“You Must Be Born Again”

Transcript

GR 340
12/9/1979
You Must Be Born Again
JOHN 3:1-8
Gil Rugh


The gospel of John and the 3rd chapter in your Bible. We’re coming to a chapter that is significant even in light of events that we have eluded to as the age in which we live draws to its culmination with the coming of Jesus Christ. We who belong to Him are to be about proclaiming the message of the gospel, that Jesus Christ God's Son has secured an eternal redemption for those who believe. The message of being born again. As we come to John chapter 3, that is the message of John chapter 3. You must be born again. One of the more familiar chapters in the New Testament, the confrontation between Nicodemus and Jesus Christ. Where the new birth as a necessity and something of how it is accomplished is presented for us in detail.

Chapter 2, the last part of that chapter, focused on the zealousness of Jesus Christ in His service for His Father. And we noted that that is a zeal that is to characterize us as well. We ought to have lives patterned after Him. Lives that are full of enthusiasm and a zeal, a fire in our service for Him. And that service is to be honoring because of that relationship we enjoy with Him.

Now the end of chapter 2 reminded us that Jesus was doing many miracles in Jerusalem at Passover time. As a result of the miracles, many were believing in Him but Jesus would not believe in them, entrust Himself to them, because He knew what they were like. And that's the background for chapter 3. "But there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews..." We have a situation where it seemed that many were coming to believe in Him but they were not yet to the point where they were willing to openly identify with Him. We looked in chapter 12 where many of the rulers believed in Him but because the loved the approval of men more than the approval of God, they would not openly proclaim their identification.

So in John 3, you have a man who comes by night, Nicodemus. I take it he comes by night: 1) to avoid the crowd. This is an easier time to get in and get a little more of a personal discussion. But I think in the context of John, there is reason to suspect he is coming, too, to avoid any stigma that would be attached to his coming. He is an influential person. He is a person in a leadership position, in a teaching position; and it might be uncomfortable if word got around that he was spending time with Christ at this point. Whatever the reason, he comes by night we’re told. I take it the result of his visit is going to be his salvation. Chapter 3 never tells us, but there are some events later on in chapter 7 and again in chapter 19 which would seem to indicate that Nicodemus as a result of this conversation is born again and truly becomes a believer in Christ as Messiah.

Verse 1 begins, "Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews..." And I think he is picked out here because of the representative position that he has. He is a Pharisee, he is ruler, he is a teacher. Now the Pharisees were the conservatives in Israel, just as much of the Protestant and the Roman Catholic church is divided in two today, so the Jewish religion was. Those who believed in supernatural things and those who did not believe in supernatural things. The Sadducees did not believe in supernatural things like bodily resurrection, life after death, etc. The high priest in Israel was a Sadducee. The leader of the Jewish people at this point did not believe in miracles, did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, did not believe in life after death. Tells you how deteriorated the nation was spiritually.

The Pharisees are the conservatives. They hold to the Scriptures. They hold to the Law of Moses. They are not by and large saved people because they are going through the motion. They are holding on to the externals but they are not born again, they are not saved. Paul was an example of this. He was a zealous Pharisee, but he was not saved until after his experience with Christ on the Damascus Road. So Nicodemus is a Pharisee. He was called a ruler of the Jews. That marks him off as a special person because that means he is a member of the Sanhedrin, the governing body of 70 or 72 men. And they, under the leadership of the high priest, are the governing body of the nation Israel. And we find over in chapter 7 that Nicodemus sits as part of this governing body. So he is a very prominent person. He is religious, he is a leader, he is a teacher. Down in verse 10 Jesus will say ’Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not understand these things?’ He is a religious teacher, a religious leader, he's a theological conservative and he is on his way to hell. A remarkable chapter. You have a man in this position and yet Jesus says unless there's a change, you will not have any part in God’s kingdom.

