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Subject 3 : The Gospel of the Water and the Spirit
[3-5] What is the Primitive Gospel of Being Born Again?
(John 3:1-6)
“There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, ‘Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ Nicodemus said to Him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.’”
What is Being Born Again according to the Bible?
There are many people in the world who try to be born again by believing in Jesus. However, I must first tell you that being born again, as the Bible speaks of it, does not depend on actions.
| Is being born again related to physical emotion and change? |
| No. Being born again is related to spiritual change. It is for a sinner to be born again as a sinless man. |
Many people who attend church misunderstand and believe that being saved and reborn works this way. There are countless people who try to qualify for rebirth by doing things like founding many chapels, going as missionaries to pagan nations to convert them to believe in Jesus Christ, or dedicating their entire lives to serving God without marrying.
Furthermore, laypeople also dedicate materials to their churches, serve, and do a lot of cleaning in the chapels to serve before God, in efforts to be saved and reborn. While doing so, they think to themselves, ‘If I serve loyally unto death, surely I will be crowned with the crown of life! Surely God will grant me the grace to be born again of water and the Spirit.’ In reality, there are many laypeople who understand this and exert themselves accordingly.
Additionally, there are many church members who misunderstand being saved and reborn, and they try various ways to be reborn. Some people devote their material possessions and bodies, while others serve and dedicate themselves in Christian missionary organizations, thinking ‘If I serve the Lord this way, someday He will grant me the grace to be reborn.’ Some people spend their entire lives serving at prayer houses, some serve at nursing homes, and there are people working hard to be born again in various forms and various positions. However, it is truly unfortunate that they do not know the truth about being reborn.
All these people who believe in Jesus through works think, ‘If I do this, I will be born again.’ Of course, because of this, they labor in many areas and think their efforts serve as a foundation for their being born again. ‘Someday I too will be born again like Pastor Wesley! God will make me born again!’ Also, there are many people who misunderstand the words in John 3:1-6, thinking that being born of water and the Spirit is something that happens without one’s knowledge, and thus continue to believe in Jesus and serve, hoping that someday they too will be reborn of water and the Spirit.
Many also indulge in the delusional thought, ‘If I serve the Lord well, someday I too will be reborn. At some unknown moment, I will become a reborn person, work as one, and then go to the kingdom of God.’ There are many who live with such vain beliefs.
However, you cannot be born again through such works-based faith. Not drinking alcohol, being a good person, or diligently attending church does not make you born again. As our Lord said in today’s text, a person can only be born again ‘of water and the Spirit,’ which is the Word of God, and the Lord stated that the only condition for being born again is water and the Spirit.
Even if church members who believe in Jesus offer gold to the Lord, dedicate their efforts and sweat, and try to imitate the Lord’s character, this is not the faith that leads to being born again. How can a person be born again through gold or dedication? Also, some people think that since one cannot know about being born again by themselves, God will make them born again without their knowledge. They think this way because it brings comfort to their hearts.
However, when one is truly reborn before God through faith in the truth, they themselves will know that they have been reborn, and others will recognize it as well.
While rebirth cannot be understood physically, it becomes very clear spiritually. Those who are truly born again are reborn through faith in God’s water, blood, and the words of the Holy Spirit. Once you are born again, you will know it yourself. However, those who are not born again, like Nicodemus, cannot understand these words.
That is why we must hear and believe in Jesus’s words of salvation and rebirth that removes all sins. As you come to know and believe in Jesus who saved us from all sins in this world, His baptism and His blood, and that He is God, His divine word will make you born again. That is why being born again through the Word is very important.
“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” When those who are not born again read this verse in John 3, they may interpret it in their own way and think, “Ah! Being born again is something even the person themselves does not know! No one can know it. Only God knows.” They use this interpretation to comfort and reassure themselves. However, that is not the case. Although we may not know where the wind comes from or where it is going, God knows it clearly.
