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Explaining the Gospel of Jesus Christ From Old Creation to New Creation

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Bible Blogs Digest: For Busy Disciples May 2013

Saturday, June 1st, 2013

1. From Rebellion, to Repentance, to Rejoicing
2. Why Did God Design Marriage? 3 Views by Piper, Keller, and Ash
3. What Can You Get Give in Marriage?
4. Dating: How Far Is Too Far?
5. Love Letter to a Lesbian
6. Church Sex Abuse Cover Up? You Decide
7. Sex Abuse Victims Healed by the Good News of God’s Grace
8. 3 Weaknesses With “The Bible: The Epic Miniseries”
9. How to Disagree Respectfully
10. 14 Signs of Theological Legalism
11. Preachers: 3 Methods to Apply Your Sermon
12. The New Creation Mission (NCT)
13. Kingdom Through Covenant Book Review (NCT)
14. How to Interpret End Times Prophecies: Jesus Is the New Israel (NCT)

From Rebellion, to Repentance, to Rejoicing

(Send This to a Prodigal You Love)

“I wasn’t a Christian…I went on an odyssey of really attempting to find significance, meaning, and joy…trying to fill that hole in my heart…experimented with drugs and alcohol and different relationships…’Can you just pray that God will reveal Himself to you’…God revealed myself to me. I began to see myself as a completely self-centered girl…Everywhere I went, I felt the presence of God…I stepped into a life as a child of God” Come Back, Barbara: One Prodigal’s Story by Barbara Miller Juliani

Why Did God Design Marriage? 3 Views by Piper, Keller, and Ash

“In my reading, there were three books on marriage that I thought came closest to answering this question: John Piper’s This Momentary Marriage, Timothy Keller’s The Meaning of Marriage, and Christopher Ash’s Married for God.They look in different directions to find the purpose of marriage—one upward, one inward, and one outward. Let’s consider them in turn…So what is marriage for? I started by arguing that one, overall goal would be more helpful than the three traditional goals for marriage. Yet we are still left with three goals, looking in three directions:

Marriage looks upward—its purpose is to display God’s glory by presenting a picture of the covenant between Christ and the church.

Marriage looks inward—its purpose is spiritual friendship leading to holiness, as husband and wife partner each other on the journey to glory.

Marriage looks outward—its purpose is to serve God in partnership as we rule and care for his world and make Jesus known.

It would be neat and satisfying to conclude this article by pointing at a goal and saying ‘that one’, but I can’t. I suspect the Bible’s teaching on marriage is so richly textured that it can sustain all three. And I think they’re in the right order: marriage should first be God-directed, then characterized by faithful love and joyful intimacy (Deut 24:5), and then, if it’s not to become insular and selfish, pour itself out in loving service.” What’s the Point of Marriage? by Jean Williams

What Can You Get Give in Marriage?

“The main question most people ask in marriage relationships today is, “What can I get out of it?” Especially, “What sex can I get out of it?” And when the investment of time, money, emotion, and sexual energy does not pay off as expected? Separation.

And the search for a better return from someone else. Someone else who’ll fit into my life better. Someone else who won’t take so much of my time and money. Someone else who will fill me rather than drain me.

But if everyone’s trying to get more than they give, no one’s going to be happy and marriages are doomed to premature and painful endings. In contrast, the Bible says that the most important question in marriage is not, “What can I get?” but “What can I give?…

In Ephesians 5, the Apostle Paul presents Jesus as the ultimate model of this self-giving love. Because He loved us, He sacrificially gave Himself for us. Because He loved us, He sacrificially submitted to His Father’s will. And what a union such self-giving created! And what a pattern for our marriages!” The Most Important Question in Marriage by David Murray

Dating: How Far Is Too Far?

