Born From Above Pt. 3 - Pastor John-Mark Bartlett

we now turn to the word of the lord we are looking at the subject born from above and our text is john chapter 3 verses 1 to 10. 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 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 nicodemus saith unto him how can a man be born when he is old can he enter this 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's 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 hearst the sound thereof but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth so is everyone that is born of the spirit nicodemus answered and said unto him how can these things be jesus answered and said unto him art thou a master of israel announced not these things [Music] let us pray our god and our father we stand in your holy presence giving you thanks for the fact that salvation has been brought down had it not been brought down we would not be here this morning and whatever tried to do would have been meaningless so we thank you that salvation was brought down when jesus gave his life a ransom on calvary help us know lord as we try to expound to your precious people the full ramifications of this salvation that has been brought down give us lord clarity of thought and clarity of speech and give to all of us understanding hearts and minds in the name of jesus christ amen the passage of scripture that has been our focus over the last two sundays is one of the most important in the bible we have stated that nowhere else in the bible do we find more emphatic statements about the subject of regeneration than we do in this passage this passage then is foundational it is fundamental to our understanding of how god actually saves sinners in part one we made the point that several other great bible doctrines are hinted at in these verses and that we would be discussing them briefly as we thought it necessary to do so this week in addition to the doctrines of election and regeneration which we have already looked at we will be considering the doctrines of radical corruption and original sin we noted that the first step in the process of salvation is election we defined election as a decree of god before creation in which he chooses some people to be saved not on account of any foreseen merit in them but only because of his sovereign grace when in the process of time election is actualized the first step is regeneration we said last week that regeneration is the holy spirit supernatural work of granting spiritual life to persons who are dead in trespasses and sins this is not a work in which persons contribute anything how could they if they are dead regeneration is a work of god alone the grace of regeneration is the power of god that grants human beings the ability to exercise faith in god and that gives them new desires towards him any activity on the part of the sinner including faith itself can not be the cause of the new birth but the effect of the new birth it is impossible for a person to exercise faith in jesus christ unless and until they are regenerated or born again in verse 3 our lord says to nicodemus verily verily i say unto thee except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of god our lord here is not answering nicodemus nicodemus's words he's answering his thoughts in chapter 2 and verses 23 to 25 john makes it clear that our lord knew what was in the heart of every individual he therefore knew what was in the heart of nicodemus he recognized that nicodemus's greatest need was for salvation nicodemus was spiritually dead yes he was a leader of the sect of the pharisees he was perhaps the most important teacher of the uni nation of israel he was wealthy he was respected but he was lost nicodemus needed to be regenerated he needed to be born again the idea of being born again is something that fallen unregenerate human beings can not comprehend in first corinthians chapter 2 and verse 14 paul writes but the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of god for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned the new english translation renders the verse as follows the unbeliever does not receive the things of the spirit of god for their foolishness to him and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually deserved it is impossible for any unsaved human being to understand the concept of regeneration let alone accomplish it and that is exactly why our lord shows this particular analogy the whole point of the analogy of being born again is to demonstrate that in the process of salvation something has to happen to a person that he or she cannot cause to happen or contribute to in any way the new birth analogy describes a spiritual reality to which the one who experiences it makes no contribution whatsoever in the same way that we contribute nothing whatsoever to our physical birth we contribute nothing whatsoever to our spiritual birth in the same way that our physical birth was something that happened to us our spiritual birth is something that happens to us our lord could have used several other analogies if it was his desire to convey the idea that we make a contribution to our salvation but he chose the analogy of the new birth in order to make it incandescently clear that salvation is something that happens to us not by us he desires for us to understand and appreciate that salvation is entirely the work of god the old testament prophet jonah clearly understood this for in jonah chapter 2 and verse 9 jonah said from the belly of the great fish but i will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving i will pay that that i have vowed salvation is of the lord jesus tells nicodemus that in order for him to see or perceive the kingdom of god it is a necessity in the nature of the case that he be born again the greek word translated again is anathem the scottish theologian william barkley explains that the greek word anathem has three different meanings number one it can mean from the beginning completely radically number two it can mean