Sound Doctrine: God's Grace in Regeneration

Our freedom is worth fighting for, amen?

And we did. Amen. Take your Bibles if you would please and turn to Romans chapter 8 as a verse to kind of get started, and then we'll be turning to other verses as well to talk about the truth of God's grace in regeneration today. God's grace in regeneration. In Romans chapter 8 we'll read verses 28, 29, and 30 here in just a moment, and as we are starting to think about God's regenerative power in our heart and soul and how that is wholly a work of God, we talked about last Sunday through this sound doctrine series about how salvation is free to those who will believe, who will repent and believe. So the fundamental facts are this: if you believe, then truly believe that it is for those who will believe to be converted, then you will be sharing the gospel. If you truly believe that it's the power of God, the blood of Jesus Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit, and this is a capable thing, then you share the gospel. We talked about the simple fundamental facts that you truly believe that your car is going to start, you get in it, and if you truly believe that they're going to serve you food at a restaurant, you go there. And if you truly believe that the gospel can convert a lost soul, then you share it. And so we are ones who spread the gospel, who evangelize, we are Great Commission Christians who not only share the gospel, but we make disciples. So here at Beulah Baptist Church we are all about sharing the gospel and making disciples. So last Sunday we talked about that. Romans 1:16 says, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek."

You know, the Apostle Paul gave a compliment to the Thessalonica Church, and I've always likened this dear congregation to the church at Thessalonica, and he said this, Paul said this about them, "Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified just as it did with you." And so the word of God spread rapidly from the Thessalonica Church because they were intentional about evangelism and discipleship. And so the Thessalonica Church, they believed in the power of the gospel, and they shared the gospel from the depth of conviction that they believed that lost people can be converted, they could be regenerated, they could be given a new heart from God, and in believing that they called people to come to Christ, just like Isaiah said in Isaiah 55:1, "Come to Jesus." That is the point of the text, that we are to call people to come to Christ so that they can be regenerate.

The doctrine of regeneration is what we're going to be talking about today, and we're going to talk about not only that, but a little bit more in how it comes to be. It is very interesting. Look with me in Romans chapter 8, verses 28, 29, and 30, and I would like to explain to you as a way of introduction to this glorious doctrine, the order of salvation, the Latin phrase "ordo salutis." And so from Romans chapter 8, verse 28, it says that we know that God calls all things to work together for good for those who love God, to those who were called according to His purpose. Okay, so there's a calling. And then in verse 29, "For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren, and these whom He predestined He also called, and these whom He called He also justified, and these whom He justified He also glorified."

We see a progression here that is from an instantaneous miracle, all right? So when you look at the order of salvation, you see that in time past there were souls whom have been predestined to be justified. Those who are predestined to be justified are converted or regenerated or called or saved. It's all the same thing right about this time. Those who are predestined in times past to be saved will be sanctified. They will be conformed to Christ. They will be becoming like who their Father really is. It's either you have the Father who is the Father of heaven or the father of this world, and you will be becoming like whom your daddy is. This is very clear in the Scriptures, and for those who have been predestined and saved and sanctified, they will eventually be glorified. And we look forward to that, right? We look forward to the day of glorification when we no longer struggle with sin.

And so this is what the theologians would call "ordo salutis," and these are acts of God that are producing a response of mankind. It's very easy to believe in this doctrine, by the way. Who acted first in creation? Adam or God?

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. He always goes first. God is first. Period. Very simple to understand this doctrine. Another theological word that you may look up or enjoy hearing is "monergistic."

That phrase looks at "mono" being one, God being the one, the agent who is doing all of the singular working. He does the work. He is the singular agent who monergistically regenerates. He does the conversion. He does the transformation. He takes a heart of stone and turns it into a heart of flesh. He calls — all of this is an immediate miracle. Well, what is a miracle? Well, it's divine intervention.

People think they're good these days, and they would say, "Oh, I'm good." Especially yesterday morning, we were passing out tracts downtown Winter Garden. Giving them away and giving away and giving away. We have some wonderful evangelists here who go faithfully nearly every Friday night and Saturday morning. And I took my daughter yesterday and we joined in and we started sharing the gospel and giving out tracts. The number one response for those who reject a gospel tract is, "I'm good." I'm good.

And I'm like, "Give me just two more seconds, because Jesus said that none are good."

