John Chapter 3:4-9

It's an awesome thing when you're born again what happens. Your past. All your mistakes. Gone. Doesn't matter how much you messed up. Gone. Forgiven. Isn't that an amazing thing? I mean, guys, if we compared notes here, I'm probably one of the chiefest sinners in here.

I know I'd be in the top five, and yet it's all gone. It's over. It's done. You don't have a past that can condemn you anymore.

Now, that doesn't mean that well-intended Christians won't condemn your past, but God Himself doesn't condemn you. Welcome to Cross the Bridge with David McGee. David is a senior pastor of the bridge in Kernersville, North Carolina, and we're glad to have one of David McGee's associate pastors, D.A. Brown, here with us as Pastor David continues through the book of John.

Bob, it's an important question that we all need to know the answer to. Have we been born again? Jesus said we must be born again. A lot of people that know about Jesus know about what He did, but they don't understand that terminology to be born again. I think that's what David McGee is going to get into as he's teaching here in John chapter 3 about Nicodemus asking this question and Jesus' seemingly odd answer. So, let's jump into the teaching right here in John chapter 3 as David McGee continues teaching verse by verse.

Turn with me to John chapter 3. So, last week, Jesus spoke of being born again. Well, we studied Jesus saying you need to be born again.

It's more exact. And, you know, we need to be reminded of that central truth because we've actually had the distinction somehow twisted of Christians and born-again Christians. I'm confused about what somebody that's not a born-again Christian is.

I don't think you can be a Christian and not be born again. I think you take the literal words of Jesus. We're in verse 4 here. And 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? And so, Nicodemus says, you know, what in the world are you talking about, Jesus? Verse 5, Jesus answered, most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Now, what does Jesus mean by that answer?

You know, sometimes when Jesus answers a question, it gives you more questions than you had before. He says, be born by the Spirit and of water. Well, it may mean being born of the Spirit and water, that the water is often a symbol for the Word of God. So, it may mean that the Word of God with the Spirit is what you need to be born again in order to enter into the kingdom of God. Certainly, we know in Romans chapter 10 that you cannot be saved unless you hear the Word of God.

How can they hear unless they are taught? Now, it may mean, and I'm divided between these two things, and to be honest, I'm okay with either one. It may mean that to be born naturally and supernaturally, the only thing in looking at this verse is, you know, why would Jesus say that you've got to be born naturally?

That seems like it's taken, it's kind of obvious. So, I would probably go with the first in that it's probably the Word of God with the Spirit of God. One thing that I do reject that some people think it's saying is that you must be baptized and born of the Spirit in order to see the kingdom of God.

Now, I reject that because it seems very obscure from what Jesus is saying here. Now, let me, before I go into this, I believe you should be baptized. I believe if you've been born again, you need to be baptized because Jesus told you to. So, in obedience to that, after you're born again, you get baptized. But you notice the order? Born again, baptized.

Okay? I do not believe, nor does Scripture teach in baptism at birth. You'd never see a scriptural example of that, nor baptism at a certain age. What you see is baptism in a response to a commitment that's made to the Lord Jesus Christ. You see somebody repent, be born again, and then they're baptized. You see that over and over, whether it's in Acts 8 with Philip and the eunuch or in other places.

And certainly, the eunuch was an older man. He knew the Word of God. He was reading the Word of God, but he wasn't to be baptized until he was born again. Now, this is important because, you know, if you're not born again when you get baptized, and I've said it before, you don't get baptized. All you get is wet.

I mean, you could just do as well as go for a swim. If you've not been born again, you can say all sorts of words, but it doesn't matter because it's not baptism. Baptism is an outward sign of an inward change. Baptism is an outward sign of an inward change. Now, maybe you're sitting there and go, yeah, yeah, yeah, isn't this real basic Christianity 101? Well, it is, but to be honest, there's some division in the body of Christ. Some people believe that if you've been born again, but haven't been baptized, that if you died, that you would go to hell.

