You cannot do anything to earn salvation.
Being Born-Again, It’s one of the fundamental and exclusively Christian doctrines as taught and made possible by the divine work of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
This truth underlines such passages as found in John Chapter 3.
Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; 2 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.” 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.” – John 3:1-3
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Nicodemius was one of the leaders of the religious Jews. He was one of the top teachers in Israel, and he was self-aware and humble enough to seek, albeit in secret, that which he admittedly did not know. Something that had confounded him, despite the religious rituals and traditions, wealth and social status, and he recognized the prophet-like nature of Jesus work and eagerly sought insights from Jesus.
No doubt this Pharisee was plagued with a lack of peace. There’s the old adage, the more you know the more you realize you do not know – that seems to be an end result of just head knowledge.
In His omnipotence, Jesus also knew Nicodemus’ question, or at least knew that the aged Pharisee was plagued by the superficiality of the fastidious adhering to religious rules and so Jesus jumped immediately to the core of the matter in reply to his visitor’s introductory declaration.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
At this moment Nicodemus is dumfounded.
4 Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 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. 6 That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which has been born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes and you hear its sound, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who has been born of the Spirit.” – John 3:5-8
9 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?” (John 3:9) Obviously, Nicodemus did not respond with a “WTF?” He is not a sailor like Peter, but nevertheless Jesus piles it on, to emphasize that Nicodemus, despite his extensive learning was as dense as an iron manhole cover. Lovingly, of course… Jesus knows the extent he can troll someone without falling into sin.
10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and bear witness of what we have seen, and you do not accept our witness. 12 If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 And no one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. – John 3:10:15
Regarding this bronze serpent…
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so the Son or Man be lifted up… what is this a reference to? It had to do with this event recorded in Numbers, a period of time when the Israelites were in the desert for 40 years:
6 So Yahweh sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people so that many people of Israel died. 7 Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned because we have spoken against Yahweh and against you; pray to Yahweh, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses prayed for the people. 8 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a standard; and it will be that everyone who is bitten and looks at it, will live.”9 And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it happened, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived. – Numbers 21:6-9. This is a prophetic foretelling of Jesus ultimate sacrifice and saving work on the Cross.
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Notice the people were saved by merely looking at this bronze serpent God commanded Moses to create and raise high up on a pole. The people didn’t need to work off their sin, they didn’t need to found a soup kitchen, cure world hunger, or run for public office, but they did have to look, to follow a simple instruction, just as those who are saved by Grace need to believe in Christ.
All this is to emphasize the salvation comes through God’s grace, it’s a bit of a mystery of course, because, we cannot contribute to our salvation like we similarly did not contribute to our own birth. At first we were born of flesh into our earthly lives, but then to receive salvation it is a a work of God and of the Spirit. The Spirit is not something we have before we are born again and to be saved we need to be born a second time by the Spirit.
It becomes a bit easier to come to grips with when you better understand the insurmountable chasm that exists between fallen humans and the Holiness and Righteousness of God. God is already aware of this enormous separation in a way blinded humans cannot accept. Salvation by works of any kind makes less sense whereas salvation by Grace alone makes enormous sense. That is why it is God’s plan to save man by faith, a theme and promise that is repeated in so many ways throughout Scripture.
Even James, Jesus’ half-brother, who is commonly misinterpreted to declare the works is essential to achieving salvation, actually wrote about how saving faith must have corresponding works. Works in a Christ centered life are fruits of the Holy Spirit, evidence that one has genuine faith. Abraham was tested with the near sacrifice of his only son, Abraham was already saved since his faith was accounted for righteousness by God long before Issac was even born. Seeking and growing faith could also be understood as Sanctification, which is a refinement, but not the grounds for salvation, which is by God’s Grace.
Yes, we still need to believe, and even to the human mind that is still a bit of a mystery, how both God’s sovereign will crosses over with human freedom of choice. Obviously, despite our freedom to choose, we are not completely autonomous. Yet the belief we have and the faith we have is altogether dependent on the object of our faith.
What I mean is, if your object of faith is a 2×4 fashioned into a religious image, or a fine ceramic figure of a heavenly being, or even an unrestrained sex obsessed pedofile, then I pity you. You do not have a grasp on the essential moral laws provided by God in the Ten Commandments.
However, if you begin to become aware of the many evidences and ways God has proven Himself, and has worked through history, particularly people throughout history and especially those documented in the Bible, which even Nicodemus had access to study, you can see God leaving His divine fingerprints and revelation everywhere. You do not need a graven image or an anchor to the material world, those only fall short of the all glorious and invisible God of Creation!
When you begin to know that Jesus, as the object of a believers faith, this reality is not blind faith.
The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And the expanse is declaring the work of His hands. – Psalm 19:1
Knowing all this head knowledge is not going to secure your salvation. But your seeking and contemplating may very well be blessed by saving faith and genuine belief (and surrender) in the divine works of redemption of Christ on the cross, where He took upon himself the burden of our every sin, even though He had no sin, to suffer the wrath and separation from God as our substitute.
As for myself, God delivered me from spiritual darkness and events resulting in near physical death. Had I died before I had consciously surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ, I cannot tell you for certain if I would have been saved. I think it would have been a bit of a crap shoot if I woke into the glorious peace of Christ or be burning in Hell in full conscious realization how much of a depraved sinful retard I had been. We are completely subject to Almighty God’s perfect justice wherever that may lead.
But God in his mercy allowed me to suffer again and to such degree in order to reach the point of surrender and therefore, achieve a better understanding of the Truth. With so much more clarity, I am compelled to share, really plead with you on a weekly basis to come to Christ, the One True Messiah, by sharing with you God’s Good News.
13 for “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? 15 And how will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who proclaim good news of good things!” – Romans 10:13-15
How will you be able to respond unless you hear (IMO “grasp”) the message?
He died for those who will believe. But that is not the end of the story. He bridged a gap between man and God that we could never bridge on our own. Without Christ and the Grace of God, we can’t do anything to achieve salvation. The only question is, will you place your complete trust in Him?
He Is Risen. He defeated death. He has Risen indeed!
For a one minute explanation of the Gospel from the late Pastor John MacArthur, watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCP9UcC7BzE
For a review of the Ten Commandments: https://www.challenyee.com/the-ten-commandments/
All quoted excerpts have footnotes removed, usually from Legacy Standard Bible (LSB), sometimes from New International Version (NIV), on rare occasion the Amplified Bible (AMP).
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6-14-24