It would be a great decision to choose Christ, but you can't in your unregenerate, totally depraved disposition. In fact, Romans chapter 10 verse 17 says, "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." And so once they hear the gospel, God uses the hearing of the Word of God to trigger that and then He regenerates the soul. And then you respond. It's glorious. God does the work.

You know, some have also misconstrued hearing God's voice or following God. And turn to John chapter 10. I want you to see verses 27 and 28 in context. So many have looked at this as perhaps Christians hearing voices. I'm not an advocate for hearing voices.

There's places for those who hear voices to get help.

John chapter 10 verses 27 and following, the context is salvation, salvation, salvation. It's not Christian obedience. It's not hearing a voice of the Lord. It is salvation. Let me prove it to you. Verse 25. Let's start John chapter 10 verse 25. "Jesus answered them, 'I told you and you did not believe the works that I do in My Father's name, these testify of Me.'" So the works testify of believing in Jesus. In verse 26, "But you do not believe because you are not My sheep. My sheep hear My voice. I know them and they follow Me. I give them," what? Eternal life. The context is salvation. The context is eternal life. It's not hearing voices. It's not being led by the Lord. It is salvation. And so I give them eternal life. Who gives them eternal life? Jesus gives eternal life. It's a gift. It's not earned or deserved. It's a gift. It's a gift. It's that eternal life. The direction is God first to the lostness of mankind. "I give eternal life to them and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of My hand." This is God's transformative work at hand right here. Verse 29, "My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand."

What a wonderful doctrine of eternal security this is. When God changes the heart, it will not be unregenerate ever again. It's a one-time work.

And so for those of us who are taking notes, especially the little kiddos, we'll welcome you to our family discipleship service. And I want you to know I have stickers for any child who wants to come up afterwards so that I can put a sticker and approve the notes that you take. Whether you spell the words right or not makes no never mind to me. I love our children in our worship service, in our family services. So all of these wonderful, deep theological truths need our parents to help go home and describe them to their children, to help them understand. And they are catching a whole lot while they're here in service. And so our children in worship are never a distraction. They're always a blessing because they are seeing their parents worship God. They are seeing their parents listening to the Word of God, and they can go home and they can talk about these glorious truths and review these things together. So we want to equip parents here at this church to be able to be the primary indoctrinators, the primary educators, the primary disciple makers. We don't want to usurp the parents, according to Deuteronomy chapter 6. So thank you for being here. We love to see families worshiping together.

And so this work of God that we're talking about, God's grace in regeneration — what happens when a person is saved? What actually happens? What happens when a person comes to Christ? Well, when a person comes to Christ, they are regenerated. Now, whether they are a good person or a bad person makes never mind to God. He is not a respecter of persons.

He is not a respecter of power from God, the same amount of blood from Jesus, and the same amount of interventive work from the Holy Spirit to regenerate a soul. And so this is wholly a work of God. It doesn't matter if you are perhaps a murderer. It takes the same amount of power of God to regenerate the soul. And if you were here last week, you heard that letter that I was able to read from my wife's cousin who has murdered someone and now is in the state penitentiary in Indiana. And he has been regenerated. And in that letter, he testified to how he now really truly understands and even has been teaching and preaching and baptizing. It is absolutely glorious. When God transforms a soul, it's the real deal. There's no going back. And even in a dangerous place like he is now, he is living out his faith. Let's pray for him and continue to be a blessing to him any way that we can.

And so the good person who rejects the gospel should realize that their goodness is simply filthiness in regards to biblical thought. Isaiah 64:6 says that our righteous deeds are as filthy rags in the eyes of God. And that's simply easy to understand when it comes to purity and the holiness of God and how pure and how stainless it is. You could do all good for your entire life and it still is filthiness compared to the holiness of God. And so we are totally depraved from birth. That sin nature is in us and we need to be regenerated. Hebrews 9:22 speaks to the fact that it requires the shedding of blood for the remission of sin. And it was Jesus who shed His priceless, faultless, pure blood so that salvation could be made possible for those who would repent and believe. And if you believe that somehow your goodness will get you into heaven, it totally nullifies Jesus's sacrificial death on the cross. You're pitting yourself against the purpose of the cross and your goodness. And on the day of judgment, you'll find out the truth. And so I beg you to be reconciled to God through believing that you are totally depraved and in need of being regenerated if you're not saved. And I beg you as well as Christians to beg and plead and go after the lost and show them their destination, show them the Scriptures and help them to see that they need to be regenerated.

