Understanding the New Birth

Known for his unique ability to simplify profound truth so that it can be applied to everyday life, Adrian Rogers was one of the most effective preachers, respected Bible teachers, and Christian leaders of our time. Thanks for joining us for this message. Here's Adrian Rogers. I want you to find the classic passage on the new birth and turn, if you will, please, to John chapter 3. And we're going to read together the first seven verses.

But let me say, as we're talking about the new birth and born-again Christians. To say born again Christian is really redundant. You don't have to put the description born again in front of a Christian. If he's a Christian, he is born again. Amen?

To say born-again Christian would be like saying tooth dentist. Or it'd be like saying female woman. If you are a Christian, you're born again. If you're not born again, you're not a Christian, no matter what denomination you may be a member of.

Now, let me read the scripture to you. After these things, Jesus walked in Galilee. 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?

Now the word rabbi means teacher. We know that thou art a teacher come from God. For no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee. Except a man be born again.

He cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit. He cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh. And that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. This is a divine imperative. Jesus says that you must be born again.

Now, why must a person be born again? First of all, because of man's undeniable sinfulness.

Now, you may not think you're a sinner, but I want to remind you to whom Jesus was speaking. The man's name was Nicodemus. His very name means superior. Also, he was a Jew. He was of the chosen race.

Besides that, he was a ruler of the Jews. That is, he was a member of the Sanhedrin. He was one of only 71 in all the nation of Israel. It would be like being a member of the Supreme Court. He was among the most religious of the religious.

He was among the most moral of the moral. And Jesus said to Nicodemus, Nicodemus, you must be born again. And I want to say to any religious person here today, and any moral person here today, if you think you can go to heaven without being born again, you're grossly ignorant of two things. Number one, you don't know how sinful you are. Number two, you don't know how holy God is.

Because of man's undeniable sinfulness, man must be born again. And also, because of man's unsatisfied longings, there's something in you that will never be satisfied until you are born again. Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, came to Jesus by night. There was a void and emptiness in his heart. He had to talk to Jesus.

He had been seeing Jesus do miracles. He wanted to know there was something about Jesus that intrigued him. There was a hunger in his heart. And so he came to Jesus by night.

Now, theologians have raced their motors to try to figure out why Nicodemus came to Jesus by night.

Some say because he was ashamed to come in the daytime. Or a fear of persecution. No, I just believe that he came to Jesus by night because he couldn't sleep. And as one wise man said, rather than counting sheep, he just decided he would talk to the shepherd. He went to the Lord Jesus Christ and he asked Jesus, Lord.

I want to understand miracles. Rabbi, he called him rabbi. Ah, master. Teacher. No one can do these miracles that you are doing.

Except God be with him. And Jesus just turned the thing back to him and said, in effect, Nicodemus. If you want to understand miracles, You're going to have to become a miracle. You must be born again. Man has a longing in his heart that will never be satisfied without the new birth.

I want to say game. No matter how much money you have, how much pleasure you enjoy, how much fame is spread abroad concerning you. If you are not born again, there is a part of you that is missing and will never, ever, ever be satisfied apart from the new birth. I'll tell you another reason that you must be born again, because of your unending existence. Your soul will be in existence somewhere when the sun, the moon, and the stars have grown cold.

You're going to live forever. After death, there is another life, either in heaven, For those who have been born again, in hell, for those who have not been born again. And if you've not been born twice, you'll die twice. The second death is the lake of fire. You say, Pastor, don't talk to me about death.

I am healthy. You are nearer death than you've ever been. Sure. One time you were in an automobile accident, and you said I was very close to death. No, you weren't, because you didn't die.

You're closer to death now than you've ever been. You are nearer to the time now, at this moment, when you're going to die, than you've ever been since you've been on the face of this earth. You will die, and you will exist somewhere, and without the new birth, you will exist forever in hell. I'm so glad that Jesus, the master teacher, used this phrase, born. Again, why?

Because a birth is something we've all experienced. Did anybody get here any other way except being born physically? Of course not. We have all had a physical birth.

So, therefore, we can take a physical birth. And we can make a correlation, and we can understand that the spiritual birth, in many ways, parallels a physical birth.

So, I want to give you six ways: six ways that being born again spiritually is like being born physically. Our Lord wants us to understand, and so let's look at these six ways. Number one: in a birth, conception takes place. You cannot have a birth Without a conception.