Among those who are born again through faith after hearing the Word of the gospel of truth, there are some who don’t understand well at first. This can happen. However, in their hearts, they have the Word of Jesus’s baptism and the Word of Jesus’s cross’s blood, which is the gospel that removed all their sins.
Those who are definitely born again have no sin in their hearts. And they have the Word of Jesus’s baptism and blood in their hearts. This is the evidence of being born again through the Word.
When people hear the gospel of water and the Spirit and say, ‘Oh, I have no sin. Wow, then I have been saved,’ and believe in their hearts in the salvation that removed their sins through Jesus’s water and the Spirit, that is, through His baptism and blood, they become God’s people, the righteous.
However, some people give contradictory answers — when asked “Are you born again?” they reply “I have not been born again,” but when asked “Then have you been saved?” they answer “Yes, I am saved.” Surprisingly, many people give such contradictory answers, saying they are saved but not born again.
Most people who say this think that the gospel of rebirth through the washing away of sins means a changed lifestyle in their physical lives. Because of this, they cannot understand the gospel message of salvation through being born again of water and the Spirit.
There are even those who believe without understanding the meaning of God’s Word that a person must be born again. This is truly a sad and shameful faith. This kind of faith is not just found among lay believers but is also common among clergy members. Such believers hurt the hearts of those who are born again. How much more must this pain the hearts of God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit? Let us all be born again by believing in the Word of rebirth through Jesus’s baptism and blood, which has blotted out all the sins of mankind.
Being born again, being newly born, and being saved all mean the same thing. In fact, being born again means that a person has been newly born again from a sinner to a righteous person.
Being saved means that although a person once had sin in their heart, they have come to have no sin by believing in the baptism and blood of Jesus, who took away all the sins of all the sinners in this world.
The Bible teaches that faith in the Word of Jesus’ water and blood is the faith of being born again. Being born again through the gospel of water and the Spirit, which is the Word of God, means that one’s soul has become a righteous person who has nothing to do with sin.
In fact, these three expressions —‘being born again, becoming righteous, and being saved’— all mean the same thing. They are all the same, just using different words. Yet many people who claim to believe in Jesus do not understand the meaning of what the Bible is saying.
Being born again means that a person fundamentally had sin in their heart, but after hearing and believing in the gospel of Jesus’ baptism, the water, His blood on the cross, and the Holy Spirit, which He fulfilled to take away all the sins of the world, they have been completely freed from all their sins. This is what it means to be born again, to be newly born, and to become righteous.
Being born again means that although one was previously a sinner, they have now become a new person without sin, and through faith in the Word of salvation of water and the Spirit, they have become a child of God. That is the true meaning of being born again.
Being born again means that I have been clothed with Jesus’ baptism along with my sins, died together with Jesus’ death on the cross, and have been newly born again.
It means that while I was once a sinner, I have now become righteous by hearing and believing in the Word of Jesus’ baptism and blood. While I was born a sinner from my mother’s womb, I have now been born again, transformed from a sinner to a righteous person by believing in the gospel of water and the Spirit, by believing in my heart the baptism and blood that Jesus received. While my outer person remains the same, my inner person has been born again anew through the Word of Jesus’ baptism and blood. This is the truth of being born again.
However, sadly, very few people know this truth. It would be less than one in ten thousand. Among those who believe in Jesus, does even one in ten thousand understand and believe in the true Word of being born again? Those who truly know and believe in the gospel of water and the Spirit and are born again can clearly discern whether someone else is definitely born again or not. That is, if you have been born again through Jesus’ Word of water and the Spirit!
The one who Controls the Wind is the Lord
| Who can know who is saved? |
| Only the born again |
“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” These words were spoken about sinners who have not been born again. Just as not knowing where the wind comes from and where it goes, those who are born again know this, but Nicodemus who was not born again did not know. Those who are born again know because God reveals it to them. However, those who are not born again, like not knowing where the wind comes from and where it goes, do not know the rebirth that God gives. Do you understand? Who is the one who moves the wind? It is God. The one who raises the wind is also God. Who is the master who creates wind in this universe, in this Earth’s atmosphere, forms low and high pressure systems, changes the flow of wind, changes the flow of water, makes all creation vibrant, and makes all creatures surge with life force? It is Jesus. Jesus is God.
