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This of course is quoted from John 3:8.
John 3:1-21 is such a powerful statement of what is necessary for one to believe the gospel and enter the kingdom of God, and of the doctrines of election and irresistible grace found in the expression of TULIP, but grounded in Scripture. And yet by a large portion of the body of Christ (and here I mean actual believers, not simply all professed believers) it is so persuaded by a false teaching as to not even see it. And if it is brought to the attention by exegesis and exposition of the passages, will go to extreme lengths to deny that it is saying what it says.
Jesus says one cannot become a child of God---as in John 1:12---unless he is first born again. He gives the agent of that new birth as being the Holy Spirit. Then he compares this activity to the wind. No one knows where it comes from or where it goes.
God must bring about the new birth. "Born of God." (John 1:12). The Spirit goes where the Father sends him, and only God knows where that is. And he knows where that is because he predestined it from all eternity. It goes to the ones he is giving to the Son.
John 10:24-30 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly," Jesus answered them. "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father'w hand. I and the Father are one."
John 3:1-21 is such a powerful statement of what is necessary for one to believe the gospel and enter the kingdom of God, and of the doctrines of election and irresistible grace found in the expression of TULIP, but grounded in Scripture. And yet by a large portion of the body of Christ (and here I mean actual believers, not simply all professed believers) it is so persuaded by a false teaching as to not even see it. And if it is brought to the attention by exegesis and exposition of the passages, will go to extreme lengths to deny that it is saying what it says.
Jesus says one cannot become a child of God---as in John 1:12---unless he is first born again. He gives the agent of that new birth as being the Holy Spirit. Then he compares this activity to the wind. No one knows where it comes from or where it goes.
God must bring about the new birth. "Born of God." (John 1:12). The Spirit goes where the Father sends him, and only God knows where that is. And he knows where that is because he predestined it from all eternity. It goes to the ones he is giving to the Son.
John 10:24-30 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly," Jesus answered them. "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father'w hand. I and the Father are one."
