Born Again (Part 1)

Thanks for tuning in to No Compromise Radio with pastor and author, Dr. Mike Abendroth.

Today on No Compromise Radio, we'll be hearing Pastor Mike open the Word of God in a recent message he preached at Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston, Massachusetts.

Now let's join Pastor Mike in progress as he preaches through the scriptures, verse by verse, with No Compromise.

I have a question for you this morning.

This morning, are you born again? Are you born again?

George Whitefield preached the sermon entitled, You Must Be Born Again, hundreds and hundreds of times.

Why? He said, because you must be born again. There are two kinds of people in this world, those who are born again and those who are not.

Those who are regenerated and those who are dead in their trespasses and sins.

Those who are justified and those who are condemned. As I tell my kids, you're either a saint or you're an ain't, that's right.

And these days it seems like gospel preaching is so watered down, so lukewarm, so kind of mushy, gruely, that some of the non -elect don't even have enough sense to say no to the message.

Because the message sounds so good that even unbelievers say, yeah, I like that.

Are you born again? 36 % of people in the

United States, according to one poll, said that they were born again. I don't think so many say it in New England, but the last couple of days

I've been in Florida and pretty much in the South, everybody says they're born again. What do you mean by born again?

What is it? It's important you must be born again, but what is it? And so let's turn our

Bibles to John chapter 3 this morning and talk about the doctrine of regeneration because it is super important.

And I think there's a dearth or a lack or a famine of preaching what the

Bible really teaches about the new birth. When grace is cheap and when the gospel is watered down, then regeneration isn't so necessary.

So what I'd like to do this morning is give you some white lies about regeneration. Some white lies about regeneration.

What is a white lie? I looked it up, and it says it's often trivial, diplomatic, or a well -intentioned untruth.

Minor or unimportant lie. One uttered in the interest of tact or politeness.

How do I look in this suit? Do I look pretty in this dress? Kind of a harmless thing.

But the issue when it comes to the doctrine of regeneration, it's anything but harmless.

I think the opposite of a white lie would be a black prevarication, something deadly, satanic delusion.

No particular order. John 3 is our text. Let me read John 3 first before we get into the white lies about regeneration.

I know you know the passage well, but I'm going to read John 3, verses 1 through 15.

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 these 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's old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?

Jesus answered, 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 the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.

Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows wherever 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? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the

Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the

Son of Man be lifted up that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

This is a super important doctrine. My guess is most of you were born again.

But as someone told me after the first service, he said, thanks a lot for preaching. You must be born again because my children need to hear that.

They need to be born again. Certainly there are people in this room that need to be born again, and so the message is directed to you, but it's also directed to Christians because I think this will help you in your evangelism, and I think it will help you when you realize that your new birth is completely, totally from God.

You're a Christian because God made you a Christian. How about that? Anybody here make themselves a sheep?

Who turned themselves from a goat to a sheep? Anyone? At the church that I was at yesterday, preached four times there, this conference, they kind of yelled back at me.

I was kind of just waiting for you guys to all yell because yesterday they were yelling back and forth, so if I kind of lean over, that means respond out loud.

Make me feel like I'm in Orlando again. Number one, evangelical white lie about regeneration.

Some Christians are born again. That's the white lie. That's the lie. Born again

Christians, all Christians are born again. It's theological stuttering, I'm a born again

Christian. We say that because what we mean is, I'm not a dead Christian, I'm not a mainline

Christian, I'm not this, that, or the other, but born again people are

Christians. We even saw that in John chapter three, unless you're born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God.

Now, born again is very common in our language, in our culture. In the 70s, we heard about a man who was going to be president, and he was born again.

People write love songs, and they're so in love, they feel like they had kind of a new experience, and they're in love, and they're born again.

Maybe if you're a rock star, or you're a musician, and you need to jumpstart your career, so you kind of got a born again start.

But where we live, where we exist, here's what born again means. I accepted

Jesus in my heart, therefore I'm born again. I prayed the sinner's prayer, therefore

I'm born again. I go to church, and I serve, and I sing, and I study my Bible, I'm born again.