Note how the discussion begins. "This man came to Him 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.'" Now here is a testimony from one of the rulers of Israel that the signs of Jesus Christ do validate the fact that He comes from God. And Nicodemus is very complimentary. I do belie\e that you are a teacher. I believe that you are a teacher that comes from God. God has validated your ministry. There is no other explanation for these mighty miracles and these mighty signs. So he has been impressed. Now he is doing what the leaders of the nation are responsible to do. They are responsible to pursue and find out in light of these facts is this really the Messiah? And Nicodemus is doing exactly that. The problem is he is a minority, and most of the nation have already made up their mind and are unwilling to consider it further. Now it's interesting to study the gospels and how Jesus handled His witnessing opportunities. He had not been through some of the courses we have been through. And He had not learned about smooth transitions. And I think smooth transitions can be fine, but some of us get so smooth that we slide right by the basic point. Here Nicodemus has given him a compliment and it’s a perfect time for Jesus to say 'I appreciate your perception, Nicodemus. It's obvious you are a man who has insight, who is growing and is interested in knowing more.' But He cuts right through to the heart of the matter. Jesus answered and said to Him, 'Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.'" This is the issue, Nicodemus. Now note, Nicodemus has acknowledged that He is a teacher. He has acknowledged that He has come from God. He has acknowledged that He is doing great miracles. He is not born again. I think that is important. He can agree that Christ is a great teacher. He can agree that Christ came from God. He can agree that Christ does great miracles but still be lost. Jesus says this is all fine, Nicodemus, but unless you are born again... And when He says 'Unless one is born again, Nicodemus gets the point because down in verse 7 Jesus said "Don't marvel that I said to you, You must be born again.' You're the one in view. Jesus knew why Nicodemus came. Nicodemus is searching. What about the Messiah? What about the kingdom? Jesus gets right to the heart of the matter. Concerning the kingdom, Nicodemus, you cannot be part of it unless a change occurs. A change called the new birth.

"Truly, truly" this is a unique expression, unique to John. Which draws attention to the importance of what is being said. "I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." I take it when we talk about the kingdom of God and understand it as Nicodemus understood it, the promised kingdom of the Old Testament over which the Messiah the Son of David would personally rule. Now he is wondering, what about the kingdom, the rule of the Messiah? Now Nicodemus would also know from the Old Testament that preceding the setting up of this kingdom, there would be a sifting out of all those who were nonbelievers, who were unforgiven sinners in the nation Israel. And what he is in effect telling Nicodemus is 'Nicodemus, when we are talking about the kingdom, you are going to be closed out unless there is a change. You have to be born again.' Interesting how some phrases become the current expressions among us as believers, and born again is the in expression today. It is the title of books and the way we talk about other believers, we say ’He is a born again Christian.’ Or, 'He’s a born again believer.’ You know there’s only one kind of believer—a born again one.
There’s only one kind of Christian—a born again one! But, we try to clarify things and I think we can appreciate that. You ask the average person if he’s a Christian and he says yes, of course, I go to church every Sunday. But there is a clear line drawn when you ask if he is a born again Christian. We know something of what they’re talking about. Jesus says here ’You must be born again.’ This word translated ’born again’ can mean either a second time—and that’s how Nicodemus understands it; or it can also mean ’born from above.’ It is used later on in the chapter in that way as well. Both are true. The new birth is a second birth which comes from above. It is of divine origin. Now Nicodemus has a question on this in verse 4 which seems a little bit immature. "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?" You say that seems to be pressing the point a little far. But he understood perhaps very perceptibly what Jesus was saying. He did not tell him, ’Nicodemus, you must make an effort to keep more of the law. Nicodemus, you must keep yourself more pure than you ever have. Nicodemus, you must do this and this.’ Nicodemus was a Pharisee. He was already doing all he could. He knew what Jesus was saying. You know we say a man is a sum total of his past? Here Jesus is saying you must be a new creature. Nicodemus says ’How can I be a new creature? Born again? How can I start over? No matter how I try to change today, my yesterdays are still part of me.’ That’s the problem with a person who is not going to sin any more. That’s fine—not that they'll ever succeed—but, what about the sins of the past? Well, we'll forget them. God cannot do that. Nicodemus understands very perceptibly that what He is talking about is a totally new person. I fail to understand that. He would have been one to encourage people to convert to Judaism from their Gentile background, to become proselytes. But he knew their past didn't change. All he could do was encourage them to be different from now on. Christ is saying you must be new, born again. So Nicodemus is not so immature or ridiculous. How could I be a new person?