“When it comes to the physical component of a dating relationship, how far is too far? Can we hold hands? Can we kiss? Can we do a little bit more than kiss? Should we even explore the physical relationship a little bit to ensure we are compatible?…

They premise their answer on the fact that the marriage relationship, and hence the sexual relationship, is meant to be a portrait of the relationship of Christ and his church…

The authors look to 1 Corinthians 7:7-9 to show how Paul states without ambiguity that “the marriage relationship is the only legitimate context for sexual relations” for if a person has strong sexual desire, he or she is to marry rather than succumb to sin…

Clearly some forms of kissing are nonsexual; we kiss our children and our mothers. But there are some forms of kissing that we reserve exclusively for our wives. And the reason we do so is precisely that those forms of kissing are sexual…

If a man would not feel comfortable engaging in a particular action with his sister because doing so would be sexually inappropriate, then that action is of a sexual nature and is to be reserved for the marriage relationship. Thus passionate kissing, the kind clearly inappropriate between a brother and sister should be resolved for marriage.

1 Timothy 5:2 appears to back up the authors’ point by explicitly tying together “the familial treatment of the opposite sex with absolute purity,” instructing Timothy to treat “older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.” In other words, Paul tells Timothy to treat women who are not his wife in the same way he would treat his own sister.” How Far Is too Far? by Tim Challies

Love Letter to a Lesbian

“I understand how it feels to be in love with a woman…

In October 2008, at the age of 19, my superficial reality was shaken up by a deeper love — one from the outside, one that I’d heard of before but never experienced. For the first time, I was convicted of my sin in a way that made me consider everything I loved (idolized), and its consequences. I looked at my life, and saw that I had been in love with everything except God…

I want you to understand that I understand. But I also want you to know that I also understand how it feels to be in love with the Creator of the universe. To want nothing more than to be with him forever. To feel his grace, the best news ever announced to mankind. To see his forgiveness…

You were made for him (Romans 11:36). He is ultimately all that you need! He is good and wise (Psalm 145:9). He is the source of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3). He is kind and patient (2 Peter 3:9). He is righteous and faithful (Psalm 33:4). He is holy and just (1 John 1:9). He is our true King (Psalm 47:7). He is our Savior (Jude 1:25).

And he is inviting you to be not just his servant, but also his friend. If lasting love is what you’re looking for anywhere else, you are chasing the wind, seeking what you will never find, slowly being destroyed by your pursuit. But in Jesus, there is fullness of joy. In Jesus, there is a relationship worth everything, because he is everything. Run to him.” Love Letter to a Lesbian by Jackie Hill

Church Sex Abuse Cover Up? You Decide

“Conclusion: We are not in a place to adjudicate all the charges leveled against Sovereign Grace Ministries or the specific individuals named in the lawsuit. The purpose of this statement is not to render a verdict on the charges, nor in any way to trivialize the sins alleged…” Why We Have Been Silent About the SGM Lawsuit by Carson, DeYoung, and Taylor

“You are not in a position to adjudicate any of the charges brought against C.J. or SGM because you have not done a formal investigation or interviewed those who have brought the charges. The best I can tell you have only interacted with the victimizer and on that basis presented him to the evangelical world as the consummate victim in this irresponsible post. In so doing, you defending the indefensible and showing yourself to be without discernment in the matter.” Don Carson, Kevin DeYoung, and Justin Taylor Defend C.J. Mahaney by Brent Detwiler

“What I did find was a lot of statements by Christians claiming that all of these individuals were innocent until ‘proven guilty by a jury’…What is ironic, or better yet, down right disturbing is that these same individuals don’t approach any other sinful crime in such a distorted manner. For example, so many Christians will cry about against abortion doctors who have been alleged to have killed babies outside of the womb (horrific), but when a person alleges child sexual abuse by someone in the Church, these same Christians cry out that a person is innocent until proven guilty by a court of law?…Many of these men have not hesitated to write (or tweet) on the Penn State horrors, homosexuals in the Boy Scouts, and universal healthcare, but have been conspicuously quiet on this issue. And when they finally speak, what is omitted speaks more than what is said…If we are unwilling to sacrifice our agendas, our finances, or even our reputation, on behalf of these precious souls, then we have failed to grasp the powerful countercultural reality of the Gospel.” Where Are the Voices? The Continued Culture of Silence and Protection in American Evangelicalism by Basyle ’Boz’ Tchividjian, J.D., Former Sex Crimes Prosecutor, Liberty University School of Law Professor