again in the sense of for the second time number three it can mean from above and therefore from god last week we said it is possible that in john chapter 3 verses 3 and 7 john intends for the word anathem to be understood in any one of the three ways mentioned by barkley it is also possible that john intends for all three meanings to be incorporated in our understanding of jesus's use of the word anathem it is my opinion though that the primary meaning of the word intended by jesus is from above born from above because he wants to emphasize to this pharisee that regeneration is the sovereign work of god quiet apart from any human contribution nicodemus apparently understood our lord's use of the word anaphon to mean again in the sense of for the second time which explains his reply how can a man be born when he is old can he enter this second time into his mother's womb and be born however jesus is reply to nicodemus's questions in verses 6 to 8 imply that he referred to the need for a spiritual birth a birth from above in these verses jesus stresses the point that the new birth that he is talking about must be the work of the holy spirit and the holy spirit comes from the realm of the above we said last week that almost all of the difficulties that persons encounter in understanding this passage would be cleared up if they understood the phrase born again to mean born from above the whole act of the new birth is not a human achievement because the radical transformation that occurs instantaneously when a person is regenerated can only be brought about by the grace and power of god regeneration is a spiritual recreation and therefore it has its source not on earth but in heaven to be born from above means that the source of the birth is god to be born from above requires a supernatural work of the holy spirit which is performed in the life of a believing sinner he or she is given a new heart being brought from spiritual death to spiritual life and is made able and willing to repent of his or her sin before god and trust in jesus christ alone as his or her lord and savior this is a supernatural work accomplished by god alone why is it that the work of regeneration must be a work of god alone it is a work of god alone it must be a work of god alone because this sinner is absolutely incapable of doing anything to help himself or herself the bible makes it clear that in a spiritual sense unsaved individuals are not merely sick or even critically ill they are dead we have confirmation of this in ephesians chapter 2 and verse 1 and you have he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins because you were dead in trespasses and sins he that is god had to quit you or make you alive in colossians 2 chapter 13 we read almost the same thing and you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh hath he acquitted together with him having forgiven you all trespasses brothers and sisters listen to me carefully we are going to be talking about some pretty deep things now as a result of the fall of adam every part of every human being their mind their will their emotions and their flesh has been corrupted by sin sin affects every area of our being including who we are and what we do in other words human beings are radically corrupt the doctrine of radical corruption acknowledges the biblical truth that we sin because we are sinners by nature they fall of man and the effects of the fall point to what theologians refer to as original sin listen to me original sin does not refer primarily to the first thing committed by adam and eve original sin refers primarily to the result of their sin which was the corruption of the entire human race original sin refers to the fallen condition in which every human being is born david was aware of the reality of original sin for in psalm 51 and verse 5 he said behold i was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me david was not saying that he was shaping iniquity and that his mother conceived him in sin because um she had him out of wedlock he was not saying that what he's saying is that i inherited a fallen unregenerate nature this thing that we call the flesh from my great father adam the doctrine of original sin teaches that we human beings commit sin because we are sinners that is what sinners do they commit sin we are not sinners because we sin that's putting the cart before the horse but rather we sin [Music] because we are sinners since the fall of man we have inherited a corrupted condition of sinfulness we now have a sin nature we all commit sins because it is our nature to do so the word radical has its root in the latin word radix which means from the root or core the word refers to something that permeates to the root or core of a thing it does not refer to something superficial incidental or minor the biblical view is that the effects of the fall extend and penetrate to every area of the existence of every human being in romans chapter 3 9 to 19 paul informs us of our radical corruption what then are we better than they no in no wise for we have before proved both jews and gentiles that they are all under sin as it is written there is none righteous no not one there is none that understand death there is none that seeketh after god they are all gone out of the way they are together become unprofitable there is none that does good no not one their throat is an open sepulchre with their tongues they have used deceit the poison of asps is under their lips whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness their feet are swift to shed blood destruction and misery are in their ways and the way of peace have they not known there is no fear of god before their eyes now we know that what things over the law saith it saith to them who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before god brothers and sisters hear me human beings in their fallen unregenerate condition are as dead spiritually as a physically dead person is dead in the same way that it is utterly impossible for a physically dead individual