (the Sinner’s Prayer). You must be an older child or adult who has the mental capacity to make a decision to believe, to make a decision to repent, and to make a decision to ask Jesus into your heart.”
It is very strange, however, that other than “you must be born again” none of this terminology is anywhere to be found in the Bible! Why do Baptists and evangelicals use this non-biblical terminology when discussing salvation?
Maybe "accepting Christ into your heart" is NOT what being born again really means. Maybe…making a “decision” for Christ is NOT how God saves sinners!
Gary
Luther, Baptists, and Evangelicals