The Alex McFarland Show-118-You Must Be Born Again

The spiritual condition of America, politics, culture, and current events, analyzed through the lens of Scripture.

Welcome to the Alex McFarland Show. A great British preacher, Charles Spurgeon, once said, I have a great need for the Savior. Fortunately, I have a great Savior for my need. Hi, Alex McFarland here, and I want to share something from John chapter 3, certainly one of the most famous Scriptures in the New Testament. The story of Jesus visiting with Nicodemus and talking about the necessity of being born again. You know, we live in a world where throughout history people have recognized the struggle between good versus evil.

Not only culturally and in the world, but just within ourselves personally. Over and over we talk about how to break bad habits or why we have behavioral patterns that we wish we could get out of. And Paul talked about it in Romans chapter 7. He said, wretched man that I am, that which I don't want to do, I do, and the things I know I should do, I don't do. And Paul asked the agonizing question I think that many people have struggled with, who shall deliver me from this body of death? Well, it's not just a bad habit.

It's not just a personality quirk. We have a problem called sin. S-I-N, sin. In the New Yorker magazine recently, there was a cartoon of a man standing at the pearly gates, and with a stern look, St. Peter has a big book open. And the man is pleading with St. Peter, and he says, those weren't lies, I told.

We just called that spin. Well, we can rationalize and call things a lot of things and try to justify our behavior. But the Bible is clear that if we want to go to heaven, if we want to be with God in eternity, if we want to be saved and avoid judgment, hell. Yes, hell is in the Bible. The Bible gives promises about salvation, glorious assurances of heaven. However, there are also stark, stern warnings about hell. Because God loves you, and God does not want you to go to hell, but to be with him in heaven.

And it's not turning over a new leaf or New Year's resolutions that we need. We must be saved from sin. And in John chapter 3, let me read this, and to my knowledge, I've never done a show on John 3 before, but I just feel like this is such a need for people searching, groping, and desiring to have peace with God.

You can have peace with God. And there was a man 2,000 years ago that wanted peace with God, Nicodemus. John 3 says there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man could do the miracles that you do unless God be with him. Now it's been said very famously, Vance Havner, the great minister that led Billy Graham into evangelism, but Nicodemus had money, morals, and manners.

In other words, the Sanhedrin, they were a group of 70, really kind of the Senate or Congress of the Jewish religious leaders, and to be a member of the Sanhedrin was a real honor. And Nicodemus, outwardly, he had all of the accoutrements of what would speak of morality, religion, leadership, godliness. But in verse 3 of John chapter 3, Jesus just gets right to the point. Jesus answered. Jesus didn't say, oh, you know, thank you for the flattery of calling me a miracle working teacher.

No, you know, he gets right to the point. Verily, verily, I say unto you, unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Now let's talk for a moment about what born again means.

It means born from above. We talked about it from 1 Thessalonians 5, 23, and 24. We are body, soul, and spirit. Sarx, psyche, pneuma. Sarx, that's our physical body.

We get the word sarcophagus, a burial box. We know what our body is, our flesh, our tissue. But then psyche, that's the mind. And we often say that, you know, we have a body and a soul, but really, soul is your mind, your intellect, your emotions, your will.

And then there is pneuma. Pneumatology is, we get the word like pneumatic, air, wind, but the breath of God. The Bible says that God breathed into Adam the breath of life, and man became a living soul. So what happens when you come to Jesus? Your pneuma, your spirit, is regenerated, made alive. Then as we grow in the word and the Lord reorients our thinking, and because every action is preceded by a thought, as our mind is renewed, our behavior changes. And of course the Holy Spirit of God is working on us through all of this.

And so here's how the order of complete salvation works. The minute you put your faith in Christ, your pneuma, your spirit, is made alive. And that's what it is to be born again in John 3-3, born from above. Then throughout your life, that's why we go to church, that's why we read the Scripture. As Paul says in Romans 12, 1 and 2, our mind is renewed, cleaned up, just like you've got to sweep out the house and spring cleaning. Well, we need our heart and our mind and our emotions cleaned up and strengthened and restored.

And what's so beautiful is, as you grow in the Lord, not only do you acquire knowledge of truth, you apprehend truth, but you find yourself feeling joy. See, emotions follow intellect. Really, the way you feel is shaped by what you believe is true. And see, the thing is, we believe a lot of things that aren't true.

We are prone to think, oh, things will never get better. Or we think, I'm this way, my family is this way, that's just who we are. No, you don't have to be who you think you were. You can become who Jesus Christ says you are, a victor in Christ, sons and daughters of the King, joint heirs, names written in the Lamb's Book of Life. And so Jesus saves the whole person, spirit, soul, and body. Now, we've got to take a brief break in just a moment, but I think it's wonderful how in John 3, Jesus says, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Now, Luke, who wrote the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, he says this as he is writing. He says, having had perfect understanding from above. And the Greek word is anothon, a-n-o-t-h-e-n. Having had perfect understanding from God above, I wrote Luke and Acts. That's the very same word that John uses here in John 3-3.

