We're in 1 John chapter 5, just
a few verses. We're going to read from verse
1 through to verse 5. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. And everyone that loveth him
that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this we
know that we love the children of God, when we love God and
keep his commandments. For this is the love of God,
that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not
grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world,
and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our
faith. Who is he that overcometh the
world? but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. The Lord Jesus Christ's followers
are called Christians. And there is something very delightful
about taking the name of our Saviour and identifying with
it so closely that it describes what we are and who we follow. We are Christ's ones, we're Christians. Christ's ones because we follow
Christ, we admire Christ, we admire his words and his example
and his teaching and we endeavour to align ourselves to those things
which the Lord Jesus Christ has revealed of himself. But the Bible tells us that there
is more to being a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, there
is more to being a Christian than merely admiring the teaching
of Jesus Christ or of patterning our lives after his example. and there are many, many people
in many, many churches who regard and consider themselves Christians
and yet their Christianity is a mere recognition and admiration
for the teachings of Jesus Christ. And let me say this, perhaps
this is very obvious to many of us, but let me say this especially
to some of the younger people who might be listening in today. Being a Christian, being a follower
of the Lord Jesus Christ, is more than believing certain teachings
about Jesus Christ. and it is more than trying to
live good lives and godly lives. Being a Christian speaks about
having a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And nowhere
is that relationship more clearly emphasised in the Word of God
than in the Lord Jesus Christ's own conversation with that man
called Nicodemus that we read about in John's Gospel, Chapter
3. Nicodemus was a well-educated
and well-respected religious leader. But when he came to Jesus,
he came by night to speak to the Lord Jesus Christ. When he
came to Jesus, he learned something about the true experience of
God. He learned that there was a relationship
with God that transcended the mere knowledge of facts about
God. Nicodemus learned about grace. He learned about mercy. He learned
about love, and he learned about spiritual life. He learned about
the new birth. So we can read, let's just turn
to John chapter three. I want to read a couple of verses
in John chapter three and verse five. Look at that with me, please,
in your Bibles. if you have them there, because
this was really a very important lesson that Nicodemus, this religious
man, this man who sought to follow the teachings and the doctrines
and the pattern of holy living, learned something special in
verse five as he spoke to the Lord Jesus. This is what he learned.
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man
be born of water and of the Spirit. Now that means, that reference
to water means grace. So what he's saying there is
that except a man be born again of grace and of the Holy Spirit. Except a man be born of water
and of 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. Marvel not that I said unto thee,
ye must be born again." Nicodemus learned here that being a Christian
isn't a religion, it's a relationship. And John also learned this from
the Lord Jesus Christ. You must be born again. The Bible uses a number of phrases
to speak about this being born again. Sometimes we read about
being born of the Spirit, and that's the same thing. It's a
spiritual birth. It's the Holy Spirit bringing
to life new life. Sometimes we read about being
born from above. Or here in John chapter 3, we
read about being born again. Sometimes the apostles used words
like regeneration, which just means being born again, or quickening,
which means being made alive. or even the word calling, where
the use of that word is to call people from being dead in their
sins into a relationship, a living relationship with God. And John tells us about this
being born of God. John in his little epistle uses
that phrase being born of God to encapsulate and summarize
all these different phrases that are used to express this new
life, this new birth. And indeed John uses that little
phrase, born of God, six times and he's the only writer that
uses it in this form, born of God. It's used six times in scripture,
all by John and all in this first epistle, 1st John. So today what
I'm going to do, if you can accept that as being my introduction,
today what I'm going to do with the rest of my time is I'm going
to divide it into two. And the first thing I want to
think about with you is what it means to be born of God. And the second part, we will
look at the way that John uses that word, and the effects that
he describes of being born of God. We'll look at how John uses
that phrase. So the first thing I want to
think about with you as to what it means to be born of God. And the first part of this is
to say that to be born of God, and the clue is in the phrase,
is a divine act. It is being born of God. God is the one that brings us
into this new birth experience. And particularly, it is a work
of God the Holy Spirit. We talk about God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And it is God the Holy
Spirit that has this principle moving role in the new birth
and being born of God. And the Lord Jesus Christ told
Nicodemus that that which is born of the flesh is flesh and
that which is born of the spirit is spirit. And that's a reference
to the Holy Spirit. So that which is born of the
Holy Spirit is spirit. That which is born of God is
spirit. And that shows the distinction
between these two things. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh, that which is born of the spirit is spirit. There
is a life which is a fleshy life, a physical life, a natural life. Our natural life in this body,
in this world, a carnal life, if you like. It is a physical,
natural existence. and there is a natural procreation
so that we are born of flesh. But there is also a spiritual
life which comes from God, from being born of God, from being
