Wednesday, March 9,
2016, 12:00 noon – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “Your Servant Witness.” Speak, Lord,
your words to my heart. I read John
3:1-21 (ESV).
Born of The Spirit
(vv. 1-8)
Now
there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 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.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again
he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 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?” 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. Do not marvel
that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 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.”
If we want to have the promise of heaven when we die, have
eternal life with God both now and forevermore, enter into his eternal kingdom,
be delivered out of slavery to sin, and escape eternal damnation, as well as
have a vital and personal relationship with Almighty God, we must be born
again. So, what does it mean to be born again?
When we are born into this world, we are born of the flesh,
of a woman. That is physical birth, which is of water. When we are born
physically, we are born with sin natures, separate from God, and destined for
hell. We come up short of attaining God’s divine approval because of our sin.
Nothing we can do in our flesh can ever gain us heaven or salvation from sin or
eternal life with God. We can’t earn our own salvation nor can we ever do
anything that would make us deserving of heaven. Our good will never outweigh
our bad. And, we can never keep all the law with 100% perfection.
So, God the Father sent his Son Jesus Christ to the earth to
die on a cross for our sins. He who knew no sin became sin for us so that we
might be delivered out of sin and have eternal life. When he died, our sins
died with him, and were buried with him. When he was resurrected from the dead,
he rose victorious over sin, Satan, hell and death. Through his death and
resurrection, he provided the way for us to delivered out of slavery to sin, from
the curse of sin, and from eternal damnation, and he freed us to now walk in
his holiness and righteousness. By God’s grace, through faith in Jesus Christ,
we no longer have to pay the penalty of our sin, for Jesus paid what we owed
with his blood. Through faith in Jesus Christ we now have the righteousness of
Jesus Christ credited to our accounts, so we are now free from sin, and we have
been given new lives in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
This, described above, is new birth. This is what it means
to be born again, of the Spirit. God the Father draws us to Jesus Christ, we
are convicted of our sin and of our need of the Savior, and so we choose to
believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives. The Lord grants us
repentance and the faith to believe, and so we turn away from our former lives
of living for sin and self, and we turn to follow Jesus Christ with our lives,
in obedience to what he teaches us through his Word. When we believe in Jesus,
we are crucified with Christ, of the Spirit, in death to sin, and we are
resurrected with Christ in newness of life, “created to be like God in true
righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24). The old has gone. The new has come. We
are now born again, not of the flesh, but of the Spirit.
Do You Not
Understand? (vv. 9-15)
Nicodemus
said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the
teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 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. If I have told you earthly things and you
do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has
ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And
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.
Although the gospel message is quite clear, and it was well
articulated by Jesus Christ, and by his New Testament apostles, and even though
many ministers of the gospel have studied the scriptures, and should know what
it means to be born again, still many of them do not adhere to the full gospel
message, but they teach what is pleasing to itching ears. They teach a
half-truth or a diluted gospel message which requires no repentance, no turning
from sin, and no obedience to Christ’s teachings. In other words, they ignore a
large majority of scriptural teaching on the gospel, because it does not fit
with their lifestyles. They do not teach the crucified life of death to sin and
living to righteousness. Their idea of belief in Jesus Christ sounds more like
a mere intellectual assent to what he did for us in dying for our sins, or an
emotional response to the hope of escaping hell, and having the promise of
heaven when we die, yet based on a mere profession of faith.
Yet, being “born again” is not a mere escape from hell and
promise of heaven when we die. Being born again means we are being given new
life, a transformed life of the Spirit of God. We don’t add Jesus Christ on to
our old lives and expect that we can just slowly change a little at a time
according to our own timetable, and according to what suits us and our
lifestyles. Paul said that when we believe in Jesus Christ that our old lives
of sin are done away with so that we can live our new lives in the Spirit. Peter
said that Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. Paul
said that Jesus died that we might no longer live for ourselves, but for him
who gave himself up for us. He said that the righteous requirement of the law
is fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh, but who conduct our
lives according to the Spirit. If we walk according to the flesh, we will die,
but if by the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of the flesh, we will
live. Being “born again” means we don’t live like we lived before. We now live
in the Spirit, not according to our sinful flesh.