You must be born from above, anothon. Now, outward formality, religion, ritual, that's fine. That does not save your fallen spirit. The only way your spirit can be washed clean, regenerated, made alive, forgiven, saved, is through a relationship with Jesus.

You can be the most moral, upright citizen and go through all the motions outwardly. But Jesus says, and we'll come back after this brief break, unless a person is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Fortunately, that new birth, like Jesus himself, is as close by as a prayer. Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland a religion and culture expert. Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this.

While also empowering the unchurched to find out the truth for themselves. In the midst of a culture obsessed with relativism, Alex is a sound voice who speaks timeless truths of Christianity in a timely way. With 18 published books to his name, it's no surprise that CNN, Fox, The Wall Street Journal, and other media outlets have described Alex as a religion and culture expert. To learn more about Alex and to book him as a speaker at your next event, visit alexmcfarland.com or you can contact us directly by emailing booking at alexmcfarland.com.

He's been called trusted, truthful and timely. Welcome back to The Alex McFarland Show. Welcome back to the program.

Alex McFarland here, so honored that you're listening. We're going through John chapter 3. And before the break, we were talking about how Jesus told Nicodemus, you must be born again. Now, very famously, Nicodemus asked the question in John 3, verse 4, how can a man be born when he is old? See, the answer to this question is, how can a man be born when he is old?

See, the idea of being born again was foreign to him. And Jesus says, unless a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Now, in the ancient world, water was very foundational. It was the fundamental, basic thing. And in the Jewish mindset, you know, the Greeks thought that water was the most foundational of every element. In the Jewish mind, because they had the creation story in Genesis, how God spoke the world into existence, and the heaven and earth were separated by water initially.

So water is very foundational. Well, in human life, obviously, there has to be physical birth. We are here because we were conceived, gestated, and born. But Jesus says to go to heaven, you must also be born of the Spirit, not just born physically. And verse 6, Jesus says, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Marvel not that I say unto you, you must be born again. Now, the birth of the Spirit. God's Holy Spirit. Here's how the Holy Spirit ministers in the salvation transaction. There's conviction, and there's drawing, and there's conversion. All right, right now, as you listen to this, if you're feeling, you know, I really need to make sure that I'm right with God, that's the Holy Spirit drawing you to Jesus. You're thinking about the state of your soul. Well, if you're desiring to be right with God, that's not the world, the flesh, or the devil.

See, that evil triumvirate. The Bible says the world, a fallen world, there's our own flesh that's sinful, and then there's the devil. If you're even desiring to get straight with God, that's the Holy Spirit calling you. I've had people say to me, they'll say, I want to know that I'm saved, but I'm too sinful. No, if you're even thinking about salvation, that's because God the Holy Spirit is drawing you.

So obviously you can be saved if you will turn to Jesus Christ. Now, we can't see the internal regenerative work of the Holy Spirit with the naked eye, but we see the effects of it. In verse 8, Jesus says the wind blows where it wants to, and you can hear the sound of it, but you can't see where it comes or where it goes. So is everyone born of the Spirit. In other words, you can't see the wind, but as Billy Graham said, you can see the effect of the wind, right? And you don't see the Holy Spirit coming upon a person, but you see the effects of it, a changed life, a joyful spirit.

You know, I've seen countless people come to Christ, praise God. Sometimes there's weeping and tears. Sometimes there's a lot of emotion.

Sometimes somebody will be very stoic and staid, and there's just no visible emotion. But here's what happens. In our heart and our soul, we admit that we're a sinner, and we realize that the judgment for sin, we actually deserve it. Yes, we've known the right, we've done the wrong, we've betrayed our conscience, we've disobeyed Almighty God. We deserve judgment.

Let's be honest. That's why salvation is grace. We don't really deserve God's favor, and yet even right this minute, God is offering you his favor. God says, I love you. God says, you matter to me.

Please believe this, everybody. You matter to Almighty God. But Jesus says, if you want to go to heaven, and Jesus wants you in heaven, but you must be born again.

And so it's not emotion, emotionalism. It's not outward reformation or trying to be good or people that they'll frequently say, Mr. McFarland, I've really tried to start obeying the Ten Commandments. Super. That's great. That's not what gets you saved. What gets you saved is saying, Lord Jesus, I put my faith in you. Dear Jesus, please wash my sins away. I believe you died on that cross for me, and Lord, I'm putting my trust in you.