born of God the Holy Spirit. And that spiritual life is the
source of our relationship with God. It is the source of faith
and it is the dimension in which we experience our relationship
and our knowledge of God, God the Father, God the Son, and
God the Holy Spirit. And just to show us about this
fact that it is a divine work of God, John tells us in his
Gospel, in John 1, verse 12, he says there, So there's that little phrase
again, sons of God, that we've heard John speaking about in
his first epistle. That's the fleshy life, nor of
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man,
but of God. So this being born of God is
a divine act, but it's a divine act that initiates a new life,
a new existence, and a new spiritual experience, a new nature, a new
creation. The Bible speaks about renewal
of the mind. And it even calls it a resurrection
from the dead because it is for those who are dead in their trespasses
and in their sins. And so the spiritual life speaks
of a new birth. And it is always shown to be
the work of God. That which is born of the flesh,
that which we can initiate, that which we can procreate, that
which comes from the flesh is just always flesh, but that which
comes from God, from the Spirit, is spiritual. So it is a work
of God creating a new man with a new nature that is spiritual
and eternal, that is fitted with righteousness, that is acceptable
to God. and that it is made for righteousness
to be able to serve God in holiness and in righteousness. So in 1
John chapter 2 and verse 29, we read there, everyone that
does righteousness is born of him. so that those who are born
of God are born to be able to serve God righteously. And this speaks of a union and
a peace that has been made by God to those to whom he gives
this new birth. And it is for a purpose. So it
is God, it is a divine act, and it is a new life that that God
instills and creates and inspires, and it is done with a purpose.
Peter tells us in 2 Peter 1, verse 3, that by his divine power,
that is God the Holy Spirit, by his divine power are given
unto us exceeding great and precious promises. that by these ye might
be partakers of the divine nature, the divine life, the spiritual
life. Partakers, that means possessors
of the divine nature. And that reminds us of what we
were talking about last time when we spoke about God's purpose
in the life of his people is to make them Christ-like. So
that we are partakers of the divine nature of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We're made like Christ. We're predestinated to be conformed
to the image of his sons, that we might be the firstborn amongst
many brethren. That's the sons of God again. Which of course brings us back
to that great covenant purpose of union with the Lord Jesus
Christ and being made together with him as his body. This being the great purpose
of the triune God in his dealings with fallen men and women. In 1 Corinthians chapter 12,
verse 27, we read there about that union, that covenant purpose,
where the apostle writes, now ye are the body of Christ and
members in particular. John says in 1 John 3, verse
2, Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear
what we shall be. but we know that when he shall
appear, we shall be like him, for we will see him as he is. So this may come to the end of
that first part that I wanted to draw your attention to, where
we think about what it means to be born of God. It's a divine
work because it's God who does it, God the Holy Spirit. What
he does is that he creates new life, spiritual life. to the
intent and purpose that we may be like Christ, that we may be
formed into his body, united together with the Lord Jesus
Christ and brought into that spiritual relationship with God
through the Lord Jesus Christ by faith. So let's move on to
the second part of what we have to think about today. And I want
to look at five occasions where the Apostle John uses the expression,
born of God, and see what he says concerning it. So don't
be too worried about the fact that there's a few different
verses to be quoted here. We're going to move through them
quite quickly. One thing I would want to just
say though as we begin to think about these verses is that when
we're thinking about them I want you to remember that these are
characteristics of the new birth. They're not ambitions or aspirations
or things that we hope will happen. What John tells us with reference
to the new birth is that this is the character of those that
are born of God. And that's an important point
because it's something that's real. Something that's real. This relationship that we have
with God is something that is real, though not necessarily
something that we feel. Now, with all due respect to
one of my favourite hymn writers, Joseph Hart, he says, true religion's
more than notion. Something must be seen and felt. And I'm not disagreeing with
that sentiment. We do feel something of the peace
of God in our hearts by faith. We do know something of the joy
of the Lord. We do know something about the
Lord's love towards us and our love towards Him. But the point
that I am making here is simply this, that what is true and what
is factual and what is right is what God says. and not necessarily
what we feel. If God says that a man is cleansed
from his sin, then that man is cleansed from his sin. And who
are you to argue with God? You might not feel cleansed from
your sin. You might feel a sense of guilt
and unworthiness. You might feel as if sin is in
your life and in your thoughts and in your bodies and in your
flesh. But if God says you're cleansed, then it is God's word
that counts. If God says that a woman has
everlasting life, who are you to say that he's wrong? If God
says that we are accepted as holy and blameless and perfect
in Christ, you might not feel holy and perfect, but it is God
who decides these matters, not you. And that's what I mean when
I say that being born of God brings characteristics of life,
not something that we hope might happen in the future. Now perhaps we struggle with
assurance, but maybe that is because we don't take God at
his word, because we're too reliant upon how we feel. Let us hear
the word of the Lord. Let us hear what John has to
say with respect to being born of God. And one more thing before
we think about these verses. Let us properly distinguish between
cause and effect. Let's not get the cart before
the horse. Now watch what I mean in this.