How does regeneration happen? How does the heart of stone get replaced with a heart of flesh? How do they get converted? How does this happen? We'll turn to John chapter 3.

John chapter 3 is where Jesus was sharing with the Pharisee Nicodemus under the cover of night some of these glorious truths. Nicodemus was highly educated. Nicodemus was wealthy. Nicodemus was privileged in his position in the Sanhedrin. Nicodemus was highly revered. A rabbi of rabbis, a Pharisee of Pharisees. He was one who was separated from the common people. If you've ever been to Jerusalem and gone to the old city part of Jerusalem, it is very, very cultural. And you see a lot of Jewish people there and they live in a way that's heavily Jewish. Okay? Pharisees are not over there living the normal life. They're separated from normal life. They're separated from common folks. They are living a life that is not part of the common way.

And so when the highly revered and well known Nicodemus came to Jesus under the cover of night in John chapter 3, I want you to listen to what Jesus says to him. John chapter 3 verse 1, "Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. And 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.' And Jesus answered and said to him, 'Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again.'" Now Nicodemus said nothing about regeneration. He said nothing about salvation.

Jesus is God. He knew exactly why Nicodemus was there.

He must be born again. He said he cannot see the kingdom of God. And verse 4, "Nicodemus said to him, 'How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?' And Jesus answered, 'Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh.'" You see, flesh can only produce flesh. "And what is born of the Spirit is spirit." The Spirit can produce something spiritual. Nicodemus didn't know that. And in verse 7 it says, "Do not be amazed that I said to you, you must be born again."

Nicodemus should have known this as an educator, as one who would know the Old Testament, because the Old Testament speaks about all these things and we'll talk about that here in just a moment on how God transforms a heart of stone into a heart of flesh. In verse 8, "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who was born of the Spirit." And Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" And Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you a teacher of Israel and you do not understand these things? Truly, truly" — and again, "truly, truly" has been repeated now for the third time. This is a way in Hebraic language to add emphasis to the point. Picture it if you're reading an email: it's in all caps and it's in all bold and perhaps it's on font 50 instead of 12. This is being loudly communicated by Jesus. "Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen and you do not accept our testimony. If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man, as Moses lifted up the serpent." This is an Old Testament illustration from Numbers 21:9. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life."

Now right now, Nicodemus is an unregenerate man and he is dumbfounded by what Jesus said to him and he knows that he should know this and so he leaves and he thinks about it. So regeneration is going to happen in Nicodemus' life, but not right now. He walks away and he thinks about it. The point here is that when you share the gospel, a lot of times it leaves people sad and sorrowful and dumbfounded, and it should, so that they recognize the severity of their circumstances. You are not supposed to make sure that they like you and they're happy with you after you share the gospel. The gospel is offensive. It triggers the fact that people are sinners and they recognize that they aren't good any longer. They become face to face with the reality of heaven and hell. And so Jesus makes Nicodemus think and he leaves and he's scratching his head.

When does regeneration happen for Nicodemus? Well, it works its way out in time and I think over here in chapter 7 is where Nicodemus starts to defend Jesus and this is much later, much later in this time. In John chapter 7 and verse 50, "Nicodemus, he who came to him before" — okay, so this verse is referencing chapter 3.

John chapter 7 verse 50, "Nicodemus, he who came to him before, being one of them, said to them, 'Our law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him.'" Oh, a point of clarification: Nicodemus the Pharisee is correcting his other Pharisees. He's drawing a line in the sand and associating himself with Christ in the midst of his colleagues. "Our law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is saying. Does it?" Oh, and then in verse 52, they answered him, "You are not also from Galilee, are you?" Well, now his friends are turning on him and actually mocking him. That's a really degrading statement here, right? Then they follow up and say in verse 52, "Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee." And then everyone went to his home. Here Nicodemus is standing up for Jesus in the midst of his colleagues and this is probably at least a year or two since chapter 3 happened.

Now, after he receives this mocking, there is further evidence of his conversion. And I want you to see that as you continue through. It's at the end of the Gospel of John, and this is absolutely amazing — when Joseph of Arimathea is going to pay for Jesus's burial needs. Let's see here.

Where is it at? Help me out.

John chapter 19 and verse 39.

