This is the Truth Network. Welcome to the broadcast ministry of Finding Purpose with Russ Andrews, where we seek to glorify God by making him known and guiding others towards their true purpose in life. No one is here by chance. God put us here for a reason. And the most important thing we can do is discover his plan for us and commit ourselves to it.
Keep listening as we learn from the Bible how to live wisely in God's world. which is the first step towards finding your purpose. Good evening, man. It is a joy to be here and to share the Word of God with you this evening. We're going to be in John chapter 3.
And I'm going to read Verses 223 all the way down to chapter 3, verse 8. And as you're turning, there, I'm going to pray for us. Father, we come before you, Lord. humbly Just thanking you, Lord, for this privilege to be able to gather together as men, as worshipers, as those who seek to hear from you, Lord. Lord, I pray, Lord, that you would reward our efforts.
I pray that you would help my endeavor to teach the word, speak through me. and protect me, Lord, from misrepresenting your divine words. I pray that these divine words impart life. I pray that they would regenerate the unbeliever. encourage the believer, edify the believer, and stir us up to love and good works.
I ask these things humbly. In Christ's name. Amen. John chapter 2, 25, all the way down to chapter 3. Verse 8.
Well, I'm sorry. John 2, 23 to 38. And it reads, Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast, Many believed in his name, when they saw the signs that he was doing, But verse 24. Jesus, on his part, did not entrust himself to them. Why?
Because he knew all people. And he needed no one to bear witness about man. For he himself knew what was in man. Chapter three, verse one.
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 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. Verse 6, that which is born of flesh is flesh.
That which is born of spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, You must be born again. Verse 8.
The wind blows where it wishes and you hear it sound, but you do not know where it is coming from or where it goes.
So it is everyone who is born of the Spirit. That is John 3, verses 23 to 23. to 3.8 even though we're doing an exposition on John 3 1 to 22 why did I read those verses Well, the reason why I read chapter 2, verse 23, all the way to chapter 3, verse 8, because that sets the context for us. We need to understand that our Lord Jesus Christ, He's the doctor of the soul par excellence.
Sometimes pastors and spiritual leaders in the church are called doctors of the soul, but Jesus is the doctor of the soul. He's the doctor of the doctors of souls. Meaning that Pastors, to the best of their ability, they're not all knowing. They don't know all things. They try to assess to the best of their ability what someone's spiritual condition is based on the information that they can gather.
But Jesus doesn't need to gather information. From the moment he sees someone, he knows exactly what their spiritual condition is. Because Jesus is God. He knows all things, therefore he knows what is in man. He knows exactly what our problem is.
He knows exactly what we need. He knows exactly what to say to us. He knows exactly where to point us. Which is why he's the Savior. and mere men are not the Savior.
So he doesn't need to theorize. He doesn't need to come up with a hypothesis. He doesn't even need to say, hmm, this seems to be the problem. He tells us directly what our problem is and tells us what the solution is.
Well in context Jesus is at and is in Jerusalem for the Passover. During this time, he did some signs. And apparently these signs cause people to conjure up spurious faith. And since Jesus is the doctor of the soul par excellence, He saw the faith of such people for what it was. And it is clear from chapter 2, verses 23 to 25, he thought that faith was counterfeit.
He saw it for what it really is. Even though they saw the signs and believed, that belief was not a belief unto salvation. Don't think of the belief here as you see it in John 1, verses 11 to 13, where it says, All who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. This was not that kind of faith. This was kind of people who are impressed, people who give a mental assent, but they're not really born again, which is why it says that Jesus did not entrust himself to them because he knew what was in them.
This is the context of Jesus' encounter with Nicodemus. He's in that crowd that saw the signs.
So here Jesus is diagnosing the top religious leader in Jerusalem. as one needing spiritual transformation. Because if he knows what is in man, He knows what is in Nicodemus. And since he knows what is in Nicodemus, he can tell Nicodemus needs to be born again. That's kind of the logic of reading those verses.