Therefore, those who do not know the word of salvation of water, blood, and the Spirit given by Jesus cannot be born again themselves, nor can they teach others. However, because our Lord said that a person is born again ‘by water and the Spirit,’ in order to be born again, we must believe in the gospel of salvation through water and the Spirit found in the written Word—that is, the word of baptism, through which Jesus took upon Himself all the sins of the world, the blood of the cross, and the fact that Jesus is God. The gospel of water and the Spirit is a gospel with great power that brings about rebirth.
The Holy Spirit, or ‘Πνεύμα (Pneuma)’, Holy Spirit, enters the heart of the person who believes in the gospel of water and the Spirit given by Jesus, a person whose heart is sinless and sanctified.
Jesus Christ, who is God, came to this world to save sinners and took on all the sins of the world when He was baptized by John the Baptist, bearing them Himself. And He shed His blood on the cross to receive the judgment for our sins on our behalf, thus accomplishing the salvation of rebirth for us who believe.
Furthermore, God gives the Holy Spirit to the heart of those who believe in this word. This is how God seals those who are born again through faith with the Holy Spirit. The person who believes in the truth that Jesus has taken upon Himself and removed all their sins through His baptism and blood is truly a born-again person.
Genesis 1:2 records, “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” Here it is recorded that the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. When it says that the Spirit of God was hovering outside this world, it means that God the Holy Spirit cannot enter into the heart of a person who has sin. The heart of an unregenerate person is in chaos and darkness because there is sin in their heart. Therefore, this means that the Holy Spirit cannot dwell in the heart of a sinner.
Therefore, God has given the light of being born again through water and the Spirit to those who were born with sin and are in chaos, void, and darkness. ‘Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light’ and only then could the Holy Spirit, who is God, coexist within people. This is why the Holy Spirit dwells in the hearts of those who are born again, that is, in those who believe in the gospel of water and the Spirit given by Jesus. To be born again means to hear and believe in the word of salvation of the gospel of water and the Spirit given by Jesus.
How is one born again? Our Lord spoke about this to Nicodemus, a Pharisee. “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Then Nicodemus asked, “How can one be born of water and the Spirit? Must one enter the mother’s womb again?” Nicodemus couldn’t understand the other things being said, but he understood the term “born again” literally and asked Jesus, “To be born again, must one enter the mother’s womb and come out again?”
Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?” and told him that unless one is born of water and the Spirit, they cannot enter or see the kingdom of God. Jesus gradually explained the truth about being born again to Nicodemus, the Pharisee.
In fact, there are many people in this world who believe in Jesus but are not born again. Even among so-called clergy who claim to believe in Jesus, there are a great many who are not born again. Just like Nicodemus the Pharisee mentioned here.
Nicodemus, in terms of our country’s Christianity, would be like a Christian leader, a presbytery chairman, a clergyman, or a general assembly president. Socially, he would be similar to a member of parliament. Furthermore, Nicodemus was a Hebrew rabbi (teacher) in a religious sense. He was a religious leader of Judaism who believed in God. He was a man of great learning both socially and religiously. At that time, the nation of Israel did not have separate schools, and all the people in the region were educated in the synagogue. The person with the highest level of knowledge in the area would teach the people in the synagogue. Nicodemus, too, was a teacher of the nation of Israel.
Even in this era, there are many false Christian leaders who, like Nicodemus, have not been born again. There are many leaders who teach unborn-again believers while they themselves are not born again.
There are truly many Christian theologians, office bearers, teachers, deacons, elders, and pastors in this world who, like Nicodemus, have not been born again. These people believe in Jesus, but they do not know how to be born again. Like Nicodemus, they think that being born again means going back into their mother’s womb and coming out again. There are many such people. They believe in Jesus and must surely be born again, yet they do not know through which words of Jesus they must be born again.