to respond to even the most powerful physical stimulus it is utterly impossible for a spiritually dead individual to respond to even the most powerful spiritual stimulus scripture is very clear that every aspect of man's being is affected by sin to the extent that they are all under sin there is none righteous no not one so brothers and sisters there is no one of us that is excluded from this list here there is none that understand this so if there is none that understand this how can anyone claim that they understood the gospel before they were born again there is none that seeketh after god if there is none that seeketh after god how can anybody claim that they were seeking god before they were born again how can a dead person see god they are all gone out of the way they are together become unprofitable there is none that does good no not one all the world all the world is guilty before god how then can anyone possibly be saved the answer is that god must overcome our radical corruption or our spiritual deadness in such a way that we are able to recognize the helplessness and the hopelessness of our condition our spiritually blinded eyes must be opened and the bondage of sin that renders us entirely enslaved must be broken so that we can respond in faith to the message of the gospel unless and until god intervenes and breathes spiritual life into dead sinners their radical corruption or their spiritual deadness will manifest itself in their natural refusal to accept god's offer of salvation a dead person cannot respond to the message of salvation he or she is dead spiritually just as dead as a dead physical person is dead they cannot do otherwise for a person who is dead in trespasses and sins to be able to understand and respond to the gospel in faith he or she must first be regenerated or born again by the holy spirit he or she must be born from above if we are not regenerated or born again or born from above we cannot even see the kingdom it is critically important for us to consider what the lord jesus christ himself has to say concerning our radical corruption we have already considered a part of his statement to nicodemus in john chapter 3 in support of the view that an individual who is dead in trespasses and sins must first be regenerated or born from above by the holy spirit in order for his or her radical corruption to be overcome we will now examine a few verses in the sixth chapter of the gospel according to john in which our lord expresses a definitive position regarding the doctrine of the radical corruption of the human race and i'm going to try and take my time with this in verses 63 to 65 our lord says it is this spirit that quickness the flesh prophet says nothing i want you to remember that it is the spirit that quickness the flesh prophetess nothing the words that i speak unto you they are spirit and they are life but there are some of you that believe not for jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believe not and who would betray him now these who did not believe were classified among his disciples but jesus knew which of his disciples believed and which did not and he said therefore said i unto you that no man can come unto me except it were given unto him of my father in verse 65 our lord makes a very emphatic statement so sorry no man can come unto me except it were given unto him of the father we're going to take our time and exegete this verse the new english translation renders verse 65 as follows so jesus added because of this i told you that no one can come to me unless the father has allowed him to come the message furnishes this translation of the verse this is why i told you earlier that no one is capable of coming to me on his own you get to me only as a gift from the father the first two words of the statement convey a universal negative jesus says no man no man a universal negative is a proposition that denies something of all members of a class or group it is all inclusive and therefore there are no possible exceptions what we have here is an absolutely what our lord is saying here is that it is not possible for any person to come to him unless that person is allowed or unable to do so by the father the word can is also an important one in helping us to appreciate the full significance of the statement of jesus the word is a translation of the greek word dunami which has reference to ability or possibility please note that our lord does not say no one may come unto me except it were given unto him of my father he doesn't say that he says no one can come unto me except it were given unto him of my father the word may is generally used in the context of permission the word can on the other hand is used in the context of ability in saying that no one can come to him jesus is not conveying the idea that persons have the ability to come to him but do not have the permission to do so he is stating unequivocally that no person has the ability to come to him how could they if they are dead no what is it that jesus says no one has the ability to do he says that no human being has the ability to come to me my brothers and sisters human beings in and of themselves do not have the ability to come to jesus these are not the words of martin luther or john calvin or that wicked reprobate john bartlett these are the words of jesus himself printed in red letters in your bibles one of the cardinal principles of sown biblical interpretation is that the bible must be used to interpret itself difficult passages must be interpreted in the light of clear passages many of us make the mistake of trying to interpret clear passages in the light of difficult passages that is absolutely faulty and can only bring faulty uh beliefs and faulty behavior difficult passages must be interpreted in the light of clear passages brothers and sisters the verse that we are examining is not a difficult one to interpret in fact it is one of the clearest passages in the whole canon of scripture another cardinal principle of sound biblical interpretation is