But the main idea I want to communicate to you this evening is that faith is not the cause of conversion. Faith is the effect of being converted. Hence, the people who had the counterfeit faith It was not because they were born of God. It was simply because they made an observation. but they had not yet been transformed.
But I want to show you this. And four developments. The first development is: we must understand that observation does not produce transformation, versus one to two. Second is we must understand that only transformation can help us make the correct observation. And then, number three, we must understand that regenerate people understand and believe the simple message about Jesus, verse 11 and 16.
And lastly, We must understand that the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit distinguishes believers from unbelievers.
So here's that first development. We must understand that observation does not produce transformation. Look at verses 1 and 2. We're introduced to a man named Nicodemus. He's described as a Pharisee.
He's described as the ruler of the Jews. What does that tell us about Nicodemus? What do we learn here about Nicodemus? Nicodemus was a learned man. He was a religious man.
He was a prominent man and he was an influential man. He was the top theologian. in Jerusalem. He was the top teacher. in Jerusalem.
But we need to understand John is not communicating this to us so that we can be impressed with Nicodemus. He's communicating this to us because he wants us to understand that this is a problem. This is a problem. Why is it a problem?
Well, the reason why it is a problem is because Some of the hardest people to reach are people who have been in religion. or been exposed to religion. False religion is actually as deadly as atheism. False religion blinds us. We look at Nicodemus, I mean, he's a pretty moral guy.
He knows the scriptures he's teaching. He has religious authority. He's well respected. But his problem is that his religion, his education, his morality, his prominence cannot cure his spiritual blindness. Our all-knowing Lord sees straight through Nicodemus.
Behind his religion, behind his education. behind his prominence. is an unconverted heart in need of spiritual transformation. That's really the problem of every person that's outside of Christ. They might be wealthy.
They might even be in church. They might even know a lot of Bible trivia. But behind all of that is a heart that needs to be converted.
Well, he comes to Jesus by night. Nicodemus is not just a learned man. He's not just a religious man. He's not just a prominent man. He's not just an influential man.
Nicodemus is a confused man.
Some scholars speculate why he came at night. I don't know. I don't know why he came at night. I know that he came at night. What is most obvious And the point that John seems to be making is that he was confused and unconverted.
Well, how do you know that he's confused?
Well, he he makes an observation about Jesus. It's an almost right. Observation. It is better to be totally wrong than almost right. Because almost right and totally wrong lead to the same direction.
They lead to the same place. They diagnose the same problem. which is a person who's headed for condemnation and a person who is not converted. Nicodemus is almost right. He says, Jesus is a teacher from God.
So Nicodemus has religious education, but he lacks saving revelation. On the surface, this sounds like a pretty astute observation. is a teacher from God. But this observation is not the saving revelation. Nicodemus is communicating here that God is with Jesus.
He's not saying that Jesus is God. He's saying that God is with Jesus.
Well, the problem with that is, God was with Moses, God was with Elijah, God was with Jeremiah. Because he did signs through them. He did signs through the prophets. But the problem is Jesus is not just a man. He's the Savior.
So hence, Nicodemus' observation is actually heresy. It's a heresy known as Arianism. He viewed Jesus as a created being whom God was with. That's not the Savior. That type of person cannot save us.
That type of person is not the savior that's going to convert our souls.
So Nicodemus' description of Christ is nowhere near John the Apostle's description. He says He was the word that was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him. Without him, nothing was made that was made. In him was the light of mankind.
So he's preexistent, and he's coexistent with the Father, and he's the second person of the Trinity. He's the divine Savior sent into the world. to die for our sins and accomplish redemption.
So he's like Moses in the sense that he does signs. but he is greater than Moses in the sense that Moses was pointing to him. Moses needed a Savior. Jesus is the Savior. Prophets needed a Savior.
Jesus is the Savior. So we need to understand that. And the proof-positive evidence that Nicodemus was not yet saved. is Peter's experience at Caesarea Philippi. Jesus asked the disciples, Who do men say that I am?
