Born Again-Pt3

If God’s people would please
turn once again to Paul’s letter to the Colossians and to chapter
two. We come again to this amazing
passage of Scripture. It is Paul’s fourth in a series
of examination points for those who profess to be Christians. As we’ve been reminded in this
passage, professing believers are the fruit of the gospel,
but this fruit must be inspected in order to ensure its genuineness.
And so Paul issues a series of examination points. These spiritual
standards of measurement are presented in the bulk of chapter
two. verses 4 through 23. And believers
in Christ are to examine themselves by these standards. We’ve already
contemplated that we are to be discerning, verses four and five,
wisely evaluating to see what is offered to us and see if it
squares with scripture. We are to be not only discerning,
but steadfast, solid in our faith, verses six and seven, not weak
and aimless, not wandering and vacillating. And then thirdly,
we are to be cautious, discerning, steadfast, cautious, verses 8
through 12, a generally cautious demeanor that serves as a foundation
for the exercise of discernment. And then fourth, and this is
where we’ve been the last several weeks, here in verses 13 and
14, the fourth standard is the regeneration to be enjoyed. A Christian ought to be found
enjoying his or her newfound spiritual life. Now, please notice
that the first examination point in verses four and five, Paul
urges his readers there by way of a purpose statement. You can
see it right there. He says, so that no one will
delude you. We’re supposed to be discerning
for that very purpose. The second and third examination
points are both commands, imperatives. Verse six, walk in him. Verse eight, see to it. But the
flavor of this fourth examination point is very different. There
is no command. There’s no purpose statement.
Paul just lays out the truth before his readers and calls
them to apply it. He made you alive. And all that a Christian can
do with that is to enjoy it. That’s the fourth spiritual standard. And so with that very brief overview,
let’s return again to the passage in full, verses 13 and 14. When you were dead in your transgressions
and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive together
with him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having
canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees
against us, which was hostile to us, and he has taken it out
of the way, having nailed it to the cross. This morning, finally,
we get to examine that main statement. He made you alive together with
Him. Over the past two weeks, we’ve
been studying the attending detail of this, the rest of this passage,
those three subordinate and supporting statements that have provided
for us the direction on how to apply this standard. the regeneration
to be enjoyed. The first thing Paul tells us
is the occasion of our regeneration, that we were dead. But now he
has made us alive. We were dead, spiritually dead. That’s the first explanatory
statement that Paul makes. This is not a gloomy passage,
though. After all, Paul does say, ultimately,
he made us alive The context of that statement, both implied
and uttered, is that we were not always alive. We were dead. So that’s the occasion, the context
of our regeneration. In the second explanatory statement
there at the end of verse 13, he speaks of the commencement
of our regeneration. Where did it begin? And Paul
reminds his readers of what preceded this rebirth to life. It was God’s forgiveness of all
our transgressions. We certainly didn’t earn or deserve
any of that, but it is God’s forgiveness of our sin that enables
him to justly restore us to life. It’s a beautiful thought. And
in his third explanatory statement in verse 14, Paul lays out the
pathway of our regeneration. How is it that God was able to
justly forgive our sin and to restore dead sinners? Paul tells
us God righteously dealt with sin. It was in that that he canceled
the hostile certificate of debt against us. that, remember, telephone
book-sized catalog of all of our sins. God canceled it by
taking it away and nailing it to the cross. We certainly didn’t
participate in that either. And so we finally come to the
heart of the passage, this sentence that Paul has explained over
and over again, one of the most beautiful lines ever spoken.
