841. Regeneration

Welcome to The Daily Platform from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. Our goal this semester is to have 12 messages that deal with the doctrine of man, how has God made us.

Today's sermon will be preached by Dr. Stephen Hankins, a professor in the seminary at Bob Jones University. The three experiences that I've had in life that have something in common. One was the birth of my four children. Another was climbing up to a tall tree as a boy, and I did this more than one time, and have the wind blow that tree and that tree sway.

I would have given my mother a heart attack if she'd known what I was doing, I'm sure. The other was a nice warm shower after a long day of dirty work, doing something in the yard or with the car. As a young man lying on a bunk bed at Camp Patmos and Kelly Island in Lake Erie, I learned firsthand what those three things have in common.

They're all a metaphor. I experienced regeneration by the power of the Holy Spirit that transformed my heart. And it will will for any man transform their heart. This morning I want to biblically and theologically explain to you, as objectively as I can, what this is, regeneration.

I was instantaneously transformed. From that day forward, like all of us, stumbling, seeking forgiveness and cleansing, I've seen worked out in my life the power of that transformation. I've seen worked out in my life what theologians have defined many times over through the centuries. One put it, it is the communication of the divine life to the soul. It's the impartation of the new nature or heart. Another one put it this way, it's the act of God which the new principle of life is implanted in man.

It is the governing disposition of the soul being made holy. Or still another one saying it's God giving a new spiritual vitality, a direction to our lives. Now we have the good fortune that the Lord Jesus held an interview that's presented in John chapter 3 and the first part of it in verses 1 through 15 in which he presents for us a kind of window, a great window through which we can look at the idea presented in scripture called regeneration. And as we walk through this interview I want us to look very carefully through this window like walking through a large SeaWorld aquarium and observing the incredible magnificence of this truth, the beauty of it.

As we do it I want us to pose a question for ourselves. Have you been changed since you were saved? If you have, you've been regenerated.

You've become a partaker of the divine nature as 2 Peter 1.3 says. But any person who has not been changed may be an example of the first idea that Christ presents for us through the writer John in this profound interview and that is the profound need for regeneration. Look at verses 1 through 3. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him. Of course Christ could not have chosen a more profound subject to show this profound need.

Nicodemus. Here was a man who in the view of his contemporaries was peerless before God. But in reality he was in a tragic condition like all the rest of the human family. This is a common deception of Satan.

We all need regeneration no matter what our position in life as verse 1 says. Nicodemus was a Jew. This is the race that viewed themselves as special inheritors of the favor of God. He was a Pharisee of the strictest sects of the Jews and the most obedient.

He was a ruler of the Jews, a member of the Sanhedrin, the 70 member supreme court over religious and civil matters. In short, this man had arrived morally, religiously, educationally, socially, and politically. And you're a BJ student. You come from a Christian family with a mother and father who are leaders in a fundamentalist Bible preaching church. You're a leader spiritually on campus. Is it possible to be all those things and not be regenerate? It's as possible as the case presented in Nicodemus. We all need regeneration no matter what our level of sincerity as verse 2 says.

Listen to the words of this dear man. Rabbi, teacher, I know that you're a teacher come from God. No man can do the miracles that thou doest except God be with him. He initiated this conversation with the Lord Jesus and said that because of the miracles that he'd seen, he was certain Christ must be from Yahweh.

He had come to some right conclusions. He was a sincere man, but the best and the most sincere man is a condemned man because of sin if as a man he has not been regenerated. He is, in the words of Ephesians 2, 2, a son of disobedience. In the words of Ephesians 2, 3, he is a child of wrath. In the words of Luke 16, 18, he is a son of this age.

And in the words of the Lord Jesus in John 8, 44, he is a son of the devil. What an utterly contrasting view, men and women, from the social and educational and cultural elite in this country and any country. Just educate people better. Give them a better environment. Bring them up out of poverty.

Encourage them and set great goals before them and they will be okay. And the pronouncement of the Son of God to that is this. No. And the evidence of all recorded history of the 20th century out of which we've just come and the first 15 years of the 21st century is no.

Those things are not enough. To put it succinctly in the words of the Apostle Paul, he said, quoting many Old Testament passages in Psalms and Isaiah, there is none righteous, no not one. There is none that understandeth. There is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way.

They are together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good, no not one. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Romans 3, 10 through 12 and 23.

Regeneration. As the topic appears some approximately 85 times in the Bible. That is a significant emphasis. And in it, we have stressed the profound need of men to know it. There are a variety of pictures in Scripture. In Ephesians 2, men are said to need spiritual resurrection from the dead. In John 3 where we are, men are said to need spiritual birth.

A new birth. In 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 17, Paul writes that men literally need to be spiritually recreated. There's one passage where the term of generation is especially used in a theological way in the New Testament. It's in Titus chapter 3 verse 5 through 7. Listen to these profound words as Paul wrote to his mentee Titus. A man in the pastoral ministry, he said, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost which he shed upon us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior that being justified by his grace we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. As you can see, as the interview begins, there is a profound need for regeneration presented and that simply echoes, men and women, all the other passages in the Bible that talk about regeneration and the condition of humankind. But then Christ, as if taking a bold black marker, underlines another truth and talks about the very singular nature of regeneration.