If you'll do that today, Jesus will save you. By the way, on the website, alexmcfarland.com, there's a tab, and it simply says, what does God say? And there's a booklet we've given to a quarter million people, and I couldn't tell you how many thousands have downloaded the PDF of it, but it says, what does God say about my relationship with Him? And I would encourage you to go there and read this, because God's Word explains the message of salvation. God's Word explains how we have assurance of our salvation. 1 John 5.13, Jesus said of the Gospel and the message, listen, 1 John 5.13, these things were written to you who believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know you have eternal life.

Isn't that wonderful? You can know, K-N-O-W, certain knowledge, absolute assurance. And so it goes on in John 3, verse 9, Nicodemus answers Jesus and says, how can these things be? You know, I'm wanting to believe, but it's just, you know, I can put my trust in the Messiah and be born again. You know, Jesus says, and it's kind of humorous in John 3, verse 10, are you a teacher of Israel and you don't know these things? Listen, somebody could be in the ministry and not have been born again. Maybe you're a Bible scholar, my goodness.

I appreciate education, but I've talked with PhDs, even PhDs that are in seminaries in graduate schools, that they have religion, but they don't yet have a relationship with Jesus Christ. And Jesus says in verse 11 and 12, we speak what we do know and testify what we have seen, and yet you're not receiving what I'm telling you. And by the way, do you know there's a connection between someone accepting what God says about creation and what God says about eternity? Jesus says, if I've told you earthly things and you don't believe, how shall you believe if I tell you of heavenly things? See, I've had Christians who will say, well, I believe the New Testament about salvation, but I don't believe Genesis about creation. I'm going to believe Jesus about salvation, but I'm going to believe Charles Darwin about our origin.

No, it can't be that way. If you're going to trust what God says about heaven, you ought to trust what Almighty God says about earth. And the three big questions with which all humans grasp, origin, purpose, destiny. Where did we come from? Why are we here? And where am I going?

A big part of the reason that denominations, some churches, many schools, some individuals, they get liberal and they fall away from belief in Jesus because for one thing, they rejected belief in what God in His Word says about creation. But let's get back to John chapter 3. We have a brief break. Stay tuned. We'll come back and talk about the most important subject that you'll ever ponder. Salvation, the Savior, and the state of your soul. Don't go away. Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland a religion and culture expert.

Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this. In recent years, our nation has suffered greatly and we seem to be on a rapid moral decline. We've rejected God, morality, and we've almost completely lost our sense of patriotism. It's no wonder that many are asking the question, is this the end of America? Hi, Alex McFarland here, and I want to make you aware of my book, The Assault on America, How to Defend Our Nation Before It's Too Late. You know, our nation has seen politicians that are corrupted by greed and they've got a vested interest in power, and many of our elected officials seem to care little about the country.

That they've been appointed to serve. Read my book, The Assault on America. We can stand up for our great nation and defend America before it's too late.

It's available everywhere. You can learn more on my own website, which is alexmcfarland.com. Read the book, The Assault on America, How to Defend Our Nation Before It's Too Late. He's been called trusted, truthful, and timely. Welcome back to The Alex McFarland Show.

Welcome back to the program. Alex McFarland here. We're talking about John chapter 3 and Jesus' famous conversation with Nicodemus about the fact that you must protect yourself. You know, virtually every preacher talks at one time or another about Jonathan Edwards.

He was just an amazing leader in colonial America, one of the first presidents of Yale University. And in 1734, Jonathan Edwards preached. He always preached about being saved, being born again. Of course, the very famous sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, which has been said all along, which has been studied in literature class.

And sometimes people are critical of that sermon that, you know, using imagery like fire and brimstone to, quote, scare people into heaven was wrong. But Edwards, you know, he was highly intellectual. He's been called the greatest philosophical mind of colonial America. And he was preaching the Bible. He really was.

He was no wide-eyed wingnut. He was a very academic preacher, and he preached the scriptures. But in 1734, Edwards preached a sermon called, quote, a divine and supernatural light. And he was talking about the fact that it's possible to be a professing Christian, to be a church member, but not be born again. And the light of the gospel pierces the soul, and here's an interesting quote about those who have religion, like Nicodemus did, but not really yet born again. Edwards said this, that our Christians who have truth drilled into them by others who talk a good game, even when they are totally out of touch with supernatural reality.

Listen to this. They move pieces of theology around like markers on the map of a territory they have never visited, end of quote. Isn't that something? To use religious language, but not be saved. The new birth is not the same as a religious vocabulary. It's not the same as religious activity. It's not the same as being, you know, outwardly reformed and, you know, a very moral, upstanding citizen.