So, like a blind man groping at an elephant, they just stumble around, relying only on what they feel and understand in a worldly sense, and they speak about these things in their sermons. There are many people who claim to believe, yet they have not been born again.
The rebirth of a person before God is not something that depends on what a person must do or how they must act; it is not based on human deeds. We are born again because God has given us the Word of water, blood, and the Spirit, making us, who were fundamentally sinners, into righteous people, and we are born again by believing in that Word.
Jesus said, “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”
People do not believe that Jesus’ baptism is the truth that takes away all the sins of the world. What is it that they do not believe? They do not believe in the gospel of atonement, that Jesus, through His baptism, blood, and the Spirit, has made us, who were sinners, into righteous people. This is what He meant when He said people wouldn’t believe Him if He told them about “heavenly things.”
Our Lord was baptized in His body directly by John the Baptist at the Jordan River to take away the sins of sinners. And He was crucified and died for those sins, then rose from the dead to make sinners be born again.
Jesus asked, “If I tell you about the heavenly work that I have done with water and the Spirit to save all of you sinners from all your sins, will you believe?”
Then, our Lord referred to the Old Testament and explained to Nicodemus:
“No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, the Son of Man also had to be lifted up. Jesus said that this was so that those who believe in Him would receive eternal life.
Jesus said, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up” (John 3:14). What does this mean? Jesus was explaining, by quoting the Old Testament, that His baptism and blood would take away all the sins of humankind.
For Jesus to be judged on the cross for sins, for the Son of Man to be lifted up from the earth, He first had to receive baptism from John the Baptist, the last High Priest of all humankind. Through this baptism, Jesus had to take upon Himself all the sins of the world.
Jesus could not be crucified because He was fundamentally a being without sin. For Him to be crucified, He had to receive baptism from John the Baptist, who represented all of humanity, and take upon Himself all the sins of the world.
Therefore, Jesus received baptism and took all the sins of humankind onto His body, and He shed His blood and died on the cross to be judged in our place for the sins of the world.
Only in this way could He save all sinners from all their sins. Jesus granted the salvation of being born again to all who believe in the heavenly work He accomplished through water and the Spirit.
Nicodemus was someone who knew the Old Testament well. “The Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” These words of Jesus, that He must be lifted up on this earth, were the words of truth about rebirth — that Jesus would save all sinners from the sins of the world by receiving baptism from John the Baptist and taking all the world’s sins upon His body.
Jesus Christ is God Himself and our Savior, and the baptism that Jesus received led Him to die on the cross. Therefore, this was God’s Word saying that whoever believes in Jesus as their Savior becomes one who is clothed together in Jesus’ baptism, and dies and is born again together with Christ. Later, Nicodemus came to understand and believe the meaning of these words.
Just as the Serpent was Lifted Up on the Pole
| Why was Jesus crucified? |
| Because He took away all sin through His baptism. |
Do you know the passage from the Old Testament where Moses lifted up a bronze serpent on a pole in the wilderness? In Numbers 21, it is recorded that the Israelites became discouraged because of their difficult journey through the wilderness. As a result, they complained against their leader Moses and against God. Because of their sin, God sent fiery serpents as judgment for their sin.
In the wilderness, these fiery serpents began biting and killing people throughout the desert where the Israelites had pitched their tents. Those who were bitten quickly became swollen, foamed at the mouth, and soon met their death.
When Moses, the leader, saw his people dying in agony from snake bites, he prayed before God. “God, please save these people.” Then God spoke to Moses, telling him to make a bronze serpent and lift it up high on a pole. And He said that whoever looks at the bronze serpent lifted on the pole would live.
Moses delivered God’s Word to the Israelites exactly as God had commanded. Among the Israelites, those who believed in their leader Moses’s words and looked up at the bronze serpent were healed from the snake’s venom. People must remove the venom of sin that Satan has placed within them. The people who believed Moses’s words and looked up at the pole lived.
Moses raised the bronze serpent high on a pole according to God’s Word. This represents the truth of salvation, where our Lord was baptized and died on the cross to completely end the sins and curses of sinners by removing all the sins and curses that Satan had caused the Israelites to commit by making them complain against God.
