0:00

There is the cleansing power

0:02

of God by His grace

0:05

in the act of the new

0:07

birth. He never puts a new

0:09

heart into a dirty soul. He

0:12

puts a new heart into a sanitized,

0:15

cleansed soul. And

0:18

the result is He makes something

0:20

beautiful of our lives. Isaiah

0:28

1.18 says, Though

0:30

your sins are like scarlet, they shall

0:32

be as white as snow. Though

0:34

they are red as crimson, they shall be

0:37

like wool. What a

0:39

beautiful and grace-filled promise for all those

0:41

who trust in Christ alone. And

0:43

it's that cleansing work of God that will

0:46

be our focus today. This

0:48

is the Wednesday edition of Renewing Your Mind.

0:51

I'm your host, Nathan W. Bingham.

0:54

All true Christians have experienced the

0:56

new birth. And this week,

0:58

Stephen Lawson has been helping us see

1:01

the scope of this work, approaching the

1:03

new birth from different angles to lead

1:05

each of us to doxology, praising

1:07

God for His kindness and mercy toward

1:10

His people. And today,

1:12

he'll consider the reality that regeneration,

1:14

the new birth, is a

1:16

cleansing birth. Here's Dr. Lawson. What

1:22

we want to address in this time

1:24

together is that the

1:26

new birth is a cleansing birth.

1:29

This presupposes really the doctrine of

1:32

total depravity, that our

1:34

entire inner person has been

1:36

polluted by sin and needs

1:38

cleansing, that we

1:41

have been marred by wickedness,

1:43

and we need for regeneration

1:45

to wash us and to cleanse us.

1:49

Before we address John

1:51

chapter 3 and the cleansing

1:53

nature of regeneration, if we could just

1:55

pause for a moment and

1:58

think yet again about total depravity. When

2:00

we say total depravity, what we mean is

2:03

not that every person is as

2:06

depraved as they could possibly be,

2:08

but that depravity has

2:10

extended to the total person,

2:14

the mind, the heart, every inch and

2:16

every ounce of us. It's like a

2:18

drop of cyanide into a

2:20

glass of water. It

2:22

permeates the whole, such

2:25

that when we read, for example, in Romans

2:27

chapter 3, we see that

2:29

the totality of our being

2:32

is plagued by sin. Our

2:35

throat is an open grave,

2:37

Paul says. Our tongues are

2:39

deceiving. Under our lips

2:42

is the poison of ash. The

2:44

mouth is full of cursings and

2:47

bitterness. Our feet are

2:49

swift to shed blood. In

2:51

our eyes there is no fear of God.

2:54

And so just moving from body part

2:56

to body part, each representing a certain

2:59

aspect of our inner soul and our

3:01

inner life, we see that the

3:04

totality of our being has

3:07

become polluted by sin. That

3:10

is why last time we talked about

3:12

the comprehensive nature of regeneration, that it

3:14

must affect the entirety of us, but

3:17

we also want to add that

3:20

there must be this cleansing element.

3:23

In other words, before God puts

3:25

in the new heart, God

3:28

must cleanse the soul as

3:30

well. A new

3:32

heart going into a cleansed

3:35

soul. I know

3:37

at home that when my wife

3:39

cleans the sheets and it's time to

3:41

go to bed, she expects me to

3:43

be clean and to have clean pajamas

3:45

on as I go to bed.

3:47

It makes no sense to clean up the bed

3:49

and it's clean, but now I'm dirty and get

3:51

into it. Self-defeating.

3:54

And so God does the same as He

3:56

gives to us this new

3:58

heart of flesh. flesh, he

4:01

also cleanses out the soul

4:03

into which he puts the

4:06

new heart. So that's what I

4:08

want us to consider in this session.

4:11

Lewis Burkhoff, the great systematic

4:14

theologian, writes that the governing

4:16

disposition of the soul is

4:19

made holy. This

4:21

happens in regeneration. So as

4:24

you have your Bibles, look with me again in John

4:26

chapter 3. There's one verse

4:28

in particular that I

4:30

want to address. It

4:32

is John chapter 3 and verse 5. In

4:37

this text, Jesus says,

4:40

truly, truly, I say to you,

4:43

unless one is born of water

4:46

and the Spirit, that's our emphasis,

4:48

born of water and the Spirit,

4:51

he cannot enter into the kingdom of

4:54

God. It's an absolute

4:56

necessity to be born

4:58

of water and the Spirit in order

5:00

to enter into the kingdom of God.