And Jesus explains it in verse 5. Jesus answered "Truly, Truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Now you note verse 3 and verse 5 are very similar, and you can exchange one expression for the other. You take born again out of verse 3, and in verse 5 you have that expression born of water and of spirit. Born again and born of water and the spirit say the same thing. And what Jesus is doing is explaining to Nicodemus what a new birth is. It's a birth that is in the realm of water and spirit. Now this is one of those occasions where the explanation has occasioned more difficulty than the original statement. The statement to be born of water and of spirit, I think it is crucial for us to understand it because Jesus conditions eternity on this expression. To be closed out of the kingdom of God is another way of telling this Jewish man he is going to spend eternity in hell. So it's crucial to understand what is involved in being born again. I don't want to knit pick over nonessential details, but eternity in heaven or hell is not a nonessential detail. That's the basic issue and Jesus said it is conditioned on being born of water and of spirit.

Now, we want to understand this clearly. And it will be further elaborated in our coming studies later on in chapter 3. Born of water and of spirit. If you've ever talked with someone who said that you have to believe plus be baptized to be saved, he has done you a favor of pointing you to John chapter 3, verse 5. And in effect, it is interpreted, ’You must be baptized' for your salvation. It takes baptism plus the work of the Spirit to bring about salvation. Isn't that what it says? You must be born of water, what do you think of right away when you talk of water in a religious context? I think of baptism and the work of the Spirit. I do not think that is a possible explanation here, and I want to show you why. Both negatively and positively why it cannot be, and then what I think it is.

The grammatical construction here denotes that water and spirit are very, very closely related, and we'll see how closely in a moment. A couple of reasons why I do not think it could be water baptism. Turn over to Romans chapter 3. At the end of Romans chapter 3, Paul begins his discussion of salvation by faith. He's already discussed man's sinfulness through the first three chapters and that's where you begin. Man has to be born again because he is a sinner. Now at the end of chapter 3, verse 28, he says 'For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also." Now you note here the point. Is there one God who is both God of Jews and Gentiles? Paul says yes.

Verse 30, "Since indeed God will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one." There are some different translations of this, even the New American Standard, some of the original translations confused this verse. I'm using a later edition and they have rectified it. The King James has it very accurately, "Since indeed God is one..." That's the basic statement made. In my edition it says "Since indeed God..." at the beginning and then at the end "is one." "Since indeed God is one" is the point. Since He is one God, He will justify circumcised Jews and uncircumcised Gentiles alike. In other words, since there's only one God, everyone who is going to be justified, be declared righteous, must be declared righteous by this one just God. Now the point that Paul is making is that if there is only one God and He is going to be the one who declares who is righteous, everyone who is declared righteous will be declared righteous in the same way. The argument for the Jews was that you have to be circumcised to be saved. So they said ’Believe and be circumcised and you will be saved.’ Paul wants to say is that true? And he says since there is only one God, there can only be one way to be saved. So let’s find someone who is saved, who was declared righteous by God and find out how they were declared righteous, then we'll know how He's going to save every other person. And in chapter 4 he uses Abraham as the example.

Here is a man in Genesis 15:6, God said Abraham was righteous. Abraham believed God and God credited it to Abraham for righteousness. Now. These Jews were saying you had to be circumcised to be righteous before God. Well, look in chapter 4 of Romans, verse 10. He quotes Genesis 15:6 in verse 9, and then in verse 10 he says ”How then was it reckoned? While he was circumcised or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised." Abraham had not experienced circumcision in Genesis 15. Yet God declared him righteous. Know what that means? That means it’s not necessary to be circumcised for salvation. That's the point being made. Otherwise there are two gods. There is the God who declares people righteous by faith, and there is the god who declares people righteous by faith plus circumcision. Since all are agreed there is only one God, that means circumcision is not an essential part of salvation. Now I mention this because the issue is the same for baptism.