Let's think about John chapter five, 1 John chapter five and
verse one. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. Now remember what we've been
talking about with respect to what that means. It's a divine
work of new life by the Holy Spirit to make us like Christ.
And here's the first one that John gives us here as the examples
that we have before us today. To be born of God is to believe
that Jesus is the Christ. There is a cause and there is
an effect. Now the vast majority of religious
people will say, if you believe and you have faith, you will
be born again. And if that were true, then John
would have said, whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ will
be born of God. But that's not what he said.
Because the person who believes is already born of God. Because it is only those who
are born of God that can believe. And that's what John is telling
us here. We believe that Jesus of Nazareth
is God's anointed mediator. of the covenant of grace to his
chosen people. We believe that Jesus of Nazareth
is the Messiah of Old Testament prophecy. That everything that
was prophesied in the Old Testament concerning his coming is focused
and founded and fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe
that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ whose blood was shed on
the cross for the remission of our sins. Now if you deny that,
that Jesus is the Christ, then you're a liar. If you don't believe
that Jesus is the Christ, then you will die in your sins. And if you do believe, it is
because faith has been gifted to you by God the Holy Spirit. Paul writes to the Philippians
and he says in Philippians chapter 1 verse 29, Therefore if you
believe, it is because you're born of God. The next time we see John using this phrase born of God is in 1st John chapter
5 in verse 4, again part of our reading today. And there he says,
for whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. And this
is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. So to be born of God is to overcome
the world by faith. Now That's why I stressed earlier,
if God says something, it's true. Right? We might think to ourselves,
how can I possibly overcome the world? What is this world that
is being spoken of? Well, it's the world of sin and
Satan. It's the world of death in the
grave. It's the world of men and all
the deception of men. It's the world of threatenings
and fear. It's the world of conscience
and shortcomings. And we have overcome because we have faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ. If we're born of God, we are
overcomers of all of these things that would hold us down upon
the face of this world. Everything that is earthly, everything
that is fleshy, everything that is of nature and carnal is overcome
by faith because we're born of God. And that's the reason why
the Apostle Paul in Philippians chapter four and verse 13 says,
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. God's
promises, Christ's provisions, the Holy Spirit's protection,
God as our shield, as our shelter, as our preserving help is because
we are born of God. and every event that is not for
our eternal good is managed by God upon those who are born of
him. We're the sons of God. We're
children of a king. We live by faith and we ought
to act accordingly. We love to read and quote Romans
chapter eight Well, let's read it and quote it by all means,
but let's believe it too. The apostle Paul writes there
in verse 37, in all these things we are more than conquerors through
him that loved us. Because we're born of God, we're
overcomers and we're conquerors. God says that. No matter how
you feel, God says it. The third time that John uses
this little phrase, born of God, he tells us that, whosoever is
born of God doth not commit sin. For his seed remaineth in him
and he cannot sin because he is born of God. Now this might seem quite incredible,
really. And there are lots of ways that
that little phrase there, does not sin, cannot sin, might be
explained, so as indeed to be explained away. But let us just
for a moment take it at face value. If God says we're clean,
then we're clean. And if the Lord Jesus Christ
taking our sin away means anything, then it means that we have none.
