Regeneration is the work of God the Holy Spirit. The moment a person believes in Christ, the Holy Spirit creates in him a human spirit to which God the Father imputes eternal life resulting in spiritual life. What was absent at physical birth—a human spirit and relationship with God—is gained through the new birth. The believer becomes trichotomous as was the original Adam (1 Thess. 5:23). At the moment of regeneration, the believer is filled with the Holy Spirit, placed in fellowship with God, and with the human spirit is now able to learn and understand spiritual phenomena (John 16:13-15).28
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh [with a body, an imparted soul, and a sin nature], and that which is born of the [Holy] Spirit is [human] spirit.” (John 3:6)
Our first birth provides us with a body of flesh and blood as well as soul life imparted by God, but no human spirit. Yet to enter the kingdom of God and have an eternal relationship with Him, we must have a human spirit. Nicodemus should not have been surprised to learn that a person needs a second or spiritual birth.
“Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ” (John 3:7)
Jesus’ words, “Do not marvel,” reveal the reaction of Nicodemus. He was astonished! Jesus emphatically proclaimed that Nicodemus had to be born again. Despite all of his knowledge of the Old Testament, Nicodemus was utterly perplexed. For the third time, Jesus repeated the need of a second birth, and concluded His explanation with an illustration from nature.
From Whence Comes The Wind?
“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.” (John 3:8)
The wind cannot be seen—only the effect is visible. You know the wind blows because you feel it on your face, see a wave-tossed ocean, watch trees bend, or catch dust in your eye. Yet, you cannot know how the wind comes or goes. So it is with spiritual birth, unseen but nevertheless real.
Nicodemus Baffled
Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?” (John 3:9)
Nicodemus was baffled. Though he had spent years reading and memorizing all the Old Testament Scriptures and religious teachings of the rabbis, he had never grasped the concept of being “born again.” His theological training was so extensive that he could recite the Scriptures and debate theological questions with consummate skill. Yet Nicodemus was astonished that Jesus understood a theological idea of which he was completely unaware. Nicodemus asked, “How can these things be?”
Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not understand these things?” (John 3:10)
Through sarcasm Jesus focused Nicodemus’ attention on his spiritual deficiency. Never once in any examination, seminar, classroom, or at any other time did Nicodemus receive information like this. The rabbinical curriculum ignored the Gospel. Jesus continued:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak that which we know, and bear witness of that which we have seen; and you do not receive our witness.” (John 3:11)
Nicodemus was confused because grace was a foreign concept to him. The words “you must be born again” were clear, but the principle was not. For all of his religious learning Nicodemus was ignorant of regeneration.
“If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how shall you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” (John 3:12)
In the Greek in this verse, “if” is a debater’s first-class condition.29 Jesus is saying, “Let’s assume for the moment that I have told you about human phenomena—about earthly things—and you do not believe. How then will you ever believe when I present spiritual or heavenly principles?”
Christ, The True Issue
“And no one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven, even the Son of Man.” (John 3:13)
At the time Jesus made this statement, no member of the human race had yet entered the third heaven, the abode of God. Although countless Old Testament people had been saved from eternal condemnation, after death they resided in Paradise (Luke 16:19-23).30 No one would enter heaven until Jesus Christ as the Representative Man was resurrected, ascended and accepted by the Father. Christ would be the first man to enter into heaven as the “first fruits” (1 Cor. 15:20-23). Christ was resurrected so that all believers may follow Him in resurrection, attaining victory over death.31
“Son of Man” is a title of Christ emphasizing His humanity. Jesus is unique from all other members of the human race because He is also undiminished deity. While He is fully God, just as are the Father and the Holy Spirit, He is true humanity united with undiminished deity in one person forever.32 In the presentation of the Gospel, the unique person of Jesus Christ is always the issue. If Nicodemus recognizes to whom he is speaking, he will believe not only the words of Jesus, but will accept His saving work also.