They believe if you've not been baptized, even though you've asked the Lord to forgive you of your sins, that you would not see heaven, which contradicts a lot of verses. Ephesians 2, 8, and 9, for by grace are you saved as the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast, meaning there's nothing you can do to earn it. And therein is the reason it says, lest any man should boast. See, if you could earn it, then you would do what? You'd boast about it. You'd brag about it.

Let's be honest. You'd probably stand out there in the foyer, come on in, come on, you got yours? No, you didn't look like our company. Yeah, I got mine. I earned it. I did this.

I did that. And so Jesus set up the system. Nope, nope, nope. It's going to be by grace. Are you going to be saved?

Unearned, unmerited favor is what that is. So when you start to say, well, you got to do this and you got to do this, and you got to do that, and you got to do this, and you got to do that, and you start adding these things, you begin to put obstacles between people and God. Well, you got to do this. Well, you got to belong to a church. You got to have church membership. You got to be baptized.

Again, I believe you should be baptized, but I don't believe your salvation hinges on that baptism. See, because that, boy, that just creates a lot of problems. Now, some of you guys know me and I tend to sit around and think of stuff. And I've just come up with too many weird situations in regards to this doctrine.

I mean, so, okay, let's say you come forward. You get saved. You've been born again.

Ask Jesus. Well, you're not born again yet according to the theology. You haven't been baptized. Okay, so you ask the Lord to forgive you and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness, and He's waiting until you go down in the water. So then you're sitting there and you're waiting to get baptized, right?

What if, go along with it, what if you have a massive coronary, you have a heart attack and you die? Okay, what happens? Well, according to them, you'd go to hell. But wait a minute. Okay, let's say you're standing right at the baptism. Okay, so what happens? If you fall backwards, you're going to hell.

If you fall forward, you're going to heaven. I mean, that's that. Now, I told you it was weird.

I told you I stood around and think about some of these bizarre things. But then you have another problem. You have another problem. If you believe in that, Jesus lied to the thief on the cross because He told him, you'll be with me in paradise. Was that thief ever baptized?

No. He was dying. He was unable. And yet Jesus said, you'll be in paradise. Now, maybe you're sitting there and going, Pastor David, aren't you kind of building division into the body of Christ? You know what?

No, I'm not. See, because this salvation thing has to be, I have to agree with another believer on the salvation thing on how we get saved. We can disagree on, you know, whatever. We can disagree on electric guitars and worship. We can disagree on hymns versus contemporary worship. We can disagree on a lot of things, but on salvation, this is an essential.

And I'm not just building division in, I'm saying this is what it takes. Because again, the moment you start building these things in to say, well, you got to get saved and you're in a dangerous place. Because it's been my experience that you had something, you had something else, you had something else. And before long, people were looking at it going, I can't do it.

I can't do it. Sometimes people use Mark 16, 16 as a proof text or pretext that baptism is necessary for salvation. I want to equip you guys to understand this. It says, he who believes and is baptized will be saved. But he who does not believe will be condemned. They say, see, it says in order to be saved, you got to be baptized.

But what does it say? He who does not believe will be condemned. It doesn't say he who believes and is baptized not will be condemned. It said he who believes not will be condemned. So it's belief. It's belief. Again, don't walk away from here and go say, I hadn't been baptized and pastor David says he's okay with it.

No, no, no, no, no, no. That's not what I said. If you've been born again, if you've asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins, you should be baptized because Jesus told you to be baptized and that should be enough for you. But don't start to think that your salvation is predicated or that baptism is necessary for your salvation. Verse six, that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Now I kind of like the way the New Living Translation has this verse. I'm reading now the New King James. I study in the King James and the original Greek and Hebrew and stuff, but John 3 6 in New Living Translation says humans can produce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives new life from heaven.

Humans can reproduce only human life. You know, there's an application I just thought of right now. This means that if a church is walking in the spirit, that they're going to see the fruit of the spirit, but if they're walking in the flesh, they're going to see the fruit of the flesh. See, a lot of churches are very involved in programs and you'd be amazed at the emails I get. Hey, if you just do this, if you just do that, just do this, that and the other, church will grow. Well, praise God, we don't seem to be struggling with that these days, but it's amazing the confidence that they put in the flesh and manmade abilities. It's an amazing thing to me.

