Part 3- Born of the Spirit

P.M. Sermon

Spring Hill, TN

2/4/07 p.m.

Series: “Discovering the Holy Spirit” (Pt. 3)

Text: John 3:1-8

Summary: In PART 3 of this series, we explore what it means to be “born of the Spirit.” (a helpful resource used in this sermon was Gus Nichols Lectures on the Holy Spirit page 7-18).

“Born of the Spirit”

Introduction:

A. All we can know about the Holy Spirit and the spiritual realm, we must learn from the Bible.

B. There is much superstition on this topic within the religious world today.

C. Our guiding text for this study is Deuteronomy 29:29—“The things that have been revealed are for us and our children, but the secret things belong to God.”

D. In this lesson we are going to explore what it means to be “born of the Spirit” and our text is found in John 3:1-8.

I. THE HUMAN SPIRIT NEEDS REBIRTH

A. Man has a spirit

1. Man has an inward spiritual existence in addition to the physical body.

2. Many passages of Scripture teach that man has a spirit (Matt. 10:28; Matt. 16:26; 1 Cor. 2:11; et. al.).

B. By sinning, we become children of the devil

1. When we make the decision to willfully sin against God when we reach the age of accountability we become children of the devil by our sin (Acts 13:10; John 8:44).

2. Those who obey the desires of sin allow sin to reign over them as a master.

3. By making the choice to sin, man’s inner self becomes corrupted and spiritually tainted; man has a need for spiritual rebirth and cleansing of his soul.

C. The inward person needs rebirth

1. Nicodemus thought that Jesus spoke of the need for the “outward man” to be re-born.

2. Yet notice that Jesus stresses the fact that there is a need to be “born-AGAIN.”

3. The NEW birth is not like the OLD birth; the new birth is of “water and the spirit.”

4. That which is born of FLESH is flesh but that born of SPIRIT is spirit (John 3:6).

5. God purposed to give man a “spiritual makeover” by the process of CONVERTING and TRANSFORMING his spirit (the inner person).

6. The CONVERTED person no longer follows the OUTWARD desires of the outer man, but rather followings the LEAD of the spirit of God (Rom. 8:13-14).

D. Spiritual rebirth takes place in a physical act

1. Many within Protestantism have a difficult time accepting that the spiritual re-birth of the Spirit could occur at a physical act like baptism.

2. We should not be surprised that spiritual events are connected to physical actions.

3. The PHYSICAL blood of Jesus provides for the SPIRITUAL remission of sins (Matt. 26:28).

4. Likewise, the SPIRITUAL renewal of the spirit takes place at the PHYSICAL act of baptism.

5. It cannot be overemphasized that the new birth is for the INNER MAN and is not simply a religious formality (1 Pt. 3:21; Matt. 18:3).

6. The new birth of man’s spirit is not physically seen, rather it is like the wind (John 3:8).

7. Although it is invisible to the physical senses, it is a spiritual reality when one’s allegiance and loyalty is transferred from Satan’s kingdom into the kingdom of God’s dear Son (Col. 1:13).

II. HOW DOES THE BIRTH OF THE SPIRIT OCCUR?

A. The message of the Holy Spirit

1. How is one born again? Inspiration teaches that we are “begotten through the gospel” (1 Cor. 4:15).

2. The gospel is not the same thing as the Holy Spirit, however the gospel was revealed and confirmed by the Spirit (1 Pt. 1:12; John 16:13).

3. The apostles and prophets “spoke as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4; 1 Cor. 2:13).

4. The gospel is the MESSAGE of the Holy Spirit (cf. 2 Pt. 1:21).

5. We are begotten as God’s children by the word of truth (James 1:18).

6. To be “born of the Spirit” is to be born by the WORD of the SPIRIT; to be BEGOTTEN through the GOSPEL by obeying the TRUTH (read 1 Peter 1:22-23).

B. “Born of the Spirit”

1. The Holy Spirit operates upon the heart (spirit) of man in the new birth THROUGH THE MEANS of the GOSPEL.

2. The Holy Spirit DOES NOT act miraculously to make children of God; if he did, all men everywhere would be children of God and salvation would be unconditional on man’s part.

3. The new birth is brought about by the Holy Spirit’s LEADERSHIP—that is, through the AGENCY and WORK of the Holy Spirit.

4. Those who are LED by the Holy Spirit are sons of God (Rom. 8:14).

5. The Holy Spirit LEADS us to become children of God through the WORD he has revealed.

6. Those who follow as the Spirit guides have the NEW BIRTH and are BORN OF THE SPIRIT.

C. Directly or Indirectly?

1. Does the Holy Spirit work DIRECTLY upon the heart of an individual to bring about the BIRTH OF THE SPIRIT, or does he do it through some MEDIUM?

2. Illustrate: Right hand (representing Holy Spirit) hits left hand (representing heart of sinner). Does the Holy Spirit work this way? Does he work DIRECTLY without any medium? This is what many in Protestantism teach.

3. Illustrate: Right hand holding Bible (representing Holy Spirit using a medium) hits left hand (representing heart of sinner). Does the Holy Spirit work on a sinner’s heart through the medium of divine truth? The Holy Spirit is himself working on the heart here, but he uses a tool or medium (the word). This gives man a choice to obey or disobey.

4. Which of these is biblically correct? What does the Bible say? Let’s read James 1:18 and 1 Peter 1:23.

5. But you might object, “the word of God is not the Holy Spirit!” Right! But here my right hand is OPERATING on the left hand through the Bible. The right hand is DOING THE ACTION but through the MEDIUM of the Bible.

6. This is precisely what the Bible teaches and thus many biblical passages come into clear focus:

(1) The gospel preached…with Holy Spirit sent (1 Peter 1:12)

(2) Gospel is the power of God to salvation (Rom. 1:16).

(3) Receive the engrafted word which is able to save your soul (James 1:21).

(4) Gospel…by which you are saved (1 Cor. 15:2)

D. Indwelling of the Spirit

1. After being born of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit dwells in us because we have been born of the Spirit.

2. The Holy Spirit works upon us IN CONVERSION through the MEDIUM of His MESSAGE.

3. When we are converted being LEAD by the SPIRIT’S MESSAGE, we become SONS of God being born of the Spirit.

4. Being born again, we are sons of God. But then what?

5. “BECAUSE YOU ARE SONS…God sent forth the SPIRIT INTO your hearts” (Gal. 4:6).

6. When we are converted by the medium of divine truth, the heart is then made to be a FIT DWELLING PLACE for the Holy Spirit to dwell (cf. John 15:3).

7. In Acts 2, the crowd was CONVERTED by the WORD of the SPIRIT upon the apostles mouths, but when they responded the HOLY SPIRIT HIMSELF was given as a GIFT to them (Acts 2:38).

Conclusion:

A. This is most certainly the truth of the matter because it is taught by Jesus Christ!

B. Jesus begins this teaching to Nicodemus by saying “Verily, verily” or “Truly, truly” or “Amen, Amen.”

C. In other words Jesus is grabbing our attention by starting “Listen! This is the truth! No one can inherit the kingdom of God UNLESS he is BORN OF WARTER AND THE SPIRIT.”

D. Do you need to be born of the Spirit today?