Title: Regeneration of Jews and Regeneration of Christians!
Contents
Sunday day sermon
Text: John 3:1-15
Title: Regeneration of Jews and Regeneration of Christians
The new birth (salvation) of the Jews who lived under the law in Jesus' day is different, and the new birth (salvation) of Christians living under the law of the Holy Spirit today is different. Nevertheless, Christians today ignore all these facts, quoting John 3, and mistakenly believe that “if they believe in Jesus and receive the Holy Spirit, they are all born again into Christ.” But this is a saying that one knows and the other does not.
This false common sense of Christians is the same principle as if Jews were born of the lineage of Abraham, the father of faith, and that they were living under the law as a holy people who were saved by themselves. It is a well-known fact that human beings cannot be said to be sinless just because they are born of a line of faith, and that the law cannot purify human beings either.
Likewise, even if Gentiles today believed in Jesus and received the Holy Spirit, that does not blot out their sins from their hearts. Also, even if we worship in the name of Jesus every day, no one can be freed from the sin of Christians disobeying the Holy Spirit. Among Christians, those who disobey the Holy Spirit, regardless of their rank, must stand before God's judgment seat.
Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Unless you are born again of water and the Spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.” In reality, no one can enter the kingdom of heaven unless they believe in Him (Jesus) and receive the Holy Spirit from the Father. that's what you're saying At that time, “water” meant washing away dirty things, which means that Christ washes away the dirty sins of man. Therefore, the Jews had to believe in Jesus for the Holy Spirit to come upon them.
These words written by John were applied to the people of Israel who were living under the Law at that time. Therefore, when they believe in Jesus and receive the Holy Spirit, all their sins are forgiven through it, leading to eternal life. But God never gave a law to the Gentiles. If the Gentiles had been living under the Law, it is clear that they would not have believed in the Son of God as did the Jews.
It was not that the Jews did not want to believe in Jesus. They thought that according to the law, if one went to the temple and slaughtered cattle and sheep and offered sacrifices before God, that would be faith and that sins would be forgiven and that all would be saved. Even if a few hundred Jesus appeared in front of those who were immersed in such thoughts, they would never have believed the Son. This is the background to which the Jews fell into self-contradiction.
The Jews blasphemed God and delivered Jesus into the hands of the Romans, crucified and killed. Jesus rose from the dead three days later and ascended to heaven. After Jesus ascended to heaven, the first thing that came upon His disciples was the Holy Spirit. This is the Holy Spirit that came upon Mark's upper room on the day of Pentecost.
The Holy Spirit did not only come upon the disciples. Even Gentiles, God poured out the Holy Spirit on all those who believed in the name of Jesus without fail. However, we should not overlook here that the Jews who lived under the law received the Holy Spirit when they believed in Jesus as their Savior, and they received the Holy Spirit at the stage of completion of their salvation. It is the fact that we are only given an obligation to live as
Without knowing this fact, if the Gentiles continue to interpret the contents of the Bible according to their own taste, they will fall into the irreversible deep trap of the devil. Among the Jews, especially the Pharisees, who considered themselves righteous, interpret the Bible according to their own taste as a subjunctive, but in the end they fell into the devil's temptation, and they could not return from there forever and went to destruction.
The purpose of God, who does not discriminate against humans, pouring out the Holy Spirit on Gentiles who believe in Jesus is to give Gentiles the same grace as Jews. The similarity is that if the Israelites made their faith motto to be born of Abraham's lineage and to live under the law, the Gentiles also made their faith motto to believe in the name of Jesus and live under the Holy Spirit.
However, forgetting this fact, Christians today use the receiving of the Holy Spirit as a token of their salvation. Just as the Jews thought of the law as a token of salvation.
However, the Holy Spirit received by the Gentiles is different from the Holy Spirit received by the Jews who lived under the law. The Holy Spirit, which the Gentiles received by believing in Jesus, was poured out on the Gentiles, who had lived their lives like dogs and pigs without God's law until now, in the meaning of starting their lives as spiritual Israelites. That is why God poured out the Holy Spirit unlimitedly on Gentiles as long as they called on the name of Jesus.
However, as soon as the Gentiles receive the Holy Spirit, they must fulfill their duties as spiritual Israelites. In other words, we must live according to the law of the Holy Spirit. Today, it is a duty for Christians to go to a chapel to worship and to give offerings. However, if a person who has received the Holy Spirit breaks the law of the Holy Spirit, God's severe judgment cannot be avoided. Just as those who break the law cannot escape the judgment of God.
Gentiles do not know this fact and when they receive the Holy Spirit, everyone knows that salvation is complete and loves them, but in reality, from the moment they believe in Jesus and receive the Holy Spirit, Christians also enter a narrow and difficult path to live by the law just like Jews. But God's laws are good laws. Just as the Holy Spirit played the role of a tutor to guide Jews who disobeyed the law to Christ, the Holy Spirit is also a good law and serves as a tutor to guide Christians who disobeyed the Holy Spirit to the Son.