Now, when you were born physically, you had two parents: you had a mother. and a father. What are the two parents in the spiritual birth? The two parents in the spiritual birth are the Word of God and the Spirit of God. Look, if you will, in verse 5 of this chapter.

Look at it. Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Those are the two parents, water and the spirit.

Now, what does water stand for? Water stands for the Word of God. In the Old Testament and in the New Testament, water is an emblem, a symbol of the Word of God. The Bible speaks of the washing of water by the word.

Now we know it's the word of God that is referred to here because of 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 23. Put that in the margin of your Bible. Being born again, not of corruptible seed, the word seed means sperm, not of corruptible sperm, but of incorruptible. Bye. The Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.

So the Father, as it were, in your spiritual birth, is the Word of God.

Now what is the mother? The mother is the Spirit of God. You're born of water and of the Spirit. When the word of God And the Spirit of God. Come together, then a conception takes place.

That is the reason before I came out here to preach, I got on my knees and prayed for the anointing of the Spirit, because I want the Holy Spirit to be here today. That is the reason that when I preach, I use the Word of God, because it takes the Spirit of God and the Word of God for a conception. But there's another thing that is needed if you would be born again. There is the Word and there's the Spirit, but where's the womb? Where's the womb?

The womb is the womb of faith. You supply the womb. That is faith. He's going to tell us in verse 16 in a moment that we must believe. That when we believe, we'll have everlasting life.

And so, when the Word of God and the Spirit of God come together in the womb of faith, there is a conception and a new birth takes place. Secondly, not only in a new birth is there conception, but number two, in a birth, a continuation is involved or a continuity is involved. Parents don't manufacture babies. What parents do is just transfer, transmit life. From themselves to the child.

I have in me the life of my father, Arden Rogers, and the life of my mother, Rose Rogers.

Now, Arden and Rose came together, I was conceived, and now I share. Their life. Their life continues in me.

Now When you are born again, The life of God comes into you. You are a part of the life of God. God comes in to you. God's life is put into you. You see, folks, salvation is not simply getting man out of earth into heaven.

It is getting God out of heaven into man. It is the life of God that comes into you. The theme of the Gospel of John is life.

Now, by your first birth, you have existence. By your second birth, you have supernatural life. In the Gospel of John, the word life is used some 36 times, and you know, Jesus said in John 10, verse 10, I've come that you might have life. And so, understand this: that when you are born again, you are a partaker of God's life, a partaker of the divine nature. The life of God is in you.

Now, I have the life of A.D. and Rose Rogers in me. If you were to meet my parents, they're both in heaven now, but you would understand me a whole lot more because I'm a part of them.

Now, I also, by my second birth, I have the life of God in me. God is in me by my second birth because there has been a conception and now there is a continuity, this new life that is in me.

Now, here's the third thing about a birth that I want you to understand: in a birth, character is produced. Character is produced. Look, if you will, in verse 6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. And that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.

Now, When you were born of the flesh, Uh you became flesh. and you had the nature of your first parents.

Well I don't think I'm disrespectful, but I want to say my first parents were sinners. Mother Rose Rogers, sweet as she was, infectious sense of humor, she was a sinner. And my father, honorable, decent man that he was, he was a sinner. How did he become a sinner?

Well, he received the nature from his father. And how did he become a sinner?

Well, he had a nature from his father. And it goes all the way back to Adam, and the Bible says, in Adam, all die. We're all sinners by nature. Say amen. Don't look so holy.

The Bible says we are by nature the children of wrath.

Now we receive the character of our earthly parents by our earthly birth. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. Now We receive the character of God. By our new birth, a character is produced. We become partakers of the divine nature.

Let me give you a scripture: 2 Peter 1. Verse 3: According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through knowledge of Him. that hath called us to glory and virtue. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers of the divine. Nature.

partakers of the divine nature. I have the nature of A. D. and Rose Rogers in me by my first birth. But I have the nature of Almighty God in me by my second birth.

Now, you must understand this. Jesus said you have to be born again. You have to have a brand new start. Christians are not just nicer people. They are new creatures.

They're new creatures. You are brand new. I've often used this illustration. A Christian is not like a tadpole who's finally developed into a frog. Just a continuation of the same first birth.