In all the popular views, some say he's a prophet. It all comes down to him just being a prophet. But then Peter speaks and Peter says, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Peter says, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona. Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
So the divine revelation is the fact that Jesus is the Son of God sent into the world to save sinners. Only God can convince us of that. That's a product of the divine revelation. But that leads me to the second point. We must understand that only a transformation causes us to make a correct observation.
Look at verses 3 through 10. We must be regenerated. Because by nature, We are spiritually blind. Heavy emphasis on we. Apart from being born again, we are spiritually blind.
Look at what Jesus says. He says, unless one is born again. Because Jesus can see things as they really are, And he always gives the correct diagnosis of man, he gives it here. This implies that Nicodemus is not born again. This implies that he has a problem, and Jesus is telling Nicodemus what the solution is.
He says, unless one is born again. Jesus gets straight to the heart of the problem. Jesus doesn't waste a lot of time, okay?
So, why do you think you don't understand who I am? Um, how did you grow up? Uh uh uh what were your parents like? Jesus doesn't need to do that. He's omniscient.
So he knows exactly what the problem is.
So instead of all the small talk, Jesus says, unless one is born again, He cannot see the kingdom of God.
So he gets straight to the problem. Nicodemus' problem is not intellectual. He doesn't need to take more seminary classes. He has a spiritual problem. He has a problem that only God can solve.
His education, prominence, authority cannot get him out of this problem. He is not qualified to assess Jesus' miracles. He had great learning, but he had not been taught by the Father. Our Lord Jesus says in John 6, 45, It is written in the prophets. and they will all be taught by God.
Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. That is, they believe in him, which implies they know exactly who he is.
So clearly, Nicodemus saw the evidence that Jesus is the Son of God, chapter 2, verse 23. His spiritual blindness is made clear by how he misinterprets Jesus' miracles. Jesus' miracles should have made him realize this is the Messiah, but instead he says, God is with you, you're a great teacher.
So he saw the evidence, but he did not come to the proper conclusion. Only God can give us the spiritual sight necessary to recognize Jesus for who he is. Look at what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:6. For the God who said, Let light shine out of darkness, has shown In our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. If we know who Jesus is, we can't take credit for that.
That's because God has done a work in our heart or in our minds bringing us to that conclusion. Paul explicitly says it here. It is only when one is born again that they can see Jesus for who he really is. That's why he says, see the kingdom of God. To see the kingdom of God means to see the king of the kingdom.
To see the kingdom of God means to see Jesus for who he really is. If you want to read more about that, read Colossians chapter 1, verses 15 and 20. Such spiritual sight only comes from God. I cannot say that enough. We must understand that unbelief at its core is a spiritual problem.
You cannot show an unbeliever enough evidence. The unbeliever is always going to move the goalposts because that's not the real problem. Only God can overcome unbelief. Being born again is a supernatural work of God. If you are a Christian, that is an outright miracle.
So, what we see here is only God can overcome unbelief. Look at what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:14. The natural man, that is the unbeliever. does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, for he cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned, i.e., only a regenerate person can understand them.
So Nicodemus' own sin and false religion blinded him from seeing Christ. as he really is. And this is not just the case for Nicodemus. This is the case for every unbeliever. They say plenty of excuses.
They'll say, oh, I just need more evidence, but that's not the problem. The problem is always the heart. It is always the heart. Unbelief is not due to a lack of information. Unbelief is due to a lack of transformation.
We must be converted in order to believe.
Now it's popular to believe that We just conjure up faith. We just look at the facts and we come to the proper conclusion. But the Bible simply does not teach that. Look at what Jesus says in John 6:44. No one can come to me that is believed.
Unless the Father who sent me draws him. Notice that God has to be at work in order for somebody to come to Jesus. And I will raise him up on the last day. What this drawing refers to is what theologians call the effectual call. I want to illustrate that for you.
I put a definition on the paper that I'm going to get to, but I want to give you an illustration. Why is it that 6,000 people can hear the gospel in the stadium. and only 300 get saved. It is because when a preacher preaches, God sends out a general call. Repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
They heard this, they were pricked at the heart. Peter's general call went out. The people who were pricked at the heart, that's the effectual call.