Our Lord came to this earth to save us, who were destined to die and be cursed because of being bitten by Satan the devil. He was baptized by John the Baptist to take upon His body all the sins of the world’s people, bore all the sins of worldly sinners, died on the cross, and rose again, thus removing all sins of those who believe in Him.
Just as in the Old Testament, everyone who looked at the bronze serpent lifted on the pole lived, so in the New Testament, Jesus received baptism from John the Baptist, taking upon Himself all the sins of the world, and died on the cross. Through Jesus Christ’s baptism and His blood shed on the cross, He granted the blessing of being born again to those who believe in Him as their Savior and accept His baptism and blood as salvation from sin.
Jesus took away all the sins of the world. Our Lord personally bore the sins of the world by receiving baptism from John at the Jordan River. He was then crucified and shed His blood to save those who believe in His water and blood as their salvation in their hearts.
“No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.” Jesus was baptized and shed His blood to remove all sins of humanity and opened the gates of heaven. “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Our Lord took upon Himself all the sins of humanity through His baptism and opened the gates of salvation by being crucified. Through this, He has delivered those who believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior from all their sins.
Jesus Christ eliminated all the sins of this world so that anyone who believes in the truth of water, blood, and the Holy Spirit can enter the kingdom of heaven. In other words, He saved us from all the sins of this world through the gospel of water and the Spirit. Being born again is given through faith in Jesus’ baptism, His blood, and believing that Jesus is God.
“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” What does this passage mean? Why was our Lord crucified on the cross? Did our Lord commit sins like us? Was our Lord weak like us? Was our Lord insufficient like us? No, He was not.
Then why did our Lord have to be hung on the cursed tree of the cross? It was because Jesus Christ received baptism from John to take and bear all the sins of the world.
Therefore, He was crucified on the cross to receive the judgment for sin in our place. This was to save and deliver all those who believe in Jesus from all their sins.
It is to give life to you and me who believe in Jesus Christ’s baptism, water and blood as salvation from our sins. Because the Lord took on all the sins of you and me who believe in Jesus by receiving baptism at the Jordan River Himself, the Lord could be hung on the cursed tree, the cross, and because Jesus took on the world’s sins by receiving baptism from John, He could shed His blood and receive judgment on the wooden cross in our place, thereby saving us from all sins.
Therefore, for us who believe in the ministry of removing sin that Jesus accomplished through His baptism and blood as our salvation, He has given new life, and this work is God’s work and being born again.
The Meaning of Water and the Spirit
| What is meant by water and the Spirit? |
| Water means the baptism of Jesus and the Spirit His being God. |
The Bible says that a person is born again when they believe in Jesus’ baptism and the blood of the cross. Becoming children of God, being born again, is accomplished through God’s written word of the gospel of washing away sins — through water, blood, and the Holy Spirit.
In the Bible, the Holy Spirit signifies that Jesus is God and tells us that Jesus came to earth in human flesh for the spiritual salvation of washing away humanity’s sins.
Moreover, as mentioned in 1 Peter 3:21, the water in the Bible signifies the baptism of Jesus Christ, referring to the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist, who represented all humanity. This baptism transferred all sins of humanity to Jesus, thereby abolishing them.
And the blood of Jesus’ cross speaks of how He saved all sinners from sin by receiving judgment in place of sinners. The baptism and blood accomplished by Jesus, who is God, this is the word of being born again.
Jesus Christ came to earth in human flesh, was baptized, and received all punishment for humanity’s sins on the cross, thereby saving all who believe from all the sins of the world. Therefore, we must believe that the baptism and blood that our Lord received was the ministry of salvation that eliminated all sins of all sinners.
This is precisely what it means when it is said that only those who are born again of water and the Spirit can enter and see the kingdom of God. Our Lord has saved you and me through the water of His baptism, His blood, and the Holy Spirit. Do you believe this?
