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I want to invite you to take out your Bibles and turn with me to John chapter 3. And hold your place at verse 1. Our reading for today will be verses 1 to 12. And the subject of today's sermon is the nature of regeneration.
You must be born again. With those words, Jesus simultaneously confused, shocked, and enlightened the Pharisee named Nicodemus. Jesus told his evening visitor that being born again was necessary for both perceiving and for participating in the kingdom of God.
From these words, you must be born again, we derive our doctrine of regeneration. We are born spiritually dead according to Ephesians chapter 1. We were dead in our trespasses and sins and were by nature children of wrath.
We read that in our confession this morning. So we have to be reborn to be spiritually alive. And this rebirth does not happen naturally, but rather it happens supernaturally. Therefore it is a birth from God, born from above.
As we learned last week, it could be translated, but more specifically a spiritual rebirth. A good definition of regeneration is actually found in something called the abstract of principles. The abstract of principles was a document that became the standard for teaching at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary when it was founded.
It is now in Louisville, Kentucky and to this day every professor that teaches at SBTS must sign this statement, the abstract of principles, several short paragraphs explaining the doctrines of the faith and this is paragraph number 8.
Regeneration is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit who quickeneth the dead in trespasses and sins, enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the Word of God and renewing their whole nature so that they love and practice holiness.
It is a work of God's free and special grace alone. I think that is a useful and I would say biblical definition of what it means to be born again. Regeneration is a change of heart, a change of heart not caused by something that we do, but caused by something that the Holy Spirit does within us.
We cannot birth ourselves. We didn't birth ourselves the first time, in fact I don't think I participated at all other than being the recipient of the birth or the object rather of the birth and likewise my spiritual birth was not of my own doing, but was a work of God's sovereign grace in my life and a work of the Holy Spirit on my heart.
Last week we looked at the necessity of regeneration. You must be born again. Today we are going to look at the nature of regeneration. What is it to be born again and what is it not? So let's stand together and read our text today.
The text will be, I'll be reading from the English standard version. You're welcome to read along on the screen. If you don't have a Bible in your hand there will be the words that I'm reading on the screen and of course if you're reading in another translation I just encourage you to read along and keep up as best as you're able.
John chapter 3 verse 1 it says, 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 the signs 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 him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of spirit is spirit.
Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes and you hear it sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the spirit.
Nicodemus said to him, How can these things be? Jesus answered him, Are you the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.
If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? Father in heaven, I thank you for your word. I thank you that you have given us your word in a way that we are able to read it in our.
Own language.
Oh, what a blessing that is. And yet, Lord, we still have to seek an understanding of it, for there are times where the word is very clear and there are times where the word is a little more difficult to understand.
And so for those times where it is difficult to understand, we know, Lord, we need your spirit. And we know, Lord, without your spirit we would not understand, for your word itself even says the natural man receives not the things of the spirit of God because they are spiritually discerned.
So I pray, God, that you would give us spiritual discernment today to understand your word. Most of all, Lord, I pray, as I pray every time I step behind the pulpit, that you would keep me from error, knowing that I am a fallible man and capable of preaching error.
I pray, God, for sanctification over my heart and lips as I preach. And I pray for the open ears and hearts of those who will receive it, that your spirit would be the teacher, that he would apply these words.
And ultimately, Lord, that I would decrease and that Christ would increase and that you would receive the glory due your name. And I pray this all, Lord, in Jesus' name and for his sake, amen. You may be seated.
This morning we continue our study of John's gospel. We have been in a verse-by-verse study of this gospel now since the beginning of the Advent season, so going on about four or five months now, I guess close to six months now.
And we are in chapter three. Last week we read verses one through 12, and I made mention in that text that we would not finish all the way to verse 12, but we were reading it to understand the context of the conversation.
And I will say today, again, we probably won't get all the way to verse 12 because we're still going to find ourselves focusing on this intercourse between Jesus and Nicodemus, this interaction, this conversation that these two are having regarding the requirement of being born again.
Last week when we were talking about this, I mentioned that what we see here is Jesus telling us what the barrier for entrance is to the kingdom of God. What is the standard? What is the qualification?
What must one have to participate in to even see the kingdom of God? And that's an important point I do want to point out. When Jesus says this, he uses two words. The first time he says, unless you are born again, you will not see the kingdom of heaven.
And the second time he says, unless you are born of water and of the spirit, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. The word see and the word enter are not absolutely synonymous. Jesus is drawing out two ideas.