Some people hear the preacher, other people hear God through the preacher. If God does not convince the unbeliever that he is speaking, They'll hear what any preacher says and says, oh, okay, that's good information. I'll think about it. But when the effectual call goes out, just as God called Abraham and told him to go, so will God call that unbeliever into belief and he will place his faith in Jesus Christ.
So it's always a general call, but with that effectual call, God summons whom He's speaking to. And they will listen, just like he called Samuel. And Samuel said, Speak, Lord, for your servant hears. That's the same way that he calls us to faith. We don't respond to the gospel because we're smarter than the rest.
We respond to the gospel because through the preacher, we hear God because of the supernatural, effectual call of God. In Romans 8, it says, Romans 8, 29, those whom he called, effectual call. Why did he call them? Because he foreknew them. He knew them from eternity.
So what God chose to do in eternity works its way out in time through the preacher.
So nobody can take credit for their salvation. We are simply not smart enough to come to the right conclusions. We are not powerful enough to overcome our sin. We only come to Jesus Christ because God first came to us. He gets all the credit.
We get zero credit for our salvation.
So Matthew Barrett writes. The effectual call is the inward spiritual call of God to the elect that is simultaneous with regeneration. All those God has chosen in eternity are called particularly by God, and this call is effectual in its power and outcome. Through the call of God, a sinner's heart is regenerated. and her will or his or her will is liberated.
Because of this, the effectual call logically precedes conversion. We can't convert ourselves. the exercising of faith in Christ, which is conversion. All those who are called in this way will be justified and ultimately glorified. And all of the glory goes to God who works this change in us by his call.
Now some might say Why is that? Why can't I come to my own conclusions? Why can't I just simply stand up and say I agree and I'm in? I'll tell you exactly why. Look at verses 4 through 7.
We need to be regenerated because we are sinners. Notice I didn't say because we sin. We have first a problem of being, which is why we have a problem of doing. It's not just what we do that's the problem. It's who we are.
We tend to think that we are morally neutral people. We tend to think that Or I can just choose God anytime I want. I can just wake up one morning and say, oh, I'm just going to believe today. That's not true. In Jeremiah 17 and 9, it says, The heart is deceitful above all things, who can know it.
In the Bible, the heart is essentially the engine that drives everything that we do. From the heart flows our life, from the heart flows our thinking, from the heart flows our actions.
Sometimes we might think, you know what, I'm going to turn over a new leaf today. Or I'm just going to stop sinning today. Even if we stopped sinning, that wouldn't save us. If the unbeliever just simply said, I'm not going to sin anymore, I'm going to stop sinning, that wouldn't solve the problem. Because why were you standing in the first place?
You know why? Because our heart is wicked. Our heart is very wicked, every single one of us, myself included. Notice in Mark 7, verses 21 to 23, Jesus says, It's not what goes into us that defiles us. But what comes out?
The problem has always been there. The problem has, if anybody has raised children, you know this. You don't have to teach kids how to sin. It's already there. You don't have to teach children how to lie.
It's already there. You don't have to teach a child how to be selfish. It's already there. It's the default position. You don't have to do anything.
It takes effort to direct in the right direction. It takes nothing to go in the wrong direction. That's the easiest thing to do for a human being is to sin.
So the human heart. is corrupted. The human heart is corrupted because of original sin. Theologians call this total depravity. It doesn't mean we're as wicked as we could be, it means everything in us.
is is geared towards sin. That is our problem. That is the problem. We sin by omission. We fail to do what we should do.
We sin by commission. We do what we should not do. Every person. The Bible never says man needs a jumpstart. The Bible doesn't say man just needs a little bit of help.
The Bible calls the unbeliever dead. spiritually dead. Unable to please God, foolish, disobedient, wayward, enslaved to sin. Titus 3.3 and Ephesians 2.1. And then we're unable to do anything pleasing to God.
There is absolutely nothing that we bring to the table when it comes to salvation. Absolutely nothing. Just as a dead man can only stink, so can an unbeliever only sin. There's absolutely nothing that an unbeliever can offer to God that is acceptable. The problem is us, the unbeliever.
or the unbeliever.
