Salvation Series – Week 1 – Regeneration

John 3:1-21
Introduction
: Just before we gather together for communion, I want to introduce what I will cover the next three weeks in detail.
I wind to describe the terms in general before digging and giving addition insight then.
Transition: As we prepare to commemorate and celebrate communion, three connected thmes come to mind.
Series on Salvation:
Part I
I want to speak first of all about Salvations initiation which comes through regeneration: Week two will be about the (2) Process of Transformation followed by the (3) evidence of Sanctification.
I. Initiation through Regeneration
John 3
is a critical passage when it comes to regeneration:
3:3, ‘Unless you are born again…’
Question: What does it mean to be ‘born again?’
Born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelicalism, that refers to “spiritual rebirth”, or a regeneration of the human spirit from the Holy Spirit, contrasted with physical birth.
Ephesians 2:1
, ‘And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins’, (NKJ)
From the beginning…..
Genesis 2:17 “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Gen 2:17 NKJ)
Die/death = separation from God.
1 Corinthians 15:22
‘For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.’ (NKJ)
Regeneration = noun
act of regenerating; state of being regenerated.
Electronics. a feedback process in which energy from the output of an amplifier is fed back to the grid circuit to reinforce the input.
Biology. the restoration or new growth by an organism of organs, tissues, etc., that have been lost, removed, or injured.
Theology. spiritual rebirth; religious revival.
John 3:16-17
, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. (NKJ)
sozo
{sode’-zo} Meaning: 1) to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction 1a) one (from injury or peril) 1a1) to save a suffering one (from perishing), i.e. one suffering from disease, to make well, heal, restore to health 1b1) to preserve one who is in danger of destruction, to save or rescue 1b) to save in the technical biblical sense 1b1) negatively 1b1a) to deliver from the penalties of the Messianic judgment.
Romans 3:23
, ‘for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,’ (Rom 3:23 NKJ)
Romans 6:23
‘For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ (Rom 6:23 NKJ)
Conclusion: So the process of Salvation is initiated at Regeneration.
Romans 10:9-10
‘that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation’. (NKJ)

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