Lesson Sixteen

HOW TO BE SAVED - FROM DEATH (2)

Burden to Impart:

The only way one can be saved from death is by being born again (John 3:1-16). By our first birth our corrupted, dying flesh was brought forth. Whether we are bad in our behavior or good (like Nicodemus), we are flesh. We can only be saved from death and corruption by being born again; that is, by believing in the Lord Jesus and being born of God's Spirit in our human spirit.

Memory Verse: "What which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said unto you, You must be born anew" (John 3:6-7).

Facts to Teach:

  1. In John 3 we see the clear teaching of the Lord's salvation from death by being born anew. An elderly gentleman, Nicodemus, came to the Lord Jesus to learn how to live a better life in order to please God. Nicodemus was not the average Jew. He was a "ruler of the Jews." He was an outstanding citizen and a leader of God's people. Also, he was of the strictest sect of the Jewish religion, a Pharisee. Also, he was mature in age, humble in disposition (for he came to Jesus, a man probably half his own age), and seeking in heart (he came at night to Jesus because he feared persecution).
  2. Such a good man came to Jesus! What more did he need? He seemed to have everything. One thing he lacked: God's eternal life. Though he was so good and respectable he only had the human life which he received from his human birth. Although he had a good human life, it was nevertheless not a perfect human life. Even the more, it was a dying human life. In a few short years Nicodemus' good human life would come to an end and like all others would be overcome by death.
  3. The Lord Jesus surprised Nicodemus by telling him that he needed only one thing: to be born again, to be born anew. His need was not just a little improvement of his behavior, his need was to have a completely new beginning, a new origin, a new birth.
  4. We all, like Nicodemus, need to realize that our human life is not perfect. In fact, it is "flesh." That means that it is actually full of corruption and death. We can be saved from the death of our fleshly, natural life only by being born again.
  5. We may be born again by recognizing that we all, like Nicodemus and the children of Israel, have been bitten by Satan and a-re dying (John 3:14; cf. Num. 21:4-9). Our only salvation is to look in faith upon the dear Lord Jesus, God's only begotten Son, who came into the world to die for our sins upon the cross (John 3:16). By believing in Him His Spirit enters into our spirit and we are born again, thus receiving His eternal life (John 3:6, 16).

[See Gospel Outlines , by W. Lee, Subject 100; also Hymns #1019.]