John 3:5 Jesus
replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being
born of water and the Spirit.”
The
whole Nicodemus encounter of John chapter 3 has always fascinated and drawn me to a
deeper understanding of how, and how not, one gets into heaven. The notion that
“everyone goes to heaven”,(like Jesus just gives us a some “get out of jail
free card” with no string attached) is immediately expelled as the prerequisite of
being “born again” is laid out by the Lord. It’s easy to see that Nicodemus was
confused the night when Jesus first spoke of the necessity of the new birth and
then equated it with the symbol of baptism. I didn’t understand that there was
more to it either.
I read how Christ then indicated that the reality in both was the supernatural work of God, the Holy Spirit. “Except a man be born of water [that is, the Spirit], he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” Without the full and complete gospel message, rebirth, spiritual birth, “born from above”, is a foreign concept. The miracle of regeneration is thus a work of the Spirit, and just as “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” - John 3:8. It is not some soul-winning methodology but the Holy Spirit who does the work, and He (like the invisible wind) may work in a great variety of different ways.
I read how Christ then indicated that the reality in both was the supernatural work of God, the Holy Spirit. “Except a man be born of water [that is, the Spirit], he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” Without the full and complete gospel message, rebirth, spiritual birth, “born from above”, is a foreign concept. The miracle of regeneration is thus a work of the Spirit, and just as “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” - John 3:8. It is not some soul-winning methodology but the Holy Spirit who does the work, and He (like the invisible wind) may work in a great variety of different ways.
This
work of the Holy Spirit in bringing salvation to the unsaved is so great and so
complex that it must be described in a variety of figures to convey the whole
reality. In the first place, He must bring conviction of sin and the need of
salvation. “When he is come, he will
reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” John 16:8. Then, as the sinner
repents and believes on Christ, the Spirit baptizes him into Christ. “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into
one body” – 1 Corinthians 12:13.
As a member of Christ’s body, he is made a partaker of Jesus’ resurrection
life. Simultaneously, “And you also were
included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the
gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the
promised Holy Spirit” – Ephesians
1:13, and “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”
– 1 Corinthians 3:16. All of this
becomes the mighty miracle of spiritual birth; not
by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He
saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” - Titus 3:5.
Does that make sense?
Does that make sense?
Blessings
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