I went to the front of the church for an altar call, therefore I'm born again. Justification is an external declaration, not guilty, based on the work of Christ Jesus, his life, his death confirmed by the resurrection.

We were condemned, rightly so, but because of Christ, we're now justified.

It's an external proclamation. Everybody's justified the exact same way, and to the exact same degree.

That's the external judgment and verdict of God acquitted. Regeneration is the inward work of the

Spirit, and it happens the same way to everyone, by the sovereign work of the

Holy Spirit. To give you a definition of regeneration, J .I. Packer said, regeneration is an inner recreating of fallen human nature by the

Holy Spirit. I love the effects, by the way. He said, it changes the disposition from lawless, godless, self -seeking, into one of trust and love, of repentance for past rebelliousness and unbelief, and loving compliance with God's law henceforth.

It enlightens the blinded mind to discern spiritual realities and liberates and energizes the enslaved will for free obedience to God.

When you hear people say, well, I think born again means, like Hindus think, reincarnation, we know that's not right.

When you hear people say, well, it's like New Year's Day, I have some new resolutions and moral reformation, we know biblical regeneration isn't that.

John Owen said, a man may beat down the bitter fruit from an evil tree until he's weary. That doesn't mean you're saved.

It doesn't mean we keep the law, the Ten Commandments. It doesn't mean we're little gods.

Kenneth Copeland said, dogs beget dogs, cats beget cats, and gods beget little gods.

And it doesn't mean that when you die, you become born again like the Worldwide Church of Christ. Closer to home, it doesn't mean like the

Catholics and the Episcopalians and me as a Lutheran growing up that when water is sprinkled on your head, you're regenerated.

That's not what the Bible teaches. It doesn't mean like the liberal mainline so -called

Christian churches that we're just looking for reformation. We're looking for moral improvement.

We're looking for people who stop acting like animals and act like humans. Fundamentalists and evangelicals, sadly, often teach that regeneration is solely the work of man, solely the work of a man or a woman's will.

Is that what the Bible teaches? How can Christians who have such a high view of Scripture read

Scripture and say, regeneration is something I do? I finally let God save me.

I did my part because God did almost everything, and I have to kind of close the deal. Regeneration means to beget again, to be born again.

We sang the song earlier today, and I love the line because it describes regeneration. It describes the divine act by which we have new life.

Long my imprisoned spirit lay fast bound in sin and nature's night.

Thine eye diffused a quickening ray. I woke the dungeon flamed with light. My chains fell off. My heart was free.

I rose, went forth, and followed Thee. White lie number two.

White lie number one was some Christians are born again. We know born again people are Christians, vice versa.

White lie number two, regeneration is merely an external change. It's merely an external change.

That's what's happening in John chapter three. The Pharisees had turned Judaism into man -made rules.

Do this. Don't do that. Accomplish this. Don't do the other.

Clean the outside. Forget about the inside. And if you look at verse three again, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, literally born from above, to be born by heaven, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

If I say you'll never see the inside of my house, it means you'll never come in my house. This is language like Jesus uses in John six.

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me, what, draws him.

It's that kind of language. And the Pharisees' error was externalized religion. Ask a person today, are you a

Christian? And what's their default? Often, sadly, it's, well, I was baptized.

I had communion, catechized, confirmed. I go to this church.

I got picked up at the airport last night to go to long -term parking. And Kim was staying at the airport.

I was going to go get the car, come back. Because when you leave 85 -degree Orlando, and then you come here, you have your shorts on, you're like, hmm, actually, actually,

I got here and I thought, this is better weather. If it just doesn't get any colder, I'd be happy.

But this is better. Hot, muggy Orlando. And so I got in the car.

The guy pulled right up. And I got in the little van. Nobody else was there. And K -Love was on.

So I said, oh, you're listening to K -Love. Yeah. And I said, are you a Christian? He's like, yeah,

I listen to K -Love. That's essentially what he said. And so how do you know you're a

Christian? Well, I listen to Christian music. I said, I just got back from a

Bible conference. And I was telling everybody, behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. That when you look to Jesus Christ as representative and substitute for your sins, he was raised from the dead.