He made us alive. So Paul’s main point of these
two verses is that God made us alive. We’ve been restored to
life, spiritual life, regenerated, born again. If we are believers
in Christ, it is only because we have been made alive through
the sheer grace and mercy of God. And our response to this
amazing blessing is simply to rest peaceably in it, to enjoy
it. Paul doesn’t tell us or command
us to do anything here. We didn’t earn this gift, nor
can we ever pay God back for it. Ours now is to simply enjoy
the new life that God has given. Let’s consider this very simple
sentence more deeply. He made you alive together with
him. As I said, this sentence, he
made you alive, we’ve had it in the background for the last
several weeks. And this again has already been
explained by the context that we were dead, spiritually dead,
so that this enlivening is of the same kind. It is a spiritual
restoration of life. We had suffered the penalty of
death as a consequence of sin, original sin, ratified by our
own sin. We can’t just wag our finger
and point to Adam and Eve. And it was a spiritual death
that we suffered. So it here is a spiritual enlivening
of which Paul speaks. This word, translated here as
he made you alive. It’s only used in two places.
It’s used here and in the parallel letter of Ephesians, as we’ve
seen for several weeks. The context in both places is
the same. The language in both epistles
is the same. The key words are identical.
You were dead, but he made you alive. I want to pause and say
that, technically speaking here, the sentence translated literally
should read, he made you alive together. The verb is a compound
word, su-so-o-po-e-o. That’s a mouthful. Let me break
it apart for us. Soon means with. Zo’o means life,
and Poy’o means to do or to make. And so together it means to impart
life, to give life, to make someone else alive. And both here and
in Ephesians 2, it refers to God’s restoration of life to
the dead sinner. It is a spiritual life that is
restored, just as the death mentioned at the outset was a spiritual
death brought about by original sin, ratified by our own. So
also this spiritual life is restorative. It leads to forgiveness and justification
by faith and eternal life. That one word in the Greek, if
you’re reading the New American Standard here, is translated
by five English words. It’s a lot of information. If
you’re in the ESV, another popular translation, four English words,
God made us alive together. My point is this, that English
word together as an element of this translation, it’s very important
because it ties our having been made alive to our Savior, the
Lord Jesus. We are made alive together with
him. So that’s the verb. And as I
said, there’s a great amount of information in that verb.
He made you alive together. But then, get this, to round
out this sentence, Paul interjects three additional Greek words. And he does so for emphasis and
clarity. He adds the words you, with,
and him. He didn’t have to add any of
that. It’s all basically encompassed in the verb, and yet he adds
those words for emphasis. Think of that first word, you.
That word is already embedded in the verb. Why does Paul repeat
it? He does so because he wants to make it absolutely clear that
these believers understand that they were enlivened together
with him, that is, Christ. You and no other were made alive
together. And then those two additional
words, with and him, and when Paul says made alive together,
the reader might well assume that he means made alive together
with Christ. But by these two additional words,
he removes all doubt. It is intentionally redundant.
It is an effective literary device, and it’s used elsewhere in Scripture.
Listen to this one, Matthew. Matthew chronicling the crucifixion. And he’s speaking of the two
robbers that were crucified as well. And he does exactly the
same thing, uses the exact same formula that Paul does here.
Speaking of the two robbers, he literally says that they were
crucified together with him. And so here at Colossians 2,
Paul does this to enable his readers to understand just how
close their spiritual relationship to Jesus Christ is. It’s indissoluble. It’s indestructible. And it is
only through this unbreakable bond with Christ that we receive
this spiritual life. He made you alive together with
him, that is, with the risen Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Here in Colossians, Paul has only just spoken of Christ’s
enlivening in verse 12. Glance back there, verse 12,
where he said, we were also raised up with him through faith in
the working of God who raised him from the dead. And the context
of these words in Ephesians shows something very important. In
Ephesians chapter 1, Paul is extolling the power of God as
seen in raising Christ from the dead. That is divine power. But immediately then in Ephesians
2, Paul transitions to the power that he has exhibited in his
people Again, they were dead, but now he has made them alive.
The same power of Almighty God produces both of these miracles,
the resurrection of Christ and the restoration of life to his
people. But, although Christ’s enlivening
in Ephesians 1 and Colossians 1 is speaking of the resurrection
of Christ’s physical body, both in Ephesians 2 and Colossians
2, the enlivening of which Paul speaks is our spiritual enlivening. And this is where the beauty
and power of this statement erupts. So as Paul speaks in so many
other places in scripture of the hope of resurrection, we
might assume that he’s just doing the same thing here as well.
that we have that to look forward to, that one day our bodies are
going to be raised. That’s not what he’s saying at
all. The hope of resurrection addresses our physical bodies.