Notice verse 3. 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. There is nothing like it.

There is nothing equal to it. It's not just a by the way or in addition to truth along with other more important truths. Jesus said, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. The singular nature of regeneration is seen through Christ's emphatic statement.

This is our Lord Jesus. Truly, truly, I say to you, unequivocally, without question, with no exceptions, it's the only way of entrance into the kingdom of God. The singular nature of regeneration is seen through Christ's presentation of it as an exclusive way of salvation. Except a man be born again, there is no other way into the dominion of God over which he rules. It is singular and it is a matter of the heart.

It is personal and it is spiritual. And herein, guys, girls, is the reproach of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ and the message of the gospel. Any follower of Christ who reads and understands his Bible realizes that he cannot say that a practicing Islamist or Buddhist or Hindu or Catholic is part of the kingdom of God. Jesus is the only way, the only truth, the only life, John 14, 16. It is by faith in him alone that a man is born anew from above. There are not many roads to heaven.

We do not all pray to the same God who just happens to have different names in different religions in different parts of the world. That is not what the Bible teaches. It is through Christ alone and his regenerative work alone. It is singular. It is the stand-alone litmus test for a man's eternal destiny. There's a profound need.

It is singular in nature. But then the Lord Jesus proceeds onward in the interview. And in doing so now, the great master, the great teacher gives enlightening descriptions of what regeneration is like in verses 4 through 8 in this passage. I'd like you to watch it closely with me first as we see the description of regeneration in contrast to physical birth. Notice in verse 4 through 6, 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.

Nicodemus was genuinely confused, though he should not have been. This had nothing to do with the second physical birth. This was a spiritual birth by the Holy Spirit of alone. Earlier in this same gospel in John chapter 1 verses 12 through 13, the Apostle Paul wrote just how regeneration through the Spirit would occur and he said in those verses, But as many as received them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but by God.

Not of blood, meaning not in any way hereditary. Not of the flesh, meaning in no way involved with physical procreation. Not in the will of man, meaning it's not simply a matter of human choice alone, but by an act of God, by the will of God. Now let's see regeneration's description next by our Lord and Savior as he uses metaphors, examples, to help us understand what it is. Look at verses 5 through 8 with me when he says, 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. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth, soever is every one that is born of the Spirit. Four times in verses 5 through 8, the Lord Jesus presents regeneration as a birth, not physical, but spiritual, of our desires, of our will, of our conscience, of our thought processes toward others and toward God.

But notice there's a second picture metaphor, and it's one of the wind, or rather of the water in the second case. Notice, except a man, the verse says, be born of the water and of the Spirit. Verse 5, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. This is that regeneration is a washing. It is a cleansing that occurs by an act of the Holy Spirit. This is precisely what Titus was written by Paul in 3.5 when Paul said that regeneration is the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost.

There is a purifying that occurs in your wicked, sinful heart, magnificent, life-transforming, forever changing. And then Christ presents a third picture, a third metaphor, and it's the wind. And he says this in verse 8 when he said, the wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth.

So is every one that is born of the Spirit. The trees are moving violently, and one say, wow, look at the wind blowing. You don't see the wind. You see the trees. The wind is invisible, but it is powerful. I was in my office on Friday evening a couple of weeks ago when we had that hurricane on campus.

I have two walls in my office that are glass, and it was an interesting experience. Power, force, but I wasn't seeing the wind, and so is the omnipotent agent of regeneration. We don't see him, but the power is there. And that's why John wrote in his first letter such an amazing description of the evidences of regeneration when a person is born of God into the family of God as a source of comfort and also as a source of very important self-examination. John said there will be a pattern of life that will evidence itself if that mighty work of the Spirit has happened to give you a new ruling disposition of holiness, a new heart, a new soul given to you by God.

And what are those evidences? He said there will be a continual desire and doing what is right, as 1 John 29 says. He says that that person who has been regenerated avoids sin and a sinfully dominated lifestyle continually, 1 John 3.9. He continually shows love toward God and others, 1 John 4, 7, and 8. He continually trusts Christ as his Lord and Savior daily, 1 John 5.1.

He continually and ever increasingly overcomes the world by trusting what God says. There's a pattern around Christmastime. Oftentimes, I get an unexpected card in the mail, and it usually has just a brief note. And in it, there's an expression of gratitude and that signature from Bill Storm. One night after working at Sears at my job in my senior year of high school, I finished, walked across the street to McDonald's, and I saw Bill sitting over in his car.

Bill was a pretty aimless pothead. He was kind of the pioneer hippie in the group of my friends that I knew in high school. And I began to talk to Bill as we sat there together in the car, and the opportunity presented itself to give him the gospel, and I did. We talked for quite a while.