It means it's gone. It means that it's no longer
imputed to us. It means that it has been laid
upon the shoulders of another. It means that in God's sight,
that sin is elsewhere. Not just the guilt of that sin,
but the sin itself has been laid upon another. You remember the
picture of the scapegoat in the Old Testament that Moses revealed
to us that the high priest would take and he would lay the sins
upon the scapegoat and it would be taken out into the wilderness. Now that's the picture. That's
the type. The anti-type, the reality is
that the Lord Jesus Christ has taken our sins. So don't let
us look at the death of Christ as being symbolic of our sins
being taken away. The symbol is the scapegoat in
the wilderness. The reality is Christ who became
sin for us and has taken away our sins. Now in our flesh, flesh, that
which is born of the flesh is flesh. It's always and ever only
flesh. And in our flesh, we shall be
sinners, we shall be sinful till the day of our death. And we
lament our evil nature. We lament the old man and the
struggle that is still there. But in the new man, we can't sin. In the new man,
we do not commit sin. In the new man, there is holiness,
there is perfection, there is righteousness. Jeremiah chapter 50 and verse
20 says, In those days and in that time, saith the Lord, the
iniquity of Israel shall be sought for. and there shall be none,
and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found, for I will
pardon them whom I reserve. Fourth time that John uses this
little phrase, born of God, the fourth verse we're going to look
at today, is that he makes reference to the fact that those who are
born of God love and know God. Love and know God. And once again,
I draw your attention to this point about cause and effect.
This being born of God is a divine act which has consequences. in
our lives. There is a cause and there are
effects and being born of God has the effect that we love God
and know God. 1st John chapter 4 verse 7. Beloved,
let us love one another for love is of God and everyone that loveth
is born of God and knoweth God. If you love the Lord God, if
you love the Lord Jesus Christ, it is because you're born of
God. And it is because you were everlastingly
loved by him in his covenant purpose of electing grace. 1 John 4, verse 19 says, We love
him because he first loved us. We love him because he first
loved us, but love him we do. We do love him. Why? Because that is the effect of
being born of God. In 1 Peter 1, verse 8, the apostle
there writes, Whom having not seen, ye love. In whom, though
now ye see him not yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable
and full of glory. How blessed we are to be born
of God. How blessed we are to be tailor-made
for heaven, to be fitted for glory. And here's the last one
of these references then to being born of God. We have to jump
ahead to verse 18. So we didn't actually read it
today, but in verse 18, it speaks about this. 1 John 5, verse 18.
So to be born of God is to be secured from the wicked one. See, what was it we spoke about
right at the very beginning about what it was to be born of God? It was a divine act. It was a
new life, a new creation. And it was to the end and purpose
that we would be made Christ-like, made like Christ and joined in
union with him. And that's what we have here.
We are Christ's body. Christ is the only begotten son
of God and he will keep his own body. He will preserve and protect
his own bride. That's what a husband does. He
has a desire to protect his wife, to care for her and to look after
her. And that's Christ's picture of
Christ loving his church and giving himself for her. Satan
cannot touch us. Antichrist cannot touch us. Even our old man as he fights
against the new man cannot touch us. This flesh cannot touch us. The new man will be protected,
will be preserved, will be sheltered, will be upheld and maintained.
The new creation Because it is being looked after by Christ,
the all-powerful God is invincible, indestructible, everlasting. No one can pluck us out of the
Father's hand. That is why we believe that once
saved, always saved. Once saved, we are secure for
all time and eternity because we've been born of God. What is born of God is untouchable. We are the untouchables. Paul says, in my flesh dwelleth
no good thing. And that's so true, Paul. We
speak to your experience by our experience. For in our flesh
dwelleth no good thing. And the Lord Jesus Christ reminded
Nicodemus that that which is born of flesh is flesh. No more and no less. It'll never
be anything different until God transforms us in the new heaven
and in the new earth. But, but that which is born of
the Spirit is Spirit. And being born of God, we are
kept of God. The elect are kept in the love
of Jesus Christ. It's a beautiful little reference
to this being kept in Isaiah chapter 27 where the church and
the people of God and the particular members of the body
of Christ are likened to a vineyard of red wine, sweet red wine. And Isaiah says prophetically
with respect to the Lord Jesus Christ and his bride, the church,
in that day sing ye unto her. A vineyard of red wine. I, the Lord, do keep it. I will water it every moment,
lest any hurt it. I will keep it night and day. And the Lord Jesus Christ said
in Matthew 16 verse 18, upon this rock. What did we read in
Psalm 95? We worship Christ, the rock of
our salvation. And upon this rock, I will build
my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Whosoever is born of God believes that Jesus is the Christ. Whosoever
is born of God overcomes the world by faith. Whosoever is
born of God does not and cannot commit sin. Whosoever is born
of God loves and knows God. Whosoever is born of God is secured
for all time and eternity from that wicked one. Amen. May the Lord bless these thoughts
to us.