The Gateway Into The Kingdom
There is no portion of God’s word
in which we are more familiar than with
this passage. I suppose if we should ask the man on the street if they believed
that Jesus Christ taught the doctrine of the new birth, they would undoubtedly say, “Yes I
believe he did”. But when
asked what the new birth is, we would
get sundry answers to this query .
These words compose one of the
most solemn thoughts that one can entertain . “Have I experienced the new birth am I born again,” For Jesus emphatically declares 3Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except
a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
The doctrine of the new birth is,
therefore the foundation of all our
hopes. It is really the ABC’s of Christianity, and my experience has been, if a
man is unsound on the doctrine of the new birth, he will be unsound on almost
every other fundamental teaching in the Bible.
I questioned a lady once, who had
not obeyed the gospel . She had attended faithfully, and heard the gospel
preached many times., when questioned as to why she had not obeyed the
gospel, she stated that she was as good as any those folks down at
the church who had obeyed the gospel. I don’t need to do that , I go to church. But Jesus states : 5Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he
cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
I once heard the story of a man who approached a minister and
stated “If you can answer all my
objections to your doctrine
satisfactorily, I will join your church." The preacher told him,
"you don’t need to join
my church, what you really need
is to study and look at the testimony concerning Christ, the rest will take
care of itself. " This he did. And I understand, his objections were answered.
The doctrine of the new birth
upsets all false hopes and foreign doctrines.
The question remains for each of us, "Have I been born again
of the water and of the Spirit".
For without having done so, Jesus says you cannot enter the kingdom of
God. : 5Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of
water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus came with his troubled mind, and to him Christ
said, “Ye
must be born again.” This
man comes inquiring of Jesus,
2Rabbi, 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. Others had
decided without investigation, that Jesus was not what He appeared and claimed to be,
Jesus had asked the Jews on more than one occasion, believe me for
the works which I do. Nicodemus had
obviously done this. 2Rabbi, 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.
Nicodemus
came not as some ordinary person, but a
ruler, evidently a member of the Sanhedrin,
a man of authority, and a teacher of the Jews. Of the seed of Abraham. And he was treated differently than he had
expected. A ruler and teacher of the law.
Now notice how Jesus puts it. “except a man be born again,” born anew”; or born of the
Spirit and the Water”. he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
I am so thankful that Jesus spoke
of the new birth to this ruler of the
Jews, a doctor of the law, rather than to, the woman at the well of
Samaria, or to Matthew the publican, or even to Zaccheus. Had He spoken this
great matter to people as these our thoughts might be, “Oh yes, the publicans and the harlots certainly need to be born again,
but I am an honest man. I do not need to be born again.”
I suppose Nicodemus was one of the
best examples of the people of Jerusalem. To my knowledge, there was no record
against this man, he comes to Jesus with an impeccable resume. If heaven could be earned by works,
Nicodemus perhaps would have merited the eternal reward.
There is a class of men who say
that gospel meetings and evangelistic campaigns are for a special class of
people. It would indeed be good if we could get the drunkard, the harlot, the thieves
and other wicked people to attend, But
I am a good person. Religious people are often the most difficult to
lead to Christ. They may be good folks, even gifted in their studies, but they can suffer from a blindness that is
almost impenetrable.
But not Nicodemus. This man had considered the evidence, and
came inquiring concerning the Christ. Consider, to whom did the Christ speak
these words? To Nicodemus. Was he a drunkard,
a thief, or other vile criminal? No! He was no doubt one of the best men in
Jerusalem. He was an honorable
counselor. He belonged to the Sanhedrin. He held a very high position, in the
religious world of his day.
And yet, Christ said to this good,
moral, yet religious man, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God" I think it hardly necessary for me to continue this line of
thought, we all need we all have to be
born again, Jesus has answered once
this quire once and for all "Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom
of God"
Well just what is the new birth? This is the
question of the hour. Please allow me
to state what the new birth or regeneration is not.
The New Birth. is not simply going
to church. Often we ask someone, "Are you a Christian?" The reply
, "well I think so, I go to church each Sunday. Although I am not a member of any particular
church. I contribute to charity. Yes! I think I am a Christian". Beloved it
is commendable that we attend the worship services, That
is not the new birth. One is not born again, just because he attends
church.
There is another class - those who have turned over a new leaf. We decide we will abandon our ungodly ways, and this will
make me acceptable in God's eyes.. But beloved, forming a new resolution, and
abandoning evil practices is not the new birth.
Then there is a class of folks,
good, sincere, who say I am saved. I believe in God , I accept that Christ is the Son
of God, it is enough. It is a very
serious question that comes before
us, I would that each would seriously
ask himself ; “Have I been born again?” Jesus says it so plainly that there can be no mistake: Except a man be
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God ¾
much less inherit it......
Please allow me to say, any
doctrine, that teaches that one is a child of God, prior to the “new
birth” is a false teaching,
therefore faith only doctrine is false.
For Jesus emphatically says to us: "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God. 6That
which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is
spirit. 7Marvel not that I said unto
thee, Ye must be born again. "
When Jesus spoke these words to
Nicodemus He used a figure of speech. And in so doing He indicated that some change, so
complete and so thorough that we might refer to it as a new birth, must take
place before one has the right to be called a citizen of the kingdom of
God. This change having taken place, he
has been born into the family of God.
Thus the new birth. If it is
possible for us to understand what this new birth is¾
Then it is possible for us to know how one may get into the kingdom of
God,
Since the new birth is the only
process by which one may get into the
kingdom, only that which is embodied in Jesus’ expression “the new birth”,
constitutes what God would have us do to become children of God. This is one point in all God’s dealings with
mankind, where light must shine crystal
clear
There are only
two kingdoms in the world. The kingdom of Satan and the kingdom of God. All
humanity belong to one or the other. There is no third place. These kingdoms are completely separate.
they do not overlap and it is impossible to be in both kingdoms. We fall by
transgression into Satan's kingdom of
darkness and we are translated out of this kingdom and into the kingdom of
light , the kingdom of God.