When you look to him as a sin bearer by faith alone and Christ alone, you have forgiveness.

You believe. And he said, yeah, I believe that. Plus K -Love. I mean,

I was being positive and encouraging. I know. Actually, afterwards, I had some snacks, some seeds and M &Ms and stuff.

And so I gave him some snacks. So I didn't want to just say be warm, be filled. Rightly did

Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, Jesus said in Mark 7. As it is written, this people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

You can do the externals. And you know what? Externals are required for the

Christian, but from an inward disposition, from a motivation on the inside to honor

God with your heart and with your attitudes. I can play the Christian game and so can you.

But the question is, are you born again? Because you can't play the game on the inside. You might fake everybody else out.

And when Jesus answered him, look at verse three. What do you mean? Answered him. We talked about this several weeks ago.

There was no question. Ask out loud. But he had a question in his mind. And Jesus reads his mind.

And Jesus gives him the answer to the question. He never asked out loud, but ask in his mind. He answered not his words, but his thoughts.

Westcott says. Truly, truly. Amen. Amen. When you backload front load that amen.

Amen. It's important. It's emphatic. I say to you. Stop looking at me as a religious teacher, as an instructor.

You need to see me as a savior. High and lifted up. And that's why he goes on to talk about.

Moses lifted up the serpent. And then he goes on to say. John 3 16 for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.

Those believing in him should not perish. You need new life from God.

Can you imagine the teacher in Israel comes to Jesus by night? And Jesus says, you've got to be born again.

You need to see yourself. Nicodemus as a sinner who needs something more than. External observances, moral improvement, religiosity.

That means nothing. Nicodemus, everything you stand for is completely worthless.

Actually, it counts for demerits. And you need to be remade by the power of God. Nicodemus didn't really get it, but he did say verse four.

How can a man be born when he's old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus says, truly, truly,

I say to you, unless one is born of water and of spirit. That is Ezekiel 36 language for cleansing spiritual cleansing.

You've got to be cleansed. Nicodemus, you're an Old Testament teacher. And you should know Exodus. Ezekiel 34 talks about this.

You need to be cleansed from the inside. He cannot enter the kingdom of God.

When I first got married, I wasn't saved. And six months into the marriage, as many of you know, you don't really realize how bad of a sinner you are until you get married.

And then you start studying the Bible and realize you're even a worse sinner than what you thought. And everything starts caving in.

And I remember slamming down dressers and stuff and just in little pitiful fits of rage and anger.

And, you know, if you've got an anger problem, as I've said many times, you go to counseling and fix your anger problem.

But if you are the problem, who do I go to? I need a new me. I'm broken.

All the religion in the world isn't going to fix me. No one's born a

Christian. No one can make themselves a Christian. John 6 goes on to say through Jesus, it is the spirit who gives life and the flesh prophets nothing.

And I love the way how Luther was always so tactful. The flesh profits nothing.

And that nothing is not a little something. Verse 6, flesh gives birth to flesh.

Spirit gives birth to spirit. Capital S, small s. You should not be surprised at my saying, you must be born again.

I ask you the question, are you born again? Number three, white lie number three about regeneration.

White lie number three. Since you're required to be born again, you must have the ability to make yourself born again.

This is a lie of regeneration. Since you are responsible to be born again, you must have the ability to make yourself born again.

Command applies ability or does it? That's the lie. Just because you're commanded to do something doesn't mean you can do it.

Because think back a little ways, all the way to the beginning of the Bible in Genesis chapter 2 and 3.

And there's something called the fall. Before the fall, Adam able to obey? Yes.

Responsible to obey? Yes. After the fall, did God say, no, you know what? You don't have to do this anymore.

I'll relax my holy standards, therefore my holy laws. And so I know you plunge yourself into sin.

So I'll change the hurdle instead of a high hurdle. Now it's a low hurdle. No, God doesn't change his responsibilities for Adam and to worship him.

But Adam's no longer able to obey. Is he after the fall? And here

Jesus says, do not be amazed that I said to you, ye all must be born again. You all, plural.