Let me ask you. Was Abraham declared righteous in Genesis 15:6 before he was baptized or after he was baptized? You know the issue is even more clear than with circumcision, isn't it? Well, Abraham was circumcised later on, but you know what? As far as we know Abraham never did get baptized. But you know what? In Genesis 15:6, God declared him righteous. So that means that baptism is not necessary for salvation unless you believe there is two gods—one who saves men by faith and one who saves men by faith plus baptism. You say, well, things have changed. Nothing has changed. He’s the same God. That's the argument Paul is using with the Romans 2,000 years after Abraham. It’s no different 4,000 years after Abraham. There is one God and that one God saves men by faith alone.

There are other examples such as the thief on the cross. What did Jesus say to him? Today you will be with me in Paradise. Did they ever baptize him? Obviously not. People say that's an exception. No exception with God. Everybody who is saved is saved in the same way. Through faith in the revelation that God gives of Himself.

Paul's attitude toward baptism—he told the Corinthians that he did whatever was necessary for salvation. He became weak to the weak so that he might save the weak. He became strong to the strong in order that he might save the strong. Became all things to all men that I might by some means save some. Know what he told the Corinthians in chapter 14 of his letter? I don't make a practice of baptizing. God didn't send me to baptize, He sent me to preach the gospel. Little bit of a question. If Paul was willing to do whatever was necessary for salvation and baptism is necessary for salvation, why did Paul say I don't baptize? It wouldn't make sense at all.

Interesting when we get to John 4 we'll see that Jesus Himself didn't baptize. His disciples did, but He didn't. But we know that Jesus came to give life.

So come back to John chapter 3. Incidentally, you have to understand this how Nicodemus would understand it. Jesus says in verse 10, "Are you the teacher of Israel and you don't understand this?" You cannot expect Nicodemus to understand Christian baptism at this point, obviously. I think there are two possibilities here, and I favor the second one that I’m going to mention although both would be supported by the Word. The first is that the water here is representative of the Word of God. What Jesus is saying is that you must be born again by the Word of God and by the Spirit of God. That Old Testament background would be in places like Psalm 119 where we read a young man cleanses his way, giving heed to the Word of God. The Word of God is viewed as cleansing, and that’s what water symbolizes is a cleansing. Nicodemus would be familiar with this. Even the Laver in the Old Testament tabernacle pictured the cleansing from defilement.

Over in Ephesians 5:26. The Word of God is called water in Ephesians 5. Look at verse 25, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her; that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word..." Some people still read Ephesians 5 and read ’washing of water' as baptism. He explains what the water is here—the water is the word. Being washed with the Word of God. That’s what he is talking about. So there is a precedent in the New Testament for the Word being called water. Ephesians 5:26. The washing of the Word with water, that’s part of our salvation being cleansed by the Word of God. In John 15:3 Jesus said you are clean through the Word which I have spoken to you. The word, My Word cleanses you. That would fit the analogy as well. You can jot down James 1:18 where God has caused us to be born again by the activity of His Word. I Peter 1:23 where we’ve been born again by the incorruptible Word of God, eternal Word of God. That’s part of the new birth. Now one passage you ought to turn to is II Thess. chapter 2, note verse 13. And note that here you have the Spirit and the Word of God brought together.

"But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth." Note the two ingredients that are necessary for a person to be saved or born again. The work of the Spirit and the presence of the Word of God. I must have the Spirit at work in my heart and I must believe the truth. If you have, the presence of the Spirit but the absence of the Word of God, you have no salvation. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. The Spirit is present everywhere in the world. There are places in the world where people have not been saved because they have yet to hear the Word of God. And if you proclaim the Word of God but the Spirit does not take that Word and bring about life in the heart of the hearer, you will not have salvation either. It takes both the presence of the Word and the ministry of the Spirit to bring about the new birth. So in II Thess. 2:13 makes that clear and Jesus could be saying that in John chapter 3. That would be consistent with the revelation in other places in the New Testament—the presence of the Word of God and ministry of the Spirit are necessary for the new birth.