It's fine to be all of those things. But Jesus said to Nicodemus, and the Word of God still says to us today, that you must be born again. So let me share some facts about this new birth of which Jesus, the Son of God, speaks. He told Nicodemus, and I think it's worth reminding ourselves of today, as Christ said in John 3, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

First of all, know this. The new birth is a necessity. As you repent and believe, the Holy Spirit of God instantaneously regenerates our formerly dead spirit.

As I talked about, the Spirit, which is that part of you that lasts everlastingly, forever. Well, you're born again, born from above, supernaturally born of God when you put your faith in Jesus. So the new birth, according to Jesus in John 3, the new birth is a necessity.

Secondly, know this. The new birth is a prerequisite for heaven. If we would go to heaven, not hell, we must have the new birth.

We must have the new birth. And folks, again, if you are not sure, you say, well, I hope so. Don't leave this world simply hoping that somehow it'll turn out that you were right with God. No, today, make sure, and nobody can do this for you.

You have to do it for yourself. You have to, within your own heart and soul, call out to Jesus. And he will hear you. And you know, John 3.16 is very famous, For God so loved the world. But I want to read John 3.15. Jesus said that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Because point three, the new birth is a personal responsibility.

For heaven, it's a necessity, a prerequisite, but it's a personal responsibility. And Jesus told Nicodemus, because he would have understood this, and Jesus quotes from Numbers 21, verse 9. Remember Moses made a serpent of brass and put it up on a pole.

Now listen very carefully. Moses went to God on behalf of all the Israelites. They had murmured against God.

They had, you know, decided not to believe. And snakes were biting them in the wilderness. And Moses went to God and said, Have mercy on these people. God told Moses, Make a serpent of brass, put it up on a pole high, and everybody who looks will live. Now in John 3.14, the Lord said to Nicodemus, As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him, Jesus, the Son of God, the Son of Man, whosoever believeth in him would not perish. I remember as a brand new believer, I thought, Well, wait a minute. The serpent, a snake, that's bad.

Genesis 3, the fall. Why would the Lord Jesus compare himself to the serpent of brass that Moses lifted up in the wilderness? Well, I studied and prayed about it.

I was a young believer, and it dawned on me. That when Moses put that serpent of brass up on the pole, that was an image of what their problem was. What was their problem? Well, they were getting snake bit and dying because of their sin against God. When Jesus was nailed to Calvary's cross, 2,000 years ago, on a wind-swept hill outside of Jerusalem, as Adrian Rogers would say about Golgotha, the place of the skull, on a skull-shaped hill outside of Jerusalem, man murdered his maker.

Well, here's what happened. 2 Corinthians 5.21 says, He who knew no sin was made to be sin for us. Jesus, up on the cross, became the embodiment of what our problem was.

The serpent of Genesis 3, the fall of man, the separation, Adam and Eve, guilt before God. Our problem is not money. It's not the environment.

It's not politics. All those things have their place and can be important. Our fundamental problem is sin. And Jesus, on the cross, took the sin of the world, including mine, including yours, and all you have to do, as in John 3.15, believe in him. 1 John 5.1, Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.

So have you done that? And of course, John 3.16, very famously, For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him would not perish, but would have everlasting life. He would call out to Jesus. It's as simple as ABC, and I'm not being simplistic and trite.

ABC. Admit, believe, call. Admit. Say, God, I admit I am a sinner, and I'm sorry for my sins. Then believe.

Believe what? Who Jesus is and what Jesus said and what Jesus did. Who is Jesus, the Son of God? What did he say that he would give his life if he did it for you?

Then what did he do? He rose from the dead. Do you believe that? Of course you do.

Surely you do. It's the most provable, most defensible fact of the ancient world that God came onto the stage of human history. Jesus Christ proved who he was and what he taught. Now, admit, believe, call on his name. Say, Jesus, make me your child. Help me to live for you. Lord, please wash my sin away and be my Savior. In Jesus' name. If you pray, and we say it, we've said it a thousand times, Jesus is as close by as a prayer.

So call on him today. If we can help you in your walk and your witness, please reach out to us. AlexMcFarland.com The new birth of John 3. It worked for Nicodemus.

It will work for you today. Jesus will be your Savior when you put your trust in him. Alex McFarland Ministries are made possible through the prayers and financial support of partners like you. For over 20 years, this ministry has been bringing individuals into a personal relationship with Christ and has been equipping people to stand strong for truth. Learn more and donate securely online at AlexMcFarland.com You may also reach us at Alex McFarland, P.O. Box 10231, Greensboro, North Carolina, 27404. Or by calling 1-877-YES-GOD and the number 1.

That's 1-877- Y-E-S-G-O-D 1. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you again on the next edition of the Alex McFarland Show. Ask Alex online.