Salvation In Jesus Through The New Birth

‘Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ ~ John 3:3

We now have our horizons open to understand not only the Kingdom of God and the importance of seeking after it, but also the judgment by Jesus of our works and what it takes to be able to inherit this Kingdom.

The Scriptures speak of an experience called The New Birth or Being Born Again or Being Converted. It is this experience and this experience alone that ensures we will truly be righteous and inherit God’s Kingdom.

What is this New Birth? How did God make this New Birth possible? What can we expect to experience as the fruit of this New birth?

The New Birth Consists Of Forgiveness & A New Heart

Ezekiel 36:25-27&29 ~ Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. I will also save you from all your uncleannesses.

The Scriptures teach that the New Birth is a point when you receive from God a cleansing in your heart from all moral filth and impurity.
It is in this New Birth that God gives you a new heart and puts within you his own spirit. This Spirit now causes you to actually despise sin and instead walk in God’s ways and live pleasing to Him.

Jeremiah 32:39-40 ~ I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever… I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.

This new heart is given to us so that we will have one direction, one purpose, and one motivation in life, an all-consuming desire to glorify God and live pleasing to Him!
God will also heighten our sense of fear of Him to keep us from departing from him. He will press upon our consciences the truth of judgment and death to help us choose correctly, when we are tempted to stray.

Jeremiah 31:33-34 ~ I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts… for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

When a person is born again, God writes his law on their heart. They do not need someone to teach them about living pure and loving others, for they are now born of God and his spirit teaches them all these things. [See also 1 Thessalonians 4:9 & I John 2:27]
It is in this New Birth that God chooses to forgive and to forget all the sins we have committed in our past.
Getting a new heart and being forgiven are not separate events. They occur together in the new birth. No one receives one without the other.

I John 1:9 ~ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

John here presents a summary of what happens in the new birth after we believe the gospel, repent of our sins, and join Christ in baptism.
First, God is faithful and just to respond to our faith and repentance in mercy and grant us a wonderful pardon for all our past sins.
Second, God will cleanse our hearts from all wickedness and moral filth so that we can live a life free from sin.

1 Corinthians 6:11 ~ And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Paul had just listed a long list of sins and immoral behavior [Verses 9-10]. He says that these disciples were like this in the past but that they had now had a new experience.
In this New Birth experience, they were washed and cleansed from all their sin and moral filth. They were sanctified or set apart from the world unto God and his holy purposes. Lastly, they were justified or forgiven of all their past sins in the name of Jesus.

God’s Love – The Ransom For The New Birth Cost Jesus Dearly

This New Birth was not without cost. Mankind had corrupted themselves, transgressed God’s laws, and gotten themselves hopelessly entangled in the bondage of sin, in need of a redeemer.

Romans 6:16 ~ Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

When a person reaches the age where they know right and wrong and yet chose wrong they sin against God. In this turning they choose to serve sin and by doing so become slaves to sin.
This brings them to a position of entangled bondage where they are unable to free themselves, are on the path that ends in death, and are in great need of mercy and help.

Colossians 2:13-15 ~ And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

God has made the law ‘the soul that sinneth, it shall die.’ [Ezekiel 18:20] The Devil therefore has a legal death sentence hold on all who have chosen to use their bodies to serve sin.
Through his atoning sacrifice, Jesus triumphantly made us alive and ransomed us from the Devil’s legal hold by nailing it to the cross with him. By doing so, he completely defeated the demonic powers that keep men bound to sin and rebellion.

John 8:33-36 ~ Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Jesus said that he came to bring men the truth that will set them free from this bondage. In response, those who were religious leaders said that they were not in bondage to anyone.
Jesus replied that when a person commits sin they do enter into a state of bondage. They become the servant of sin. They now have chosen to side with the Serpent and have become indebted to him legally as his children. [See also John 8:44]
Jesus said that we need deliverance from this spiritual bondage to sin and death. This deliverance only comes from Him, as it is only Jesus who brings us deliverance by enlightening us with The Truth!

Mark 10:45 ~ For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

This Truth is that when one is in bondage he needs a redeemer, someone to pay the price or ransom for their release.
It is for this purpose that Jesus came to this earth. He came to give his life as a sacrifice that would be the perfect ransom to redeem us from the bondage of sin!