To the fact that, you know, if you just try this formula, this is what we found works. What about just being dependent upon the spirit of God? What about teaching God's word and doing what God tells you to do? It's, you know, it's a constant prayer of mine. Lord, what do you want us to do now?

It's not that I go to some website or something. Oh, oh, look, they're trying this and this and let's do this. Because see, each step that you follow like that takes you further and further away from the main thing.

I think the danger in the churches these days is they're not keeping the main thing the main thing. And remember, if you're born once, you die twice. If you're born twice, you die once. Now that's just a way of saying, if you're only born of flesh once, if you're only birthed by your mother, you will die in your body and you will die what's termed in the book of Revelation as the second death. So if you're born once, you die twice. If you're born twice, you're born from your mother and you're born again, then you only die that one time. That reference for a second death is Revelation 20 verse 14 and 15. Then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. All right, I give you that reference just so you know what's in there.

I didn't make the second death thing up. Whenever I use a term or say, look, this is what the Bible teaches. You know what I'm going to use to back that up?

Article I found on the internet. No, I'm going to back it up with scripture. I'm going to say, okay, this is what it says and this is where it says it. And you know what? And it's a good thing for you guys to desire to know that.

Why? Because there's a lot of people out there that are being duped. They're being duped. Just because we put it up on PowerPoint doesn't mean it's true.

Even here, check it out. Be a Berean. I have an accountability before the Lord that I take very seriously. And if I teach something weird, He's going to ask me about when I get up there.

What in the world was that? Well, I thought that's what you meant. You know, but what? I would rather be in the place where I'm saying to God, you know what, God, I took you literally at your word. And if I made an error, it was because I took you literally at your word. Then standing there and going, well, you know, I thought I could get it to mean this. I didn't think you were serious about that when you said that whole, and that whole thou shalt not thing was just so confusing.

I don't want to be stammering like that. We'll be right back with more from David McGee on Cross the Bridge. Right now, here's a word from associate pastor D.A.

Brown. Hey, Bob, we want to pray for some listeners today in these California cities. Maple Creek, Mariposa, Marysville, Mount Shasta, Muscogee, Napa, and North San Juan. God, we thank you for the people living in these cities and those tuning in today. Lord, we pray that they would get excited about following you. Lord, that they would use that excitement to be a blessing and love other people, that they would get plugged into godly churches. And we pray for the pastors in these cities, that you would give them wisdom and discernment, how to lead their flocks, and point them to your word. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.

Thank you, brother. And now, let's get back to David McGee as he continues teaching verse by verse. Verse seven. Do not marvel that I said to you, do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. He says it twice. He said it in verse three. He says it again in verse seven. Life lesson number one, being born again is not something we came up with. It is something that Jesus came up with. This is what Jesus said, you must be born again. Do you understand that some people are confused about that? They don't understand Jesus said that.

They think that the born again experience is something that modern religion or Christianity came up with. Again, I'm serious. We were in the old building and I had a telemarketer call. He was trying to sell me knickknacks or something. And I said, well, you know, I'm really not interested. We're a church and thank you for your offer to buy widgets.

We don't need any widgets right now. And he goes, oh, well, we sell to churches. And I thought, okay, well, this guy's being tenacious. And I said, well, I said, so do you go to church? Are you a Christian? He said, no, I'm a Catholic.

Do with that what you will. But he's, I said, well, I said, what do you do with the fact that Jesus said you must be born again? He said, he said that. I said, yes, he said that. I said, what do you do with that? And he goes, I don't know. I said, do you understand how to be born again?

He said, no. I said, what you do is you pray. You ask the Lord to forgive you of your sins. You quit trusting in your works and your trust in Jesus. You turn from your sins and you turn to him.

And unless you do that, you stand under the law condemned. And he said, oh, okay. And I said, well, we can pray this right now. Would you like to pray with me? And he said, okay. So I let him in the sinner's prayer.

