Sermon25-49 John3 Guide

John 3:1-18 theme verse John 3:5

The praise and honor and glory be to our heavenly Father who seeks true worshipers who worship Him with the Spirit and truth.

In this forty fourth Sunday of 2025, on Pentecost Sunday, I pray that His grace of the application of all the benefits which Jesus earned for our salvation and also the glorious ministry of the proclamation of His kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit may be full in our life. Last week, we looked at Human Corruption of the third doctrine of Canons of Dort, yet this week, we would like to look at Conversion to God and its method as the fourth doctrine of Canon of Dort together.

1)    First, to summarize today's text, John 3, Nicodemus, a Pharisee and Jewish leader, came to the Lord at night and said, ”Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God for no one can do these signs you do unless God is with him." So the Lord answered him, ”Truly truly I tell you, unless one is born again he can see the kingdom of God." Then Nicodemus, who did not understand His word, asked, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" So the Lord answered, ”Truely truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God, without being born of water and the Spirit." Jesus explained that regeneration happens through water and the Spirit, and that this event is not physical but spiritual. Here, "water and the Spirit" refer to water baptism which an outward sign of inner grace, and the work of the Holy Spirit to renew our spiritually dead hearts. Again Nicodemus asked, "How can these things be?" This time Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?" And then He explained that these things were heavenly things, and that just as Moses lifted up the serpent, so the Son of Man has to suffer, be killed, and on the third day rise again. And He said that all these things have happened so that those who believe in the Lord may have eternal life.

2)    As such, human beings, who are spiritually dead, cannot even see the kingdom of God unless being born again, so therefore cannot believe the gospel of the kingdom of God. Regarding this regeneration, the Fourth Doctrine of the Canons of Dort, Articles 11 and 12, state, that "It is solely the work of God, which He works in us without our help, by which God works in the elect, to do what is good and pleasing to him, and to bring about true conversion in them. In other words, God causes the gospel to be preached outwardly to them, powerfully illuminating their minds by the Holy Spirit, so that they may rightly understand and discern the works of the Spirit of God. Furthermore, through the effective work of the same Holy Spirit who brings about conversion, the Lord penetrated into the inmost being of man, opening the closed heart, softening the hardened, circumcising the uncircumcised, and infusing new qualities into his will, making the dead will alive, the evil will good, the rebellious will willing, and the stubborn will obedient. In this way, he moves and strengthens our will. Thus, like a good tree, the human will became enabled to bear the fruit of good works. The Bible calls this conversion regeneration, new birth, new creation, and raising from the dead. It is not something that happens through mere preaching or moral exhortation, nor is it something that God has done His part and then leaves the decision to regenerate or convert to human control. Rather this regeneration is a supernatural, powerful, yet at the same time so joyful, wonderful, and mysterious. According to the Bible, this regeneration is no less powerful than creation or the resurrection of the dead. Therefore, all those whose hearts God works in this wondrous way are certainly, unfailingly, and effectively regenerated and can truly believe. Furthermore, the renewed will is not only activated and motivated by God, but, in being activated by God is also itself active. For this reason, people themselves, by that grace witch they have received, are also rightly said to believe and to repent.

3)    In this way, regarding the regeneration of fallen human nature and the way it occurs, the article 7 of the Fourth Doctrine of the Canons of Dort states that while God revealed His secret will only to His chosen people in the Old Testament, yet He revealed it to many in the New Testament. This is not because one people is superior to another or is better at using the light of nature, but rather because of God's sovereign goodness and unconditional love. Therefore, we who have received this grace unmerited should always be humble and grateful, and we should never despise those who have not received this grace by doubting God's righteous judgment. And Articles 8 through 10 then explain the earnest call of the gospel. Since He earnestly calls all people to the gospel, those who are called must come to the Lord. And God promises to grant spiritual rest and eternal life to all who come to Him and believe. Yet the fact that many who are called through the ministry of the gospel do not come and are not brought to conversion must not be blamed on the gospel, nor on Christ, who is offered through the gospel, nor on God, who calls them through the gospel and even bestows various gifts on them, but on the people themselves who are called. Some in self-assurance do not even entertain the Word of life; others do entertain it but do not take it to heart, and for that reason, after the fleeting joy of a temporary faith, they relapse; others choke the seed of the Word with the thorns of life's cares and with the pleasures of the world and bring forth no fruits. This our Savior teaches in the parable of the sower (Matt. 13). However, even when they are called and converted, the cause must not be attributed to people but to God, for God chose His people from eternity, effectually called them, and gave them faith and repentance, and finally transferred them from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His beloved Son. And then articles 11 through 13 explain the way conversion and regeneration occurs. I mean, through the external call of the gospel and the illumination of the Holy Spirit, God enables us to understand the gospel. And God opens closed hearts, softens hard ones, and renews the will. By reviving the dead will, making the evil good, and transforming the rebellious into willing and obedient, God brings about true conversion. The Bible describes this conversion as regeneration, new birth, new creation, raising from the dead, and making us alive again and also confesses that it is a supernatural, powerful, and profoundly amazing and mysterious work of God. Then article 14 states that faith is a gift from God also, not simply because God grants faith to human free will, but because He actually bestows it upon us, instilling it within us and permeating us. In other words, it is not a gift in the sense that God gives humans only the ability to believe and then waits for them to use their free will to consent to believe or to act in faith. Rather, it is a gift in the sense that God, who both causes us to desire and to act, and who truly works all things in creation, produces both the desire to believe and the act of faith in us. Article 15 then states that our proper attitude toward this amazing grace of God is gratitude. And article 16 explains how God restores the human will. It states that He does not act as He would with a block of wood or a stone, nor does He remove the will and its characteristics by force or coerce them. Rather, He spiritually revives, heals, corrects, and joyfully yet powerfully transforms the will, enabling it to obey quickly and faithfully through the Holy Spirit. And in the last article 17, it is confessed that God faithfully taught people about this grace of God through the apostles and the teachers who followed them, so that they would glorify God and also abandon all pride, and at the same time, He did not neglect to exhort them with the gospel so that they would continue to receive the Word, the sacraments, and the administration of discipline and live well.