Isaiah 53:5-6&11 ~ He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all… by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

700+ years before Jesus was born, Isaiah foretold of a Messiah that would come and give himself as the ransom for the world’s sin.
He told us that all men had gone astray and become bound in their sins. Because of this, the savior would need to be fatally wounded for our sins that all our sins could be laid on him.
He prophesied that as Jesus said, it would be by His Knowledge or The Truth that many would be forgiven and saved from God’s judgment.

I Corinthians 15:3-4 ~ I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was the Messiah to come. He was crucified on a cross for the sins of the world and all men’s sins were laid upon him.
Although he was crucified and buried, yet he also rose from the dead to show that he had power over death and could give eternal life to others.

Romans 5:8-9 ~ God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

It was God’s great love for us, his cherished fallen creatures that compelled him to give up his one and only son for their redemption from sin.
This death of his son Jesus Christ would be the ransom that would give us forgiveness of sins and ultimately save us from the wrath to come in the judgement.

1 Pet 2:24 ~ 1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

Jesus took upon himself all our past sins when he died on the cross. The reason he did this was so that we would die to sins hold on us and be given a new heart that would live for righteousness.
It is in the sacrifice of Jesus alone that we can experience the new birth and ultimately obtain healing and freedom for our sin enslaved souls.

Fruit Of The New Birth – Freedom From Sin & Zeal For God

What fruits can we hope to see or experience in the New Birth?

1 John 3:8 ~ He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

The Scriptures teach that everyone who commits sin belongs to the devil because he is the one who sinned from the beginning and it is his work to cause people to sin and bring them into bondage.
Jesus came to this earth in order to destroy this work of Satan and the fruit of the New Birth is having this work of Satan destroyed in our lives!

1 John 5:18-19 ~ We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

John makes this even clearer by stating that a person who is Born of God is released from sins powerful sway so that they no longer commit sin. He tells us that the whole world lies in this bondage to the evil one but that those who are born of God have been set free. Satan cannot touch them. He cannot keep them bound by his chains of sin!
The Bible here teaches that this is the direct fruit of being born of God. When we truly experience this awesome New Birth we will not continue to sin because he that sinneth is of the devil and this New Birth experience will have broken Satan’s power over us.

2 Peter 1:3-4 ~ His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Through the promises of God, in the New Birth we are given a Divine Nature that replaces the wicked nature we were once in bondage to.
The wonderful outcome of obtaining this new Divine Nature is that we will escape the corruption of the world. We will no longer be bound to the sinful corruptions that keep others in bondage.

Romans 6:17 ~ But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

When people choose to obey The Truth they are not only set free from sin but there is also an awesome positive change that occurs in their lives. They now become joyful servants of righteousness.
The fruit of being born of God is not just freedom from sin but it is also a life that is now dedicated to producing righteous and holy works!

Titus 2:13-14 ~ Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

The New Birth redeems us from all iniquity for a purpose. It is not just so that we can stop sinning, but it is so that we might be a special holy people who do great righteous works for God and his Kingdom.
The fruit of this new birth is a holy zeal or love for God and doing good works that please him. It is a burning passion and desire to live for God and His Kingdom and to see him glorified and men saved!

Matthew 13:44 ~ Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

The New Birth experience will give us a great zeal for God and his Kingdom and will cause everything else in the world to seem of little importance.
It will bring about in our hearts a most powerful dedication to good works, living to please God, and living a joyful life in hopes of inheriting the rewards promised by God.

The New Birth Is The Requirement To Inherit The Kingdom

John 3:3 ~ Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Jesus said that unless a person experiences the New Birth they could not inherit the Kingdom of God.
The new birth is absolutely necessary in order for a person to gain citizenship in the Kingdom.

Matthew 18:3-4 ~ And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Unless our hearts are humbled and converted as little children, in the New Birth, then we cannot enter God’s Kingdom.

I Peter 1:2-4&23 ~ God hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you… Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

It is by being begotten by God and being born of incorruptible seed that we can joyously know, that we will be resurrected from the dead.
Without this New Birth, we cannot receive the incorruptible inheritance of citizenship and eternal life in the Kingdom of God.

Romans 6:22 ~ But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

When one is Born Again, they experience the fruit of freedom from sin and becoming servants of God. This then produces the fruit of holiness, which results in the great end experience, Everlasting Life!
If we have not experienced freedom from sin and a holy zeal for God through the new birth we cannot expect to experience the fruit of this New Birth, everlasting life in God’s Kingdom.