The first idea is for us to even understand, for us to even see and perceive in our mind's eye, to be able to understand the kingdom, to be able to perceive the kingdom of God, we must have a change of heart.
As we mentioned last week, the natural man does not understand the things of God. When you talk to a person who has not been born again about the kingdom of God, it is often very confusing. But once we have been born again, we at least understand that we're talking about spiritual realities, realities that the person who is dead in spirit will be unable to comprehend.
Even those who have been born of the spirit still have difficulty at times really comprehending the kingdom of God. And we're going to talk about that at some point when we get around to that portion.
What is the kingdom of God? What do we mean by that? We probably won't get to that one today. But the idea, you will not see the kingdom of God unless you are born again. But then he adds an additional layer.
He says you will not enter into the kingdom of God. This is speaking of our participation. And he's telling Nicodemus, unless this happens, you won't be in. You won't see it and you won't enter it. He's giving us the barrier for entrance into the kingdom.
And what's so interesting about this is he's talking about the new birth. He's talking about regeneration as this barrier for entrance into the kingdom. And he is differentiating the birth that we all had in the flesh with the birth that is required for entrance into the kingdom.
He calls the fleshly birth the born of flesh and he calls the spiritual birth born of spirit. He says that which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of spirit is spirit. Everyone in this room has been born of the flesh.
Every one of us carries the nature of our parents having been born in the image of our parents as it were. All of us coming in the image of Adam. Adam being our first parent.
We're all related.
Did you know that? Not just are we related by the fact that we're Christians and therefore brothers and sisters in Christ, but we're related physically down through the ages. All of us come from the same set of parents.
Adam is our fleshly head. He's our fleshly representative. We call that the federal headship of Adam where he represented the human race when he sinned against God and therefore he brought the whole human race into sin when he sinned against God.
And I've explained this before, but just for those who've never heard this teaching, it's very much the same way that we have representatives in our government. When the president does something, he does something on behalf of all of us.
When Congress does something, they do something on behalf of all of us. And so we understand the idea of a federal government or a representative government. When the government does something, it represents all of us.
So if tomorrow the Congress decides we're going to war, guess what? We be at war, right? We may not like it, we may not want to participate in it, but we're at war because we are represented by our leaders.
Adam represented humankind in the garden. The first human being representing us in the garden. And what did he do? He went to war with God and he took us with him. This is why the Bible says that we are at enmity with God.
The word enmity means that we are enemies of God. Prior to being born again, we who are in the flesh are slaves of sin and we are opposed to he who is righteous. This is the very nature. You are dead in your trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of the devil himself.
But by grace, you have been saved. You weren't saved by your goodness. Goodness, no. You were saved by grace. And how were you saved by grace? You were saved by grace because God, in his mercy, gave you a new heart.
He gave you the gift of regeneration. You were born again. You were born of God. You were born first of Adam. And then, when you heard the gospel and God opened your heart to believe it, you were born of the Spirit.
A new birth.
A second birth. A better birth. What's interesting about John chapter 3 is this is not the first time that we read about this birth in John's gospel. It might be the most explicit. You must be born again.
But I want you for just a moment, since you have your Bibles open, I want you just to turn two pages back, maybe two to three pages back, to John chapter 1. In John chapter 1, at verse 12, actually let's look at verse 11 first because in verse 11 it sets the context for us.
In John chapter 1, verse 11, it says that he, speaking of Jesus, came to his own and his own people did not receive him. I believe that is referring to Israel. I talked about that in my sermon when I preached through it.
Some people believe that simply means he came into all humanity, but I think it's referring to the Jewish people because that is who he came to first. He even says, I came to seek and save the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
We understand Jesus came to the Jews first. Not only, but first. And when he came to his own, how did his own people receive him? For the most part, they did not. For the most part, he was rejected by the Jewish people.
So when he came to his own, his own people did not receive him, but to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. But how did they become children of God?
Verse 13 gives us the answer. Who were born not of blood. That means your birth, your spiritual birth, was not of ancestry. You didn't come into the kingdom of God because of your parents. Nor of the will of the flesh.
That means you didn't will yourself to be born again. You didn't do it by decision. Nor of the will of man. This means someone else didn't will you into the kingdom. No one can manipulate the new birth.
No one can cause it by the wish or desire of the heart. I wish I could will and desire the regeneration of people. What kind of power would that be to go to a man and say,.
You are born again.