Maybe he's talking about all the religious leaders. But it says here, you must be born again.

Now it's a trick question, but I'll ask it anyway. You must be born again. True or false? It's an imperative.

Is you must be born again imperative? See, it's a trick question. You don't want to say anything.

It sounds like it's an imperative. You must do something to yourself. You must be born again.

But I did tell you it was a trick question. And this is interpreted wrongly often. This does not mean you've got a moral duty to do this, but it's of divine decree.

Something has to happen to you or you're not going to go to heaven. William Hendrickson said, when Jesus says you must be born again, he does not mean by all means see to it that you were born again.

On the contrary, he means something has to happen to you. The Holy Spirit must plant in your hearts the life from above.

The sovereign regeneration of the Holy Spirit alone. Responsibility doesn't imply ability.

Inability does not negate responsibility. Pelagius said to Augustine, if I ought, I can.

Now man got himself into this predicament. And God hasn't changed his standards because he hasn't changed his nature.

How about this from Arthur Pink? Inability to pay a debt does not excuse a debtor who has recklessly squandered his estate.

Nor does drunkenness excuse the mad and violent actions of a drunkard, but rather it aggravates his crime.

God has not lost his right to command, even though man through his wickedness has lost his power to obey.

Heidelberg Catechism, question nine. Is not God unjust in requiring of man in his law what he cannot do?

Answer, no. For God so created man that he could do it, but man upon the instigation of the devil by deliberate disobedience has cheated himself and all his descendants out of these gifts.

In other words, the inability is self -imposed. God still requires this, but we can't do it.

Therefore, something has to be done to us. Can you imagine the unbeliever?

If you are telling me correct, pastor, that I'm a sinner, my sin's against a holy

God, I deserve hell, and there's nothing I can do about it.

I cannot make myself right with God. I cannot bear myself again. I can't be born again. I can't do anything except plead for sovereign mercy.

The answer is that's right. That's the only thing you can do. And even the pleading doesn't make

God, doesn't force God to save you. The peril's recognized. But man as fallen creature can't save himself.

Someone has to save God. A man who doesn't seek God, a man who's spiritually dead, a man who can't repent, needs help, needs

God. That's why when I read a sermon like this, it either has to be a crazy Tuesday guy, opposite day thing, or it has to be from Charles Finney.

You make your choice. Sinners bound to change their own hearts. That was a real sermon.

And it wasn't irony or satire, John Owen, to say that we are able by our own efforts to think good thoughts or give

God spiritual obedience before we are spiritually regenerate is to overthrow the gospel.

Or as one man said, you might commit someone not, you might persuade someone not to commit suicide, but you can't convince a dead person.

When we say to people, you must be born again, we're not telling them do something about it morally, do something about it religiously, do something about it externally.

You need a new you, that's a fact. Listen, you need a new you. It's like Luke 14 when

Jesus says, you got to hate your mother, father, brother, and yes, even your own self. Tell somebody to hate your own self.

How can they do it on their own? We need Jesus. We need the sovereign spirit.

Number four, white line number four about regeneration.

God votes for people's salvation. Satan votes against and you cast the deciding vote.

God votes for, Satan votes against, you cast a deciding vote. In other words, there are three wills in salvation.

God's will, Satan's will, man's will. Who's going to win out? Of course, Satan doesn't want us saved.

Of course, God wants us saved. Now you cast the final ballot and that's why we got to get out the vote, y 'all. Get the vote out.

Who will win? Who will be the victor? God has done everything and he's almost done everything he could without kind of impinging on your will.

So he does almost everything and now you have to do the final part. As one man said, and I think

I've quoted him before, we're not even registered voters in this. We're dead.

Who's going to win? Theologically, is regeneration monergistic or synergistic?

Is regeneration God alone working monoerg or is it we work with him?

Sin, S -Y -N, together with symphony along with God. We're located on Route 110 in West Boylston, Massachusetts.

You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.

The thoughts and opinions expressed on No Compromise Radio do not necessarily reflect those of WVNE, its staff or management.