“What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?…Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!” (1 Cor. 5:12-6:3)

Sex Abuse Victims Healed by the Good News of God’s Grace

“Having written of the disgrace of sexual assault, they begin to apply grace, and they do this by looking to the effects of sexual assault. “The beliefs that accompany the development, maintenance, and increase of disgrace and distress are directly responsible for generating dysfunctional emotions and their effects for victims.” God’s grace, applied to the deep wound, offers the victim “the gift of refuting distortions and faulty thinking and replacing their condemning, counterfactual beliefs with more accurate ones that reflect the truths about God, yourself, and God’s grace-filled response to your disgrace.” The authors describe and then apply God’s grace to six common consequences of sexual assault: denial, distorted self-image, shame, guilt, anger and despair. In each case they go straight to the cross to show how the gospel provides an answer and antidote and to show how Jesus Christ can both sympathize and heal. Alternating with the chapters are the stories of victims who describe the abuse they faced, the consequences it brought, and the hope and healing they have found in Jesus…Rid of My Disgrace is a frank and powerful book that is completely drenched in Scripture. It interprets the ugliness of sexual assault in light of the Bible and offers the deepest healing and restoration through the gospel of Christ’s completed work.” Rid of My Disgrace by Tim Challies

3 Weaknesses With “The Bible: The Epic Miniseries”

1. It does not consistently present God as great and good.
2. It gratuitously displays graphic violence.
3. It repeatedly changes important details.

3 Reasons I Don’t Enthusiastically Recommend the History Channel’s “The Bible: The Epic Miniseries” by Andy Naselli

How to Disagree Respectfully

“1. I open by explaining triage in order to introduce the idea of theological triage. We must distinguish between first-level, second-level, and third-level issues.

2. I suggest about 75 disputable matters (grouped into 17 rough categories) that can be extremely divisive in some churches.

3. I present 12 principles from Rom 14:1–15:7 about how to disagree with other Christians.” How to Disagree with Other Christians about Disputable Matters by Andy Naselli

14 Signs of Theological Legalism

“Theological legalism is nothing new…Think of the Pharisees who, according to Christ, strained out gnats and swallowed camels (Matt. 23:24). To the theological legalist, there is no such thing as gnats. Christ spoke of the weightier things of the Law (Matt. 23:23). To the doctrinal legalist, all issues are of equal weight. Paul spoke of things of “first importance” (1 Cor. 15:3); to those who are theological Pharisees, everything comes in first place. There is rarely, if ever, a second.” Fourteen Characteristics of Theological Legalism by Michael Patton

Preachers: 3 Methods to Apply Your Sermon

“Keller gives three different “methods” for preaching application: The 3 Spheres approach, the heart diagnostic approach, and the two thieves approach. I’ll start with the heart-diagnostic approach, which he picks up from Dick Lucas:

I. The Heart-Diagnostic Approach -
1. Show people what they’re doing wrong.
2. Explain to people why they do it.
3. Show how Christ satisfies those desires.
4. Paint a picture of a gospel-filled life.

The Tim Keller Principle: How to Apply Your Message (Method #1) by Nicholas McDonald; HT:TW

The New Creation Mission

If you’ve ever thought about reading the book “The Temple and the Church’s Mission” by Greg Beale, but you don’t have the time to read 458 pages or the money to spend $19, here’s a free, 27 page summary. This is one of the most helpful articles I’ve read.

“I will try to summarize my 450-page book, The Temple and the Church’s Mission…I want to end, however, by focusing on t he main point of this address for the Church: our task as a Church is to be God’s temple, so filled with his presence that we expand and fill the earth with that glorious presence until God finally accomplishes this goal completely at the end of time! This is our common, unified mission.”