So, God must make us both willing and able to believe before we believe, hence, we can't even take credit for our own faith. That was an outworking of the supernatural power. of God. This is why Jesus tells Nicodemus he must be born of water and of spirit. He's not saying you gotta be born once, then born again.
What he's saying here is only the work of the Holy Spirit can cleanse us. and make us acceptable to God. And only the Holy Spirit can regenerate us and make us come to God. Jesus would have gotten this from Ezekiel 36, verses 22 and 27, which uses this language of water and spirit as it's talking about the cleansing and transformative power that's going to come when the work of the Spirit comes.
So we are only acceptable before God when we are born again. Which brings us to verse 8. We need to be regenerated because we cannot change ourselves. We need to be regenerated because we cannot change ourselves. Please remember that.
Please remember this point. We cannot change ourselves.
Sometimes we think, okay, I'm going to turn over a new leaf. That leaf didn't change. That leaf might be a little bit more remodeled. That leaf might be a little bit more better behaved, but that leaf is not changed. Only God can change a leaf into something else.
We don't need to turn over a new leaf. We need to be new leaves. That is the problem. So Jesus says, the wind blows where it wishes. None of us can control the wind.
But we can feel it when it's blowing. None of us can control regeneration. But but we know it when we experience it. People can see it in our lives. We didn't cause that.
God did. We didn't cause the wind to blow. We simply felt the effects or moved in light of the effects. That is what it's like to be born again. John tells us, he says in 1 John 5, 1, everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ, notice the language, has been born of God.
And everyone who the Father loves, whoever, has been born of him. What this tells us is, if we presently believe in Jesus Christ, It's because of what God has done in us spiritually. We didn't bring ourselves to that conclusion. God produced that, which is why he gets all the credit and he gets all the glory. Faith is not self-generation.
Faith is of regeneration. Just as we play no role in our natural birth, neither do we play any role in our spiritual birth. Just as God was in control of our first birth, he's in complete control of our second birth. John Wesley illustrates this, I think. Very well.
He was converted In He was converted on May 21st, 1738. In that same year, he wrote a song called And Can It Be. We've sung that song many times at our church. But in in the fourth stanza of that song, He summarizes the biblical teaching of total depravity and Christ's teaching on the new birth. Look at the lyrics.
Long my imprisoned spirit lay, fast bound in sin and nature's night. That's total depravity. Thine I diffused a quickening ray, that's regeneration. Here's the effects of regeneration. I woke the dungeon flame with light.
My chains fell off. My heart was free. Here's what regeneration produces. I arose, went forth, and followed thee. Do you see that?
God gets credit for that. If he thought he caused his regeneration, he probably wouldn't have written that hymn. Hymns are addressed to God for his great work in our lives, celebrating what he's done, not what we figured out. But notice that Wesley describes his pre-Christian self as enslaved. Notice how he explains his conversion as something that happened to him, not something that he figured out.
This is the normal experience of every Christian without exception. For all Christians, the bridge between enslavement and enlightenment. is regeneration. That's why we celebrate God and we don't celebrate ourselves. Then that takes us to verses 9 and 10.
We need to be regenerated because we are unable to believe apart from the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. Nicodemus should have understood the biblical teaching on the new birth. He was a teacher in all Israel and Jesus calls him out. You mean to tell me you're a teacher in all Israel and you don't understand this basic truth? You're getting your M div and you don't understand the new birth.
Where have you been, man? That's what Jesus is saying. Nicodemus had no clue about the new birth and he's teaching Old Testament. Can you imagine if your Old Testament professor didn't know who Adam and Eve was and he was teaching Old Testament? You don't know who Adam and Eve is.
Why are you teaching Old Testament? That's the equivalent of what Jesus is saying here. This is basic Old Testament theology.
So according to Jesus, regeneration is a basic biblical doctrine. The truth about regeneration is taught throughout the Old Testament. You see it in Deuteronomy 30, verse 7, Ezekiel 11, verses 19 and 20, Ezekiel 36, Jeremiah 31. Anytime in the Old Testament when God's talking about the circumcision of the heart, God has always called for people to come to Him as a result of a heart change. Not for people to just give mental assent.