Nicodemus makes it clear that he's a Christian by what he does. Nicodemus has been regenerated. He's been saved. God has saved his soul. He's been born again. And now it follows through with his actions. Let's start in verse 38. John chapter 19 verse 38, "After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away his body." Verse 39, "Nicodemus, who had first come to him by night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes." There's about a hundred pounds in weight. Now this is a massive amount to show Jesus honor. Very expensive burial. Verse 40, "So they took the body of Jesus" — they, being Nicodemus and Joseph. Now listen to me.

Nobody picks up a corpse unless they have a heart attachment to that dead one.

All right?

You're going to walk into somebody else's house and pick up somebody else who has died? No, other people do that.

But Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus actually put their hands on the dead body of Jesus and they proceeded to give Him a proper burial. "So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings and with spices, as is the burial custom for the Jews. And now in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. And therefore, because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there." This is proof of a new heart. And this is a fulfillment of prophecy in Isaiah chapter 53, verse 9, that Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, a rich man, would do this. It is glorious.

If you think by chance that God doesn't foreordain and plan what He plans and then works out His plan, then you're missing the whole doctrine of regeneration. This prophecy, being fulfilled, is proof that God starts something and then He finishes it. History is God's story from the start to the finish. God is outside of time. He's omnipresent, which means He is always in the present. He is always in the now. And so it never started and it never ended for God. It has always been. And so He knows perfectly now, in the now, what will be for us. And He knows in the now, right now, what has already been for us. He sees history in the present tense. He is the Alpha and the Omega. He is God. Hard to comprehend that, but if you do, you think about it, it's easy to understand salvation and how it is the work of God.

And so regeneration — it is caused by God. It is the result of God having mercy on you and saving you. Turn to Titus, if you will, chapter 3, and read with me in verses 4 through 6. Titus, chapter 3, verses 4 to 6. It's important to see this doctrine, because if you see that it is a work of God, and truly a work of God, and you believe that it's a work of God, none of yourself, then there's nothing that you can do to undo what God has done. This gives the believer eternal security, and you can rest and trust in Him. It's glorious.

So, Titus, chapter 3, verse 4, "But when the kindness of God, our Savior, and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us." Who saved us? Was it something that you did? No, He saved us. "Not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ, our Savior." This is glorious. When you start to see that the renewal happens by the power of God, then you understand the doctrine of salvation.

Regeneration is not only through God's mercy, but it is caused by God. I'll read to you 1 Peter, chapter 1, verse 3, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has caused us to be born again." God caused us. He is the first cause. He created the heavens and the earth, and He also creates and appropriates salvation. This is a glorious doctrine. So regeneration is caused by God through His mercy, and it's not the result of man's will, but it's the result of God's will.

Turn to the beginning of the highly evangelistic book of the Gospel of John. I want you to see that it's God's will. Again, we've been in the Gospel of John talking about Nicodemus, and we started in chapter 3 and how you must be born again.

But in John chapter 1, verses 12 and 13, you've got to see this. It's God's will for men to be saved. God willed it, and it's His purpose behind it. So even in this highly outreaching, evangelistic book, the Gospel of John provides evidence after evidence after evidence that Jesus is the Christ, He is the Savior. You're going to see that it's not man's will, but God's will for salvation in John chapter 1, verse 12.

"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of flesh." Okay? "Nor of the will of man," okay?

"But of God."

Those who are saved are a result of God's will.

This is the doctrine of regeneration. It is a gift. There is nothing that you can do to earn it. We know well Ephesians 2:8–9, "By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not as a result of works, that no one can boast." And so the main thing here is faith. Faith is the gift. Faith is the gift. So regeneration is from God, it is a gift. It's by the Spirit, and it's in connection to divine truth. And so when we impart divine truth and we share the gospel, people can be saved.

Let me ask you a question. Does adding social justice works to what you know about Christ save you?

No. But a woke world wants you to believe that you must add social justice works and pandering to their ideologies as a way to be saved. That is an ideology. Critical race theory is rampant right now in theological circles. It's just a new way of presenting old heresies. Let me ask you about an old heresy. Can you confess your sin to a priest and be saved? No. No, you can't. Can you be baptized to be saved?

Can you be a member of a Seventh-day Adventist church or a Church of Christ or a Catholic church or Latter-day Saint or a Kingdom Hall to be regenerate? All of those denominations say you must be a member of their church in order to be saved.

Yes, dangerous. We've got to know this so that we can stand up for the doctrine of salvation and know that regeneration comes from the Lord. This is important, especially for our little ones to know that salvation is wholly a work of God.