Would not we all do that for others if we could? But we can't. But notice the last clause, but of God. See, we were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh,.
Nor of the will of man, but of God.
The new birth is a birth from God. It is a birth of God. It is a spiritual rebirth. And that is what it means to be born again. It means to be born of God. And so that is the way that Jesus is speaking here.
When he tells Nicodemus, you must be born again. You must be born of water and of the spirit. He's telling him, you must be born spiritually. Last week we talked about that phrase, water and the spirit.
And I don't have time to go back through my argument about this, but a lot of people think that is water baptism. I understand how they come to that conclusion, but I don't agree. Because I do not believe water baptism is the barrier for entrance into the kingdom.
Even though I believe water baptism is necessary in the sense that you should do it, because believers should obey Christ, and Christ commands us to go and baptize all nations. We're told to do that. If any Christian told me I don't want to be baptized, I don't want to obey Jesus, I would call into question their faith, because what is faith?
It's the believing of what Jesus says and following after him in obedience. If we say we don't want to do what Jesus tells us to do, what does that say about our faith?
A whole lot, right?
It says our faith has a problem if we don't want to do what Christ commands. But when Jesus says born of water and of the spirit, I believe this is a reference to Ezekiel chapter 36. We're in Ezekiel 36 when the prophecy of the prophet Ezekiel is referring to this event, to the event of regeneration, the changing of the heart.
In fact, Ezekiel says God takes out the heart of stone and puts in the heart of flesh. He says, and God will wash you with water from on high. It's a spiritual washing. It's symbolized, pictured in the baptistry, but not caused by the baptistry.
It's caused by the work of God in our heart. And so the water and the spirit here are synonymous. It is God's work of washing us with the spirit. A .W. Pink actually has an interesting interpretation of John 3, 5.
He believes the water there is referring to the word, that the word is what precedes the spiritual rebirth. I think there's some interesting truth in that. Certainly no one is born again apart from the word.
And we are told in certain passages that the word is like water that washes us. In fact, what are husbands to do to their wives? Wash them with the water of the word, right? Like we're told that in Ephesians.
So we understand there are times where the word and water are used together. So if you want to follow that rabbit trail, be sure to pick yourself up a copy of A .W. Pink's commentary if you want to go further into that explanation.
But I think a simple understanding of water and the spirit could simply be that Ezekiel is giving us the prophecy and Jesus is telling us how the prophecy is fulfilled. The prophecy is God will wash you.
He will cleanse you. He will wash you spiritually. And he does it through the spirit, being born again. And so this is the nature of regeneration. And why is it necessary? Why is it necessary that we be born again?
Have you ever thought about that question? Well, it's necessary because we need a change of nature, do we not? Do we not need a change of heart, a change of nature? Certainly we do. In fact, since I mentioned A .W. Pink, I will read a section from his commentary.
He says this about being born again.
He said,.
Suppose a fish were taken out of the water and laid upon a salver of gold. Suppose further that the sweetest of flowers surrounded it and the air was filled with the fragrance. Suppose too that the strains of the most melodious music fell upon its ears.
Would that fish be happy and contented? Of course not. And why not? Because it would be out of harmony with its environment. Because it would be lacking in capacity to appreciate its surroundings. A fish out of water is not happy.
Neither would we who are born of the flesh be fit for the kingdom of God if we were not also born of the Spirit. So there it is. The nature of regeneration is a spiritual birth which fits us for the kingdom of God.
So now, as we have understood at least in part the nature of regeneration, I want to address three relationships. Three relationships. These are what we might call theological relationships. The first we're going to look at is the relationship between regeneration, being born again, and faith.
We're going to look at the relationship between regeneration and faith. Second, we're going to look at the relationship between regeneration and God's sovereignty. Finally, if time allows, we're going to look at what regeneration is not.
What regeneration is not. So let's look first at regeneration and faith. This is a very important theological question. Which comes first? Regeneration or faith? Regeneration or faith? And this isn't something obscure like which came first, the chicken or the egg.
By the way, we know the answer to that question, don't we?
The chicken!
Because God made every bird of the air and then the birds started having eggs.
Right?
God made the bird, the birds lay eggs, there's no question which came first, the chicken or the egg. Chicken came first. But the question which comes first, faith or regeneration, is hotly debated in theological circles.
Many people imagine in their understanding that we have to believe to be born again. This is sometimes referred to, I'm going to give you a word here, this is sometimes referred to as decisional regeneration.