that our interpretation must be based on the meaning that the author intends to convey and not on the meaning that the reader reads into the verse or passage based on his our presuppositions brothers and sisters it is not difficult for us to understand the meaning of our lord's statement here he's saying categorically that it is impossible for any human being to respond positively to him unless god the father allows that human being to do so this statement of jesus is entirely logical and reasonable when we bear in mind that every human being in their natural state is spiritually dead in trespasses and sins when we preach the gospel to people we must understand that unless god almighty allows them to come they will find it entirely impossible to respond let us think carefully did our lord say that there are a few persons who do not have the ability to come to him is that what he said did he say that many persons do not have the ability to come to him is that what he said did he say that the vast majority of persons do not have the ability to come to him is that what he said the answer to these questions is no no and no what he said was that not even one person has the ability to come to him except except the word accept introduces an exception it points to a necessary condition that must be met in order for any person to come to jesus what is it that jesus identifies as the necessary condition that must be met in order for anyone to come to him the necessary condition is the father enabling that person are giving that person the ability to come without that condition being met it is impossible for any person to come it is important for us to understand this necessary condition cannot be met by human beings why because they are dead it can only be met by god god has to quicken them god has to make them alive that is what regeneration is that is what it means to be born from above let us look again at verse 65 what does our lord say he says therefore said i unto thee or unto you therefore said i past tense that no man can come unto me except it were given unto him of my father the words therefore said i unto you past tense indicate that he had made a similar statement earlier in his discourse where is this similar statement found it is found in verse 44 john chapter 6 and verse 44. in this verse our lord made the following statement no man can come to me sounds familiar except the father which has sent me draw him and i will raise him up at the last day jesus said in verse 65 i told you earlier the very same thing as in verse 65 the first two words of verse 44 convey a universal negative no man no man remember that a universal negative is a proposition that denies something of all members of our class or group as was the case in verse 65 the word can in verse 44 refers to ability or possibility not to permission jesus states that it is an impossibility in the nature of the case for any person to come to him except again except as was the case in verse 65 the word accept introduces an exception and points to a necessary condition that must be met in order for anyone to come to him what is the necessary condition that verse 44 says must be met in order for anyone to come to jesus the necessary condition stated in verse 44 is the father drawing that person to jesus christ brothers and sisters the lord jesus in this verse makes an emphatic and definitive statement he categorically denies the possibility of any human being coming to him if that human being has not first been drawn by almighty god again we ask why is this the case why can't anyone come to jesus unless the father draws him why does jesus say that it is impossible for any person to come to him unless they are drawn by the father or unload by the father as he says in verse 65 the in escape answer is that because of the radical corruption that human beings inherit by virtue of original sin all persons are born with a moral inability to receive the gospel by faith it is impossible for a person who is dead in trespasses and sins to receive the gospel by faith except such a one has been drawn to jesus by the father that these persons are dead in trespasses and sins not sick not critically ill not in a comatose state but dead every human being is by nature hostile to god and to the things of god and they will not indeed they cannot come to jesus christ this moral inability and hostility must be overcome by the holy spirit in his work of regeneration the lord must give fallen human beings the ability to believe before they can believe unless a person is born from above he cannot see the kingdom of god new english translation now what exactly does jesus mean when he says that the father has to draw a person in order for him or her to come to him the word draw in verse 44 is a translation of the greek word helco which both literally and figuratively means to drag i'm sorry i didn't invent the meaning of the greek word if we consider other verses in the new testament where this greek word helco is used it may help us to appreciate the meaning of our lord's statement in verse 44. john chapter 2 and verses 7 and 8 jesus saith unto him fill the water pots with water and they filled them up to the brim and he saith unto them draw out now and bear unto the governor of the feast and they bear it john chapter 4 verse 7 then cometh a woman of samaria to draw water jesus saith unto her give me to drink john chapter 4 and verse 15 the woman saith unto him sir give me this water that i thirst not neither come heather to draw john chapter 12 verse 32 and i if i be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto me john chapter 21 and verse 6 and he said unto them cast the net on the right side of the ship and ye shall find they cast therefore and now they were not able to draw it that is the net for the multitude of fishes acts chapter 16 verse 19 and when her master saw that the hope of their gains was gone they caught paul and silas and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers james 2 and verse 6 but ye have despised