John 3:8 (ESV): "The wind blows where it
wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or
where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."
“You may not be able to give a detailed breakdown of the
mechanics of “new birth,” but you can’t deny the effect.”
God “pours out His Spirit so that people are transformed. And
even if you don’t understand the mechanics, you can’t deny the effect. So if
there are in churches in America lots and lots of people who claim to be ‘born
again,’ because they’ve signed a card or gone forward or whatever they’ve done,
they’ve been processed, but their lives are indistinguishable from the lives of
people who aren’t Christians all around in terms of their vocabulary, their use
of time, their goals, what they think about, what they dream about, what they
look for in a mate, what they want to do with their pocketbook, they’re indistinguishable
from any friendly neighborhood pagan, but they’ve been ‘born again,’ then I
have to tell them … they haven’t been. Because this text says the new birth is
so transforming that you see the effects even if you can’t explain the
mechanics. ‘So it is with everyone who is born again’ Jesus says.”
You can listen or watch the whole sermon here.