And we do look forward to the eventual fulfillment of that
wonderful promise. Philippians 1.20, he will transform
the bodies of our humble state into conformity with the body
of his glory, blameless and beyond reproach. Do we not all look
forward to that day? As Christ is glorified, our physical
bodies will be glorified. Our physical bodies will be raised,
changed, transformed, as Paul discusses in full in 1 Corinthians
15. Our physical bodies will be glorified. As Christ was raised bodily from
the dead, we too as believers have that hope. But Paul isn’t
talking about the resurrection of our physical bodies here.
Not in Colossians 2, not in Ephesians 2. The new life about which he
speaks is spiritual. It’s the enlivening of our soul,
not our flesh. You see, Jesus Christ was never
spiritually dead. Jesus was never corrupt, dead
in his transgressions, depraved, dead towards God. Jesus did not
suffer the effects of original sin, the fall of Adam and Eve,
as we did. He was never spiritually dead,
as we were. He was never dead toward God
and the things of God. So when Paul says here that God
made us alive together with Christ, it’s not concurrent with Christ
in that regard. It’s not that God made Christ
and us alive together at the same time as our Savior in the
same way. But rather, as Christ is spiritually
alive, we too now are made spiritually alive together with Him. And I want you to note this. He made us alive. Not us. not our good deeds, not
our winsome personalities, not our family lineage, not our denominational
association, not our alms to the poor, not our church service.
It’s not because of us. Because we are dead, we have
nothing to offer. And even if we did, we have no
inclination to offer it or ability. This is a work that is God’s
prerogative. This is a work that he does in
a dead sinner’s life. Well, of course, what Paul is
setting forth here in this verse is the wonderful doctrine of
regeneration. And this doctrine does no damage
to the idea that we must believe in the finished work of the Lord
Jesus Christ in order to be saved. If anything, it emphasizes that
truth. We must indeed believe, but in
our dead state, we have no ability to believe or to do anything
else. God must move first. Jesus said it very plainly in
John 6, didn’t he? No one can come to me unless
the Father who sent me draws him. God must supernaturally
draw us. God must supernaturally bring
us to life before we can even grasp our desperate condition. The blessed truth of the doctrine
of regeneration, the only hope for sinners, is found in numerous
places in Scripture. Could we take a brief tour? Yes,
let’s. Would you please turn to begin
with to the Gospel of John. The Gospel of John in chapter
three. And you know the account here,
Jesus interacting with this religious leader named Nicodemus. So I’m
going to keep this whole thing relatively short. You’ve studied
it. We’ve studied it together. Verse
one, there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the
Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi,
we know that you have come from God as a teacher, for no one
can do these signs that you do unless God is with them. Here
is this religious man seeking out Jesus. So far, so good. And we begin to detect the man’s
motives in that he came by night, kind of skulking up, sneaking
up to Jesus to talk to him away from all of his cohorts. And so this religious leader
has sought out Jesus for some answers to his questions. He’s
respectful, calling him rabbi. He compliments him as a good
teacher and a worker of signs. He even acknowledges that God
is within. The conversation is seemingly
off to a good start and yet Jesus detects the man’s motives and
he goes straight to the heart of the matter. Would you look
at verse three? Jesus answered and said to him, truly, truly,
I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom
of God. Jesus here is declaring the doctrine
of regeneration, that it is absolutely necessary in order to have and
enjoy internal life, you must be born again. It’s quite obvious
that in verse four, Nicodemus demonstrates that he does not
understand this spiritual truth because he responds with really
a silly, if not disrespectful, line of questioning. Nicodemus
said to him, how can a man be born when he’s old? He cannot
enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born again.