The Bible we are looking at today is a book that records the lives of these Jews. That is why, when Gentiles accept the Bible at face value, errors occur. If the Jews had realized their sins through the law, it would have been easier to believe in Jesus. But as they tried to achieve salvation through the law, it was as difficult as a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.
As mentioned briefly above, when people living under the law believe in Jesus and receive the Holy Spirit, their salvation is completed. However, they considered the law as a means of salvation, so many people did not believe in Jesus and the Holy Spirit did not come upon them. According to the law, they went to the temple to die for 2,000 years, slaughtered cattle and sheep and offered sacrifices to God. However, tax collectors and prostitutes, who were branded as unclean sinners by many at that time, believed in Jesus and received forgiveness of sins and entered eternal life.
The reason Jesus came at that time was to save those who disobeyed the law from their sins. But at that time, they were completely unaware that they were sinners who broke the law. So they only believed that the coming of the Messiah would free them from Roman oppression. Although the Messiah had come, they thought that instead of freeing them from Rome, they kept seeing only dirty sinners. They said that they were blaspheming God and ultimately crucified Jesus to death.
Therefore, the Jews who disobeyed the law had to believe in the Son sent by God first to be forgiven of their sin of disobeying the law in the flesh and the original sin committed by Adam in the Garden of Eden. Only then did God send the Holy Spirit to those who believed in His Son. This is what it means to be born again of water and the Holy Spirit.
However, on the contrary, Jews at that time only wanted to perform sacrifices under the law, and they rarely believed in Jesus. The reason is that, if you believe in Jesus, you have to throw away the life under the law that you have continued until now and follow Jesus. The Holy Spirit never came upon the Jews because if they did not believe in Jesus, their sins against the law could not be forgiven. Therefore, eternal life was not guaranteed for them.
It is so easy for Gentiles today to believe in Jesus because they do not live under the law like the Jews at the time. So, if Gentiles today just call on the name of Jesus, God unconditionally pours out the Holy Spirit on anyone. However, just because Gentiles called on the name of Jesus and received the Holy Spirit does not guarantee eternal life. If the Gentiles were so easily guaranteed eternal life, God could never be fair. It is because it is too inequitable compared to that of the Jews.
If the Gentiles had lived under the law, they would not have believed in Jesus as easily as they do today. So, on the same principle as the Jews, God sends His Son to the Gentiles (Christians) who have received the Holy Spirit today to believe. The reason He sent His Son before the Gentiles is not just to test the Gentiles, but because Gentiles who have received the Holy Spirit are also sinners who disobeyed the Holy Spirit in their hearts. Therefore, he wants his son to receive the forgiveness of sins for those who have disobeyed the Holy Spirit.
Just as those who disobeyed the law did not survive, it is very natural that those who disobey the Holy Spirit cannot survive before God. Therefore, God sent His Son to forgive their sins before He judged them. However, it is unclear whether the strangers will admit their mistakes and believe in his son.
Judging from the example of the Jews, it is predicted that even those who live under the Holy Spirit today will go to the chapel and worship only, and will hardly believe in the Son sent by God. The reason is that, like the Jews, the injustice and pride of having to abandon all of the life (worship) under the Holy Spirit and believe in the Son of God as the Son of God will not allow. This is the idea given by the devil. The devil will try to disbelieve his son no matter what.
But those who realize that they are terrible sinners who have disobeyed the Holy Spirit will believe in the Son whom God has sent. Just like the tax collectors and prostitutes who lowered themselves as sinners at the time of Jesus believed in Jesus. Today, the Son of God who comes again before the Gentiles is like an image of Jesus. This is because only the outward appearance is different from the appearance of Jesus at that time, but the inner man is the same.
Today's Christians, like Jews, have been going to church every morning to worship under the law of the Holy Spirit, rain or shine, under the law of the Holy Spirit. Just like the Jews who went to the temple and slaughtered oxen and sheep to offer sacrifices to God. Nevertheless, there are probably not one or two sins in which he has disobeyed the Holy Spirit in his heart during his religious life. If there is someone who reads this who is proud of saying, “I have never once resisted the Holy Spirit,” such a person does not need to believe in the Son.
However, even the Pharisees, who were so zealous for their faith, could not fully keep the law. Moreover, it is by no means easy for Gentiles with corrupt hearts to live without resisting the Holy Spirit. Therefore, now all Gentiles must believe in the Son whom God has sent and turn from their sins of disobeying the Holy Spirit. The sin of disobeying the Holy Spirit can be solved only by believing in the Son God sends to the Gentiles.
And even if it is a person who has been living as an unbeliever or a member of another religion, even a person who has been engrossed in heresy, if he feels remorse in his conscience and realizes that he is a sinner and believes in the Son God has sent, he will immediately live forever. will be guaranteed
Since they cannot look into their hearts with the Holy Spirit, they look into their hearts with their conscience and realize that they are sinners. Thus, if he was a sinner he would believe in the Son, and if he was not a sinner, he would not believe. That is why the Son does not come to save the righteous, but only sinners.