The Regeneration of Life by the Holy Spirit
You Are 2.0
I want to introduce you to a word I want you to forever remember. It is called regeneration, and it is an action of God's Holy Spirit.
Today, we will be reviewing:
1) The action of God the Father giving us his son
2) The action of God the Son redeeming us from sin and death,
3) The action of the Holy Spirit in the regeneration of our lives
4) Why we are now a 2.0.
5) Our new Spiritual insight
6) Why you need regeneration for salvation.
The Actions of God, The Father
In the beginning, God breathed into man the breath of life, and man became a living soul. Then God lived with man in His garden called Eden. They would walk and talk with one another, enjoying one another's presence. This was because the Spirit that was in man was also the same Spirit that was in God. Man, after all, was created in the image of God.
Over time, the man and his wife that God had made for man rebelled against God. They did not want God to rule over them. They cast God out from their heart and soul to gain knowledge of the world they lived in rather than listening to the voice of God
God, in return, then withdrew his Spirit from them and cast the man and his wife out of his garden, and the man began to die because he had chosen to separate himself from the source of life. Ultimately, death would lead man and all of his offspring to a total separation from God for eternity with no hope of deliverance and restoration with God forever. It would mean total devastation.
I want to make sure you clearly understand this. Any questions?
The Actions of God, The Son
But God still loved mankind, and in the course of time, he took on flesh and became a man and dwelt among men. As many as who would receive him, he gave the power to be restored to the original relationship with him and become sons of God.
God the Father sent Jesus, his son, to die and pay the price of death for man to be restored to the proper relationship with him.
Then, when Jesus, the son of God, had paid the price and given his life, He He was about to depart this Earth, as all men do through death, but he said:
Jn 14:16–18 (NKJV) — 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
Then, to all who would accept the Son’s death and suffering, the Holy Spirit would be given to them, and He would dwell within them as from the beginning, leading them and comforting them in this sick and dying world of rebellious men and women until God would establish his eternal kingdom on the earth with them as his children.
The Holy Spirit would transform them from being children of man into being children of God.
It is this process, which I will discuss in detail in the next few minutes, it is called regeneration.
Our Memory Text is
Tt 3:5–7 (NKJV) — 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.
The Actions Of God, The Holy Spirit
Regeneration refers to the act of the Holy Spirit in which He gives a sinner new Spiritual life, enabling them to become spiritually alive. It is a sovereign work of the Holy Spirit. He works on the sinner's dead heart, replacing it with a heart capable of loving and obeying God.
God designed this from the beginning!
Jesus was to pay the price for our release from sin and death because of the violation of the law of God, and his Holy Spirit would be the gift from God to re-create us into his image.
Jesus made his dwelling among us, but the Holy Spirit dwells within us!
1 Co 3:16 (NKJV) — 16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
It is unfortunate that we have ignored the Holy Spirit after all these things that he has done. He is the one who delivers us into the kingdom of God.
We need to develop respect for him.
God, the Father, is our creator, and Jesus the Son is our Redeemer. The Holy Spirit is our Re-creator.
Let me see if I can simplify this for you. You know the story.
Jn 3:1–6 (NKJV) — 1 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.
As flesh, we are entirely the opposite of what God is because God is a Spirit, and God can only be worshiped in Spirit and truth.
As flesh, every thought of our minds is sinful. If this were not so, there would not be a need for us to be born again and to be made “a new creation.”
Ge 6:5 (NKJV) — 5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
When we are regenerated, the Holy Spirit creates in us a new life, an immortal life; that is not like the life we have inherited from Adam, who was a living soul, but it is the result of the last Adam, Jesus, who is a life-giving Spirit.
1 Co 15:45–49 (NKJV) — 45 And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.
Look at what Jesus said before he left.
Jn 16:7 (NKJV) — 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
Do you understand? He is the helper to be there to help must not violate the word of God.
When we are born again, we are born again, not like Adam, who was born of the dust and was flesh; we are born of the Spirit, the Spirit that is life.
Jn 3:6 (NKJV) — 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.
Life given to us makes us a new man. Although we are the same person, we are a new creation. We are a new creation of God! Given life by his Holy Spirit!
You Are Now 2.0.
A New And Better Version
Of The Original You!
We are a 2.0. We are a complete rewrite of the original programming; instead of being programmed by the mind of men, we are programmed by the power of the Holy Spirit.
2 Co 5:17 (NKJV) — 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
The Spirit now leads, guides, and directs us on the path to follow to please God.