the poor do not rich men oppress you and draw you before the judgment seats brothers and sisters if we are honest and i hope we all are if we are honest we will have to admit that in all these verses except perhaps john chapter 12 and verse 32 where jesus says and i if i be lifted up will draw all men unto me we get the overwhelming sense that some force or compulsion is conveyed by the word draw or drew there is no possibility of applying any meaning remotely similar to wing enticing inviting or attracting to the words draw or drew as some person suggests some persons say that when jesus makes this definitive statement that no man can come unto me except the father draw him that they are talking that jesus is talking about the father wooing the person or enticing the person or inviting the person or attracting the person but when we look at the way this word draw hel quo has been used in the rest of scripture it is very difficult for us to put that meaning on it the drawing of persons by the father to the son mentioned in john 6 44 is not to be understood as wing enticing inviting or attractive attracting this drawing refers to the internal and powerful influence of the grace of god for this act of drawing is something distinct from unsuperior to both miracles and doctrine the persons to whom jesus was speaking had heard his doctrine and they had seen his miracles and yet they did not believe something more than doctrine and miracles is necessary to overcome the radical corruption that prevents human beings from desiring god and believing him for salvation they are so dead that even the most eloquent and anointed preaching and the most remarkable miracles cannot cause them to respond a dead person cannot obey the gospel that should be palpably clear to us by now god in his drawing of fallen unregenerate persons who are dead in trespasses and sins must first regenerate them he must first cause them to be born from above in order to make them willing to obey the gospel it should be clear to us then that when jesus says in john chapter 6 and verse 44 no man can come to me except the father which hath sent me draw him he's referring to a divine compulsion something has to happen that overcomes our spiritual deadness something has to happen that raises us from the death and the grave of our spiritually lost condition and brings us to life he must first cause them to be born from above that's the only way they will be willing made willing to obey the gospel you know brothers and sisters this verse all by itself should be enough to settle the issue once and for all in respect of the radical corruption and spiritual deadness of fallen unregenerate human beings and their absolute inability to come to jesus christ this verse should be all that we need to settle this matter you know for jesus to say it is impossible for anyone to come to me unless he's drugged he's drugged by the father the father has to overcome the natural resistance of the deadness of the lost condition jesus himself says it is impossible for them to come unless the father drugs them or compels them we must bear in mind brothers and sisters that according to romans 5 and verse 6 it was when we were yet without strength in due time christ died for the ungodly when we were yet without strength it was when we were dead trespasses and sins that god made us alive christians may argue vehemently about whether or not to accept the teachings and opinions of even the most learned theologians but no christian within his or her right mind would dispute the clear teaching of jesus christ himself would they to do that would be tantamount to insanity but some people still do it some of you listening to me right now are doing it in john chapter 3 verses 6 to 7 our lord said to nicodemus that which is born of the flesh's flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit marvel not that i said unto thee ye must be born again here we have the fundamental point of the radical corruption of fallen unregenerate human beings that which is born of the flesh is flesh and according to john 6 63 the flesh prophetess nothing now hear me i'm going to make what i consider to be a very important point if it is true as some believe that god rules or entices or invites or attracts persons to him and we all and all we have to do is cooperate and yield to god's wing or enticing or inviting or attracting while we are still in the flesh then the flesh would profit something i hope you see that in fact the flesh would profit a great deal because our choice made while we are still in the flesh would be the deciding factor without which we could never be saved no matter how much god wanted to save us now the following questions may be asked does the father draw every single individual to jesus or does he draw only a certain number are the persons who are drawn to jesus by the father able to successfully resist his drawing or will they all come to him without fail next son the lord willing we will allow the lord himself to answer these questions and we will also explore other issues related to our subject born from above and let us pray oh god our great god and savior help us your word lord is affecting us it is changing the way we think we are understanding that this born-again matter is perhaps not what we thought it to be help us lord as we work our way through this passage continue to open our understanding continue to clear away the mists that have been created by years of false teaching and by i see jesus instead of exegesis help us lord it is important for us because you said that we shall know the truth and the truth would set us free so only truth can set us free and we want to be free and the more truth we receive is the more free we will become bless us we pray lord and continue to be merciful and gracious unto us in the name of jesus christ our lord

Channel: The Grace Workshop Ministries

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Length: 58min 41sec (3521 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 19 2021