5:03

Now, there are

5:05

various interpretations for water, water

5:07

and the Spirit. What is Jesus saying

5:10

here? As He speaks

5:12

of being born again in the other verses,

5:14

He doesn't mention water. For example, in verse

5:17

3, unless one is born again, he cannot

5:19

see the kingdom of God. There's not a

5:21

drop of water in verse 3.

5:24

In verse 6, and

5:26

that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.

5:28

Again, no mention of water. Verse 7, you

5:31

must be born again. Once

5:33

again, no mention of water. Verse 8, so

5:36

is everyone who is born of the Spirit.

5:39

But yet in verse 5,

5:41

there is the inclusion of

5:43

water and the Spirit. So

5:47

what does this mean? There are

5:49

four possibilities here that

5:51

we want to consider. The

5:53

first is, some have taken this to

5:55

mean the water

5:58

of physical birth. The

6:00

birth of a baby is accompanied by

6:03

the release of fluid from

6:05

the mother, and

6:07

that is just a known medical fact. However,

6:11

the word water is never used in

6:13

the Bible in this way, and

6:16

so it seems to be a

6:18

strange assumption. And

6:20

this would also be inconsistent with

6:23

the way the ancients described

6:25

a physical birth. So

6:28

it seems to be more of a modern

6:30

way than an ancient way. So I think

6:32

we dismiss that he is referring

6:34

to the fluid involved

6:36

in a physical birth or

6:39

water. The second

6:41

possibility is water baptism, that

6:44

there would be baptism

6:46

associated with the Christian

6:48

faith. That certainly

6:51

is true, and one

6:53

of the ways that we are

6:55

marked out publicly. But Nicodemus

6:58

would not have understood Christian

7:00

baptism. There was no Christian

7:02

baptism at this time, and

7:05

certainly water cannot wash away

7:07

sin, only the

7:10

work of Christ and the work

7:12

of the Spirit in regeneration. And

7:15

so I would dismiss this from

7:18

being the water of baptism. The

7:21

third possibility is that it's a picture of the

7:23

Word of God, and there

7:25

are great Bible teachers who have taken it

7:27

this way. James Montgomery Boyce, one of my

7:30

mentors in exposition, takes it this way,

7:32

and there are some verses that would

7:35

maybe indicate that. John 15.3, you are

7:37

already clean because of the Word that

7:39

I have spoken to you. There is

7:41

a cleansing power in the

7:44

Word, and Ephesians 5.26 speaks of the

7:46

washing of water at

7:50

the time of conversion. But

7:54

I think that the fourth possibility

7:57

is really the correct interpretation. And

8:00

I was reading Dr. Sproul's commentary on

8:02

the gospel of John, and fortunately

8:05

for me it's a position that he takes

8:07

as well. So I

8:09

think the fourth possibility, which is it

8:12

represents the

8:14

cleansing of the Holy Spirit in

8:17

the work of regeneration. I think

8:19

what we have in

8:21

this text is that there

8:23

are two symbols for the Holy Spirit. One is

8:25

in verse 5, the other is in verse 8.

8:29

Water in verse 5, wind in

8:31

verse 8. I think as Jesus

8:33

is teaching the new birth, He

8:36

is using these two metaphors that

8:39

there is the power of wind

8:42

and there is the cleansing of water, and

8:46

both elements are true

8:48

in the new birth.

8:51

You remember in verse 10, Jesus

8:54

says to Nicodemus, are

8:56

you not the teacher of Israel? Do

8:58

not understand these things. This presupposes that

9:01

Nicodemus knew very well the Old

9:03

Testament. That's the only part of

9:05

Scripture that has been written to

9:07

this point, and

9:09

that Nicodemus would have a great

9:12

awareness as the teacher of Israel.

9:14

So having said that, I want

9:16

to take us to an Old

9:18

Testament passage of Scripture that Nicodemus

9:20

would have known, and

9:23

which water pictures

9:26

the cleansing of the Holy Spirit. So if

9:28

you would, turn back with me to the

9:30

book of Ezekiel, to Ezekiel

9:32

chapter 36. And in

9:35

our last time together, we

9:37

looked at this very verse, but we

9:40

began at verse 26. In

9:42

this session, I want to look specifically at

9:44

verse 25, which is the previous verse.