How To Be Born Again
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whoever believes may in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten [uniquely born] Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:14-16)
Jesus based His final explanation on Scripture familiar to Nicodemus. To become a Pharisee, Nicodemus had to memorize the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament, and take a thorough examination. He was familiar with the events described in Numbers 21.33 In verse 14 Jesus reminded Nicodemus of those events, enabling him to orient to the principle of regeneration. The analogy of the bronze serpent was an anticipation of the crucifixion. The serpent “lifted up” on the pole was analogous to the lifting up of Christ on the cross.
Verse 15 explains that Jesus Christ was lifted up on the cross so that we could have eternal life. “Whoever” means any member of the human race—religious, irreligious, nonreligious, moral, immoral, amoral—anyone. Nicodemus, or anyone who hears or reads the Scriptures, is instructed how to be born again: Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith is nonmeritorious, there are no works or human merit. The value of faith lies in its object. For salvation, the object of faith is the impeccable Lord Jesus Christ.
Eventually, Nicodemus believed in Jesus Christ as his Savior and became one of His followers. The next time the Bible speaks of Nicodemus is after the crucifixion. He and another Pharisee, Joseph of Arimathea, served as our Lord’s two pallbearers.
MAN’S RELATIVE RIGHTEOUSNESS RESOLVED BY IMPUTATION AND JUSTIFICATION
Man’s relative righteousness is the next brick in the barrier between man and God. Relative righteousness is a comparative righteousness that pits one set of human morals and values against another. Some people are very good, relatively speaking; they are virtuous, honorable, and moral. They have an excellent sense of responsibility, respect for the privacy and property of others, and are genuinely concerned about their fellow man. They may live by establishment principles and be well oriented to life.34 Why do they seem good? When compared to selfish, irresponsible, dishonorable, and immoral people, they are admirable. According to human standards of relative righteousness, one group is ‘good’ and one group is ‘bad.’ Generally speaking, unbelievers fall into these two categories.
The religious, moral, self-righteous unbeliever like Nicodemus may be a respected member of society who rarely appears to do anything wrong or outwardly sinful. He is kind, compassionate, thoughtful, and contributes to worthy causes. Unfortunately, the moral unbeliever may be depending on his relative righteousness to please God and earn his way into heaven. He may not think he needs Jesus Christ as a substitute for his sins because he believes he is a good person.
Then, there is the conspicuously sinful, immoral unbeliever. He may be promiscuous or unethical. Perhaps he is a conniver, a liar, a derelict, a drunkard, a drug addict, or a criminal. The difference between the moral and immoral unbelievers is that the immoral person’s sins are blatant, while the self-righteous have hidden their sins behind a façade of respectability. Yet by human standards of comparison, the moral unbeliever is better than the immoral unbeliever.
But compare this moral rating system with God’s perfect standards. While the good unbeliever has noble qualities, he is still condemned from birth and still commits personal sins. No human righteousness ever meets God’s requirements. The unbeliever’s relative righteousness can never compare with God’s perfect or absolute righteousness.
Here is God’s opinion of us:
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory [essence] of God. (Rom. 3:23)
Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins. (Eccl. 7:20)
As it is written,
“THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE.” (Rom. 3:10)
For all of us have become like one who is unclean,
And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment.
(Isa. 64:6a)
The Dilemma of Good Works
Mankind’s good deeds, the relative righteousness of Isaiah 64:6, form the most deceptive brick in the barrier. Good works often lead to the same legalistic and sanctimonious illusions Nicodemus had about himself. Some of these include: “I am going to heaven because I deserve to go to heaven.” “I am going to heaven because I have lived a good life.” “I am going to heaven because I have been religious.” But all the good deeds in the world only add up to relative righteousness. God’s perfect righteousness can have nothing to do with man’s relative righteousness. The only way for man to have a relationship with God is to possess a righteousness equal to the righteousness of God.