And I want you to see proof that God knows whom will be saved and He predestines those who will be saved, even from the last book in the Bible. In Revelation chapter 17 and verse 8, the second half of this verse lets you in on a little secret of God. He has a book and He has names written in this book. And in this book called the Book of Life, there are names that He has recorded as to whom will be saved. I'm going to read this verse to you and I'm going to let you discover as to when this book was written.

Will it be written or has it been written? In Revelation 17, the last half of the verse says, "And those who dwell on the earth whose name has not been written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world." So you see the Book of Life from when?

The foundation of the world.

The Book of Life was written before the foundations of the earth were even spoken into existence. And so God is the originator, the creator, and the appropriator of salvation. I think of this hymn, "Marvelous Grace of Our Loving Lord," that was written in 1910. "Grace, grace, God's grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within, grace that is greater than all of our sin, marvelous, infinite, matchless grace, freely bestowed on all who believe, all who are longing to see His face, will you this moment receive His grace." And so regeneration is wholly a work of the Lord.

I want you to know as well that it produces salvation. It produces sanctification, and it will produce in your life glorification. You can tell the difference between one who lives like a pig and one who lives like a dog and rightly discern whether or not they're truly regenerate. The Bible says in 2 Peter 2:22, "This true proverb: a dog returns to its own vomit and so a sow after washing returns to wallowing in the mire." Do you have a little dog? Have you washed it? And it gets excited after you give it a bath? Where does it want to go? Straight through the mud, right to the dirt. It's nature. You can wash it all you want, but if you don't have that back door closed, it's going to go right to the dirt. The same way as a pig — you can pressure wash a pig all you want, but where's it going to go? Right back to the mire. The unregenerate soul can be cleaned up on the outside and you can do behavioral modification all you want. That's the reason why laws do not really truly affect morality. It takes regeneration. It takes an inward, regenerate soul to desire sanctification, to desire Christ. Laws only — they have their place.

But for the unregenerate soul, they can come to church, they can say the right things, they can do the right things, they can be cleaned up on the outside for a moment, but in their private life, they're running right back to the dirt, right to the mud, and they wallow in it, and they enjoy it, and they come back nasty and they smile with a nastiness on them.

That is the unregenerate person. They love their sin. But for the one who is saved, their soul thirsts for God like the deer pants for the water. They long for the Word of God. They want to please God. That's not the nature of a dog that's just received a bath. That's not the nature of a pig. Your nature — you've been made into a new creation. Your nature has been inwardly changed. And you know if you've been saved that you no longer desire the things of this world. You actually have new desires inside of your heart that prompt you to want to do what's right, and you know the difference between who you used to be. Not that you're perfect now, but you do not want to go into the dirt. You fear going back to the old ways, and you hate being dirty. You're ashamed. You have guilt. You're prompted to confession through conviction by God. This is a new nature, and it's an Old Testament truth. Turn to Ezekiel chapter 11.

And see verse 19 if you would like to. Ezekiel chapter 11 verse 19, "And I will give them one heart and put a new spirit within them." See, God does this. He puts the new heart in them. "And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh." This actually is the first glimpse of hope in the entire book of Ezekiel. Doom and gloom has just been pounded on these guys, and now they have hope of salvation. Oh, this is great. So in verse 19 again, "And I will give them one heart and I will put a new spirit within them, and I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh." This is great news, by the way. And to continue on, I love to explain more of this chapter, it's just so beautiful. I mean, these are guys who are in the midst of Babylonia and captivity, and it's just awful, and yet God is telling them they can be saved, they can be the remnant, they can be brought back to Israel, they can receive a new heart and be obedient to the law and to God.

And so a further example of this is in Ezekiel 36, verse 22. I'll read it to you. Actually, let's just skip down to verse 25. "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean, and I will cleanse you from your filthiness and from all of your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." Now, at this passage point here, in Ezekiel 36, in verse 27, you're going to see how now a rebellious Israel will receive a new heart and it produces obedience, it produces sanctification. "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes." Those who are truly regenerate have within them the power of the Holy Spirit that causes them to progress in their sanctification. And beyond their knowledge of God and their sanctification, the Holy Spirit of God is causing them to desire to not only be sanctified, but to serve Jesus. That's one of the biggest reasons why we don't have to beg you to serve around here. You love Jesus and you want to serve Him with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. It's in you, it's almost like a well of water springing up from within you. You want to help and do because of what God has done for you. It's amazing, you see God's sovereignty and salvation right here, and if you read the preceding verses, it is linked with God's glory.