One New Covenant Theology difference: Beale believes Gen. 1:28 is still binding including the part, “Be fruitful and increase in number. (He also believes in paedobaptism, infant baptism.) The Old Creation mission was to spread God’s glory throughout the earth by making physical babies by marriage (Gen. 1:28). But the New Creation mission is to spread God’s glory throughout the earth by making spiritual babies by evangelism (Mt. 28:18-20; Lk. 24:46-50; Jn. 20:21-23; cf. Acts 1:8). Christ fulfills the WHOLE Old Testament (Mt. 5:17-18) including Gen. 1:28. Eden, The Temple, And The Church’s Mission In The New Creation* by Gregory K. Beale

Kingdom Through Covenant: Book Review

“‘The flood story is presented in the narrative as a new creation’ (275). Therefore, in the covenant with Noah, God is confirming his covenant initiated at creation with Adam…

(GG: Many scholars refer to Noah’s flood story as ‘echoes of Eden’ or a ‘new creation.’ But the New Testament uses the phrase ‘new creation to describe the work Christ finished in the 1st century, and which will come fully at the end of time. In other words, Noah’s flood is not a new creation. It’s a type of the future new creation. So Noah’s covenant points forward to the future new creation, not backward to the past old creation.)

More simply, KTC critiques CT (and implicitly FV) for hermeneutical methodology that they themselves also use…All this is to say that KTC (PC), CT, and FV all use similar hermeneutical tools, yet each to an increasingly greater degree respectively. It is for this reason that New Covenant Theology is most appealing to me. For, it asks only and ever, ‘What does the bible actually say and what does it say about itself?’…

This leads me to conclude that neither dispensations, nor the various covenants, nor Israel, nor the Gentiles are the key or theme or pattern in the bible. Having read much on Biblical Theology’s modern quest for the one hermeneutical key that unites all of Scripture and seeing the many and varied proposals, I often rephrase Jesus’ words, You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have a Biblical Theology; and these are they which testify about Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.

This is why I subscribe to New Covenant Theology. Held by various proponents, all claim Jesus is the key to all understanding, the theme of all the bible, linking all the stories and narratives together.” Kingdom Through Covenant: Review by Thomas Achord

How to Interpret End Times Prophecies: Jesus Is the New Israel

“The central and controlling thesis that I believe is warranted by the biblical text is that the fulfillment of Israel’s prophetic hope as portrayed in the Old Testament documents is found in the person and work of Jesus Christ and the believing remnant, the Church, which he established at his first coming. The point is that Jesus Christ and his Church are the focal and terminating point of all prophecy…After all, most

Christians are quick to agree that Jesus is the center or focal point of all biblical revelation…

Jesus is Israel in the sense that God’s purposes, promises, and predictions for the nation are fulfilled in his life, death, resurrection, exaltation, session, and second coming. This principle of the consummate fulfillment of the nation’s destiny in the person of Christ is necessarily extended to his spiritual body, the Church. Since the Church is the body of Christ, of which he himself is the Head, what God intended for him, God also intended for her. What is true of him is true of her. Both Jesus and his body, the Church, constitute the true Israel in and for whom all the promises of the Old Testament find their fulfillment.” The Hermeneutics of Eschatology Chapter 1 free from the book Kingdom Come: The Amillennial Alternative by Sam Storms (HT:JT)

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Best Blogs Digest – March 2010

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

By Greg Gibson

What Is God Doing in Our Generation?
“This leads me to a few thoughts on the young, restless, reformed movement. I believe God is at work in the under-40 generation, doing something doctrinally, ecclesiologically, and doxologically healthy among many youngish Christians. Further, I believe this work of God is being mediated through a remarkable network of like-minded pastors, preachers, and scholars. I don’t know when there have been so many folks, often friends, saying and writing more or less the same things about the gospel, the atonement, the Scriptures, the glory of God, the doctrines of grace, the centrality of the church, the importance of preaching, the roles of men and women, and on and on it goes. We are blessed with an inordinate and growing number of good teachers, good books, good blogs, and good conferences…The goal is not to be a T4G-TGC-CHBC-ACE-PCA-SGM-DGM groupie. The goal is to know God, love God, and serve God–all of which can be helped, and is being helped, by the love for gospel truth in these groups (and many others).” A Generation of Bandwagon Jumpers by Kevin DeYoung