That's kind of a fancy way of saying it, but you know what it's saying. I make the decision to be born again. Therefore, it's called decisional regeneration. I decide when I'm born again. And how do I decide?
I decide to believe. And when I decide to believe, God responds by giving me spiritual life. Therefore, what ultimately, in that scenario, is the cause of someone getting saved?
The will.
Choice of the will, right? And honestly, when this conversation is discussed, it's usually the question of the freedom of the will. They have the freedom to choose to believe. And when they choose to believe, God responds by giving them a new heart.
That's believed by a lot of people. It is called decisional regeneration, and it is based on an act of the will. That is not the position that I believe the Bible teaches, but it is very common. And if it is the position that you came holding today, I hope to challenge you a bit, but if you walk away continuing to hold your position after you leave, it will not affect our friendship.
I'll just call you a heretic on my way home. Of course not. This is an area where many people do disagree. But I would like to at least have the opportunity to tell you why I think the other way is more biblical and why I understand it this way.
Because as I understand it, I believe we are born again, and that's the reason why we believe. So it's a different order. I don't believe to get born again. I believe because I was born again. The new birth gives me the ability to believe.
That's what I believe. And I want to just say very quickly, this is a logical distinction, not a chronological distinction. What do I mean? It's logical in this causes that, but it's not chronological in that this comes and then later the other comes.
Like I can be born again on a Monday and not believe until Friday.
That would be a mistake of what I'm saying. I could be born again when I'm an infant and not believe until I'm 12. That's what's believed by some. They believe your new birth happens at some point and you don't become a believer until later.
No, I believe both happen simultaneously, but one is the cause of the other. In the same way that when a baby is born, it breathes the moment it's born. But it's breathing as a result of it having been born.
You understand what I'm saying? It doesn't breathe before it's born. When it comes out, it takes a breath. Well, when we're born of God, when we're born of the Spirit, we believe. It's the result, but it's the simultaneous result.
It's happening at the same time. It's not that I was born. Babies aren't born on Friday and start breathing on Monday. Babies are born and they breathe. We are born again and we believe. Makes sense, right?
Now, I haven't proven anything. I'm just trying to help you understand the logical and chronological understanding of what we're saying. So now let's look at why I would come to this conclusion. And the reason why I come to this conclusion is I do not believe that faith is something that we conjure up out of our own heart.
Because prior to the new birth, our hearts are desperately wicked and we do not desire the things of God. You might say, well, I don't feel like I was desperately wicked. You want us to take a stroll back through your pre-conversion experience and prove it?
You know one thing I am glad did not exist from 1980 to 1999? Camera phones. Because the documentation of my well-deserved position in hell would be legendary. Keep that in mind, parents, when you think of giving your kids phones to record all the things that they do.
Some things need to be left to the memory only, not to the memory card. You can say amen if you want, I'm right. The Bible says prior to being born again, we are dead in trespasses and sins. Now that does not mean that we cannot do certain things.
We can do a lot of things. Men who are spiritually dead do all kinds of amazing things. Men who are spiritually dead can be artistic. Men who are spiritually dead can be worldly, wise, and philanthropic.
But what they cannot do, according to scripture, is they cannot come to Christ in faith apart from the work of the Spirit. That's what the dead man spiritually can't do. It's not saying he can't do anything.
Dead men do all kinds of things. But when he looks to Christ, he does not see Christ as a desire of the heart. But rather, he desires his own lordship, not Christ's. A few passages just to consider. Probably the most famous being from John chapter 6.
I recently did a debate. And oftentimes when the question of faith and being a gift, this was part of the debate, because the debate was regarding God's sovereignty and salvation. I'll point people back to John chapter 6.
People ask me, why do you believe man is unable to come to Christ unless God does the work in the heart? I say, because Christ said so. That's why. Three important verses in John chapter 6. And by the way, I'm preaching through John.
We're in chapter 3 now. So, you know, in 10 years or so when we get to chapter 6, you'll hear me explain this a little better. But in John chapter 6, it says one important statement. By the way, this is in the context of all these people coming to Jesus who want to make him king.
And why do they want to make him king? Because he fed them. Fed 5 ,000 people with five loaves and two fish. Man, if there was a guy who could do that today, you'd make him the president, the congressman, the senator.
You'd make everything, right? You want this guy to be in charge. So they come to Jesus, and Jesus says, you came to me, but you really don't believe.
Why?