Can he? It’s an absurd line of reasoning
on Nicodemus’ part, intentionally so. He’s challenging Jesus’ statement. To him, it makes absolutely no
sense, this idea of being born again. Look, if you would, at
verse five through eight, as Jesus explains, Jesus answered,
truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the
Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of
the flesh is flesh. 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 you do not know where it comes from and where it is
going. So is everyone who is born of the spirit. Jesus goes
to the heart of the matter with Nicodemus, you must be born again. And when he insists that unless
one is born of the water and the spirit, he’s referring to
spiritual rebirth. And he tells him that it is essential,
absolutely necessary for eternal life. But throughout this entire
exchange, would you look at it? Throughout this entire exchange,
Jesus doesn’t tell Nicodemus to do anything. He simply tells him what’s absolutely
necessary, that he must be born again. New life must be imparted. The spiritually dead must be
brought to life. God must do it. This is the beautiful
doctrine of regeneration. And as we’ve seen for several
weeks, we see the same doctrine also in the parallel letter of
Ephesians. And since we’ve interacted with that passage again and again
over the last couple of weeks, I’m not going to have you turn
there. I’ll only recite what Paul says there in brief. You
were dead in your trespasses and sins, but God made us alive
together with Christ We were spiritually dead, made alive
by God. That is the magnificent doctrine
of regeneration. And we see the rich doctrine
as well in 1 Peter. Would you turn there? All the
way to the right. 1 Peter, and turn, if you would,
to chapter one. 1 Peter chapter 1, and Peter is
just barely underway in this letter. He’s only just completed
his greeting when he declares this doctrine of regeneration. Glance down, if you would, at
verse 3. 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. Peter says it there very clearly.
God has caused us to be born again. Because we’re spiritually
dead, Almighty God, by means of the Holy Spirit, must step
in and restore spiritual life. And with this, Peter emphasizes
an important element of this doctrine, that regeneration is
a supernatural work, no different in power than in raising Christ
from the dead. This is a work not unlike the
work of creation where God brought the dust of the earth to life.
Remember? But now God’s Spirit must bring
spiritually dead sinners to life. This is entirely an act of God.
God must move or we remain forever dead in our sins. But if God
does move, if God does act, if God’s spirit so works in the
life of a sinner, that sinner is brought to life as God intended
it, vibrant, spiritual vigor, restored fellowship with their
creator. When a sinner is so touched by
God, they come to hate their sin and their sinfulness. They come to love God and his
righteousness. They come to willing repentance. and a wholehearted faith in Christ
the Savior. They’re born again. That is the amazing doctrine
of regeneration. And we see it also in the epistle
of James. Would you turn back one book
to your left to James and to James chapter one. In James chapter one, to lay
the groundwork here, James employs a very graphic illustration here. He’s discussing the origin of
sin. How does sin work? How does it
do its thing? And he likens sin to the birth
process, conception and birth. Look at what he says there in
verse 15. When lust is conceived, it gives birth to sin. I told
you it was a very graphic image. Now, allow me to draw your attention
to two of those English words. Gives birth. Because only a few
verses later, James uses that exact same word again. In the
Greek, look at verse 18. In the exercise of his will,
he brought us forth by the word of truth. He, that is God, gave
us birth. James says, quite metaphorically,
that God birthed us. spiritually speaking. He brought
us to life. He brought us forth. And that
is the marvelous doctrine of regeneration. Well, I think you
get the idea. The doctrine of regeneration
of sinners is a thoroughly biblical doctrine. And aside from these
passages, or in these passages, we gather a number of important
thoughts and ideas. First, The Doctrine of Regeneration
pictures mankind as suffering the effects and the deadness
of sin. The Bible tells us that we’re
estranged from God, that we are actively engaged in rebellion
against him, at enmity with him. But nothing spells that out more
clearly than the idea of being dead in our transgressions. That
presents an even more dire situation, doesn’t it? because it roars
that we cannot yield to him. We cannot help ourselves. Only