7 Counterfeit Gospels
“In one of his books (co-authored with Tim Lane), How People Change, he identifies seven counterfeit gospels—-’religious’ ways we try and ‘justify’ or ‘save’ ourselves apart from the gospel of grace. I found these unbelievably helpful. Which one (or two, or three) of these do you tend to gravitate towards?”
1. Formalism
2. Legalism
3. Mysticism
4. Activism
5. Biblicism
6. Therapism
7. Social-ism
Counterfeit Gospels by Paul Tripp and Tullian Tchividjian

Which Theological Errors Lead to Hell?
“Where an issue falls within these categories should be determined by weighing the cumulative force of at least seven considerations:
1. biblical clarity;
2. relevance to the character of God;
3. relevance to the essence of the gospel;
4. biblical frequency and significance (how often in Scripture it is taught, and what weight Scripture places upon it);
5. effect on other doctrines;
6. consensus among Christians (past and present); and
7. effect on personal and church life.”
Levels of Doctrine by Justin Taylor

“But I Was Born That Way”(?)
“The key to answering this question—which usually arises in discussions about homosexuality and Christianity—is to insist (with the Bible) that genetic dispositions are not equal to sinful determiners. Our individual makeup and background provide the context for sin and may fuel the craving for sin but never alleviate the responsibility for our sin and the requirement that we imitate God’s holy character…Indeed, human beings are condemned by virtue of Adam’s sin (Rom. 5:16, 18). Such a radical view of sin in which we inherit a sinful nature from Adam means that sinful predispositions are part of our personalities from our inception. Hence, even if it were discovered that we are genetically predisposed to certain sinful behaviors like alcoholism or homosexuality, such discoveries would not eliminate our responsibility for our actions, nor would it suggest that such actions are no longer sinful. The Scriptures teach that we are born as sinners in Adam, while at the same time they insist we should not sin and are responsible for the sin we commit. We enter into the world as slaves of sin (Rom. 6:6, 17), but we are still morally blameworthy for capitulating to the sin that serves as our master.” Are We Still Responsible for Sins for Which We May Be Genetically Predisposed? by Justin Taylor and Thomas Schreiner

“Unless Your (Imputed or Imparted?) Righteousness Surpasses That of the Pharisees”
“In Matthew 5:20 Jesus at a pivotal point in His Sermon on the Mount utters the following serious warning: ‘For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven’…this context the question is not at all one of imputed righteousness, but of imparted righteousness. And it is a question of imparted righteousness as necessary in the day of judgment. First, we need to be clear that Jesus is not speaking our initial justification by faith. Entrance into the kingdom is eschatological here–as it often is in the synoptic gospels. Cf. Matt. 6:10; 8:11-12; 13:43; 25:34. This observation is confirmed by the consistently eschatological perspective of the blessings promised in each of the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-10. It is also confirmed by the frequent references to the day of judgment in the comments of Jesus which follow (Matthew 5:22, 26, 29, and 30). It is further confirmed by the parallel passage in Matthew 7:21-23 where the scene of entrance into the kingdom of heaven is the day of judgment.” Is There a Future Justification by Works at the Day of Judgment? #6 by Sam Waldron

If Man Is Sovereign, Why Pray?
“If I [believe in libertarian freedom and] plead with God to remove my friend’s illness, that is not absurd, for God can answer that prayer without negating anyone’s freedom. But what about the request that God change the attitudes and actions of my friend’s tyrannical boss?…” If Libertarian Free Will Is True, Why Pray? by John Feinberg and Justin Taylor

Christ Rose Into the New Creation
“But the resurrection of Christ is also inaugurates something much broader—the re?creation of the universe.” Christ’s Resurrection and the Dawn of the New Creation by Tony Reinke (HT:JT)

Universalism Refuted: Bibliography
“We recently had an email inquiry to The Gospel Coalition asking for resources on ‘Christian Universalism.’” Responding to “Christian Universalism” by Mike Pohlman