Guys, you know what? If a telemarketer calls you, they're coming into you, your life. They're knocking on your door. Use it as an opportunity.

The worst they can do is hang up. And that's not such a bad thing, is it? But some people don't realize that being born again is something Jesus came up with.

And you've ever thought about this? You know, it's an awesome thing when you're born again, what happens? Your past, all your mistakes, gone. Doesn't matter how much you messed up, gone, forgiven.

Isn't that an amazing thing? I mean, guys, if we took, you know, if we compared notes here, I I'm probably one of the chiefest sinners in here. I, I know I'd be in the top five and yet it's all gone.

It's over, it's done. You don't have a past that can condemn you anymore. Now that doesn't mean that well-intended Christians won't condemn your past, but God himself doesn't condemn you.

Well, I think we, we, we don't sit and think about sit and think about that very much. Your sins are forgiven and forgotten and you have a bright future and hope and your sins are forgiven and forgotten and you have a bright future and a hope. Man, this is good stuff, isn't it?

No wonder it's called the good news. Jesus doesn't say, well, we need to fix you up a little bit. There's a couple things that are wrong with you, but we can fix it. Well, you, you, what you need, you need a retreat. That's what you, you need to go to retreat and you'll be up. No, that's our more seminars or more conferences or, you know, oh, you hear wacky things.

You need more self-esteem. That's what will heal you brother. No, it's being born again. It's asking Jesus to be forgiven and receiving it. And we have to start over. And in order for Nicodemus to realize this, he needed to realize he didn't have it. Guys, that's part of the process. And whenever you're sharing the good news, it's got to start with the bad news, because if somebody doesn't realize that they're a sinner, they're not going to understand they need saving.

I like what Ray Comfort does with it. You know, if you're on a flight and somebody comes by and says, Hey, you know, where are this parachute? You're thinking, why do I need a parachute? I don't, I don't know.

That's all right. You know, the flight seems to be going well, but if somebody comes by your seat and says, you know what, in five minutes, plane is going to crash. Everybody in here is going down. Here's a parachute. Let me ask you, which time will the parachute have the most meaning? I mean, if the guy says the plane's going down, you're, you're all over the parachute.

You're all over the parachute. Sometimes we don't paint the bad news. I'm not talking about hellfire and brimstone and, you know, beating somebody up and hitting them over the head with your Bible, but understanding that they can't trust in themselves to achieve salvation. Verse eight, the wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the spirit. Jesus is not saying it's okay if you're filled with the spirit to be weird. I've heard some people use this verse go, see, you know, nobody understands me. Nobody knows where I come from, where I go, because I'm born of the spirit. That's not what Jesus is talking about here.

That's really ripping it out of context. He's talking about, we can't fully understand the operation of the Holy spirit. Does that mean that whatever is okay in the churches? No, no, because Paul wrote very specifically in first Corinthians 12, first Corinthians 14, about the way, the way our meetings should be conducted in regards to the Holy spirit.

Paul lays it out very plain. He says, things should be done decently and in order. Now I've been in both types of churches. I've been in churches where they just weren't done. And I've been in churches where they were done, but they weren't done decently and in order.

And there's a balance here. Yes, there is a, well, if you'll permit me the use of the word, there is a scriptural mysticism, if you will, in regards to the scriptures and the workings of the Holy spirit, but the scriptures set down the guidelines of what happens in regards to fellowship and the Holy spirit. I think we need to be careful. I think we need to look to scripture.

And I don't, you know, a lot of times people do all sorts of crazy stuff and they go, well, you know, and you can go, why you do that? Oh, it's just the spirit. What kind of spirit?

I mean, guys, I've been in meetings where, boy, it just turned my stomach. You know what I am, this is ministering to somebody hopefully, cause this is not in my notes and I didn't intend to go off on this first, but you know, so many times we say, well, you know, this happened and that happened and it was the Holy spirit. Really show me in scripture where it says that that happens. And if you can't show me in here, we're not doing it in this church. I don't care what other church does it. Don't say, well, the church down the road's doing it. I don't care. You show me in this book and we'll do it. It's not in here.