God is not willing that any should perish. 2
Peter 3:9. His desire is that every lost soul should come out of Satan’s
kingdom and into His kingdom of light. This we do by the new birth, The way
must be clear, there can be no doubts about it. So much depends upon it. Let
us look at some passages and see if we
can understand the new birth.
In John 1:12-13 we read:
“But as many as received him, to
them gave he power to become sons of God, even to them who believe on his name,
who are born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh, or the will of man,
but of God.”
God then is the author of the new
birth, When we are born again, we are said to be born of God. It is not a birth
of flesh, the natural way we had our physical being, rather it is a spiritual
birth, God is its author. James wrote in James 1:18:
18Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth,
that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Thus we are born or brought forth
by the word of truth. To be born of God
then is to be born of the Word of Truth, and to be born of the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit Himself uses these terms interchangeably, so can we. The
Holy Spirit is right, and when I speak that which the
Spirit has said. I speak right as well. n 1 Peter 1:22-23 Peter states
22Seeing ye have purified your souls
in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren,
see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: 23Being
born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God,
which liveth and abideth for ever.
No wonder Paul declared in Rom 1:16-17
16For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that
believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17For therein is
the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
Christianity is a sensible affair,
where men and women hear and are taught
the gospel of Jesus Christ. When faith is produced it leads one to reformation
of life. But it begins by hearing the old old story of Jesus and His
love. Jesus declared that men were to hear and learn John 6:44-45
44No
man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will
raise him up at the last day. 45It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught
of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father,
cometh unto me.
Beloved when we get away from all
the mystery and fog that many have attached to this passage concerning the new
birth, and get down to the simplicity
of Jesus’ teaching, then it becomes
clear that the new birth is simply believing the gospel, that the apostles
required of all believers, obedience
to the word of truth.
There is then a very simple answer
to the question: Of what does the new birth consist? When the facts of the
gospel are taught, and we hear these
facts an appeal is made to the
intellect of man. The intellect reacts to the facts presented to believe or
reject them. If received, faith is
produced, and we may become children of God by faith John 1:12-13, authorized
for that is the meaning of the Greek word
[ejxousiva] translated power. But if the
message is rejected, then faith is not established, and without faith it is
impossible to be pleasing to God. Heb
11:6
This faith in God, mixed with a
repentance, brought about by a realization that we have transgressed God’s
laws, and offended the Great God of Heaven results in a reformation of life,.
This change of the inner man creates completely a different spirit within the
man. The new man is so different from the old man, that it is not amiss to say,
He has been born again,
Perhaps the clearest commentary on
what Jesus meant when He told Nicodemus
"Ye must be born again" is
given by the Master Teacher Himself, Surely He would know more about it than
anyone else. In Mark 16:15-16 we
read, Jesus doing the speaking ¾
15 Go ye
into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that
believeth not shall be damned.
It would take far more help to
misunderstand than to understand it. Note these conclusions from what has been
stated thus far: All who are saved are in the kingdom of God. Those who are born again are in the kingdom
of God. Therefore, all those who are born again are those who are saved.
But: all who believe and are baptized shall be saved. Mark 16:15-16. All
the saved are in the kingdom of God. Therefore all who believe and are baptized
are in the kingdom of God. The old expression, "things equal to like
things, are equal to each other."
But note still further: None may see, get into the kingdom of God
except they be born again, the new birth. John 3:3-5. All those who believe and
are baptized are in the kingdom of God
because they are saved Acts 2:38 and are added to the church the kingdom…
Acts 2:47.
Therefore all who have believed
and are baptized, have been born of the water and the sprit. We have been
translated out of the kingdom of Satan and into the kingdom of God's dear Son.
These conclusions are inescapable. None
may show otherwise.
When this change takes place, it
is no longer possible that our physical bodies should serve and obey the lusts
of the flesh and of sin. When our hearts have been born again our actions must
change. We are brought into subjection to Christ. Read: Rom 6:1- 6; 17-23
The salvation of our souls depend
upon the new birth. We must be able to clearly understand and obey it. Would
God who loved us and sent His son to die for us, want to hid this teaching from
us? This is the one place in all the gospel, where we must read our title
clear.
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.
My friend, you may be a globe trotter and see many countries in
this life, but there is one country you will never see, unless you are born
again. You
can look far and wide, see many beautiful flowers trees, but you will never see
the tree of life, unless you are born again.
You may see many rivers, but you
will not see the river which bursts
from the throne of God, unless you have been born again.
You may see many people in this
life, those we love, those we share fellowship with. But you will never see
those who have died faithfully in the Lord unless you are born again. You may
dwell in the presence of kings and of
lords, but you will not dwell with
the king of King and lord of Lords unless you have been born again.
The New Birth
the gateway into the Kingdom of God. "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."
In Luke chapter 16 we have a clear picture of one
who is unprepared to meet God at death.
The Bible says Luke 16:23-31
23And
in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and
Lazarus in his bosom. 24And he
cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may
dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in
this flame. 25But Abraham said, Son,
remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise
Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 26And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf
fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they
pass to us, that would come from thence. 27Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou
wouldest send him to my father’s house: 28For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest
they also come into this place of torment. 29Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let
them hear them. 30And he said, Nay,
father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
31And he said unto him, If they hear not
Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from
the dead.
Have you been born again? You must be, if you would
enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Ron
Cope minister Cornelia church of Christ.