And in fact, in the Old Testament, we could argue that all Old Testament saints were regenerate. There's no such thing as anybody who's ever believed in God in a saving way doing it of their own will. The Old Testament saints were regenerated. David was regenerated. Abraham was regenerated.
That's why they followed God. That's why they listened to God. And we can conclude this because they had the same problem that we have today, which is sin. Are we really willing to believe that they just figured it out without God and just came to God without God's supernatural intervention? And we read Hebrews 11.
We see these men are in a long line of believers that continues on today. Just as God changed our hearts and we believe, so did he change Old Testament saints' hearts and they believed.
So we can be sure of this because they had the same exact problem as us, therefore it was the same solution. There aren't two salvations. People are saved the same way from Genesis to Revelation. Even you look at the remnant of Jews in Romans 9. Why is it that some Jews believed and others died in the wilderness or others failed to believe?
It is because God changed the hearts of some. And some were left to themselves. which is why they died in the wilderness.
So no matter where you go in the Bible, it's always a supernatural work of God that changes the hearts of his people. Nobody takes credit for that.
Now you might wonder, well, what makes the ministry of the Holy Spirit new in the New Testament? It is the universal outpouring upon Jews and Gentiles and the permanent indwelling presence of the Spirit that makes the ministry of the Holy Spirit new. Regeneration has always been throughout Old and New Testament.
Well, that takes us to verses 11. It's a sixteen. We must understand that regenerate people understand and believe the simple message about Jesus Christ. It it's not complicated to know whether you are born again or not. If we understand the gospel, we believe the gospel, we desire to follow Christ, the Spirit produced that.
We didn't figure that out. The Spirit did it. It's all about the sovereignty of God. Jesus cannot teach Nicodemus deep truth. because he is uh unable to understand basic truth.
Basic truths. Hence Jesus proclaims to Nicodemus the basic truth about himself. and his ministry. Jesus tells him that he came down from heaven to be lifted up. Lift it up.
is a concise way to talk about Christ's earthly ministry. His death, his resurrection, his ascension, all of that, all the work that he does to save sinners, because even his death was an exaltation. It was taking a step closer towards exaltation.
So when he's lifted up, it's talking about all of these things. It's John's concise way of talking about that earthly ministry of Jesus. And we are saved by looking to Jesus Christ. Who suffered, died, rose, and ascended back to heaven, just as that serpent in Numbers chapter 21, verse 9, was lifted up. And then God's wrath was averted from the people who sinned against him as they looked to that bronze serpent.
If you will look to Jesus Christ, the wrath of God that is on your life will be averted. If you look to the Lord Jesus Christ, the penalties for your sin will be taken care of on the cross. That's why we look to Jesus Christ. If we look to Jesus Christ, we will not die in our sins. If we look to Jesus Christ, we will receive eternal life.
That is the call. A regenerate person will heed to that call. They will place their faith in Jesus Christ, and they will live their life for Jesus Christ.
So, every single person that is saved is saved by looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. But then we must understand When it talks about Christ died for the world, it means he came into a sinful world. He came into a world that was hostile towards him, and he gave his life to die for those who believe. He says in John 10, verses 14 and 15, I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me.
Just as the Father knows me, I know the Father, and I lay my life down for the sheep. Sheep are believers, sheep are not goats, they're believers. Hence, Jesus died for believers. William Hendrickson writes: It is for the sheep. Only for the sheep that the good shepherd lays down his life.
The design of the atonement is definitely restricted. Jesus dies for those who had been given to him by the Father, for the children of God are true believers. The children of God are not almost believers, halfway believers. Might be believers know. Every single drop of Christ's blood was not shed in vain.
There will not be one person in hell that should have been in heaven. Christ will get the full reward of every single person that he died for. I can tell you with full confidence: no preacher fails who preaches the gospel. If somebody folds their arms and says, Well, I'm not gonna believe that. If you're elect, at some point you will believe.
