Title: The reality of being Born Again
Text: 1 JN 5:1-13

Baptist Press recently carried an article this week from the Florida Baptist Witness which reported the results of yet another survey from George Barna under the headline: "Barna study: Baptists, others adrift in doctrinal beliefs."  The results of that study revealed only 43 percent of Baptists believe that works don't earn salvation and 66 percent believe Satan isn't a real being.  The study explored the religious beliefs of the Nation's 12 largest denominations and determined that only 41 percent of adults in those denominations could be classified as "born again."  Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, told the Witness. "The report is a striking indictment of the loss of doctrinal confidence and the erosion of biblical beliefs that marks American Christianity."

According to George Barna, president of the California firm that conducted the research, the study was not intended to report the official teachings of any denomination. He said, "The data reflect what the people within those churches believe," Barna said. "If nothing else, this outcome highlights the substantial theological shift that has been altering the nature of the Episcopal church, in particular, as well as other Christian churches, in recent years."

The study's findings reveal an alarmingly high number of church members hold beliefs far short of orthodox Christianity. Only 41 percent of all adults surveyed believed in the total accuracy of the Bible. Catholics had the lowest percentage (23 percent) who believed the Bible to be accurate, while 81 percent of those attending Pentecostal churches held to the same belief. Only 40 percent of those surveyed believed Christ was sinless, while 27 percent believed Satan to be real.

"The trends Barna traces have been progressing for several years," Mohler said. "Americans have been negotiating away the core doctrines of the Christian faith -- all the while claiming to remain Christians. But Christianity is defined by certain definite and non-negotiable doctrines. Without these, there is no Christianity at all -- just the emptying sanctuaries of declining churches and denominations."

The numbers were only slightly better for Baptists. Of the Baptists surveyed, 57 percent believed works play a part in salvation; 45 percent believed Jesus was not sinless; 34 percent believe Satan was a real being; 51 percent believed Christians have the responsibility to witness to others; 66 percent of Baptists considered the Bible to be totally accurate, 81 percent considered their religious faith to be important and 85 percent believed God is the all-powerful creator of the universe.

The study didn't break down the Baptist category into specific denominations like Southern Baptists or General Baptists, so the results may not be typical of Southern Baptists as a whole. But even if the results would be even marginally better for Southern Baptists, they're still disappointing, said Phil Roberts, president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Dr. Roberts said, "This should not be too surprising,". "We have 16 million members [in the Southern Baptist Convention] and I think it's a fair estimate that less than half actually attend church on Sunday." He said, "It's pretty hard to believe that Christ was not sinless and call yourself a Christian."

The two denominations with the highest number of members who hold to orthodox Christian beliefs were Pentecostals and Assemblies of God. Catholics and Episcopalians had the lowest percentage of members reporting a belief in traditional Christian teachings. Just 20 percent of Episcopalians and 17 percent of Catholics believed Satan was real; 33 percent of Catholics and Episcopalians believed Jesus was sinless; and 26 percent of Episcopalians and 9 percent of Catholics believed works don't earn salvation.

"The Christian body in America is immersed in a crisis of biblical illiteracy," Barna said. "How else can you describe matters when most churchgoing adults reject the accuracy of the Bible, reject the existence of Satan, claim that Jesus sinned, see no need to evangelize, believe that good works are one of the keys to persuading God to forgive their sins and describe their commitment to Christianity as moderate or even less firm?"

The study determined that evangelicals are scarce. Barna defines "evangelicals" as a subset of "born again" believers -- those who say their faith is very important in their lives, believe they have a responsibility to witness to non-Christians, acknowledge the existence of Satan, contend that eternal salvation is possible only through God's grace and not good deeds, believe that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth and describe God as the all-knowing, all-powerful, perfect deity who created the universe and still rules it today.

Those who fit in such a category include only 8 percent of adults.  Fourteen percent of Baptists qualified as evangelicals, compared to 33 percent from Assemblies of God churches, 29 percent from nondenominational churches and 27 percent from Pentecostal churches. Only 1 percent of Catholics and 1 percent of Episcopalians could be classified as evangelicals.