A Christian is more like a frog that has been transformed into a prince by the kiss of grace. It is a supernatural, wonderful thing.

Now, A character is produced. Has there been a change in your character? Or did you just simply join the church and get baptized? Listen to me carefully. If your religion has not changed your life, you better change your religion.

The Bible says, if any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creation.

Now, what are the traits of the twice-born? What is the character? Remember that when you are born from above, and literally that's what the Greek says when it says born again, it literally says being born from above. When you are born from above, God's nature comes into you.

Well what? Is the nature of God? Do you want to know whether you're saved or not? I know that I'm a Rogers. I can look at my parents and I can see their nature in me.

I know that I've been born again. Because I can open the Bible and see God. And I can look in my heart. and see the nature of God in me. What are the traits of a twice-born?

What is the character that is produced? What will be in you if you have really been born again? May I mention four of them? First of all, there will be a love for Jesus Christ.

Now, if you don't love Jesus, you better put a big question mark after this thing you call salvation. There will be a love for Jesus Christ, not a mere intellectual belief. A love for Jesus Christ. What did God the Father say of his Son? This is my Beloved son.

Does God the Father love his Son? You better believe it. Is God's nature in you if you've been born again? It is? Then, as night follows day, you will love what God loves, and He loves His Son.

And if you do not have a genuine love for Jesus Christ, you ought to ask yourself: Do I have the nature of God in me? No, there will be a love for Jesus Christ. I'll tell you something else that'll be in your heart if you've been twice born. Another trait of the twice-born. There will be a desire.

For holiness. God the Father says, be ye holy. For I am holy. And he says, I am a father unto you. That is, if you're my child.

Like father, like son. You are going to desire for true holiness.

Now, that doesn't mean that you can never sin. Because you're not God, you still have that old nature, a nature you got from your parents, like I have a nature from my parents that I passed on to my children. But let me give you a key verse here: 1 John 3, verse 9. Whosoever is born of God, notice he's talking about the birth now. Doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him.

You do not commit sin. It doesn't mean you can never ever sin, but the Greek word here means that you cannot habitually practice sin. If sin is your lifestyle. if there's not been a change in your life. If you've not learned to hate sin, As well as love the Lord Jesus Christ.

How can you say that you've been born again? How can you say that you have the nature of God in you? Are you a partaker of the divine nature?

Well, what is the nature of God? God is holy. God is holy. I'll tell you, third mark. Of a person who's been born again.

Not only does he love the Lord Jesus Christ, not only does he have a hatred and antipathy towards sin, but thirdly, he has the inner witness of the Spirit. The Bible says, He that believeth on the Son hath the witness in himself. The Bible says that God's Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. Why do I say he has the witness of the Spirit? Because that which is born of the flesh is flesh.

That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. God is Spirit. When you get saved, the Holy Spirit of God comes into you. The life of God is there.

Now, what is the witness of the Spirit? In you, it is not a matter of emotions. I've told you before that your emotions are the shallowest part of your nature. Salvation is the deepest work of God. God doesn't do His deepest work in the shallowest part.

Now, I'm not opposed to emotions. But if you depend upon emotion for the assurance of your salvation, the assurance of your salvation is going to go up and down with the condition of your liver. What I'm trying to say is this. Listen to me now. There is the witness of the Spirit.

What is the witness of the Spirit? It is very hard to explain, but easy to experience. It is that inner consciousness that you belong to Jesus. You know. You know because you know that you know.

It is God's Spirit saying to you, I am in you, I live in you. Hereby do we know that we know him because he hath given to us of his spirit.

Now, I want to mention a next trait of the twice-born and see if this is in you. There will be a desire to share the Lord Jesus Christ. You will want people to know Jesus. What is the burning desire of God the Father? This is my beloved Son.

Hear ye Him. God wants you to hear the Lord Jesus Christ. He wants the whole world to know the Lord Jesus Christ. Is there a desire in your heart to share Jesus Christ? I can tell you from the moment I gave my heart to Christ as a teen to this very moment, there has been a burning desire in my heart to share Jesus Christ with other people.

Now, if you have been saved, if you've been born again, a character is produced. A character is produced. That character is the divine nature. God Himself will be in you. And if you don't have these characteristics, why do you say that the nature of God is in you?

Number four. Here's another reason that Jesus used a birth. In a birth, a completion transpires.

