Chapter # 1 Paragraph # 3 Study # 3
November 6, 2022
Broadlands, Louisiana
(Download Audio)
Thesis: Because of significant confusion within the details of the Gospel, John sensed a need for some clarifications regarding who ends up being a "new creation".
Introduction: In our study last week we considered the analogy behind the "born again" terminology in Jesus' strong warning that if a person is not "born again" he/she will not "see" nor "enter" the Kingdom of God as the future eternal reality. Because this is such a big issue (one's eternal and permanent destiny hinges upon it), John sought, in this prologue, to make sure that his readers understand at least some of the "process" issues that are involved.
Just as a physical baby is conceived in his/her mother's womb and then left there to be sufficiently "formed" as to be able to live in the external world, so also those who "believe" into the name, The Word, need some adjustment time in regard to their values and beliefs so that they can withstand the tensions of being "children of God" in the present, significantly corrupted, relational world into which they are thrust as soon as the most critical "words of The Word" are "in place". The new birth is accomplished once those issues are straightened out.
Thus, once born again, the "receiver"/"believer" is, at least marginally, ready for the new life of a newly born child of God.
There are some issues that need to be as clear as possible. It is to these that John turned in verses eleven through thirteen. I am going to take the last things first, and the first things last, in our study this morning.
- I. Being Born Of God.
- A. The issue of being "born again" is the issue of "being born of God".
- B. Thus, there are some clarifications that need to be in place so that we do not think we are born again on false foundations.
- 1. The first false foundation is what John calls "being born out of bloods".
- a. The plural, "bloods" is only found here in the entire New Testament, and refers to physical birth into a group which share in a "blood" relationship to the founder of the group.
- b. Under this concept, comes the prevalent Jewish idea that being of "the blood of Abraham" secured one in the promises made to Abraham by God.
- c. This made "salvation" more or less automatic to the offspring of Abraham.
- d. There are nine references to "Abraham" in John's Gospel, all of which are in chapter eight.
- e. Chapter eight is a record of an extended argument between Jesus and the Pharisees, and the issue is whether, or not, a person who could trace his/her physical lineage back to Abraham was "relationally" safe in regard to God and His wrath against sin [this was rooted in a single "birth" event that ignored the need to be "born again" into the "relational universe"].
- f. Thus, one very large falsehood regarding a birth that would bring one into the family and Kingdom of God, was the Jewish one that rested one's hope on his genealogy.
- 2. The second false foundation is what John calls "being born out of a fleshly wish".
- a. This false foundation rests upon the idea that "men of flesh" can "wish" their way into the "relational universe" of the Kingdom of God.
- b. There is a parallel here to the record of Abraham "wishing" so strongly for a son that he joined himself to Hagar according to Sarah's reasoning in Genesis 16.
- 1) Paul called Ishmael "one who was born according to the flesh" in Galatians 4:22.
- 2) Abraham even prayed to God that Ishmael might be "his heir" by reason of his birth out of his fleshly wish (Genesis 17:18).
- c. Thus, a second very large falsehood regarding a birth that would bring a person into God's family and Kingdom was that men could bring it about by adding fleshly violence and force to their wish for a place in the Kingdom of God: Matthew 11:12.
- 1) This was the attitude of the multitude in John 6:15 where "fleshly wishes" were of primary interest.
- 2) Even in the day of judgment, there will be those who call out in a "fleshly wish", "Lord, Lord..." and Jesus' response will be "Depart from Me..." (Matthew 7:21-23).
- 3. The modern version is "As long as you are sincere...".
- 3. The third false foundation is what John calls "being born out of the wish of a man (male)".
- a. This false foundation rests upon the idea that a "man's" wish is what brings about the new birth.
- b. This focus upon "a man's wish" as opposed to "women" is also linked to John 6:10 where the counting of the crowd was of the "men" who were determined to take Jesus by force to make Him "king".
- 4. All of these false foundations have one thing in common: they put the new birth into the hands of men, when it is clear that it is God who gives a new birth to those who "believe" into His Word.
- II. Being Born By An "Authoritative Word".
- A. John says that those who "received"/"believed" into The Word were given the "exousian" to be miraculously made into "children of God".
- 1. That this is a "miraculous" result involves the way John previously used "ginomai" in 1:3, 6, and 10.
- 2. The "authority that was given" was the ability to use one's voice to bring about a desired end.
- a. In this case, the desired end was "to be born again" so as to be "a child of God".
- b. According to the Gospel, man must use his voice in confession in order to be saved (Romans 10:9-10) even though the use is a "given".
- B. This "use of man's voice" in the process of the new birth is the reason for the clarifications given by John in his "...not of...not of...not of...".
- 1. The very ability of man to "confess" the truth about Jesus is given by God, so man cannot claim anything of himself.
- 2. The "gift" is a matter of "uttering words to accomplish a given goal" [Note Pilate's claim to be "authoritative" and the disciples' failure in their given authority, and the disciples' attempt to falsely exercise an "authoritative voice" in Mark 9 addressed to the obstinate unclean spirit].
