1. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that everyone who believes into Him may have eternal life” (John 3:14-15).
The bronze serpent was lifted up on a pole to be judged by God in place of the sinning Israelites so that those who were poisoned and should have died would live when they looked on it. Similarly, the Lord Jesus was lifted up on the cross to be judged by God in place of us sinners so that we who deserve death would obtain eternal life as soon as we believe into Him. Thus, our deadened spirit within us could be enlivened and regenerated.
2. “Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24).
The Lord Jesus was crucified not only to redeem us from our sins but also to release His life. He was a grain of wheat with God’s life hidden within Him. Without His death, God’s life would have remained only in Him, the unique grain of wheat, and would not have been released. When He died, He released the life of God that was hidden in Him into us, giving us His life and making us the many grains.
3. “Regenerated us...through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Pet. 1:3).
The Lord’s death released His life, and His resurrection caused His life to enter into us and regenerate us. Therefore, God regenerated us through the Lord’s resurrection from the dead.
The Lord’s death and resurrection accomplished redemption and everything for us so that we would be regenerated. On the one hand, His death redeemed us from all our sins, and on the other hand, it released His life. His resurrection caused His life to enter into us and regenerate us.
1. “Born of the Spirit” (John 3:8, see also v. 5).
From our perspective, the accomplishments of the Lord’s redemption are objective and outside of us; they still need to be worked into our spirit. Based on the accomplishments of the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit works these accomplishments into us. While the Lord Jesus accomplished the fact of our regeneration, the Holy Spirit causes us to experience regeneration. The Holy Spirit comes to convict us concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment (16:8). He causes us to see that we are sinful, that the Lord has borne our sins for the sake of our justification, and that if we do not believe in the Lord, we will be judged. The Spirit convicts us of these things. Then He uses the word of the truth, the gospel, to regenerate us (James 1:18; 1 Cor. 4:15). He convicts us and causes us to repent, and then He causes us to believe the gospel and to be regenerated by receiving the Lord Jesus and all His accomplished work on our behalf. By means of the living word of God, He operates in us, regenerating us (1 Pet. 1:23), causing us to receive the life that was released by God through the Lord Jesus’ death and resurrection.
1. “As many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name, who were begotten...of God” (John 1:12-13).
In addition to the redemption of the Lord and the work of the Holy Spirit, there is also the need for believing before one can be regenerated. The Lord accomplished redemption and the Holy Spirit is operating, but if man refuses to believe, he will not be regenerated. If one wants to be regenerated, he must believe. The only requirement is to believe. Whenever a person believes in the Lord and receives Him as his Savior, he is regenerated, begotten of God, and obtains the life of God and the authority to be a child of God.
2. “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been begotten of God” (1 John 5:1).
We must believe that Jesus is the Christ sent by God to be our Savior before we can obtain the life of God. We do not need to do anything but believe this in order for the Holy Spirit to enter into us, give us God’s life, and cause us to be regenerated, to be born of God.
3. “Everyone who believes into Him may have eternal life” (John 3:15).
The Lord Jesus accomplished everything that was needed for our regeneration. He did not leave anything for us to do except to believe in Him. The original meaning of believing in Him is to believe into Him or to be joined to Him by faith. The life of God is within Him, and we are joined to Him by faith; therefore, we spontaneously obtain the life of God within Him and are regenerated.
The only way for a person to be regenerated is to believe in the Lord. The Lord Jesus accomplished redemption, and He is waiting for us to believe. The Holy Spirit is also operating, hoping we will believe. As soon as we believe, the Holy Spirit immediately enters into us and regenerates us.