Pastor Cho's Sermon Outline - Yoido Full
Gospel Church - Seoul, KoreaUnless A Person Is Born Again John 3:1 ~ 3:21 2002-10-20
Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21). Many people call themselves Christians, but if they don't truly believe in God and do His will, they won't be able to enter heaven. Then what is the wrong kind of faith?
The religious Christian eagerly pursues religious truth but has not accepted Jesus as Savior nor experienced Him personally. Nicodemus was one of them, a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council, and a teacher who taught the Old Testament. He secretly talked with Jesus, and Jesus told him, "No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again (John 3:1-21). Jesus said that flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. Religion is not salvation.
The cultural Christian was raised in a Christian culture and attended church, baptismal and communion services, etc. Christian culture may help a person become familiar with Christianity, but it doesn't make a person born again. To be born again, a person must understand that the universal event on the Cross was for him. He must make a decision to accept Jesus as his personal Savior (Romans 10:8,9; 1 Peter 1:23).
The Christian of natural descent. The Jews insisted that they be chosen people, people saved through lineage (Matthew 3:7-9; Romans 2:28,29; Matthew 19:28). The Christian of natural descent insists that he was born a Christian, that he was a Christian since he was in his mother's womb, or that he is a Christian because he was baptized as an infant. Such a person says that because his ancestors were Christians, that makes him a Christian, too (John 1:12,13). Is this the truth? No. Unless a person is born again, he cannot enter heaven (Titus 3:5).
The traditional Christian. Many people say they live in a Christian country such as in Europe, America, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, so they insist that they are Christians. A taxi driver in Copenhagen, Denmark asked me where I came from. I told him I came from Korea to preach about Jesus and he said, "Why preach Christianity in my country? All people in my nation are born Christians." So I asked him, "Do you know who Jesus is?" And he replied, "No. Is Jesus a Korean?" We must never confuse personal faith in Christ with religion, culture, lineage, or tradition. We must realize that Jesus suffered on the Cross to save us, ask Him to forgive us of our sins, and accept Him as our personal Savior and Lord (John 8:23,24). Then we will be born again.
Heavenly Father, help us to share the Gospel with all of our relatives and friends, so we can give them an opportunity to have a personal faith in Jesus Christ.
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