Whoever Believes
(vv. 16-21)
“For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him
should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the
world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through
him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is
condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of
God. 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. For
everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light,
lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the
light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in
God.”
When I was a child, I memorized John 3:16, as well as many
other key scripture verses related to our eternal salvation, most of which were
taken out of context, which in some cases did not provide full understanding of
the message intended.
Many people claim that if they just “believe” in Jesus
Christ that they now have the promise of heaven guaranteed, no matter what they
do from this moment on, no matter how they conduct their lives, and even if
they would choose later on to not believe. But, is that what is intended here?
And, what do they really mean by “believe” when they present a gospel message
that results in no spiritual transformation and no new birth of the Spirit in
someone’s life? If all we do is say we believe, or we repeat after someone
certain words, and then someone congratulates us on having just received
eternal salvation, is that true belief? Are we truly born again? Or, is this
all smoke and mirrors?
If we look at the Greek tense of the word “believe,” we will
learn that the word is present tense and should be translated, “whoever
believing in him…” What this means is that we have to believe today, and
tomorrow, and continue believing until we die, or until Jesus returns if we
want to have eternal life. Eternal life is not promised on the basis of past
belief, only on present belief. Also, if I claim to believe in something or someone,
it means I put my trust in them. Remember that James said that even the demons
believe, and they shudder. Many who claim to know Jesus have no fear of God at
all. And, their belief is surface level only, as they are just looking to
escape punishment. They are not looking to honor and worship and serve the
Living God.
As well, if I truly believe Jesus died so that I could be
delivered out of slavery to sin, and so I can walk daily in his righteousness,
which is what scripture teaches as the reason he died, then I am not going to
continue to live a sinful lifestyle. If I do, then scripture says my profession
of faith is a lie, and that I don’t really know God. It teaches that I will
die, not live with God for eternity. When I come before God one day, he will
tell me that he never knew me, even though I tell him that I “prayed the
prayer,” and was told I had heaven guaranteed. So, I better know what scripture
teaches, and I had better stop listening to all these liars and deceivers, i.e.
these wolves in sheep’s clothing who are convincing so many, many people that
they can “believe” and go to heaven when they die, but that they don’t have to
turn from their sins, and they don’t have to obey Christ’s teachings.
Ok, now back to what I said previously about taking
scriptures out of context. Look and see how this passage of scripture describes
one who truly believes in Jesus, versus those who do not believe. The one who
does not believe hates the light (truth, righteousness), because his deeds are
evil, so he will not come into the light. These would be those who say they don’t
have to repent, i.e. that they don’t have to turn away from their sins and they
don’t have to obey Jesus Christ, and that God is pleased with them no matter what
they do. But, the one who truly believes comes into the light, and embraces the
light, and desires to live by and walk by the light of Christ, i.e. by his
righteousness and holiness, and his deeds bear witness to this fact. This would
be one who is truly “born again,” because his life would reflect that he no
longer walks in the darkness, but he now walks in the Light. Amen!
Your Servant Witness
/ An Original Work / March 13, 2012
Humbly I bow, Lord, before You,
Bringing my requests to You.
May I listen; hear You
speaking.
May I follow You in truth.
Gently lead me in Your service.
Guide my steps and strengthen
me.
Fill me with Your love and
mercy.
May I live for Thee!
Let me be Your servant witness,
Telling others of Your grace.
May I always share the gospel
With those I meet face to face.
May I show the love of Jesus,
Caring for the needs of men;
Be Your servant witness always
For my Lord, Amen!
My desire to be like Jesus,
Living for Him ev’ry day.
May I obey all His teachings
Given me, so I’ll not stray.
Love You, Jesus, Lord, my
master.
You are the King of my heart;
Follow You where’er You lead
me;
Not from You depart!
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