"The most disappointing finding of the report is the loss of doctrinal clarity among evangelicals," Dr. Mohler said. "We have come to expect doctrinal compromise in the liberal denominations, but we now see the same process at work among those who call themselves evangelicals.

Reports like that are the reason it's so important we pay attention to the revealed doctrinal teachings of the Scripture. No only so we, who are believers, know how we are suppose to conduct our lives, but also that those who follow us will know the truth, will follow the truth and maintain the true nature of our faith.

I. The Necessity of the New Birth

Of primary importance in Christianity is the necessity of the "new birth." When Nicodemus, a religious man, a man who depended on living right and doing the right kind of things came to talk to Jesus, Jesus told him 'You must be born again." (Jn 3:7)  That means there is no option. Earlier in verse 3 of John chapter 3 He told him, ". . . unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

What did He mean? What do Christians mean when they talk about new birth? If you told a person they needed to be born again and they asked you what that meant, what would you say? How would you explain it?

John says in verse 1 it is being born of God. Simply put, it is a spiritual birth in which the power and presence of God through the Spirit of God become resident within a person.

There is a human side and a Divine side to the new birth. The human side is called conversion. Conversion is our response to God's offer of salvation. It is the act of turning from sin and turning to Christ. Turning from sin is repentance - not just feeling sorry about sin, but the rejection and abandonment of it. Turning to Christ is faith - that means believing Jesus is who He claimed to be and who the Bible says His is, as we've seen in the last several messages, He is the Christ come down from God to save His people from their sin, and personal trust. Faith is believing Jesus is the Christ who came to save and believing in Jesus Christ to save you.

The divine side of the new birth is regeneration. That's God's transformation of individuals giving them new purpose and direction in their lives. This new birth is instantaneously complete, but it is only the beginning of a process of maturity and growth which takes place throughout the life time of an individual, which we call sanctification.

Why is the doctrine of new birth important? It's obviously important in order to rightly relate to God. If there is a God, how can we know Him and relate to Him? Well we obviously believe God exists. We have time and again talked about the observable facts in nature commonly referred to as intelligent design, also known as natural revelation, which support our belief God exists.

We have the Bible which is unlike any other book. We have talked about it's trust worthiness from a purely documentary stand point as well as it's supernatural nature - it's inspiration and preservation. Recorded in pages are the accounts of God's miraculous intervention into the affairs of men. We have the eyewitness accounts in the New Testament which affirm God's revelation in both written form and in the person of Jesus Christ. All of these attest to the fact of the existence of God, and He has made Himself known.

He made Himself known so we might know Him and know how to relate to Him. His revelation tells us He loves us and desires to have a relationship with us. It explains how our relationship with Him was broken, how we can restore that relationship and the results of a restored relationship with Him.

That's what John has been telling us in this letter. God loves us; sin separates us from that love; He sent Jesus into the world as His Christ to restore that relationship; Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty of sin; He arose from the grave as the assurance of God's love and to give us hope.

We must be born again, but we are not born again by good works, but for good works. We are born again by faith. When we believe God and believe in Jesus Christ we are born of God. That means we have assurance of our salvation. We don't have to worry about how many deeds we did today or if our good works measure up to someone else's or if they're good enough to please God or if our good outweighs the bad we will somehow find favor with God. Our salvation depends solely on Jesus Christ and what He did for us.

When we are born of God our relationship with our creator is restored. The results of a restored relationship is two-fold. First God forgives us, cleanses us and grants us eternal life. John wrote in 20:31 of his gospel: ". . .these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name. He wrote in verse 13 of chapter 5: "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life."

Peter wrote in 1 Pet 4:1-2: "Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. The second result of the new birth as John as repeatedly written seek to please Him by living out His love.

Paul wrote in Rom 12:9-18 "Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and curse not. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men." (NAS)

I know we use this hymn of commitment often, but its words are a challenge to us. It challenges us to be born again by giving our lives to Him and it challenges us to live out that restored relationship in our lives by Living for Jesus.