You might not believe today, you might not believe tomorrow, but before you die, you will believe. I can guarantee you that. Every single person that Christ died for will be saved. You can take that to the bank. And that takes us.
To the final point. The regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. Separates believers. From nine. believers.
Why is this point important?
Sometimes we share the gospel and we think. If I could have just said this this way, if I could have just said it that way, I could have got him. God will get them. at his appointed time if they if they are meant to be saved. Because it is regeneration that marks that believer out.
It is regeneration that is going to cause them to heed the call. It is nothing inherent within the preacher that makes somebody get saved. People only get saved because God makes the message effectual. But there are only two types of people in the world. Those who are Christians and those who are not.
There is no third category. The difference between the two is the miracle of the new birth. The reason why some are regenerate and others are not is because of the sovereign election of God. We are all born degenerate. which is why we need to be regenerate.
Now I have a question. What's the difference between Adolf Hitler and an unconverted Southern Baptist. Absolutely nothing. Because they are both degenerate. They are both born in Adam.
They both have the same sin problem. We must understand that. There is no third category. Well, you know, he's not saved, but you know, he goes out and helps the homeless. Yes, he's a sinner who helps the homeless that needs to be saved.
There is no difference. It is an even playing field. Almost saved, it is totally unsaved. 99% saved is totally unsaved. We must be born again.
There is no third category. The nice lady that we help cross the street that gives us butterscotch, she needs to be saved. If she's outside of Christ, she needs to be saved. Because sometimes we think that. Oh, what about the people lost on the island?
If God wants them to be saved, He'll send a missionary. We need to understand that. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing the truth about Christ. If God wants them to be saved, they'll be saved. There is no third category.
We must be born again. We must understand that. Because if we don't, we'll make a third category, we won't share the gospel. There are only two categories, saints and ain't And I know my grammar there is bad, but you get what I'm saying. Either you're a saint or you're not.
Either you're saved or you're not. Either you're in Christ or you're outside of Christ. Either you're a child of God or you're not. The difference is: has God done a work of grace in your soul and turned you to Jesus Christ? Do you see his glory?
He does that through the preaching of the gospel. And once he changes our heart, we will see Jesus Christ for who he is.
So we need to understand that. And we see this list. Christians are regenerate people. Everyone else are degenerate people. And maybe you're here today.
Maybe you are an unbelieving. You say, Jaquan, I really don't like that language. The Bible uses that language. And I'm telling you the truth of what Scripture says because this is what God is going to use to change the heart. You only have two paths to go.
To go to hell, you have to do absolutely nothing. All you have to do is keep living and die without Christ. Hail. But to be saved, we're responsible for turning to the Lord Jesus Christ. We're accountable for unbelief.
So we must understand. Regeneration is not necessarily a right, it is a privilege, which is why we worship God, those of us who are regenerated. God could have just left us to ourselves. He could have just left us to do whatever we want. No one can or will be generated, regenerated apart from God.
And we might say, well, What about unbelievers? Aren't they innocent victims? Look at the list and look at how John describes the unbeliever. does not believe in Jesus, are presently condemned. They love darkness, verse 19.
They hate righteousness, verse 19. They hate the light, verse 20. They refuse to come to the light, verse 20.
So election does not teach that God is forcing people into hell. People are running towards hell. They're saying, let me go so I can run to hell. Don't tell me to repent. I want to remain in my sin.
That is what the unbeliever is saying. And unless God changes that person's heart, they will remain on that path and remain condemned, which is why John says: if you don't believe, you're condemned already. We're already on the path to hell. It takes the divine intervention of God and His grace to turn us away from that path and cause us to look to the Lord Jesus Christ.
So we must understand that. That's why we celebrate God for our redemption, because God did not have to save us. If God left every single one of us to ourselves without his intervention, every single one of us, myself included, would choose hell. I guarantee you that. Because that is what the Bible describes as human nature.
We are geared towards sin. David said, Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Psalm 53, the wicked go astrange from the womb. We don't need to be taught how to rebel against God. We're experts at that.