4)    But, against this restoration of fallen human nature and will, Arminius argued that a) this grace that converts us to God is nothing more than a well-intentioned exhortation or gentle advice, and that the power of God's work lies in the promise of eternity. b) When God regenerates a person to incline his will toward faith and conversion, He does not force the will to yield to faith and repentance but allows human to resist this grace. Therefore, whether or not a person is regenerated depends on human will. c) Furthermore, this grace does not precede the will's action, so God does not effectively assist the will to conversion until the will itself has acted and decided.

5)    In response to Arminius’ errors, the Council of Dort stated that: a) The claim that the grace of conversion to God is merely a gentle advise contradicts Ezekiel 36:26 that "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh." b) The claim that a person can resist God's regenerating grace contradicts Ephesians 1:19 that "By the working of his mighty power you have believed." c) The claim that God does not effectively assist a person's will to conversion until it is voluntarily determined by the will contradicts Romans 9:16 that "So then it is not of him who wills or of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy." So the Canons of Dort condemned his claims.

6)    This fourth doctrine of the Canons of Dort is also called the doctrine of "irresistible grace." Here, irresistible grace means that the Holy Spirit never fails to lead His people to faith. In other words, this means that the Holy Spirit effectively calls, regenerates, and saves those whom the Father has chosen and Christ has redeemed, as the Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 10, Section 1, also states that “All those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and those only, he is pleased, in his appointed and accepted time, effectually to call (Rom. 8:30; 11:7; Eph. 1:10-11), by his Word and Spirit (2 Thess. 2:13; 2 Cor. 3:3-6), out of that state of sin and death, in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ (2 Tim. 1:9-10; Rom. 8:2; Eph. 2:1-5); enlightening their minds, spiritually and savingly, to understand the things of God(1 Cor. 2:10-12; Acts 26:18; Eph. 1:17-18) ; taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them an heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26); renewing their wills, and by his almighty power determining them to that which is good (Philippians 2:13; Deuteronomy 30:6; Ezekiel 11:19, 36:27), and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ (John 6:44, 45; Ephesians 1:9); yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by his grace (Psalm 110:3; Song of Solomon 1:4; John 6:37; Romans 6:16-18).”

7)    By the way, sisters and brothers, why do you think God's grace has to be irresistible? Because we are so stubborn so that without God's irresistible grace, we could never understand, believe, repent, or return to Him. Therefore, God leads us to salvation through His irresistible grace. Secondly, it can provide unwavering salvation. I mean, even though Adam and Eve, blessed with all the good gifts and holy, yet they fell to Satan's temptation. Then how much more so, to us whose flesh still remains in us even after being born, because of original sin. Therefore, through His irresistible grace, God leads us and completes our salvation since we cannot have true faith, repentance, sanctification and final salvation on our own. So we have to respond with praise and gratitude to this irresistible grace of God from the depths of our hearts and glorify God to live a life of obedience to God with the assurance of faith.

8)    That’s why Louis Berkhof, in his book of systematic theology, said, "The supreme end of God in creation is the external manifestation of His glory, that is, His inherent excellence. By revealing His glorious attributes throughout His entire creation, by promoting the welfare and perfect happiness of His creatures, and by ensuring their salvation, He elicits expressions of gratefulness, love, and adoration from their souls, and causes them to praise Him." Therefore, I pray that we may all, recognizing the love and irresistible grace of God that permeates our salvation, praise and glorify Him with grateful and humble hearts.

Key Questions as Small Group Activity

Q1 Through today’s text, we became to know that God grace in our salvation is irresistible. So, after meditating on this irresistible grace, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Q2 And also, the reason for this irresistible grace is because of our stubbornness. So after reviewing our life and why Canons of Dort confesses this, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Love you. Thank you. God bless you.

Prayer Note

Dear ( God’s attribute which you found Today ) God!

Thanks for ( something you received through the sermon or  even during the week )

Praise, gratitude and glory be to You, Lord!

Today, I realized my sin (pains) that ( the sin God reminded through the sermon ),

please forgive (or heal) me and help me not to repeat ( the sins you recognized   ).

I learned that ( something you learned through the sermon                                    )

Please help me to live in that (  learned way of life                                                )

I pray in ( Jesus’ attribute you find ) Jesus’ name. Amen.