Now, what do I mean by that? A birth is a once-for-all experience. In the natural realm, you're born one time. In the spiritual realm, the second birth, That's a once-in-a-lifetime experience. No baby is ever born twice physically.

That's the reason Nicodemus asked Jesus this question. He said, Can a man Enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born. That's impossible. There are no reverse gears in life. You can't go back in your mother's womb and be born the second time.

Now in the physical realm the birth takes place one time In the spiritual realm, the birth takes place one time. Friend, when you are born physically, you're born forever.

Now that's a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The spiritual birth is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. You know, there's some people who think you can get saved and then lost and then saved and then lost and then saved and lost. No, Jesus said, Rejoice that your names are written in the book of life. And the Greek word there, your name stands written in the book of life.

Now, that's the reason I believe in the eternal security of the believer. I am a Rogers. I am a Rogers because of birth. I can never be unborn. I may have disappointed my parents.

I'm sure I did. There's a difference, however, between relationship and fellowship. Relationship is established by birth. Fellowship is maintained by life. There were times when fellowship between me and my father was broken.

My father had to chastise me, but there was no way that he could take back the fact that he fathered me. I am his. For all eternity, I am a Rogers. When you get born again, you become a partaker of the divine nature. He will never, ever, ever forsake you.

You will always be a child of God if you've ever been twice born. I'm not just talking about being religious, being baptized, being a nice person. Friend, a birth is a once-in-a-lifetime experience in either realm, in the physical realm or in the spiritual realm. A person can only be born spiritually one time. It is a Completion, and we need to understand this.

Now, number five. In a birth, a commencement occurs. While there is a completion, The birth is finished. But now the growth begins. A commencement occurs.

A birth is a starting place. And so, no matter what your past has been by the old birth, if you have a new birth, Glory to God, you get a brand new start. Say amen. You get a brand new start. One thing you will never see is a policeman ready to arrest a newborn child for a crime he's done.

Because that newborn child is no yesterday's, he's all tomorrow's. And when you come to Jesus Christ, when you get saved, all of your past, all your yesterdays are buried in the grave of God's forgetfulness. The Bible says, as far as the East is from the West, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us. He doesn't say as far as the North is from the South. There's a North Pole and a South Pole, but there's no East Pole and West Pole.

You start east, you just keep on going. You start west, you just keep on going. If you go this way, east is always east. If you go that way, west is always west. As far as as the East is from the West.

So far hath he removed our transgressions from us. He has buried them in the deepest sea. Friend, I want to tell you that when you become a child of God, You are all tomorrow's, you are no yesterday's. Here's a great scripture for you. 1 Corinthians chapter 6, beginning in verse 9.

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Listen to this. Be not deceived, neither fornicators, that's those whose lifestyle is sex outside of marriage. Nor idolaters, that's those who love, worship, fear, or serve anything more than God. Nor adulterers, that's those who do not keep their marriage vows, nor effeminate, that's those who are practicing sexual perversion, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

Now, that's black print on white paper. If this is your lifestyle, you need to get saved. But now notice verse 11. And such were Some of you, not our. Where?

But ye are washed? You're sanctified, you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Washed means that the stain, the blemish, is gone. Sanctified means that you've been set aside, clean and holy for God. Justified means that it's as if you were never, ever impure to begin with.

If a prostitute gets on her knees, a prostitute and says, Lord Jesus, come into my heart, forgive my sin. I need you, I want to be saved, and she's born again. She gets off of her knees and arch virgin.

Now, you may not believe that, but friend, that's such were.

Some of you, not are some of you. Where are some of you? She is a brand new person. When people understand this, then they begin to write songs like Amazing Grace: How Sweet the Sound that saved a rich. Like me.

Some people say, Well, I never did that. I'm better than that person. You may be worse if you don't get saved. Jesus said the publicans and the harlots are going to enter into the kingdom before some of the Sadducees and Pharisees of his day.

Now I'm telling you, in a birth, a commencement occurs. You begin to grow. When you're born again, you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Bible says in Philippians 1, 6, He who hath begun a good work in you, that's the God who fathered me, will perform it. He is my heavenly Father.

A baby must grow. If you give your heart to Jesus today, you may be 40, 50, 60 years of age. But spiritually, you're going to have to learn how to walk and talk and dress and work and feed yourself. You don't have to grow. You'll be a brand new baby.

