Born Again by Ezekiel and Paul
Born Again by Ezekiel and Paul
John 3:5-12
Introduction: We have looked at the details of “born again,” in the context of John’s gospel but I thought it would be helpful to better understand the concept to look at the descriptions of being born again from other texts, specifically Ezekiel and Paul. Mind you, they do not use the words “born again,” but their descriptions should take away some of the mystery. To begin, I want to stress that a thorough understanding of Jesus’ teaching on born again is critical to our salvation and how we live our lives and Christians. Jesus said, “You must be born again.”
- Jesus’ Amazement at Nicodemus, 3:9-10
- Can you sympathize with Nicodemus? Everyone of us should be able to sympathize. Did you notice verse 1? Nicodemus is a “man of the Pharisees.” His view of his own salvation and that of Israel’s was easily described in simple steps: (1) circumcised, don’t touch the (2) unclean, observe the (3) Sabbath and (4) feast days, (5) keep the commandments. It was the Jews’ 5 steps of salvation. What’s nice about that is, do that and you will live.
- This is why Nicodemus struggled with understanding Jesus’ words – not unlike today. For every human who wants to be right with God, there is a great desire to make a list of “must” commands to feel assured of salvation. We need to explore why such a prescription for salvation doesn’t work.
- What Jesus was teaching Nicodemus was not a new teaching. This has always been true! Therefore, possibly the simplest way to explain this is to let two inspired writers help us: Ezekiel and Paul.
- Ezekiel’s Explanation of Born Again: Ezekiel 36:22-32
- 22-23: The Problem: we have profaned his holy name by our sins and iniquities. Something has to be done to vindicate his holy name among the peoples, in the world. Can you do that?
- 24: First, God needs to bring us out of the nations so that we are separate and distinct from the rest of the world. He needs to set us apart.
- 25: But in order to set us apart, he first needs to cleanse us from our idolatry and all the ways we have become unclean. Therefore, he will sprinkle clean water on us. [I’m certain that happens when we are baptized (Acts 2:38), but God is doing the “sprinkling,” the cleansing].
- 26: Our cleansing is not all we need. We also need a new heart and spirit – that is, a new motivation and desire – so that we don’t go back to profaning his name. We need to think differently, love differently, serve him differently than we did before. We even have a “heart of flesh” so that we easily repent and change when we have been wrong. It’s not just doing 5 steps, it’s becoming a completely new person. Teresa would say, “Who are you and what have you done to my husband?”
- 27: And finally, to really make us in every way like God, in God’s image, God will put his Spirit within us. In other words, God is saying that from now on, “the way I think, you will think; the way I would act, you would act. We will always be united in my ways and my thoughts. This will cause you to be careful to obey me.”
- 28-30: The result is God’s blessings and continued cleansing of our uncleannesses.
- 31: Experiencing God’s blessings will cause us to look at our former life and loathe ourselves for what we had been before.
- 32: Finally, we will also realize that before all else, God did this to vindicate his holy name, not because we deserved any of it. This will cause us even more to want to be holy before him and glorify his name in the world.
- Paul’s Explanation of Born Again: Romans 7:13–8:3
- First back to our question: Why is it wrong to simply make a list of what we must do, and then be comforted that we have done it?
- Paul answers this in 7:13-25. The answer is quite simple, we haven’t done it! Remember, Paul is speaking as a righteous Jew seeking to be right with God. Utter failure!
- In Galatians 5:3, Paul answers the question in one sentence: “I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law.” That is the problem with those who make a commandment list and then justify themselves on how well they did their list. What about the whole law?
- This is Paul point in Romans 7. You aren’t justify by Law or a list because you don’t even keep he list. James 2:10 expresses the same: “Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.”
- Romans 8:1-3 “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature (flesh). So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.” (Romans 8:1–3 NLT)
- The above two texts are just another way of describing “born of water and the Spirit.”
- We could not cleanse ourselves from sin and death. Therefore, God cleansed us (“the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death”) – the death and resurrection of Jesus.
- We could not escape sin’s power and control over us because of the “weakness of our sinful flesh.” In other words, we needed to control sin instead of sin controlling us. We needed a new heart and a new life. Jesus did that for us so that now through forgiveness we can actually be righteous and grow to be more like him without constantly failing.
- Therefore, verse 5a: “…those who live according to the flesh [attempting salvation by your own goodness], set their minds on the things of the flesh [following the desires of the flesh and failing].”
- Contrast: verse 5b “…those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires” [because of our thankfulness of being freed from the control of sin, we refuse to go back to that slavery and therefore live to please the Spirit].
- Philippians 2:12-13 “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
- John 3:8: “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Jesus is referencing Ezekiel 37:1-14. The words “breath” and “Spirit” are again the same Hebrew words. “Breath,” a metaphor for life given by the Spirit of God. The message? God enabled dead people to live. It is not the visible work of man, but the invisible work of God.
- Applications
- Complete dependence on God for your salvation. You didn’t do this and you aren’t doing this. You didn’t initially do anything to save yourself and you are not now doing anything to save yourself. You are completely dependent on God for that. Yes, you must be obedient to God, but your obedience is not perfect. You still need God to do what you cannot do.
- Therefore, what should that dependent faith in God produce in you?
- Ezekiel 36:31-32 You will be ashamed and disgraced (NIV) for your conduct. You will remember your sinful ways and “you will loathe yourself for your sins and detestable practices.”
- If you do not feel that way about your sins, if you think to yourself, “I never did real bad sins; I’ve always been a fairly good person, then you are denying what the Lord said about you and all humans. There is no such thing as good sinners and bad sinners. Hell is for sinners, all sinners.
- Finally, once you see the great love that God has for you to save you from your sins of which you loathe yourself, and when you appreciate that God give you and brand new life in which you are able to escape sin, you will now love him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. As Jesus said concerning the sinful woman, “She loved much because she was forgiven much.”
- That is your goal. Loathing of self for sins committed, and therefore utter dependence on God because he is the only one, the only power that can take away that loathing and create in you a new life that will rejoice in holiness and righteousness with God forever and ever. And that will “cause you to love God with all your heart” to desire God and pursue God.
- Finally, always feeling the greatness of your salvation will cause you to love others, knowing that they too are weak and conquered by Satan. You will have compassion on them because you have been there!
Conclusion: You cannot live the old life of trusting in yourself that you kept the commandments and therefore will be saved.
Berry Kercheville