Almighty God can do that. Only Almighty God can give life. How bad is it? Charles Spurgeon
nails it. Listen to this. The same power
which raised Christ Jesus from the dead must be exerted in raising
us from the dead. The same omnipotence without
which angels or worms could not have a being must again step
forth out of his chamber and do as great a work it did at
the beginning of creation in making us anew in Christ Jesus
our Lord. There must be a divine interposition,
a divine working, a divine influence, or else do what you may, without
that you perish and are undone. For except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God. The natural man dead in his sin
is in utter rebellion against God, he or she is dead to God,
God by His Spirit must enliven that soul to see his or her hatred
of God, their love of sin, their waywardness of their hearts,
their innate insubordination. God by His Spirit is the only
one who can remedy their fallen condition. And just as it’s God
alone who created this world and everything in it, just as
it is God alone who gives life, it is God alone who restores
spiritual life. And so the doctrine of regeneration
not only presents mankind as he is, in absolute dependence
upon God for salvation, it presents the Holy Spirit as precisely
the one whom God has dispatched to remedy. our lifeless condition. In so doing, the Holy Spirit
does not just lend a helping hand, assisting us in our own
recovery effort. Think of the first man, Adam,
newly created, but literally lying there in the dust, breathless,
lifeless. until, as Genesis 2-7 records,
then the Lord God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,
and man became a living being. Likewise, the Holy Spirit must
and brings new life to the fallen sinner. In a miraculous and instantaneous
act of mercy, the Holy Spirit breathes spiritual life into
a dead sinner, much the same way that God first did to Adam.
Listen to how Spurgeon described this. In the salvation of every
person, there is an actual putting forth of divine power, whereby
the dead sinner is quickened, the desperately hard sinner has
his conscience made tender, and he who rejected God and despised
Christ is brought to cast himself down at the feet of Jesus. What
a beautiful thing. Just as the sinner was dead,
spiritually dead, now he or she is brought to life, spiritual
life. Now spiritually alive, the person
becomes sensitive to the awful condition of his soul. He’s alive
and his eyes are open to his sin and to his need of a savior. He or she is drawn and now responsive
to God. A regenerated person now sees
and hears and comprehends truth. They see their sin for what it
is, it’s detestable and unsightly, and they see Christ our Savior
for who He is, a merciful Savior who had already died on their
behalf. They not only behold these things, but they embrace
them in faith. Whereas they were dead toward
God, now all impetus and inclination is Godward. So the only thing
that remains, the only thing that remains to be considered
is the response from the regenerated child of God. What do we do with
this? And the only possible response
is to enjoy it. Regeneration has already been
granted by God. It’s not something that we earn
or acquire over time. New life has been already bestowed. It cannot be repaid. God has
freely granted it. The only possible response for
the renewed child of God is to enjoy this life. Our rebirth
in Christ ought to be a source of pure joy, spiritual enjoyment,
because whereas we were dead, now God has made us alive. We
can now pause and wonder, why would God, why would Paul rather
make this point to these readers? And he does so to inform them,
or at least to remind them of what they were compared to what
they are now. They were dead, and now they’re
alive. And we don’t have to wonder what
such a realization would have done to the Colossians, because
we know what such a realization does in our own hearts and lives.
The fact that we’re here this morning gathered for the purpose
of worshiping Almighty God, it’s a strong indication that God
has already done a work of grace in us, granting us new life and
faith in Christ. All we really can do is enjoy
it. The Bible presents accounts of almost countless miracles,
none more stupendous than raising the dead. Both Elijah and Elisha
were used by God in the raising of the dead. Jesus performed
several such miracles. The widow of Nain’s son, Luke
7. Peter raised little Tabitha,
Acts 9. Paul raised young Eutychus, fell
out of a window, Acts 20. And of course, the greatest resurrection
of all, because it was so significant and impactful, was Christ’s own
rising from the dead. But did you ever wonder what
life might be like for those who were raised from
the dead? We have a few clues from scripture.