Do not delude yourself; religion and morality provide false hopes for righteousness. Jesus said, “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:20b). In other words, no one is good enough to enter heaven. How can this brick in the barrier be removed? Man’s relative righteousness is eliminated by imputation and justification.
Imputation of God’s Righteousness
The Credit Side Of The Ledger
A stroke of the pen changes a debit into a credit, but to change our debit of unrighteousness into the credit of the righteousness of God is something only God can do.
He [God the Father] made Him [Jesus Christ] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him [Jesus Christ]. (2 Cor. 5:21)
When Christ hung upon the cross, God imputed all the sins of the entire human race to Him and judged them. That payment for sin removed the first brick in the barrier. God accepted Christ as the substitute for us because He was sinless Himself and, therefore, uniquely qualified to be our substitute. He bore in His own body on the cross every sin we have committed or ever will commit—past, present, and future (1 Tim. 4:10; 1 Pet. 2:24).
Our sins were charged to Christ, not to us. But until we accept His sacrifice by faith alone in Christ alone (Eph. 2:8-9), we retain our own relative righteousness. We are on the debit side of the balance sheet because our righteousness is inadequate. To receive the righteousness of God we must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:22). At the moment of faith in Christ, His righteousness is credited to our account.
But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned [λογίζομαι, logizomai, “imputed”] as righteousness. (Rom. 4:5)
The Greek word logizomai means to impute or credit something to someone’s account. Imputation is an ancient accounting term meaning “to put on the credit side of the ledger.” Expiation takes us out of the ‘red,’ while imputation puts us ‘in the black’. We do not earn or deserve salvation. We cannot work for salvation. The work of Christ on the cross debits from our account our relative righteousness and credits to our account His perfect righteousness.
But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption (1 Cor. 1:30, italics added)
The Vain Pursuit Of Righteousness
What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue [relative] righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith. (Rom. 9:30)
Countless Gentiles were saved in both Old and New Testament times. What a contrast to the many religious Jews who erroneously relied on keeping the Mosaic Law or their own righteousness for salvation. No matter how devout and law abiding, they still possessed only relative righteousness. Many Gentiles, ignorant of the Law, “did not pursue [relative] righteousness” like these religious Jews, yet they attained God’s righteousness. How? They “attained . . . righteousness which is by faith” by believing in the Lord just as the first Jew, Abraham, did (Gen. 15:6). At the moment of faith in Christ, the righteousness of God was imputed to them.
By contrast, the legalistic Jews kept working, striving, struggling, yet all they ever achieved for their efforts was relative righteousness. The harder these Jews worked at earning righteousness, the deeper into debt they went. Enslaved to legalism, they never attained God’s righteousness (Rom. 4:4). They never comprehended grace, that God’s righteousness was a free gift based on faith.
But Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. (Rom. 9:31-32)
“The law of righteousness” is the perfect righteousness acquired by faith in Christ. Many in Israel did not have perfect righteousness because they did not seek it by faith; they did not believe in the Lord. Trying to merit their salvation, they stumbled over the stumbling stone—the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Justification by Faith Alone
While imputation credits to our account the perfect righteousness of God, justification pronounces us forensically righteous.35 Justification is another manifestation of God’s grace. On the basis of His righteousness imputed to the believer, the justice of God declares the undeserving sinner justified or acceptable to Himself. The Greek word δικαιόω (dikaioo), a common Hellenistic legal term, means to justify, vindicate, or declare righteous. God is free to declare the believer righteous because that person now possesses the righteousness of God. To be justified means to possess God’s perfect righteousness. It does not mean “just as if I had never sinned!”
Nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified [dikaioo] by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified. (Gal. 2:16)
Being justified [dikaioo] as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. (Rom. 3:24)
Notice how we are justified in the eyes of God. Is it by being ‘good’ or moral? Definitely not! Justification comes only by relying on the grace of God. Grace is manifest throughout the entire plan of God. Grace is the means by which He provides justification that we can never earn or deserve. Perfect righteousness is not a merit badge given for human achievement, but a grace gift freely given at salvation to an undeserving sinner.