How to Lead Your Church in Prayer: 13 Tips
“1. Prepare. Some traditions use set prayers. Others rely on extemporaneous prayers. Both have their place. But I believe what our congregations need most are studied prayers. These prayers may or may not be read, but will be thought through ahead of time. Public prayer is often boring because little thought is put into it. There’s no training for it, no effort put it into it. An hour or two is not too long to spend in preparing a long, pastoral prayer.” Thirteen Tips for Leading the Congregation in Prayer by Kevin DeYoung

Piper Values Marriage Before Ministry
“…the elders graciously approved on March 22 a leave of absence that will take me away from Bethlehem from May 1 through December 31, 2010. We thought it might be helpful to put an explanation in a letter to go along with the sermon. I asked the elders to consider this leave because of a growing sense that my soul, my marriage, my family, and my ministry-pattern need a reality check from the Holy Spirit.” John Piper’s Upcoming Leave by John Piper

Zwemer: How to Pray for Muslims
Want to know how to pray for Muslims? See missionary Samuel Zwemer’s prayer for Muslims. Prayer for Muslim Lands by Kevin DeYoung

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“Born Again Into New Life With Christ” (Sermon Notes)

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

Intro: Why do so many converts fall away? Why are there so many hypocrites in churches? Because they were never really born again. Many people think born again Christians are no different than non-born again sinners. But they’re confused what it means to be born again.

Jesus said to Nicodemus, a religious Pharisee, ‘”I tell you the truth, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God (heaven)…unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God (heaven)…You must be born again” (Jn. 3:3-7).

Preview:
1. What Does Born Again Mean? 5 Misunderstandings
2. Why Do I Need to Be Born Again? 7 Reasons
3. What Is it Like to Be Born Again? 6 Pictures
4. How Can I Know if I’m Born Again? 5 Signs
5. How Can I Be Born Again? Hear the Good News

What Does Born Again Mean?
5 Misunderstandings

1. “I got baptized and joined a ‘born again church.” (But churches have hypocrites.)

2. “I had an emotional, religious experience.” (But Muslims have emotional, rel. exp.)

3. “I prayed a sinner’s prayer.” (But that wasn’t invented until the 19th century.)

4. “I believe Bible doctrine.” (But demons believe some doctrinal truths.)

5. “I changed from sinning to morality.” (But some alcoholics change without Christ. Trading one sin for another. Proud, self-righteous Pharisees. But when God gives new birth, He changes us from sin negatively to Christ positively: Treasuring Him, loving Him, fellowshipping with Him, worshiping Him, and obeying Him.)

Notice above, “I did…” But being born again is not what you do. It’s what God does to you. Example: You didn’t ask your parents to conceive you. They decided to conceive you.

Definition of born again: The Holy Spirit miraculously washes and changes us by giving new life, new understanding, new desires, and new power.

    “he saved us not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Tit. 3:5).

What are we born into? We’re born into “life” (eternal life), united with Christ in His resurrection life…

    “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 Jn. 5:11-12).

    “just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection…Now if we died with Christ we believe that we will also live with him” (Rom. 6:4-5, 8, 11).

That’s why “born again” means we’re born into new life with Christ.

Why Do I Need to Be Born Again?
7 Reasons

1. Humans are spiritually dead, needing resurrection.

    “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, (satisfying) the (lusts) of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in (sins)” (Eph. 2:1-2).

Example: Preaching the good news to dead bodies in the cemetery.

2. Humans love darkness, and hate the light, needing new desires.

    “Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed” (Jn. 3:19-20).

Example: Do you prefer to eat garlic or chocolate? Do you prefer sin or Christ?

3. Humans each have a hard heart, needing a new heart.

    “I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezek. 36:26).

    “you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more” (Eph. 4:17-19).

Example: Heart attack patient. Is your heart hard or soft toward Christ?

4. Humans can’t understand spiritual truth, needing new understanding.

    “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14).

Example: Rocket science.

5. Humans are slaves to sin and Satan, needing to be set free.

    “Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” (Jn. 8:34).

    “The Lord’s servant…Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will” (2 Tim. 2:24-26).