9:48

In the Old Testament, water often

9:52

symbolically represented

9:55

purification, spiritual

9:58

purification. And

10:01

that's exactly what we see in Ezekiel 36

10:04

and beginning in verse 25. And

10:07

as you recall, verse 26 and 27

10:09

make it very clear that the context

10:12

is speaking to the

10:14

new birth. You've heard it said

10:17

a text without a context is a

10:19

pretext. In real estate,

10:21

three important things, location, location,

10:23

location. The same is true

10:26

in Bible study. Location, location,

10:28

location. And so as

10:30

we look at verse 25, the

10:33

next two verses in context,

10:36

the location of verse 25

10:39

make it abundantly clear that

10:41

the matter that is being addressed

10:43

is that of the new birth

10:46

and giving a new heart. So in

10:49

that context, look, if you

10:51

will, at verse 25, what

10:53

this text says. Then

10:55

I will sprinkle clean

10:58

water on you and you

11:00

will be clean. I can assure you

11:03

this, if God sprinkles water on you,

11:05

you will be clean. It will

11:07

not be a half job. It will be a full

11:10

job, a thorough job. Whatever God

11:12

does, He does all things well, right? And

11:15

so as God says, I will.

11:18

Please note again that this is

11:20

exclusively God's initiative. This is God's

11:22

work. This is not us and

11:25

God. This is not the priest

11:27

sprinkling water or some spiritual leader

11:30

immersing someone in water or sprinkling

11:32

with water, whatever the mode of

11:35

baptism. This is God

11:37

doing this. This has

11:39

nothing to do with water baptism.

11:41

This has everything to do

11:44

with divine purification, with

11:46

divine cleansing. God

11:50

says, I will. Note

11:52

the certainty of this, that when God

11:54

does this, it will come to pass.

11:58

I will. Sprinkle

12:00

clean water on you

12:04

and you will be clean. So

12:06

what kind of cleansing is being addressed

12:08

here? Is it physical cleansing?

12:12

Is this a bath? Is

12:14

this like Jesus washing the feet of

12:17

the disciples and Peter saying, oh no

12:19

Lord, then give me a bath. No,

12:22

this is not physical cleansing. Note the

12:24

next sentence in verse 25. I

12:29

will cleanse you from all

12:31

your filthiness and from all

12:33

your idols. It

12:36

is a moral filthiness. It

12:38

is a spiritual depravity

12:43

that needs to be cleansed.

12:46

And at the heart of it is idolatry and

12:49

anything that replaces the

12:51

primacy and the centrality

12:53

of God in one's

12:55

life. So God

12:57

says in verse 25 that

13:00

in the new birth we are

13:02

cleansed from sin by

13:05

the inward work of

13:07

the Holy Spirit. And

13:09

so by this interpretation, which I believe

13:12

is the correct interpretation, water

13:15

is used as a symbol

13:17

or a picture of

13:19

the Holy Spirit even as wind

13:22

is used as a picture and

13:25

a symbol of the Holy

13:27

Spirit. In fact, I believe that John 3

13:30

verse 5 could be read this

13:32

way, unless one is born of

13:34

water, even

13:36

the Spirit, or water,

13:39

even the Spirit, one

13:41

cannot enter into the kingdom of

13:44

heaven where water and

13:46

Spirit are used interchangeably. They

13:48

are used synonymously. One

13:51

is the reality, the other is

13:53

the symbol. And

13:55

this is really what Titus 3

13:58

verse 5 teaches. It

14:00

teaches the very same. He

14:04

saved us not on

14:06

the basis of deeds which we

14:08

have done in righteousness, but

14:11

according to His mercy, by

14:14

the washing of regeneration. Did

14:16

you hear that? By the

14:18

washing of regeneration and

14:20

renewing by the Holy Spirit. Regeneration

14:24

is a synonymous term for being born

14:26

again or born from above. Regeneration

14:29

is that divine act of God,

14:32

Berkhoff says, by which

14:34

the principle of new life

14:36

is implanted in man, and

14:39

the governing disposition of the soul is

14:41

made holy. This

14:43

is the work of the new birth. And

14:47

associated and included in

14:49

this divine act

14:52

is washing, washing

14:55

of regeneration. That's

14:57

what Jesus is saying in John 3, verse 5,

15:00

I believe, that unless one

15:02

is born of water in the Spirit, there's

15:04

nothing to do with baptism. I don't think it is

15:07

even a reference to the Word of God. I

15:10

think it is a metaphor or

15:12

an analogy in a word for

15:15

the work of the Holy Spirit to

15:19

cleanse us and

15:21

to wash us and

15:23

to make us pure and

15:25

to make us clean as

15:28

God puts the new

15:30

heart into the soul.