Wherever we go or whatever we do, we are promised by the Word of God…
Is 30:21 (NKJV) — 21 Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.
Being regenerated by the Holy Spirit, our new programming, 2.0, allows us to begin to see things that we could never see before.
We have been given the ability to see not just with the natural eye but with a Spiritual eye because we are born of the Spirit.
1 Co 2:9–10 (NKJV) — 9 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
Knowing these things, we should stop ignoring the Holy Spirit. We should recognize that he is with us, will never leave us, and has been given to guide us into all the truths of God.
Paul makes this simple for us.
Col 1:13 (NKJV) — 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
If we took the time to meditate upon this fact, we would begin to see the Spiritual truths that have been hidden from the natural eye. We have been in darkness all of our lives and we don’t know how blind we have been until we are regenerated by the Holy Spirit.
1 Co 2:14 (NKJV) — 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are Spiritually discerned.
If I can help you understand regeneration, you will begin to see, by the light of the Spirit, the Spiritual blessings that have been waiting for you to confess and possess.
This new life is far greater than anything we can imagine, but if we would just take the time to communicate with Him, He would reveal things we would never be able to see in the natural.
An Example of Spiritual Insight
2 Ki 6:14–17 (NKJV) — 14 Therefore he sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city. 15 And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” 16 So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17 And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
Learn to discern all things with a spiritual eye!
Though we may look the same from the outside, on the inside, we are being renewed daily in the image of our heavenly father, not by our own actions but by the work of the Holy Spirit, our Helper.
Jesus was led by the Spirit, and we can be led by the Spirit. The things that Jesus did, we can also do. We are being empowered to do even greater works than Christ. The Scripture also tells us
Php 2:13 (NKJV) — 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
Think for a moment. Who is the God who works in you?
Where is the Father? …. In heaven
Where is the Son? …. Seated at the right hand of the father, meaning also in heaven.
Who is left to be inside of you?… the Holy Spirit.
It is not by might nor by power, but it is by His Spirit that we can do all things!
Why Regeneration By The Holy Spirit Is Necessary
For Salvation?
We are all wicked in the eyes of God. Totally sinful by birth. None of us are righteous compared to Him, not one! All our righteousness is filthy rags to God. No matter what we do, we can never attain the holiness that is required of us by Him on our own.
Hasn’t he told us to be holy as he is holy?
We are born into iniquity. We are born sinners. We are born under the sentence of death and dead in the eyes of God because we are born as descendants of Adam and Eve.
My mother and father were born the same way. No matter if you were rich or poor, black or white, you were born of parents who could not measure up to the holiness of God. Your children also are born under a death sentence from God.
Adam and Eve were created in God's image but rejected God's will. Adam was born of God's breath, the Holy Spirit, the Ruach HaKodesh.
But, when they ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the Spirit of God who lived within them was rejected. They put him out of their lives.
As a result, all of us who have been born from the first Adam have been born without the Holy Spirit of God. We have no relationship with God or even a right to a relationship with him.
We are separated from him with no hope of ever being restored to our original relationship with him on our own. As far as East is from West and North from South, there is no way we can get right with God.
We are born in a hopeless state. We are ignorant of the ways of God. No matter our education, we cannot understand the things of God because we are but flesh.
Worst yet, our flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
1 Co 15:50 (NKJV) — 50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.
Every day, we live without Christ, and the work of the Holy Spirit is a day closer we are to hell.
God has referred to us as flesh, and he will not strive with us as flesh.
Ge 6:3 (NKJV) — 3 And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”
Our brains are sick. We are so tied to the world we cannot see the truth of God.
Paul speaks of this:
Ro 8:7 (NKJV) — 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Though we may think of ourselves as alive, we are in a fallen state of life so far from the life of God.
We are sinful and totally guilty of rebellion against our creator. We are dead in our trespasses and sins, totally without hope.
We are like Lazarus lying in the tomb, dead and unable to save ourselves. But in this hopeless situation, God, by his grace, gave us the ability to be born again by the power of his Holy Spirit so that we can see the Spirit and live in the Spirit until we experience the reality of his kingdom.
When we hear God's voice and accept Jesus as Lord, the Holy Spirit lifts us into eternal life.
Regeneration is the work of the Holy Spirit. It has nothing to do with us. Regeneration is by the grace of God.
The Holy Spirit resurrects us from Spiritual death and brings us into Spiritual life.