Because remember in John chapter 2, it says Jesus could see the heart of all men. He knew whether or not they really believed. And just because someone saw Jesus do a sign and believed in the fact that he could do signs did not mean that they really had faith.
In the same way today, many people have a false type of faith when they see some exciting thing or they see some what they consider to be miraculous thing, and it creates in them a temporary faith. This is the faith that we see in the seed that falls along the pathway and it springs up for a time, but it withers away because it has no root, right?
Jesus is there in John chapter 6, and he's preaching to these people, and he says to them, he says, yes, you come to me, but you do not believe. Verse 37, he says, all the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will in no ways cast out.
By the way, years ago, Pastor Roy Hargrave, who is now with the Lord, he was, I wish I could, I don't want to stop the sermon to just tell a story about Roy Hargrave, but Roy Hargrave is one of the men who had most influence in my life in a very young part of my ministry.
He was a pastor of River Bend Community Church, and just a few, about a year ago, the new pastor of that church reached out to me, and I've been meeting with him and talking with him, and he's asked me to come and preach at their church because of my relationship with Roy, and I look forward to that because Roy had an impact on me, but this is a story from Roy very quickly.
Roy was asked to preach on Calvinism and evangelism, and he said, here it is, all the Father gives me will come to me, that's Calvinism, and the one who comes to me I will in no ways cast out, there's evangelism.
I'll never forget that, it's just such a beautiful connection point. God is the one who causes us to come, but when we come, Jesus receives us. When we come, we're not cast away. Beautiful balance there.
Later in that same chapter in verse 44, Jesus again speaking of their unbelief, he says, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day. He says no one can come unless God does a work in the heart, unless the Father draws him.
And the word draw there does not simply mean to woo, as if God is sort of wooing all men by his love and mercy and grace. The same word for draw there is used of the apostle Paul when he was drug into court.
If you remember those passages from the book of Acts when Paul was drug into court. God draws us by his power, not just by his goodness and mercy, but by the power of his sovereign decree, he draws us in who would not come otherwise.
Not because we can't mentally, but because we don't want to. This is the issue, this is what we're saying. Men don't want to come because our hearts are darkened.
What does the Bible say?
Men won't come to the light because their hearts are darkened. So what does God do? He gives us a new heart. It says in the same chapter, John 6, 65. By the way, at that point everybody left. Jesus is preaching, all the people walked away, except for the disciples.
And he looks at them and he says, are you going to leave too? And what do the disciples say? To whom shall we go? You have the words of life, right? We can't go anywhere, who would we go to? And Jesus looked at them and he said, this is why I told you, this is verse 65.
This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it be granted to him by my Father. What does it mean to come to Christ? It means to believe on him, it means to trust in him, it means to come to him.
That is not something we do naturally. That is something we do supernaturally. The new birth is a supernatural change of heart where we see the kingdom, we see the king, we perceive the reality and we receive it by the work of God, not by my own work.
In my debate over this subject a few weeks ago, I was talking to the guy and I asked him, I said, let's say you and another man had been in church the same amount of years, you've been sitting in the same pew, hearing the same gospel for however many years it goes, and one day you believe in Christ and he doesn't.
I said, is it because you're better than him, more spiritually discerning, you are more humble, you ultimately have a better heart than he does. Oh no, that's not what I believe, but if you listen to the debate, the very next word, I humbled myself, I did it.
Here's the thing, if you have come to Christ, God did it, God did it. God opened your heart to believe. In the same way in Acts chapter 17 when Lydia came to Christ at the preaching of Paul, what does the text say?
And God opened her heart to believe what was preached by the apostle Paul. In 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 28 it says this, God chose what is low and despised in the world, even the things that are not to bring to nothing the things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God, and because of him you are in Christ Jesus.
Hear that again. In fact, I like the NASB, Mike's going to get excited because that's his preferred translation. It says, and by his doing you are in Christ Jesus. That's what it says in the ESV. And because of him and by his doing you are in Christ Jesus.
Beloved, what does Ephesians chapter 1 say? It says that he has blessed us with every blessing that we have been, well actually let's go turn, go real quick, just read with me. I don't want to mess it up.
It's too beautiful to fall under the constraints of my bad memory. Go to Ephesians chapter 1 and look at verse 3. Blessed be the God. Oh, I hear the Bible turning. I'll give you one more second. Let's see.
Give him a moment. Give him a moment.
Okay. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.