15:33

I've gone to the doctor several times. I'm sure

15:35

that you have. As a child growing up, I

15:37

used to play football and

15:40

went to the doctor quite regularly.

15:42

And if you would have an injury, I

15:44

remember when they installed Astroturf, the college

15:47

team that I played for, and you

15:49

would try to make a diving catch

15:51

and you'd go sliding across the football

15:54

field, and it would leave a third

15:57

degree burn or some kind of a burn

15:59

on you, and you'd go... to the training

16:01

room and they would need to put

16:03

some gauze on you and bandage

16:05

you up. Before they would do that, they would

16:07

have to clean out

16:10

the fragments of the

16:12

dirt and the debris that would

16:14

be lodged in your burned area.

16:18

You have to clean that out before

16:20

you put the new in or

16:22

the new on. That's

16:25

really a picture of what God is saying in

16:27

the new birth, that God cleans

16:29

out as He puts

16:32

the new in. He

16:34

washes us out. Isaiah

16:37

1, verse 18, "'Come, let us

16:39

reason together,' says the Lord. And

16:42

though your sins be as scarlet, they shall

16:44

be white as snow. Though they be red

16:46

like crimson, they shall be

16:49

white as wool." There

16:51

is the cleansing power of

16:53

God by His grace in

16:56

the act of the new birth. He

16:59

never puts a new heart into a

17:01

dirty soul. He puts

17:03

a new heart into a sanitized,

17:07

cleansed soul. And

17:11

the result is that because

17:13

He cleanses and puts in this new

17:15

heart, He makes something beautiful of our

17:17

lives, does He not? There's

17:19

one more verse that I want to draw

17:22

your attention to along this line, and it's

17:24

Ephesians 2 and verse 10. In

17:27

Ephesians 2 and verse 10, it

17:30

speaks of the

17:33

act of regeneration, what

17:35

God has made us by His

17:37

grace. And

17:40

He says in Ephesians 2, verse

17:42

10, "'For we are

17:44

His workmanship created in

17:47

Christ Jesus, for

17:49

good works which He prepared beforehand

17:52

that we might walk in them.'" Did

17:54

you hear that? We have

17:56

been created in Christ Jesus. That's

17:59

regeneration. generation. That's the new birth. If any

18:01

man be in Christ, he is a new creature,

18:03

a new creation.

18:06

And associated with this, he says, we

18:08

are his workmanship.

18:11

Now, this word workmanship is

18:14

a very interesting word. It

18:16

really means a

18:19

masterpiece. I'm going to say

18:21

the Greek word, and you're going to

18:23

hear an English word in the Greek word,

18:27

poema. Do

18:30

you hear the word poem in

18:33

poema? A

18:35

poem is a

18:37

literary work of art. If

18:41

done well, it is

18:43

a masterpiece. A

18:46

poem can also be artistic.

18:49

It can also be a painting. It

18:51

can be a statue. It

18:54

can be a literary work of art.

18:56

But it is something that is

18:59

beautiful. It is

19:01

something that you intrinsically

19:03

recognize the beauty that

19:05

is in it. And

19:07

in the new birth, the

19:09

beauty that is in it is

19:12

Christ in us. The

19:15

beauty is not in our flesh. The

19:18

beauty is the image

19:20

of Christ being restored

19:23

in us. I

19:25

don't know where this has come from, but as

19:28

I have been traveling around preaching and

19:31

teaching in various places

19:33

around the country and, I thank

19:35

God, around the world, I

19:37

will have a little downtime and my host

19:40

will say, can I take you

19:42

someplace? Can I show you something? And

19:45

I find myself saying, and I can't

19:47

believe I'm saying this, but

19:50

I'll say, take me to your art museum. I

19:53

would love to see classical

19:56

masterpieces. And

19:59

as I go, I don't know anything about art

20:01

in the sense I've never had a class in art,

20:04

but when you walk in and you

20:06

see a Rembrandt, you

20:08

don't have to be a rocket

20:11

scientist to recognize that is beautiful.

20:13

That is a work of art. That

20:17

is arresting to the eye and to

20:19

the attention. That's

20:22

precisely the word. He says, we are

20:24

his workmanship. This is

20:26

not bragging on us. This is bragging on

20:29

grace. This is bragging

20:31

on Christ in us, the hope

20:33

of glory. And regeneration

20:37

begins this process

20:39

of making us into the image

20:41

of Christ and taking

20:43

away those old things and

20:46

restoring us and giving us these

20:48

new things. I've

20:50

quoted 2 Corinthians 5, 17, if

20:53

anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature.