The Holy Spirit raises us up out of this state of death and sin into a life of righteousness, which shows God’s great love for us. We are delivered from the power of death and translated into the kingdom of God.
Eph 2:1 (NKJV) — 1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
But how are we to be born again so that we might live again?
Jn 1:12–13 (NKJV) — 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
The Holy Spirit is the ultimate work of God’s plan for man. God had planned from the beginning; the ending.
Regeneration has given us a new heart and a new Spirit. It is up to us now to renew our minds daily by reviewing the Word of God, not with a natural mind but with a Spiritual mind.
Let us remember that the Holy Spirit has recreated us with the ability to see things that are freely given to us by God and has given us the ability to accomplish things we could never naturally accomplish for ourselves. For the Spirit, all things are possible!
As we allow our minds to be renewed, we begin to detest the things of the world and fix our minds on the things that are above. Our thought processes are changed. We begin to seek the Spiritual and reject the natural.
When we have been regenerated, truly regenerated, the Holy Spirit convicts us of things that are not of God, and we can feel him grieving when we do things that are not of God. Therefore, we should not silence him when he is speaking to us.
He lets us know when we have done wrong. We no longer judge things according to the flesh, but we judge things according to the Spirit.
The mark of regeneration is holiness, not according to the world, but according to the Word of God
We are now born of God, with a desire, led by the Spirit, to be holy as our God is holy.
Finally, as a result of the Holy Spirit and regeneration
Ro 8:1 (NKJV) — 1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
Tt 3:5–7 (NKJV) — 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.
These are just extra notes. Don’t include them. I may build from them an additional message sometime in the future
Isa. 44:3, ‘I will pour water upon him that is thirsty;’ and Ezek. 36:25, ‘Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you;’ and ver. 27, ‘I will put my Spirit within you.’ He there explains water to be the Spirit: ‘I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed.’ And in Ezekiel he joins water and the Spirit; i.e. the water of my Spirit, or my Spiritual water, my gospel grace. And Isa. 41:18, 19, God speaks of the admirable fruitfulness of this water. This shall renew you, and make you fructify in the kingdom of my Son, where none shall be received who is not born of this divine principle.
Water contains in it the seeds of all things. It was from water and the earth that all things in the lower world were in the first creation produced
Man was born in nature; he must be born in grace. He was born of the first Adam; he must be born of the second Adam. It is expressed in Scripture by various terms: a resurrection to life, a quickening, a new creation, the new man, the inward man, a dying to the world. It is indeed a putting off the old man, the principles and passions, the corrupt notions and affections which we derive from Adam, to devote ourselves to God, to live to Christ, to walk in newness of life.
Ezekiel 36:26-30
There is a difference between being born again and accepting Jesus. In John 3, Nicodemus had accepted Jesus as a teacher as a prophet of God, but there was one thing he had not accepted him as. Do you know what that was?
Unless you accept Jesus as Lord, the Holy Spirit will not regenerate you.
Eph 4:24 (NKJV) — 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness
Col 3:10 (NKJV) — 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,
There-are only two races in the world: the race of the children of men and the race of the children of God. Those born of the flesh and those born of the Spirit.
Ro 8:8–9 (NKJV) — 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
Some walk after the flesh and some walk after the Spirit. Some are slaves of the flesh and others are led by the Spirit, some live only for self and some live for God.
In his beginning, Before Christ the natural man was dead in the trespass of his sins, lost and in darkness, without direction but the Spirit of God hovered above him and God said let there be life and man became a living Spirit. Born not of his own will but the will of the one living God by his Spirit.
And God gave his word that man might grow and thrive as a living Spirit born as a child of God.
Trouble in the world
If a person has truly been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, he will experience opposition in this world. He is an alien to this world and will be hated by the world. All the powers of sin and Satan will now be against them.
A person who has been regenerated by the Holy Spirit will not find friendship in this world and will progressively become discontent with the world because they have no part of the world.
They will no longer walk in the ways of the world. They will no longer talk in the ways of the world. The world will fight them and pressure them to conform to its ways. But because of regeneration, the Holy Spirit will protect them and comfort them in their persecution in the world, and in the kingdom come, God will reward them with greater pleasures than the world has ever been able to offer
Those regenerated by the Holy Spirit will be as a sheep among wolves, the Lord will be their Shepherd.
The Holy Spirit was in the beginning, and the Holy Spirit is in the ending.
Rom 9:16
This is not a thing we must do because it is a thing of God. It is instantaneous!