Another possibility, perhaps a little more simple, and I favor it because of the explanation John gives within the context of his gospel, and that is if you take water and spirit to refer to the same thing. I noted grammatically these are very closely linked. And the little conjunction ’and’ can be translated ’even', so you could translate it ’...water, even the spirit.' So that water symbolizes the spirit. What we’re saying is that you must be born again by the water, the Spirit of God. He is the One who brings about the cleansing. I say I favor this because John gives this interpretation of water. Look over in John chapter 4, verses 13-14. John 4:13, the woman at the well, "Jesus answered and said to her, ’Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.'"

Look over in chapter 7, verse 38. "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ’From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.'" You note the similarity here and what we just read in John 4. "But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive..." Here we are clearly told that water as Jesus is using it refers to the Spirit. Now that would seem to me to be a precedent for interpreting John 3 in the same light. That water refers to the Spirit. Not a new interpretation with me—John Calvin preceded me by a few centuries with this interpretation. I think it is consistent and Nicodemus could be expected to know this, that the new birth would be brought about by the cleansing ministry of the Spirit of God. Bringing about abundant blessings for him. Look back in Isaiah 44.

You remember Hebrew poetry—what we call parallelism—they didn’t rhyme their words like we do at the end of a line. What they did was say one thing, and then say the same thing in a different way. That was their poetic form. Note verse 3, we now have a song taken from this portion. "I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring, and My blessing on your descendants..." I will pour out water on the thirsty land...I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring. There it is explained. The pouring out of water and reference to the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, and just as the water poured out on the dry ground produces abundant blessings from the earth so the Spirit poured out on the Jews would produce spiritual life and blessing. Nicodemus should have understood this. He should have known in connection with the kingdom there would have to be the cleansing ministry of the Spirit. That's why Jesus could say to him 'You're the ruler of the Jews, the teacher of the Jews and you don't understand this?'

Look over in Ezekiel, chapter 36, verses 25 and 26, regarding the coming kingdom and the covenant that God will have set up with them. "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean..." Note the water here. "I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols." Water depicts a cleansing. A familiar Old Testament analogy. 'I will give you a new heart and a new Spirit.’ Verse 27, "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes..." So you note, Nicodemus should have known. There would have to be this cleansing, this ministry of the Spirit to prepare them for the kingdom.

Over in chapter 39 of Ezekiel, and verse 29, he’s to prepare for the kingdom. "I will not hide My face from them any longer, for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Lord God." You note the pouring out of the Spirit. The pouring out, it’s an analogy where you think of liquid or water. You have the Spirit poured out. Again it’s that mixture of the metaphor of the Spirit-water idea. We could have read Ezekiel 37, the Valley of the dry bones where the Spirit of God brings life into the dried up Israel, spiritually dry Israel. Nicodemus should have understood. He should have known.

Back to John 3. There’s a precedent in the New Testament—Titus 3:5,6 talk about the washing of regeneration and making new by the Holy Spirit. That work of the Spirit to cleanse us and to make us new creatures. So crucial area. Important to see. We are amazed today and people don’t understand, can this person be a pastor or a preacher, a religious leader, and not understand these things? All you have to do is read John chapter 3. Here is a man who is called The Teacher in Israel, must indicate some prominence, a ruler on the ruling body of the nation, a Pharisee, and he does not know what it means to be born again.
He is on his way to hell and the nation is looking to him for spiritual guidance. Things have not changed greatly. You still must be born again. If you're not born again, you're not going. You're not going to be part of the kingdom, you're not going to spend eternity in His presence. It's not good enough that I'm a preacher. I'm a preacher! I study! So what! You must be born again. He didn't say you must be a preacher, He says you must be born again. But I'm a good person. Find. But He didn’t say you must be a good person; He said you must be born again. We come up with all kind of things. Yet the simplicity of it goes right by. You must be born again. You must have the new birth brought about by the Spirit’s ministry in your life. He’ll cleanse you and make you a new person. Paul wrote to the Corinthians in II Corinthians chapter 5, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature,"a new creation. He makes me new. Two things happen—He cleanses me from my sin and makes me a new person. Unless one is born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
That is an unchanging principle and it is true down through today. As religious as you could be, and I dare say we don’t have a person in the city of Lincoln who is as religious as Nicodemus would have been, as religious as Saul would have been before he became Paul, and yet they are on their way to hell. Why? You must be born again. That’s the message.