6. Humans can’t come to Christ, call Him Lord, or obey Him, needing new power.

    “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (Jn. 6:44).

    “no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:3).

    “the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God” (Rom. 8:7-8).

7. Humans are blind to the glory of Christ, needing new sight

    “The god of this age (Satan) has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the (good news) of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4).

“OK, God says I need to be born again. But what does it mean to be born again?”

What Is it Like to Be Born Again?
6 Pictures

The Bible contains at least 6 pictures (metaphors) of how God radically changes us.

1. New birth (synonyms: born again, born of God, born of the Spirit, and regeneration)

    “In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Pet. 1:3).

    “everyone who does what is right has been born of him” (1 Jn. 2:29; cf. Jn. 3:5-8).

    “he saved us not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth (Greek: regeneration) and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Tit. 3:5).

The big picture: God’s goals for history include a born again universe, with a born again earth, filled with born again people…

    “Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, at the renewal (Greek: regeneration) of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Mt. 19.:28).

2. Born Again Is Like a New Creation

    “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17).

    “Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation” (Gal. 6:15).

3. Born Again Is Like Resurrection From the Dead

    “God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in (sins) – it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ” (Eph. 2:5-6).

    “Since then you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God” (Col. 3:1; cf. Rom. 6:4-5).

4. Born Again Is Like a Heart Transplant

    “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my commands and be careful to keep my laws” (Ezek. 36:26-27).

5. Born Again Is Like Circumcision of the Heart

    “In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ” (Col. 2:11-13).

    “The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul and live” (Deut. 30:6).

6. Born Again Is Like Being Healed From Blindness

    “The god of this age (Satan) has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God…For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:4-6).

How Can I Know if I’m Born Again?
5 Signs

1. Born Again People Believe in Jesus

    “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (Jn. 1:12-13; cf. 1 Jn. 5:1; Eph. 2:8-9).

Faith in Jesus Christ alone, not self, Mary, Church, etc.

2. Born Again People Stop Continual Sinning, and Start Doing Right

    “If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him” (1 Jn. 2:29).

    “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God” (1 Jn. 3:9).

    “We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin, the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one does not touch him” (1 Jn. 5:18).

Gradual, progressive growth, not sinless perfectionism. Example: Person who practiced lying for 50 years receives new birth.

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3. Born Again People Overcome the World’s Ways

    “For everything in the world – the desires of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does – comes not from the Father but from the world…for everyone born of God has overcome the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith” (1 Jn. 2:15-16, 5:4).

4. Born Again People Love Their Christian Brothers

    “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death” (1 Jn. 3:14).

    “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 Jn. 4:7-8).

Who are you more comfortable with: Sinners or born again, Christ-lovers?

5. Born Again People Love God With All Their Heart

    “The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul and live” (Deut. 30:6).

We’re born again into new life with Christ.

How Can I Be Born Again?
Through Hearing the Good News About Jesus

In the past, I didn’t understand, in John 3, why Jesus started explaining to Nicodemus “you must be born again,” then changed the topic to the good news. Now I understand: Because the way to be born again is by hearing the good news.

In John 3:3-7, Jesus explains 3 times to Nicodemus about being born again. In 3:9, Nicodemus says, “How?” Then in 3:13-21, Jesus answers by telling the good news about Himself.

    “since you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and lasting word of God…but the word of the Lord remains forever. And this word is the (good news) that was preached to you” (1 Pet. 1:23-25, ESV).

    “He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first harvest of all he created” (Jas. 1:18).

Do you need to be born again by God? Understand the good news about Jesus. Evangelists: Do you want to help others be born again? Tell them the good news about Jesus.

Christian: Be what you are. Live like you’ve been born again. What does the born again life look like?

    “put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore…” (Eph. 4:24 – 6:18).

    “count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as hose who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness” (Rom. 6:4, 11-13).

Now do you understand why so many converts fall away, and why there are so many hypocrites in churches? Because they’ve never really been born again.

We’re born again into new life with Christ.

Recommended source: Finally Alive by John Piper

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