Even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction. (Rom. 3:22)
The phrase “righteousness of God” refers to perfect righteousness. How do you receive God’s righteousness? By faith, not by keeping the Law: “Even the righteousness of God by means of faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.” At the moment of salvation, Christ’s righteousness is imputed to the believer.
This righteousness is available to everyone because Christ died for everyone. Christ was judged for sin on the cross. He bore the sins of every person who has ever lived or ever will live—unlimited atonement. Whether you are moral or immoral, atheistic or religious, in God’s sight “all have sinned” (Rom. 3:23). Therefore, all are savable (1 Tim. 4:10). Who receives God’s righteousness? All who believe!
For the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Rom. 3:26)
Justification has been in effect since the fall of Adam. Abraham is an Old Testament example. He was justified by faith alone. To make this point, Paul uses a debater’s technique that momentarily assumes Abraham was justified by his own good deeds, although he was not.
What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justifed by works [good deeds], he has something to boast about; but not before God. (Rom. 4:1-2)
If Abraham were justified by deeds or good works, he could boast, but not to God.
Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. (Rom. 3:27-28)
If Christ did all the work in providing our so-great salvation, how could Abraham boast? What happens to human achievement? What happens to good works for salvation? They are excluded! The way of salvation remains the same throughout human history, before and after the cross.
For what does the Scripture say? “AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD [faith in the Lord—Gen. 15:6], AND IT WAS RECKNONED TO HIM [imputed or credited to his account] AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (Rom. 4:3)
God’s righteousness was credited to Abraham’s account through faith in the Lord. But what about those who are trying to accomplish enough good works to reach heaven?
Now to the one who works [for his salvation], his wage is not reckoned [credited] as a favor [grace], but as what is due [condemnation]. (Rom. 4:4)
Though they work to gain God’s approval for salvation, they remain just as much in debt. It is humanly impossible to escape eternal condemnation apart from the grace of God.
But to the one who does not work, [for his salvation], but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned [credited] as righteousness. (Rom. 4:5)
Only the imputation of divine righteousness results in vindication for the one who believes in Christ and removes the barrier of relative righteousness.
THE CHARACTER OF GOD IS SATISFIED
When the Bible speaks of God’s glory, it is a reference to His character or essence—that combination of attributes which distinguishes an individual. Each member of the Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, possess exactly the same attributes—sovereignty, perfect righteousness, justice, love, eternal life, omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, immutability, and veracity.36 All of these attributes are absolutes. God’s essence is perfect and uncompromising. Therefore, God cannot blot out our sins unless His righteousness and justice are first satisfied. Anything less falls short of His glory.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Rom. 3:23)
Sin is an outrage, an offense and insult to God’s perfect holiness or integrity, His righteousness and justice. Since we have all sinned, we are all unacceptable to God (Isa. 64:6; Rom. 8:8). He simply cannot have anything to do with sin or unrighteousness. God’s righteousness demands the condemnation of sinful man. What the righteousness of God demands, the justice of God executes; sin must be judged. The divine blessings of salvation and the Christian life cannot pour through the grace pipeline to man until the righteousness and justice of God are first satisfied.37 How then can God the Father save sinners without compromising His character? How can His righteousness and justice be satisfied?
In eternity past, God made a sovereign decision to treat sinful man in grace—the perfect expression of His divine love and integrity. God the Father provided a plan whereby man could have a relationship with Him forever without compromising His divine character. God demonstrated His love for all mankind when God the Son, Jesus Christ, became our substitute and was judged on the cross for the sins of the world. He was willing to take our place and pay the penalty for our sins. As sinless humanity, the Son satisfied the demands of the righteousness and justice of God the Father. Because God’s righteousness and justice were satisfied by His Son’s work on the cross, God is perfectly just in forgiving us. Once God’s character was satisfied, it is possible for the blessings of salvation and the Christian life to come through the grace pipeline to us.
