Sermon for HCBC (12 July 2020). To listen use the audio player below or click here. Also available on your favorite podcast app (“Hunting Creek Baptist Church”).
In John 3, a Pharisee named Nicodemus comes to Jesus. He’s looking for answers. He wants to know what is real.
Jesus reveals the core problem of humanity in v. 3. Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” The word translated “again” seems to be a deliberate ambiguity. It has a double meaning. It can either mean “again” or “above.” So interpreters have wrestled with whether this means “born again” or “born from above.” This is probably intentional, but “again” stands out in Nicodemus’s question about being born a second time.
Let these words sink in for a minute. Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. He is incapable of seeing the kingdom of God. This is the extent of our problem. Without a radical rebirth we remain blind. When I emphasize that Christianity is not about what we do or what we offer to God this is what I’m talking about. We are absolutely unable unless God does something for us.
Now I hope that might change your perspective. Any sense of self-righteousness or pride should be obliterated. Why? Because we aren’t responsible for the new birth. One of the dangerous ideas in so much of what passes as Christian thinking is that what we really need to do is be a better person. Do you see that that isn’t what the Bible says? Unless he is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. This is why moralism is a dead end. It can’t produce a new birth.
What is the kingdom of God? No doubt our mind immediately thinks heaven, but that is incorrect. The kingdom of God refers to God’s reign and jurisdiction. Experiencing the kingdom of God begins at the new birth. New birth is to be brought into God’s way of life, to see that way with clear eyes and understanding, to see the way things are.
Nicodemus understands how challenging this language is. Verse 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?” How is this possible?
Jesus answers in v. 5: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Notice he offers some clarification. What is the new birth? It is a birth of water and the Spirit. Unless this happens he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Doing good things cannot bring us into life with God. We need a birth of water and the Spirit.
The most difficult aspect of Jesus’s statement is the part about water. This has been debated from the beginning. Some see this as an obvious reference to baptism, and there is certainly a loose connection to it. But the mere act of passing someone through water does not produce the new birth. A better interpretation is that this is language about the new covenant.
In the OT, God promised to do something new to transform his people. In this promise, God takes the initiative, and God does the necessary work. Listen to Ezek 36:25–27:
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. 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. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
Water, then, is a reference to God’s cleansing and purifying work. How does that happen? Through Jesus’s death and resurrection. Second Corinthians 5:21: “He who knew no sin became sin that we might become the righteousness of God.” How are we pure and righteous? Through an exchange. Jesus becomes sin for our sakes. That’s how we are washed.
In 1 Cor 6:11, Paul gives a long list of what we call sins. But then he says, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God.” He does not say, “You were like that but now you’ve cleaned yourself up.” He says, “You were washed.” That means somebody else washed you. “You were sanctified.” That is, someone else made you holy. “You were justified.” That is, you were made righteous. We did nothing. How is that possible? “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God.” When we talk about salvation, we are talking about something that God does unilaterally—without our help. The Father chooses, the Son accomplishes, and the Spirit seals. And like a newborn baby, we contribute nothing.
This is what it means to be saved or born again. Look at v. 6: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Our best efforts leave us blind, but the Spirit’s work produces something new.
This is hard to take because it makes us completely powerless. It strips us from our pride. It means counting on our religious activity means absolutely nothing. And Jesus says this to Nicodemus in v. 7: “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’”
Then he gives this analogy in v. 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.” Now there’s a wordplay because the word for wind and spirit is only one word in the biblical languages. What is the comparison here? The wind can’t be seen. Likewise, the activity of the Spirit is invisible. But notice, the wind blows where it wishes. In other words, the wind acts of its own initiative. So it is with the Spirit. The Spirit accomplishes the new birth.
How? The Spirit accomplishes this new birth by opening our eyes to the gospel. This is clear in the next series of verses. Nicodemus struggles with what Jesus has said. And Jesus says, “You don’t understand these things because you reject me.” That’s why he says this in vv. 14–15: “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.” Jesus is talking about an episode in the book of Numbers where the Israelites are spared God’s judgment. He’s saying his death will accomplish the same—namely, freedom from judgment. The Spirit opens our eyes to see the worth and value of Jesus. The Spirit opens our eyes to see our inability and deadness. The Spirit opens our eyes to see the worthlessness of our good works. This is why salvation is entirely on the basis of faith or trust. Do you trust what Jesus has done? Do you see his work as sufficient? Or are you still relying on your own efforts? Your answers to those questions are the difference between the person who has been born again and one who has not.
Now we might feel a bit like Nicodemus and say, “How can these things be?” You may think I’m making stuff up. Let me show you this clearly in one more passage. Second Corinthians 4.
The context for this passage is the difference between believers and unbelievers. Paul talks about those who read the OT without Christ. He says their minds are hardened and a veil lies over their hearts. Then he says this in 3:16: “But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.” Then v. 17: “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” Do you see it? The Spirit removes the veil. That is freedom. So where do we get vision? From the Spirit. Trying to reconcile ourselves to God apart from Christ is like trying to find a diamond in a dark cave without a flashlight.
But there’s more than just our own inability. Someone blinds us. Look at 4:3–4: “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” The god of this world blinds us so that we can’t see the light. Now I remind you of what Paul said just verses before. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.” Freedom from what? Freedom from the blindness. Freedom from the god of this world.
Here is the question you need to be able to answer without absolute clarity. What can you do to gain freedom? Nothing. Only Christ can free you. The Spirit opens our eyes to the gospel.
If the Spirit opens our eyes to the gospel, this means the Spirit enables us to worship. Right? Our natural state is blind, rejecting the things of God, dull, oblivious, apathetic. But the Spirit opens our eyes to see the gospel with blinding clarity. We see the depth of our sin and the sufficiency of Jesus’s death. The Spirit of God enables us to worship.
Let me offer you a diagnostic. Do the things of God thrill your heart? Does the gospel overwhelm you and lead you to worship? Your answer to those questions will say something about the state of your vision. If you find no real worship in your heart, that may be a sign of blindness. Your religion is likely keeping you in the dark. Only the light of the gospel can restore your sight. If you are bored with the things of God, if they are far less interesting than politics or sports, let’s say, this may be a warning sign. Listen to 1 Cor 2:14: “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” Only the Spirit can open your eyes.
Ask yourself: can I identify the work of the Spirit in my life? Do I rejoice in the gospel? Do I worship Jesus? Do I desire to obey him? Am I growing in holiness? Am I interested in knowing God? Do I have an increasing love for his Word? His people? These are evidences that the veil has been removed.
Let me say one more thing. The work of the Spirit produces worship. This worship produces unbreakable joy. Let’s think through a section in 1 Peter 1. Verse 3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” Notice this phrase “he has caused us to be born again.” It’s very close language to John 3, and it also confirms God’s unilateral work in our salvation.
Then Peter talks about rejoicing in this living hope. Verse 6: “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials.” So even in difficulties, there is joy. Why? That’s in v. 7. These trials produce a key result. “So that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” The goal is the praise, glory, and honor of Jesus Christ. That is a life of worship. That is joy to see Jesus glorified.
Finally, there’s v. 8: “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.” Is this your experience? Unbreakable love and joy in Jesus? As I warned last week, cold Christianity is dead. It is at home in the morgue not the empty grave.
But the sign of life is a heart beating for the gospel. It is worshiping the living God. It is loving him and rejoicing in him. John 6:63: Jesus says, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” The Spirit empowers us to worship.