John 3:1-8: "You Must Be Born Again."

In John chapter 3, Jesus tells a man named Nicodemus he must be "born again" before he can "see" or "enter the Kingdom of God." What does this mean? How can a person be born again? How does this doctrine of the new birth ("regeneration") play out in the life of the sinner? How is it accomplished, and who accomplishes it?

These and other questions are answered in this installment of CrossTown. Tune in and learn about the "new birth."

Thanks for listening! I hope you take up residency in CrossTown!

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By the way, check out my book Sailing the Seven Cs on Amazon.com. It's a mystery novel wherein I probe the question "If God is good, why is there suffering in the world?" You can find it by copying and pasting the following link.

https://www.amazon.com/Sailing-Seven-Cs-David-Spaugh/dp/B08WTZZPF5/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1U4OR0NB6PHZR&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.1vYyXsdmiNEUI6oulPpp9l_

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“Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.Lockman.org”

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello everyone, I am David Spa, and this is Crosstown, my hometown. Indeed, I am David Spa, and this is Crosstown, where we exposit God's Word, the Bible, we bring out its meaning so we can understand it better, and also from time to time we weave in some apologetics and some cultural analysis from a Christian worldview, seeing how the world matches up to the scriptures and interpreting the world through the lens of God's word. My desire is that those who listen to this Crosstown podcast might be built up in the faith and deepen his or her devotion to the Lord and to the Lord's Word. But most of all, the reason Crosstown exists is to bring glory and honor to God and exalt his Son Jesus Christ, whose cross is our town square. Now I'm glad you're with me today, and I trust that you will be blessed by what you hear on Crosstown. Now, a couple of things I want to point out today. My introduction music is called Blooming Spring by Lemon Music Studio. I discovered it on Pixabay, which is a royalty-free music store. So a shout out to them for providing this music for me and all other types of music that they provide for other people. It's really a great service and I appreciate it very much. Also, I would love to hear from you through a text message or an email. If you'd like to send me a text message, just go to the text link connected to this podcast, shoot that off, and I'll be able to see that on my website. Also, you can hit the text link on my website and drop me a line from there as well. My website is crosstown.buzzsprout.com. So go there and you can access the text link. If you'd like to send me an email, send it to Crosstown M H T. That is Crosstown My Hometown, Crosstown M H T at Gmail.com. On top of that, I have written a mystery novel with an apologetics twist. The novel is called Sailing the Seven C's. Again, that's not S-E-A-S-S-C, it's C S Cs, Sailing the Seven C's. It's about a pair of 16-year-old twin boys who find clues to a hidden revolutionary war treasure, and while searching for it, find answers to the question: if God is good, why do bad things happen to good people? You can find the link on my website, which again is found at crosstown.buzzsprout.com. Just go to that website, click on any one of the podcasts, and you'll find the Amazon link to the book under the podcast description. So let's go ahead now and get back to our main point, which is our study in the Gospel of John. Those who have been here at Crosstown over the past several weeks, you know that we've been going through the Gospel of John. We've already finished chapters one and two. And today we get into perhaps the most famous passage in the Gospel of John, certainly the most famous passage in the Gospel of John, and one of the most famous passages in all of the Bible, John chapter three. And here a man by the name of Nicodemus visits Jesus and hears about his need for the new birth. Now, chapter three, verses one through twenty one is a unit, but it is more than I want to handle today. So I've broken chapter three down into several sections, and today we're just going to cover verses one through eight, and then next week, as the Lord wills, we'll cover verses nine through twenty one in the next podcast. So hear the word of the Lord as it is found in John chapter three, verses one through eight. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. Jesus answered and said to 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? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he? Jesus answered, Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter into 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 be amazed that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the spirit. You've probably heard the old saying, you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Of course, that's just a simple aphorism that is not necessarily true. However, I have to admit that it's true for me in some regards anyway. I have a harder time than teenagers to pick up an electronic or technological advance on computers and cell phones and things. You get some new electronic Ismo, and it seems like teenagers and even even adolescent children can figure these things out very quickly, whereas it takes us old dogs a little bit more time to adjust to it. That's just one example. Perhaps you found this to be true for you in some areas as well. Well, in a way, in John chapter 3, we see something of this being played out. A leader of the Jews, Nicodemus, is confronted with a teaching that goes contrary to his ability to understand. He's an old dog, and Jesus is trying to teach him a new trick, as it were. In this story, Jesus tells him he must be born again. As we will eventually see, Nicodemus should have been familiar with Jesus' teaching, but for today he must wrestle with a concept he finds difficult to grasp. And the first thing we want to note from the Gospel of John today, here in verses 1 through 8 of chapter 3, is the need for the new birth. The need for the new birth. Look at verse 1. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. Right off the bat, we are introduced to this man Nicodemus. To say that Nicodemus was a ruler of the Jews means that he was a member of the body known as the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was the ruling council which exercised religious and civil jurisdiction in first century Israel. The Sanhedrin consisted of two different sects, one being Sadducees and the other being the Pharisees, the minority party between the two and the one to which Nicodemus belongs. We noted more details about the Pharisees and the Sadducees in our fourth podcast in John, so we're not going to go back and rehash all of those now. At any rate, this is an important political and religious figure. Verse 2. Now we don't know why Nicodemus came to Jesus by night. Perhaps he feared a negative reactions from other religious leaders who may not have been as favorable towards Jesus as he was. Perhaps he simply wanted to have a private meeting with Jesus and not be disturbed. He wanted a meeting without interruptions. At any rate, notice that he calls Jesus rabbi. Now a rabbi that simply meant teacher, and it was a sign of respect. Jesus' first disciples called him rabbi in chapter one, but coming from Nicodemus, who himself was a respected and powerful political and religious figure, this shows that Nicodemus held him in very high esteem indeed. Now Nicodemus says, We know that you have come from God as a teacher. Jesus has certainly made an impression on him and on the other Jewish rulers too, who see him as a messenger from God. He must be from God. Otherwise, how could he do the signs he performs? How do you explain the mighty deeds he was able to accomplish? Perhaps Nicodemus is speaking not only for himself, but on behalf of others who believed in Jesus, but their belief was rather superficial or undeveloped, as we saw back in chapter 2, verses 23 through 25. Regardless of Nicodemus' level of faith, we can applaud him for seeking out Jesus to learn more about him. Now look at verse 3. Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Now Jesus' response is abrupt and direct. Now certainly there is more to this conversation than the short exchange that we have here in John chapter 3. However, John does not record for us any small talk or social amenities. Either John omitted part of the conversation, or Jesus simply cut to the chase here and got to the heart of the issue. Now to understand Jesus' answer here, we have to elaborate on a couple of issues in this verse. First of all, what is the kingdom of God? In Jewish thought, God's rule exists now over all of creation. For example, we read in Psalm 103, verse 19: the Lord has established his throne in the heavens and his sovereignty rules over all. Whether one likes it or not, God is sovereign over his entire creation. Those who rebel against him, he still is Lord over all. Over every star, over every square inch of this universe, we know that God rules over it. However, the idea of kingdom of God in Jewish thought could also refer to the age of peace and wellness that would be ushered in at the end of human history. We read about this in places like Daniel chapter 7, Isaiah chapter 9, and other places where the Messiah will establish his kingdom, where all wickedness and pain will be eliminated, where Adam's curse will be lifted, where the kingdoms of this world will be vanquished, and Messiah will rule. In Jewish thought, then to enter the kingdom of God or to see the kingdom of God is to enter into the life and peace of Messiah's reign, to share in the joy of the redeemed at the end of the age. Now to digress a bit. On the other hand, in the upper room when Jesus instituted the Last Supper, in Matthew chapter 26, he passed the cup to his disciples and said to them in verses 27 through 29, drink from it all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. Clearly in this text, Jesus is looking ahead to that joyful reunion with his disciples, where he will partake of the fruit of