Luke records the raising of Jairus’s daughter, who was only 12 years old. Luke,
listen to how Luke describes it. He took her by the hand and
called, saying, child, arise. And her spirit returned and she
got up immediately. And he gave orders for something
to be given her to eat. I mean, how plain, how basic
is that? He didn’t command young Tabitha, now Tabitha, you had
your chance and we’re giving you a second chance here. Make
sure you’re a good little girl, go to church. Make sure you mind
the Sunday school teacher. Be a good little girl to your
parents. Did you catch that? He gave orders
for something to be given her to eat. Hold on to that thought. We see a very similar thing with
Lazarus. Perhaps Jesus’ most well-known miracle, Lazarus and
his sisters, Mary and Martha, they were disciples and dear
friends of Jesus. And the miracle was a very public
one. Not only Mary and Martha, Jesus’
apostles, many other disciples and mourners, and also a good
many of Jesus’ enemies, religious enemies. So Jesus performs this
amazing miracle, raising Lazarus from the dead, and it creates
quite a stir. But a few days later, John captures
a very fascinating scene. Jesus, therefore, six days before
the Passover, came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus
had raised from the dead. So they made him a supper there,
and Martha was serving, but Lazarus was one of those reclining at
the table with him. We, in our works, righteousness-oriented
minds, might suggest, Lazarus, what are you doing? You have
a second chance. Get up and get busy. He was reclining at the dinner table. He was just enjoying his God-given
regeneration. In some sense, we see that both
with Jairus, his daughter, and Lazarus, how quickly things returned
to normal. eating, breathing, conversing. We would not be surprised to
see some of these smaller children who were restored to life begin
wiggling in their mother’s arms, desiring to be let down to play. For the older ones, after food
and water, soon it was just back to living. Back to Bible reading. back to
the shop or the office, back to the garden, right? And yet,
can we just think for a moment how different their life would
be, how thankful they would be? After all, they were dead. In
some cases, these were already buried in the ground. But now, miraculously, they suddenly
find themselves alive. Can we think of just how thankful
they would be? Can we imagine how energetic
and resolved they would be at the realization of new life?
Of course we can, and we should. Because spiritually speaking,
Christians now enjoy the same thing. We were dead, but he made
us alive. Think of this. He made us alive
because we were dead. He made us alive because He forgave
all our transgressions. He made us alive because He forgave our transgressions,
because He canceled out the certificate of debt against us. And here
we sit, restored to spiritual life because of it. May God be glorified in how he
uses us in this new life. So if you’re a Christian, a believer
in the Lord Jesus Christ, all the more you have God to thank
for that. He not only ordained his plan
of redemption, he sent his son to pay for your sin, and he brought
you to life from the dead. so that you could even comprehend
these things. The fact that you came to hate
your sin, the fact that you came to long and love your Savior,
and the fact that you knew that you had found Him when you heard
of Jesus Christ, all of that is due to the fact that God moved
first by bringing you to life spiritually. And so I would ask,
are you resting in, enjoying, and thankful for God’s work of
regeneration in your life, eager to serve and obey Him, not with
a mindset of paying Him back? And if you’re sitting here this
morning, and you’re not sure about all
of this, you don’t know, how bad your sin is, how dreadful
your condition is, how precarious it is, how close to hell you
are, how greatly you need forgiveness, how perfect is the Savior that
you hear died on the cross. If you’re not clear about all
of that, but you’re intrigued by it, God has your attention. God may
be well stirring you to life even as I speak. Dead, spiritually
dead, that doesn’t have a very pleasant appeal to it, does it?
But life, spiritual life is more than just interesting. It speaks
of the hope of eternity. It speaks of the hope of eternal
life. It speaks of the hope of forgiveness
for your sin. It speaks of the hope of embracing
the Savior in faith. If you know that your sin is
real, if you sense the deadliness of it, if your stomach is beginning
to turn because of the disgusting nature of your sin, if you’re
beginning to long for forgiveness, that just up to this point seemed
impossible, God may well be stirring you to life. And if that’s true,
look to Christ in faith. The one who has paid in full
the payment incurred by sinners. Look to Christ in faith. If God
is stirring your heart, look to Christ. in faith. Would you humble yourself before
Him?