He drove me to my house. We sat in front of my house, and I gave him scripture, and he opened his heart to Christ. Bill went on to marry a Christian woman, to raise a Christian family.

He is a leader in Bible preaching church, his Bible preaching church. And evidences the fruit of a transformed life. And that card always says, thank you for that night that you showed me how to be born again. It changed everything. And it does change everything. People need it profoundly. It is singular in its nature. The Lord Jesus presents a magnificently enlightening description.

But there is no way to know regeneration. Unless there is saving faith in the gospel, it is always essential for regeneration. And this is how the Lord Jesus climaxes this interview in verses 9 through 15. My freshman year and traveling home to my home in northern Ohio, passed through the small town of my grandparents. They were both not believers.

I knew that. And I wanted them to hear the gospel, the opportunity it presented itself. I gave them the gospel, went home, and when I was returning back to school, coming back through, my granddad, who often would take me for rides in the country when I was a young boy, said, Steve, let's go get in the car.

Let's go for a ride. As we drove out through the countryside there in Fayette County, Ohio, my granddad turned to me and he said, Steve, I want you to know, my 70-year-old grandfather, that I've placed my faith in Christ. And based on what you told me, I'm born again.

Two years later, I was standing in the third floor of Revealed Dormitory and I got the call that my grandfather had gone home to be with the Lord. He was 70, but he was born again. The Lord Jesus launches an effort to persuade Nicodemus now. He said, Nicodemus, in verse 9 and 10, I want you to understand that this is taught in the Old Testament.

It is affirmed there. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, verse 9, how can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Nicodemus, he gently reproves him, don't you understand? You are a master teacher in Israel, and you don't remember what 1 Samuel 13, verse 6 says, that God by his Spirit would turn Saul into another man? That God by his Spirit would give him another heart? Nicodemus, don't you remember what Jeremiah the prophet said to those returning from the Babylonian captivity? I will give them a heart to know me, and I am the Lord. Don't you remember, Nicodemus, what the prophet Ezekiel prophesied about the restoration of the people when he said, I will give them one heart and I will put a new spirit within you, and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh.

And if that were not enough, Christ ramps up the argument. He said, now it's all taught in the Old Testament, Nicodemus, but I want you to know, as the Old Testament says, everything is to be established in the mouth of two or three witnesses. I want to give you a fact, Nicodemus, that there are two great witnesses that are testifying to you of this new birth. Look at verse 11, verily, verily, I say unto thee, we speak that we do know what we do know, and testify that we have seen, and ye receive not our witness. Who's he talking about?

We. Nicodemus knew about John the Baptist. They were going in multitudes to John and being converted, repenting of their sin and trusting in the coming anointed one. He knew about the ministry of the Lord Jesus.

That's why he was so caught up with and interested in it. He'd heard and seen the power of the message of these men and the transforming work of the Spirit in multitudes. If that were not enough, Jesus says in verse 12 and 13, Nicodemus, this truth is affirmed to you by yet another witness.

Notice verse 12 and 13 now. If I have told you earthly things and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man, which is in heaven. Nicodemus, I am the anointed one of God. I'm the Son of Man. I am the Messiah.

I am the God-man. I am standing before you as the very image of the being of Yahweh, and I'm telling you, this is it. And then in mercy, to help Nicodemus further understand, he turns his attention to a great example or illustration in the Old Testament, and he affirms the great faith alone illustration given in the wilderness wanderings. Verse 14 and 15, and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Just as the Israelites who mumbled and grumbled and murmured about God's dealing with them were stricken with serpents that bit them, and Moses was told by God to make a bronze replica of that servant, hold it up on a staff, and if people would look at that and trust in that, because God said to do it, they would be delivered from the bite of the fiery serpent. So Jesus says, Nicodemus, if you will look to me, look to me as the one lifted up by faith alone to deliver you from the bite of iniquity and sin and Satan, you will be delivered. You will be saved. You will be rescued. Regeneration is the great change of heart for the believer.

We've seen that this morning. We've seen the profound need for it, the singular nature of it, the enlightening description of it, and the saving faith essential for it as presented by no other than the Son of God. When that knock came on my door and I opened it, my heart just leaped with joy. I hadn't seen Ross for quite a long time. At one point, he had come to Christ as a result of the presentation of the gospel and witness many years ago as I talked with him. He had gone on and joined the Navy and became an engineer on a nuclear submarine. He raised a family for God.

He retired from the Navy, and he stopped by here to tell me he was in transit to go assume the pastorate of a Bible preaching church in New England, and he said, What happened that day changed my life forever. I was regenerated. He became a new man with a new ruling disposition and new desires. Regeneration is your great transformation of heart, just like Ross. Regeneration transformed you forever. Regeneration promises the possibility of still greater transformation in the image of Christ by the power of the Spirit. You can be transformed today and day by day by day because of regeneration. We hope you'll join us again tomorrow at this same time as we study God's Word together on The Daily Platform.