Notice it says he chose us. People say, well wait, he chose us in him. But how do we get into him? According to 1 Corinthians chapter 1, we are in him because of God. God's doing is what puts us into Christ.
And it is in fact being chosen by him as to why we are in Christ. It goes on to say, In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he blessed us in the beloved.
Do you understand what I'm saying? Our faith is not the product of our will. Our faith is the product of God's grace. A lot of people argue about Ephesians chapter 2, verse 8, because it says, For by grace are you saved through faith, and that is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.
And people say, well that there isn't referring to faith, it's only referring to grace. And we could walk through the Greek, and we could walk through why the genders don't align with that, and why the arguments are what they are, and there's all kinds of arguments.
But let me simply say this, Paul's point in Ephesians chapter 2, is it's not of yourselves. It's not of yourselves. None of it. None of it is because of you. It's all because of grace. Faith is a gift from God.
And by the way, so is repentance. Repentance is a gift from God. Just one text for that, if you want to just have one in your mind. It tells us, let's see here, yeah. 2 Timothy chapter 2 says, The Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome, but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness.
God may perhaps grant them repentance, leading to a knowledge of the truth. What is that verse telling us? What's Timothy? Timothy is known as a pastoral epistle. It's talking to the leaders of the church, the men who are going to be teaching the word of God.
And what does it say? It says, The Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome. He must be kind. And why must he be kind? He must be able to teach, and endure evil, and correct his opponents with gentleness, because God may grant that person repentance.
The person you're speaking to. By the way, this is why we're not to be jerks when we go out to evangelize. The people who hold up those signs with those ugly words on them, calling people names, and seeing the women walk by in the outfits, and calling them words that shouldn't even be uttered in public.
That's not what we're called to do. We're called to patiently teach with kindness, because God might, in His mercy, grant them repentance. And what's the relationship between repentance and faith? Two sides of the same coin.
In fact, the very first thing you do when you believe, is you repent of your unbelief. In fact, I call that big R repentance. We talk about big R repentance. When Jesus came and said, Repent, and believe, for the kingdom of God is near.
What are they repenting of? They're repenting of their unbelief. I, who was walking my own direction, I, who was following after my own desires, I, who was the king sitting on the throne of my own heart, has now stepped down off of that throne, and I have now believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.
I have repented of my unbelief. I'm now a believer. And now I live a daily life of repentance.
Little r.
Every day, repenting of sin.
But why?
Why would anyone go from unbelief to belief? Why would anyone go from being a follower of himself to a follower of Christ? Because God has changed the heart. I think I'm going to draw to a close there.
I think next week we'll look at the relationship of regeneration and sovereignty, and then on what regeneration is not. But let me say this. I'm going to take you to one final passage. Go with me to Acts chapter 13.
In Acts chapter 13, we have Paul and Barnabas preaching. And down in verse 48, it says these words. And when the Gentiles heard this, that is the preaching of the gospel, and when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.
Hear it again. And as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. Many people want to put that in a different order. They want to say as many as believed were appointed unto eternal life. But the text is very clear, both in English and in the original language, that it is God who appoints us to eternal life, and as a result, we believe.
Faith is a gift. And here's the thing about it. Even those who disagree, and I know some of you may, and I love you, but even those who disagree often pray the same way. God, please save my friend. Please save my spouse.
Please save my loved one. Open their heart to believe. Why do we pray that way? Because we know it's true. God is the one who opens the heart, not the person. And because of that, we can say with the prophet, salvation is of the Lord.
And this morning, if you have not yet believed, I pray for you. I pray that God would open your heart, and you would believe this simple gospel message that you are a sinner, and Christ is the only Savior, and He says to all who believe in Him, He will give you eternal life.
And so you say, well, what do I do? Believe. I can't. I know. Here's the deal, and it's super simple. Believe. You say, I can't. God gives you that ability. God gives you that ability. You say, I don't understand.
We don't have to understand. I didn't have to understand to be born the first time. I just took a breath. You don't have to understand to be born the second time. Just believe. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.
Let's pray. Father, I thank You for Your Word. I thank You for Your truth. And I pray now that You would do what only You can do, and that is go through this room to the people whose hearts are still lost and give them the ability to believe.
And Lord, when You give them that ability, Lord, make that belief known. Lord, may it be that it not be a hidden faith, but that that faith would want to show itself in the following after and service of Christ.
And Lord, that it would be obvious to all. Father, thank You for this opportunity to be reminded that salvation is truly of the Lord. We pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.