the vine with his people, reminding us of the future aspect of the kingdom. Now, as another aside, unlike the synoptic gospels that uses the phrase the kingdom of God dozens of times, John uses this phrase only twice in the entire Gospel of John, here in verse 3 and again in verse 5. John prefers to use the idea of life as opposed to the kingdom of God, so that the kingdom and life and eternal life and salvation are all synonymous terms. And that really is true in all four Gospels. If someone enters the kingdom, he has eternal life. If someone has life, he is saved. If he is saved, he has entered the kingdom, and so on. And on the other hand, to not see the kingdom and death and wrath and condemnation and perish and coming under judgment, those also are all synonymous terms as well. So if one is not in the kingdom, he is under condemnation. If he is under condemnation, he is in a state of death and so on. So anyway, what must occur for one to see the kingdom of God, to enter into life, to receive salvation? Jesus says he must be born again. But what does that mean? Let's take a little more time to flesh this out just a bit more. The word again can also be translated from above. In other words, Jesus is saying you must be born again, or you must be born from above. I think this is another one of those places in the Gospel of John where John purposefully uses an ambiguous term that means two things. Regardless of how you translate this word, it's true. As we go through this text, we see that the new birth is subsequent to physical birth, thus it is being born again. And because the new birth is not accomplished by human activity or designs, but is God's work, as we saw back in chapter 1, verses 12 and 13, then the new birth is from above. The new birth comes from God. It's accomplished by his Holy Spirit. Let's look at verse 4. Nicodemus said to him, How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he? Nicodemus' response here is similar to episodes we see elsewhere in the Gospel of John. People don't understand Jesus' words, so he explains further. Does Nicodemus think the idea of being born again is absurd? Perhaps he really understands Jesus is not speaking on a natural level, but just simply doesn't understand the figure of speech. Clearly a man cannot enter his mother's womb and when he's old and be born a second time, so perhaps to Nicodemus Jesus is speaking in riddles, or he's speaking in a veiled saying that he simply can't understand. We don't know exactly what Nicodemus is thinking here. Some think that he might be kind of being sarcastic here with the Lord Jesus, but we really don't know what he's thinking other than the fact that he needs clarification on Jesus' remark. Something else perhaps may be coming into play here. As a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, Nicodemus would have been extremely scrupulous in keeping the law of Moses and keeping all of the traditions of the Jewish faith. In his mind, this was what was necessary to enter into the kingdom of God. But now Jesus is telling him there's some other qualification, some other requirement needed to enter the kingdom for which Nicodemus is not prepared. I've kept the law of God and the traditions of my fathers all my life, and now you're telling me I'm deficient? You can see how this idea of you must be born again may have caused a spiritual upheaval in Nicodemus, filling his heart with anxiety. Look at verse 5. Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. As we noted in an earlier lesson, Jesus says, Truly, truly, a double amen, as it were. The double amen means this is of the utmost importance. This is most steadfastly true. The only way to enter the kingdom of God is to be born of water and the spirit. Now, this verse has been interpreted in a variety of ways. Some people think the idea of being born of water means physical birth, referring to the breaking of the amniotic sac. When a person is born and being born of the spirit, that's the new birth. Some believe water and spirit refer to Christian water baptism on the one hand and the spirit's work on the other hand. Now, because this can turn into a rather in-depth discussion and because of time restraints, I'm not going to get into a detailed analysis of why those are inferior interpretations. But if you're interested in learning in more detail about how to interpret John chapter 3, verse 5, I would suggest you find a good commentary. One that I would suggest is D.A. Carson's 1992 commentary on John put out by Intervarsity Press. You'll find that very helpful, and he points out why this is not referring to physical birth or to water baptism. The reality is, when Jesus talks about being born of water and the Spirit, he's not referring to either physical birth or baptism. To understand what Jesus is getting at here, we have to turn to the book of Ezekiel, chapter 36. In this passage, the nation of Israel is in the midst of her Babylonian captivity. God tells them that because of their great sin, he threw them out of their land, and the Babylonians came and vanquished them and took them back to Babylon. But the day is coming, God says, in which he will bless them with salvation. So we read these words in Ezekiel chapter 36, verse 22 through 27. Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God, It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for my holy name which you have profaned among the nations where you went. I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when I prove myself holy among you in their sight. For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands, and bring you into your own land. Now listen carefully to what Ezekiel writes here, the word of the Lord. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean, and I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give a new heart and a new spirit within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will be careful to observe my ordinances. Notice in this Ezekiel passage how God says he's going to sprinkle clean water upon Israel and cleanse all of her citizens from their sin. In addition, God will send his spirit to dwell in them, giving them a new spirit, so they will walk before him in obedience. It is to this Ezekiel passage Jesus refers in John chapter 3, verse 5. Jesus is telling Nicodemus, being born again of water and the spirit is the power of God in the sinner, cleansing him from sin and giving him new life. This is further borne out when we understand that the way this sentence is structured, the water and spirit are seen as one activity. Jesus is not saying you must be born of water and also you must be born of the spirit. Rather, he is saying you must have this water-spirit renewal. This is known as the doctrine of regeneration. This idea is stated elsewhere in the New Testament. For example, in Titus chapter 3, verses 4 and 5. This was something I did in a podcast some time ago. It was my second podcast. You can go back and listen to that if you want. But in Titus chapter 3, verses 4 and 5, we're told when the kindness of God, our Savior, and his love for mankind appeared, he saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to his mercy by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit. All throughout the New Testament we see similar language regarding the new birth. Peter writes in 1 Peter 1, verses 3 through 5: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In one of several passages in 1 John regarding the new birth, we read this in chapter 2, verse 29. If you know that he, that is Jesus Christ, if you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of him. In his epistles, Paul makes similar statements, though he doesn't use the phrase born again here. We read this in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature. The old things passed away. Behold, new things have come. In Ephesians chapter 2, the Apostle Paul refers to our salvation as a deliverance from death to life. He says in verse 5 of that chapter, even when we were dead in our transgressions, God made us alive together with Christ. And we could also look up Romans chapter 6, verses 1 through 4, 1 Peter 1, verses 22 to 25, 1 John 5, verses 1 through 4. In all of these passages and More, we see that the new birth is a radical transformation where the sinner is given new life, where we go from death to life, darkness to light, blindness to sight. The new birth means being given life in Jesus Christ, which then on a practical level leads to a life devoted to serving God in faithfulness and holiness. Without this new birth, without this regeneration, one cannot see, one cannot enter the kingdom of God. Why? Verse 6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Now Jesus is not using the word flesh the way the Apostle Paul so often uses it. There may be a hint of that here, but whereas Paul often uses the word flesh to refer to our old sinful nature, it appears here that Jesus is simply referring to our physical nature. When you're born naturally, that's all the further you can go. Natural birth is a product of natural procreation. What you need is a spiritual birth that can only come from the Holy Spirit. Only then is one fit for the kingdom of God. Verse 7. Do not be amazed that I said to you, you must be born again. Nicodemus, you're surprised, you're confused that you must be born again. Don't be. Ezekiel 36 and other Old Testament passages as well tell us we need this new birth. We need this transformation from above. Notice as well in this verse, when Jesus says you must be born again, the word you is plural, referring to everyone. Whereas Ezekiel talked about the water and the spirit as necessary for a national renewal, Jesus says that not only does Nicodemus personally need this renewal, so does everyone else as well. Friends, one can be born an American, Chinese, Nigerian, Spanish, Norwegian, or an Eskimo. We can be born in royalty, peasantry, aristocracy, aristocracy, poverty, upper class, middle class, lower class, no class. One can be born white, black, red, yellow, or brown, all by natural means. But natural birth will not give you a new heart and spiritual life necessary for entrance into the kingdom of God. You must be born again. You must be born from above. You