We're not doing it. And if that offends you, I can't apologize, but you know what? It should make you feel safe that nothing's going to go on here that we don't see in here because guys, there's a lot of weirdness out there.

There is a lot of weirdness out there. In verse nine, Nicodemus answered and said to him, how can these things be? See, Nicodemus is trying at this point to get his mind wrapped around this and he's having a hard time, but I liked that Nicodemus came to Jesus. He knew where to go with his questions. He didn't send somebody else to him. He went to him personally.

And that's the way it is. You got to check out Jesus personally. You can't check him out to this guy or that guy or this book or that book or even some well-meaning preacher on television. You have to check Jesus out personally.

That's life lesson number two. You have to come to Jesus personally. I believe Nicodemus was born again after this. I believe Nicodemus got saved. Now I know that some people think no Pharisees got saved. That's anti-scriptural. A lot of Jewish people, a lot of Jewish leaders received Jesus as the Messiah. Church tradition taught us something else. The Bible tells us a lot did. The reason I believe that Nicodemus got saved is two other scriptures that he's mentioned in the Gospel of John.

We'll dig into them deeper when we're there. But John chapter seven, verse 50, Nicodemus, he who came to Jesus by night being one of them said to them, does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he's doing? He's defending Jesus to the Pharisees. And he was a Pharisee. They answered and said to him, are you also from Galilee? Search and look for no prophet has risen out of Galilee. So here Nicodemus is defending Jesus. John chapter 19, verse 39 says, and Nicodemus who at first came to Jesus by night also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes about a hundred pounds.

He came to minister to the Lord after his death. Now what's interesting about this, again, we'll dig deeper into this when we get there, but the second passage, there's something in there that is kind of hidden until you realize what's going on in the passage, in the verses. It's Passover. What's the big deal there? Passover is a holy day.

Where would you run out and get a hundred pound of aloe? Couldn't. Everything was closed. It's the Sabbath.

The way he used to be here on Sunday. You couldn't get them. So he already had them.

Why did he have a hundred pounds laying around for? I believe when Jesus said he was going to be crucified, dead and buried, that Nicodemus believed him. And this is a time when all the disciples had ran off, but Nicodemus not only listened, but he heard him and he believed him and he was ready for the burial after the crucifixion. Friend, do you know for sure that your sins have been forgiven?

You can know right now. I want to lead you in a short, simple prayer, simply telling God you're sorry and asking him to help you to live for him. Please pray this prayer with me out loud right now. Dear Jesus, I believe you died for me, that I could be forgiven. And I believe you were raised from the dead, that I could have a new life. And I've done wrong things. I have sinned and I'm sorry. Please forgive me of all those things. Please give me the power to live for you all of my days. In Jesus' name.

Amen. Friend, if you prayed that prayer, according to the Bible, you've been forgiven. You've been born again. So congratulations, friend.

You just made the greatest decision that you will ever make. God bless you. If you prayed that prayer with David for the first time, we'd love to hear from you. You can visit crossthebridge.com to receive our First Steps package with helpful resources to help you begin your walk with Christ.

Or you can write to Cross the Bridge at P.O. Box 12515, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 27117, and share how God is working in your life. Well, D.A., before we go, what are some ways that we can bless our listeners? Each day you can wake up with encouragement from Pastor David through the Word of God with his email devotional, Life Lessons to Consider, a daily reading plan, and a thought to meditate on throughout your day from the heart of David McGee.

That sounds good, Pastor D.A., and again, it's been great to have you with us on the program today. But tell us, what else can our listeners find on crossthebridge.com? If you're not able to make it to your home church this Sunday, why not join us for our live stream at 10 a.m. Eastern Time, or on Thursday nights at 7 p.m. Eastern Time? Just visit crossthebridge.com and click on our live stream link. There, you'll experience a live service from David's home church, The Bridge, in North Carolina. Again, that website is crossthebridge.com.