Good News: You Can’t Do It (Matthew Barrett)

Over at Desiring God, Matthew Barrett has written a short article called, “Good News: You Can’t Do It.” Barrett looks at God’s sovereignty in the new birth (regeneration) in light of his book, Salvation by Grace: The Case for Effectual Calling and Regeneration.

Here is the introduction to his article to get you started:

It’s common practice among some Christians to say, “You must be born again,” in such a way that it is equivalent to the command to repent and trust in Christ. However, as Sinclair Ferguson reminds us, these Christians wrongly assume that the new birth “is something we must do.” It’s not.

“In the New Testament,” says Ferguson, “new birth is something God gives. The point of the metaphor lies in the fact that the new birth is not something we can do.”

The new birth is not a work conditioned on our will, but rather any spiritual activity by our will is conditioned upon God’s sovereign decision to grant us new life by the Spirit. One passage that beautifully and powerfully testifies to God’s sovereignty in the new birth is John 3:3–8.

This Birth Is from Above

In John 2, we learn that, though Jesus performed miracles, many who watched did not believe. Jesus, therefore, did not entrust himself to them as he knew what was within them, namely, unbelief and wickedness (John 2:25). Jesus recognized that the fundamental problem was not only what was within man (unbelief), but what was not within man (a new heart or spirit).

So, when Jesus responds to Nicodemus in John 3, he pinpoints the central issue: unless you are born again, by the Spirit, you will never believe in who I say that I am, nor enter my Father’s kingdom.

But what does Jesus mean by the phrase “born again,” which also can be translated “born from above”?

Perplexed and confused, Nicodemus misunderstands Jesus, believing he is referring to being physically born a second time (John 3:4). However, Jesus is not referring to a second birth from the flesh, but one from heaven, from the Spirit (John 3:5–6).

The emphasis on “water” and “Spirit” (John 3:5) is an important one. Jesus is using water to picture the Spirit’s work in cleansing the sinner. In other words, water represents the spiritual washing that occurs in the new birth (Ezekiel 36:25–27). Water and Spirit are used in tandem, referring to the reality of being cleansed, purified, renewed, and washed by the Spirit in regeneration. . . .

Read the rest of Barrett’s article at Desiring God.