Glory unto God when someone is saved. God receives all of the glory — not some of the glory, all of the glory — when one is regenerated. It's a beautiful truth. Now, Nicodemus, he was struggling with this. He was struggling with the fact that, "Man, I'm a teacher of the law. I know how to do everything right." But he realized that his religiosity would not save him after an encounter with Christ, after he received the truth: "You must be born again." And then he realized that his own commitment, and all of his excessive works, all of his duties, all of his involvements and observances, all of his behavioral modification techniques, all of his sacrificial measures, all of the traditions — they were all of men. They were useless unto salvation. When he comprehended the purpose of the cross, he saw all of that in a whole new light.

And it requires for people to see that they are no good. Good people don't go to heaven. Saved people go to heaven. And I'll prove it to you. Colossians chapter 2 verse 8 talks about not being fooled by all these types of things. See to it that no one takes you captive. Turn there if you would. Colossians chapter 2 verse 8, because I want you to see in verses 11 and 12 how it is wholly a work of God in salvation.

I'm trying to convince you tonight — if you do not truly believe that it is a work of God, there's nothing that you can do and earn your way to heaven. There's nothing you can say.

There's just nothing. We are totally depraved before a merciful God. You've got to see that He regenerates the heart. He baptizes and circumcises and cleans the heart. And Colossians chapter 2 verse 8, "See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception according to the tradition of men." There are a lot of traditions of men out there, lots of false denominations that will wrap you up in humanitarianism, that will wrap you up in ministry philosophies that make you think you're good and to suffice or to pacify a guilty conscience. They will allow you to think that you have meditated enough, that you have served enough, that you have given enough, and you're good, you're going to heaven. There's a lot of traditions of men out there, but don't be taken captive. Don't be thrown in a spiritual jail. This is what this verse is saying. "According to the elementary, the basic principles of the world, rather than according to Christ." Colossians 2:9, "In Him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete. And He is the head over all rule and authority."

Now here comes salvation's hand in an illustration of circumcision and baptism. Verse 11, "And in Him you are also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands." Circumcision is a cutting away spiritually, it's a cutting away of sin. Here your heart will have sin cut away from it by God. It's not a work of man's hands. It's a work of God without hands. It's made without hands. It's a salvation. "In the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ." You see this? This is a circumcision of Christ. He does it. It's an inward reality. And then in verse 12, he doubles up on this and uses another illustration by baptism. "Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead."

This is illustrative like Lazarus was raised. A dead man could do nothing but just be dead. And yet he was raised. All good conservative theologians say that Lazarus was dead. He had no ability to do anything, but Jesus raised him. And all good conservative theologians say that this is illustrative. Lazarus is an illustration of salvation. God raised Lazarus. And here, you were dead in verse 13. "When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive." When you were dead, He made you alive. He did it. And now as we start to land this plane, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all of our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt, consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. He took it out of the way. He did the work.

Nicodemus now was regenerated because he was born again. He had nothing to do with his first conception, and he had nothing to do with his second regeneration. His behavior now can be changed from the inside out. John records his progress of being introduced to the true gospel and then standing up for righteousness against his colleagues and then producing works that were a result of his salvation. James 2:20 says that faith without works is dead. Not that you can work for your faith, but your faith then produces good works. So regeneration, it produces a new heart, and the results are very, very clear, as the deer pants for the water, so my soul pants for You.

We are at the gospel seat to all people. And Lord, You have made salvation available to all people. Now, may they believe in the gospel. Thank you, Jesus, for this day. May we continue to walk with You and secure the truth. Lord, if there's anyone here who desires to have a conversation about salvation, I pray, Father, that they would come and perhaps talk with me, a Bible teacher, or email to schedule a conversation. You can get a text or a call — available to anyone who wants to talk about salvation. God, we do love You, and we thank You for the work You have worked in our life. For those who have been saved, and if anyone here has not been saved yet, I pray that they would come to Jesus, that they would come to You, that they would confess that they are a sinner, that they need You. They need Your sacrificial work on the cross. They would confess that their works are no good. I pray that they would confess, Lord Jesus, that they are sorrowful for their sins. I pray, God, that many salvations would happen and that the world would claim Your work. I pray God, do as well, and continue to make many disciples with the faithful saints here at this church.