must be born by the Spirit of God. We all must experience regeneration. You've heard of people going through a makeover. Makeovers are external changes in one's looks or behavior. Perhaps someone incorporates a new hairstyle or adorns themselves with new clothes, different makeup, buys a new car, works out with weights, and grows a mustache or some other such thing. We might even try inner makeovers whereby we seek to cultivate new attitudes or pursue new goals or develop a new outlook on life. We make New Year's resolutions to be better persons or to overcome bad habits. But all of these makeovers or resolutions or attempts at self-reformation will not get us into the kingdom of God. Perhaps you remember years ago when Al Franken was on Saturday Night Live, he pro he portrayed a character named Stuart Smalley, who is some sort of counselor that sought to help others to improve their self-esteem. And his catchphrase was, I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me. Friends, on our own we are not good enough or smart enough to enter the kingdom of God, and we never will be. The only way we can see the kingdom of God is through regeneration. The Holy Spirit giving life to the dead, the Holy Spirit giving spiritual life to the spiritually dead. Only way, the only way that we can enter the kingdom of God is by being born again. This brings us to our next point, namely the new birth is the domain of God's Spirit. The new birth is the domain of God's Spirit. We've already noted this, but I want to look at this from a somewhat different perspective. When we consider the new birth, we are presented with something of a dilemma. If the new birth is something God's Spirit does, then it is out of my control. If being born again is coming to life from the dead, how can I obtain it? How do I accomplish it? Birth is passive, outside the control of the one being born. No one ever willed himself to be born, and also dead men do nothing. Other than Jesus Christ, no one has ever raised himself from the dead. So then how can I, if I'm dead in my sins and need spiritual renewal, what can I do to be saved? What can I do to be born again? How can I do what only God can do? How can I be reborn? How can I be made alive? I can't, unless the Spirit of God does it for me. Look at verse 8. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. Look at the wind, Jesus says. It's out of our control. And though we can see its effects, we can see the grass move, we can see the leaves being blown about, we can see people's hair blowing in the wind. We can feel the coolness or the warmth of it. Despite the fact that we can see its effects, we don't know its origin or its destination. We have no control over it. That's how the Spirit works in the giving of the new birth. We are born again according to the Spirit's sovereign movements. He gives us new life from the dead. And again, as we saw in chapter 1, verses 12 and 13, the children of God are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. The new birth is not something we produce of ourselves or will for ourselves. Regeneration is according to the sovereign will of God's Spirit. We don't know the rhyme nor reason of his activities, nor do we give any input. We are passive recipients of his sovereign will. Now to help us understand, let's note Ezekiel chapter 37. As we've already noted, when Jesus talked about the water and the spirit, he was referring to Ezekiel chapter 36. Now, in reference to the blowing of the wind, it is very likely that he is referring to Ezekiel chapter 37, verses 1 through 14. So he merely goes back to two texts and refers to them both back to back in the gospel or the uh prophet Ezekiel. Now, as I read this text, keep in mind the Hebrew word for spirit is ruach, and the Greek word for spirit is pneuma. Both words can be translated spirit or wind or breath, and context determines which fits best. But hear how Ezekiel uses these words, or how God uses these words as he's speaking to Ezekiel, who prophesies in Ezekiel chapter 37, verses 1 through 14. The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the middle of the valley, and it was full of bones. He caused me to pass among them around about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and lo, they were very dry. He said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, you know. Again he said to me, Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones, Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin, and put breath in you that you may come alive, and you will know that I am the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded, and as I prophesied there was a noise, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone, and I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew, and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God, Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they will come to life. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then he said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off. Therefore prophesy and say to them, Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, my people, and I will bring you into the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it, declares the Lord. This is a fascinating passage, and kind of spooky, to be honest with you. It reminds me of that scene in the in the 1963 movie Jason and the Argonauts, where the skeletons of those killed by the nine-headed hydra come up out of the ground and attack Jason and his and his compatriots. But this passage of the dry bones coming to life is making the same essential point, uh, same essential point as the Ezekiel 36 passage from a few moments ago. This spiritual awakening is done by God's Spirit. It is not something we do ourselves. Those dry bones did not come to life on their own. They did not will themselves to life. Rather, they are called to life by God's Spirit, by God's wind, by God's breath, according to God's inscrutable sovereign will. So, like the dry bones in Ezekiel 37, Nicodemus and everyone else as well must receive the Spirit of God to awaken them from death, or they cannot live, they cannot see God's kingdom. Well, here's where the dilemma comes in. If regeneration is not something we can accomplish on our own, then what is the point of telling Nicodemus or anyone else that he must be born again? What is the point of telling someone he must experience something he cannot do in his own, that he must experience something that is impossible? No one can make himself be born and no one can raise himself from the dead. You might as well tell someone you cannot enter the kingdom of God unless you count to infinity. You might as well tell someone, in order to enter the kingdom of God, you must add two even numbers together and get an odd sum. That's simply impossible. So again I ask, what is the point of telling Nicodemus something must happen to him over which he has no control and it's impossible for him to do before he can enter the kingdom of God? Doesn't that or wouldn't that lead to some passive acquiescence to an inescapable fate? I think there's at least one question or one answer to that question. By telling Nicodemus and telling us as well, that what is humanly impossible must occur before we enter the kingdom, this is God's way of showing sinners the futility of their hopeless state. By telling someone that he must be born again, the lost sinner is forced to face his helplessness and trust God to do for him what he cannot do for himself and thus fall on Jesus for eternal life and forgiveness of sins. Suppose there was a sick old curmudgeon who had heart problems in your town. He refuses to go to the doctor, he doesn't want to listen to anybody about his condition. Perhaps he doesn't even acknowledge that there's anything wrong with him. He figures he doesn't need a doctor at all, and even if he is sick, I can take care of myself. Finally, a doctor who hears of his condition goes to him and says, From what I've heard and what I've seen, the symptoms you have point to severe coronary artery disease, and if you don't have immediate surgery, your death is imminent. Your death is assured in a very, very short period of time. Upon hearing this, the old man is scared. His condition is beyond his control. He can't heal himself. There is no hope. He realizes he is doomed, so he submits to the doctor for healing. But he didn't go to the doctor for surgery until he was first awakened to his need. The doctor's warning awakened him to his hopeless situation, so he trusted the doctor for the cure to do for him what he could not do on his own. Similarly, this is how it is with telling a man he needs the new birth. Telling a person of his hopeless, sinful condition, being dead in sin and under God's judgment is the very means the Holy Spirit uses to bring about the new birth, that the sinner might turn to Christ in faith, trusting him for forgiveness of sin and eternal life. So, in something of a paradox, telling a man he needs the new birth is the Spirit's means of bringing about the new birth. Well, that's all the time we have today for Crosstown, but we will continue this passage next week and see how this new birth comes to fruition in the life of the sinner. As we will see, and as you may recall from an earlier podcast, being born again and believing in Jesus Christ are two sides of the salvation coin. But for now, realize you must be born again. Mere flesh cannot enter the kingdom of God. Only when one is born of God's Spirit can he receive eternal life. If you do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, if your belief is shallow, incomplete, or deficient, or non-existent, may God in his sovereign grace cause you to be born again that you might, in true saving faith, submit yourself to Jesus' Lordship for eternal life and forgiveness of sins. Thank you again for being with me at Crosstown today. Again, you can send me a text from the podcast description, or you can send me an email at crosstownmht at gmail.com. I would love to hear from you. I'm looking forward to seeing you next week here at Crosstown. Until then, the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. I am David Spawn. See you next week at Crosstown Solomon.lockman.org.