Even if we don't look as bad as the God beside us, or we don't do this, or we don't do that, that is our problem. And unless God supernaturally intervenes in our hearts, we will choose what is wicked. We will go away from God. But you might ask, okay, then, all this talk about election. All of this talk about the sovereignty of God.
All of this talk about Jesus Christ, well, Jaquan, you're not really leaving me with many options.
Well what I will tell you is this. Faith in Christ is the only way that you can be saved. If you don't like being called a degenerate or being put in the degenerate category, just look to Jesus and be saved. But then, if you fold your arms and say, I'm not listening to that, you're proving the point. Because that is the point.
Because if you don't like election, you don't like that I said degenerate, then why won't you just believe? You could easily be put in the category of someone who's born again. Because John is right. That's what an unbeliever will do unless God intervenes in the heart. They'll just fold their arms and refuse to believe.
But you know how you know that you're born again? Maybe you're here today and you say, I want to listen to this. There there might be something to this. You need to turn to Jesus Christ. Look to him and be saved.
He is a mighty savior. He will save you. But you're responsible for believing. You're accountable for belief and unbelief. And if God is calling us to believe, if He's doing a work in your heart, you will believe.
If he's doing a work in your heart, you'll be convicted of your sin. If he's doing a work in your heart, you will turn to the Lord Jesus Christ. Because unbelief is because of sin. When someone comes to faith, it is because a supernatural work of God has taken place in the heart. If you sense that God is doing that work in your heart, turn to Jesus Christ now.
Five minutes later, it's too late. Turn to him now. Turn to him immediately. His offer is one of those offers. As soon as it's offered, just take it.
Because he is a mighty savior and he loves to save sinners. He will not cast away a sinner who comes to him to be saved. He loves sinners. He will save sinners, and he promises to give eternal life to those who believe. And I want to just close with this.
God will accept you if you come to Christ. But if you hear this truth, and you harden your heart, I tell you this because I love you. Don't blame the preacher. Don't blame the church. Don't blame the external circumstances.
I can promise you this. If you hear this truth and you hearten your heart, it's your fault. It is your fault. Because how can you hear this truth? and continue to fold your arms.
How can you hear this truth? and still not care about eternity. How can you see the glory of Jesus Christ? and still not come to him. It is because what John says is true.
It is because you are still in darkness. It is because you are still spiritually blind. And you will never be cured of that as long as you fold your arms to Jesus Christ. The worst thing you can do is fold your arms to Jesus Christ. The worst thing you can do is reject the offer of Jesus Christ.
You are responsible for that. Your own blood is on your hands. But I plead with you to accept his offer. Accept his offer. Turn from your sin, and he will save you.
And Richard Phillips writes, This light is still shining through the preaching of God's word. Do not wait. Like Nicodemus did. Nicodemus was saved later. You can read about that in John 19, verse 38.
But look upon the Son of Man lifted up. And see the measure of God's love for you. This is not hate, this is God's love. Turn to Jesus Christ. By seeing him as your Savior, You can know that through God's Spirit, you have been born again and you can start living a new life through faith.
in Jesus Christ. That is what the scripture is calling us to to believe.
So we must place our faith in Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Father, we come before you, Lord. Just thanking you for. Just reminding us, Lord, that we must be born again.
The worst thing to be is not born again.
So I pray, Lord, that if there's anybody here whose heart is convicted, Show them by your grace, the Savior. Point them to the Savior, Lord. Because the preacher can only preach the truth, but Spirit of God, you are the one who makes the truth effectual.
So I pray that you make that truth effectual in the hearts of the unbeliever. And I pray, Lord, that you would encourage us who do believe to continue to walk closely with the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that you would guide each of us home safely as we get ready to leave. And we ask these things in Christ's name. Amen.
Mm-hmm. You've been listening to Finding Purpose with Russ Andrews. This broadcast is made possible because of the prayers and financial gifts of listeners like you. If you want to learn more about our ministry or support us as we reach others with God-centered Bible teaching, please visit us at findingpurpose.net.