Now, there's some people here who are saying, you know, I've got some things in my life, and when I get them all worked out, I'm going to give my heart to Jesus Christ. That's backward. That's like trying to grow up and then get born. No, you get born, you give your heart to Jesus. Yes, you'll stumble.

Yes, you're going to have some trouble with your vocabulary. Yes, there are going to be some hangover things. Yes, you're going to spill the Cheerios. Yes, you're going to make some mistakes. Yes, you're going to fall trying to learn how to walk.

But you will be in the family. You start, it is a commencement, and it is a walk, it goes on and on and on as you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Now, let me give the last mark. in a berth. A certainty is expected. I mean, a birth is a certain event. Suppose I would ask you about your first birth.

And I ask you this question. Have you ever been born? That'd be a dumb question. Did your mother ever have any children? Have you ever been born?

Dumb question, suppose you gave a dumber answer. You were to say, well. I think so. Yeah. I hope so.

I'm doing the best I can. Ask the average person, are you saved? Are you born again? I hope so. I think so.

I'm doing the best I can. I would say they have a faulty understanding of what the new birth is.

Now, a new birth is a certainty. You ought to be able to say, I know that I have been born of. Again.

Some people think that they have to remember the time and the place when they were saved in order to know that they're saved, to have a definite experience. If you remember the time and the place, I'm happy for you. But that doesn't make you any more certain of your salvation if you understand the Bible. than what I'm about to tell you. I've often used this illustration, and I tell our new Christians this.

Suppose you and I are going to go to Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. I Drive And you fly. Naja, I'll meet you at the airport. I drive up. You fly.

And you're there at the airport waiting on me when I get there.

Now when I drive the automobile, And I cross the state line as very... Obvious. I'm now entering, first of all, into Arkansas and then into Texas, whichever way you go, on down that way. I drive. You're now entering the state of Texas.

Now you fly. You don't know. when you cross the state line. You're up too high. You just don't know.

But you land there in the airport, and it's obviously the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. You get out.

Now, Which one is the most in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport? The one who drives the car, the one who flies the airplane? The one who knows exactly when he crossed the state line. or the one who doesn't know exactly.

Now, listen to me very carefully because this will help you. Don't you let anybody ever tell you if you can't tell me the time and the place you were saved, you're not saved. There's one thing wrong with that. It is not in the Bible. Amen.

On the Bible. What is the proof? That I crossed the state line in an airplane. The proof is I am in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. And if I am, I had to cross the line.

Okay, now listen. What is the proof? That you are born again. The Bible never puts the assurance of your salvation in the past. It never says he that believed.

has everlasting life. It says, he that believes. Question. Are you Now trusting Jesus. If you are.

Friend, you're in the airport. I don't care whether you came by car or plane. If you're trusting Jesus, you had to trust him sometime. if you're trusting him now.

So don't go looking back to some murky experience trying to say, oh, I just don't remember. Mama, tell me, did I do this? Did I do that? No, just ask yourself: Am I trusting Jesus Christ? Is He my Lord and Savior?

Do I see the traits of the twice-born? In my heart, in my life. Friend, it is none other than Jesus who said, You Must. Be born again. And if you're only born once, you'll die twice.

The second death is the lake of fire. But if you're born twice that which is born from above. will go endless, dateless, timeless, measureless. with the Lord. Jesus summed up this teaching by saying in verse 16, For God so loved the world.

That He gave His only begotten Son. that whosoever believes in him should not perish. but should have everlasting life. And if you want to be saved, I'm going to lead you in a prayer today. You can believe in Christ.

You will be born again. Remember, it's not necessarily an emotional experience. You put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Pray this way, O God. I'm a sinner by my first birth.

And I have a sinful nature by my first birth. I need a second birth. I need a new nature. I need to be born from above. Lord Jesus, you died to save me.

And you promised to save me if I would trust you? Thank you for paying for my sin with your blood on the cross. I now open my heart. I receive you by faith. As my personal Lord and Savior.

Forgive my sin. Cleanse me. Save me today. and help me not to be ashamed of you. In your name I pray.

I'm here. If you would like to learn more about how you can know Jesus or deepen your relationship with Him, simply click the Discover Jesus link on our website, lwf.org. For a copy of this message or additional resources, visit our online store at lwf.org or call 1-800-274-5683. Thank you.