20:55

The old things passed away. Old

20:57

value systems are gone. Old

20:59

priorities are a thing of the past. Old

21:02

beliefs now are ancient history. Old

21:06

loves, old pursuits, that's

21:08

behind us. These

21:10

things have passed away. Oh, they creep

21:13

up their old ugly head from time

21:15

to time. But

21:17

the fact is that old

21:19

man has been buried and that

21:21

is behind us. And he says, new

21:24

things have come. There's

21:26

a whole new life that is

21:28

emerging within us and it is

21:31

the life of Jesus Christ. And

21:34

for the rest of our Christian lives,

21:36

the act of sanctification, we

21:38

are growing in the grace and knowledge

21:40

of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we

21:42

are being made more and more like

21:45

Christ. But that work

21:47

began in the new birth. And

21:51

in that moment, Christ

21:53

was formed in us and

21:56

we could see Christ in

21:58

others when they came. came to faith

22:00

in Christ, and

22:02

suddenly their language changes. Their

22:06

way of conducting themselves

22:09

changes. There's a

22:11

dramatic break that

22:13

takes place, and it

22:15

is because we are His workmanship

22:18

created in Christ Jesus. Michelangelo

22:22

was the great artist of

22:24

the Renaissance, and

22:26

they brought down that block of marble,

22:29

and they set it before Him, and

22:31

from that block of marble, He

22:33

would create a poema, a

22:36

masterpiece. Yeah, they created

22:38

David. David is in Florence, Italy,

22:42

and they asked Michelangelo once, how did

22:44

you create this

22:46

perfect representation

22:48

of David? He said,

22:50

oh, that was easy. He said,

22:53

I just chiseled away everything that

22:55

did not look like David. And

22:59

that's what God's doing in our lives. He

23:01

is chiseling and pruning and

23:04

cutting back everything that does not

23:06

look like Jesus Christ. Ungodly

23:10

attitudes and reactions and

23:14

language, He's just removing it, and

23:17

He's bringing out and enhancing

23:20

the beauty of Jesus

23:22

Christ who is in us. That

23:26

is a work of regeneration. That

23:28

is the new birth where

23:31

He instantly, comprehensively began

23:35

this work. He just cleaned house.

23:38

He cleansed us of our

23:40

sin and washed

23:42

us and then

23:44

put this new heart on

23:47

the inside. Have you

23:49

been cleansed? Have you been

23:51

washed in regeneration as

23:54

He made you a new creature? Are the

23:56

old things behind you? Are

23:59

there new things? things that have

24:01

come. This is the glorious work that

24:04

only God can do in

24:06

our lives. That

24:15

was Stephen Lawson on the cleansing

24:17

reality of the new birth. This

24:20

is Renewing Your Mind, a

24:22

daily listener-supported outreach of Ligonier

24:24

Ministries. Although all

24:26

Christians have experienced the new birth,

24:28

had you considered regeneration in all

24:31

of its glorious scope before? This

24:34

series from Dr. Lawson includes more messages

24:36

than you'll hear this week on Renewing

24:38

Your Mind, as there's 12 messages

24:40

in the series. If you'd

24:42

like to own the complete series, we'll send

24:44

you the DVD set when you give

24:46

a gift of any amount at renewingyourmind.org,

24:49

or when you call us at 800-435-4343. In addition to

24:51

the DVD, you'll be able to stream the messages and

24:59

access the digital study guide in

25:01

the free Ligonier app. So I

25:03

encourage you to visit renewingyourmind.org or

25:05

click the link in the podcast

25:07

show notes while there's still time,

25:09

as this offer ends tomorrow. Did

25:13

you know that in addition

25:15

to other exclusive benefits, Ligonier's

25:17

ministry partners can stream our

25:19

expansive teaching series library? If

25:22

you'd like to learn more

25:24

or sign up to be

25:26

a ministry partner with your

25:28

monthly gift, simply click Give

25:30

Monthly when you respond to

25:32

today's offer at renewingyourmind.org, or

25:34

by visiting ligonier.org/partner. Who

25:39

initiates the new birth, God

25:42

or man? To conclude

25:44

our time in this series, tomorrow, Stephen

25:46

Lawson will consider the truth that the

25:48

new birth is a sovereign birth. So

25:51

be sure to join us tomorrow here

25:53

on Renewing Your Mind.