Now we talk about the coming of Christ to earth. That’s the message—we need salvation. You must be born again. That’s it. You must be made a new person. No exceptions. There’s the line. You must be born again or you’ll not be part of the kingdom of God. You’ll never spend eternity in His presence. That’s the issue. We debate it, we argue it. God is the only one who can draw the line and He's drawn it. You must be born again or you'll never be part of My kingdom. Verse 6. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." No matter what I do to change myself, I am still a fleshly person. God demands a new person. Nicodemus thought being born a Jew and going through all he had gone through would get him there. He is still man born of the flesh, born a sinner. You need a spiritual birth to prepare you for this spiritual kingdom that God will make up with all those who believe in Him. So, "Don't marvel that I said to you, ’You must be born again.'" Then an analogy. We’ll go over this and pick it up next time. "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." I take it what He is saying is that there is a certain mystery in all of this. I cannot explain to you how it is that I stand here and proclaim to you the gospel of Jesus Christ, that God’s Son died to pay the penalty for your sins; and you believe that and in some mysterious way, the Spirit of God totally cleanses you from all your sin and makes you a completely new person with new capacities, new potentials. Brings you into a personal relationship with God—I cannot explain, I do not understand the details and intricacies of that transaction but I know it happens. Just like the wind that blows by—I don't see it, I don’t grab onto it. I see some of its effect, well, so does everyone who is born of the Spirit. I take it He uses wind here purposely because wind is used of the Spirit in the Old Testament in Ezekiel 37. What happened? The wind blows over those bones and it’s an analogy of the Spirit. And that's what has happened. It’s something I cannot fully understand. You sit here as an unbeliever and say I just don't grasp all that. I'm going to trust this. I'm going to place my confidence and reliance on the fact that Christ died for me, and I'm going to be forgiven in that instant of time? Yes. I'm going to be made a new person? Right. To love God? Right. To love my wife? Right. All that? Yes. I don't understand it. Well, welcome, because I don't understand it either, but I know God does it and I don't need to understand all the workings or the details. I understand everything I need to know. I need to present to you the gospel so you can believe it, but the Spirit will do the work. He's the one who brings about the change in the life to make you a new person and a new creation. The exciting thing is that you can be born again here this morning, become a new person by believing that Jesus Christ died for you. The exciting thing for us who have is that we have this simple, basic message to present. It’s so simple that any one of us who has believed in Him can present it to someone else. It’s not so difficult. You must be born again. You must hear and believe that Jesus Christ, God's Son, died for you. And the details of this will be explained in the subsequent verses. Let's pray together.

Father, we thank you for such a glorious message. Father, put so simply we must be born again. Father, it's just an indication of our sinful character that we continue to rebel against the glorious simplicity of the gospel, against the great manifestation of your love that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Father, I pray for those who are in this audience and have yet to believe in Jesus Christ, yet to trust the fact that He died in their place on the cross that they might have life. I pray that the Spirit might do His work in their heart and mind even now to cause them to believe the truth that they've heard that they might be cleansed and made new creations, new creatures. And for those of us who have believed, Father, give us a boldness in proclaiming this message. Father, as we see the events and affairs of the world moving toward the climax of history, may we as your children be bold and aggressive in proclaiming the message of the new birth to all those we have opportunity to share with in order that Jesus Christ might be glorified in our lives and in the lives of those the Spirit draws to yourself, for we pray in Jesus' name