Our Lord, as ‘the High Priest of Heaven,’ received baptism from John the Baptist, who was the high priest of earth, shed His blood and died on the cross, and rose from death to save humanity from all sins of the world. He became the Savior of believers by saving those who truly believe in their hearts this gospel of salvation.
In John chapter 10, the Lord said, “I am the door of the sheep.” The Lord stands at the gate of heaven. Who opens that gate of heaven? Our Lord opens it.
The Lord was baptized, shed His blood, and resurrected, saving those who believe in their hearts the salvation He accomplished from all their sins. And He allowed those who believe in the salvation of water and blood that He brought about to enter the gates of heaven.
Jesus turned away from sinners who, although they believed in Jesus, had sin in their hearts because they did not know through the Word how He removed their sins. The Lord turns away from those who cannot be born again because they do not believe in His baptism, blood, and the Holy Spirit, those who do not believe according to the Word, those who deny Jesus’ divinity, and those who deny that Jesus is God.
We must believe in the written Word that Jesus came to earth in human flesh, received baptism, and shed His blood to eliminate all sins of the world.
We must believe that He took on all sins through His baptism and saved us from sin by taking judgment on the cross in our place, and that He rose again after three days, ascended to heaven, and gave eternal life to those who believe.
As it is written, “The wages of sin is death,” God has allowed those who do not believe in Jesus, who saved humanity from all sins, as their Savior to perish.
Jesus, who is God, came to this earth and instead of sinners dying because of their sins, He received all the sins of the world through His baptism and took the judgment on the cross, thereby saving those who believe from all their sins.
Therefore, He has allowed those who believe in the salvation given by the Lord and have become holy in heart to enter heaven.
The gospel of regeneration through atonement, which saves from all the sins of the world, is precisely the gospel that comes through water, blood, and the Holy Spirit. The gospel of water and the Spirit is the gospel of truth that makes one born again.
Just as the Israelites who had sinned before God were healed from the venom by looking up at the bronze serpent lifted high on a pole, our Lord came to this earth and received baptism from John the Baptist to eliminate all sins of humanity, was lifted high on the cross and shed His blood to save humanity from all sins, punishment, and the curse of sin, so that we could receive salvation by looking upon and believing in this truth.
Being born again is accomplished through the gospel of water and the Spirit that eliminated all sins of humanity. This gospel of truth is the way for humanity to receive salvation and the way for you and me to receive salvation. Do you believe this? —Yes.— The word that we are born again through water and the Spirit is precisely the gospel of heaven.
Being born again, being reborn, regeneration, becoming a new person, being saved, becoming righteous without sin — these all refer to someone who is born again through faith in Jesus’ baptism and the blood of the cross. Those who believe in the gospel of water, blood, and the Spirit that Jesus accomplished have no sin. Such a person is one who is born again.
Just as Nicodemus did not know this fact, many people today who claim to believe in Jesus do not know this truth either. From a worldly perspective, how excellent a person was Nicodemus? Here in John chapter 3, verses 1 to 15, we find recorded the conversation Jesus had with Nicodemus.
Later, when Jesus died on the cross, this Nicodemus, as a member of the council, came to bury Jesus’ body. He came and said to Pilate, “Give me that body. I will go and bury it.” And he laid Jesus’ body in a tomb of stone that he had prepared for himself.
Jesus saved us believers from all sins through the baptism of water and the blood of the cross, which is the wages of sin death, and by His resurrection made us who believe in this truth to be born again as holy children of God— this is the gospel of being born again.
However, just as there were extremely few people who knew and believed this truth of being born again when Jesus came to earth, today among those who believe in Jesus, only about one in ten thousand knows and believes this truth.
In this present age, there are far too many people who do not know the truth of Jesus’ water and the Spirit. This is truly a pitiful and regrettable situation. Jesus has made all people who believe in this truth to be born again.
Through what faith did the Lord make us born again? Through the gospel of water, blood, and the Spirit, He gave new life and made us born again — we who believe in the Lord who took on all sins of the world when He was baptized, was judged and died on the cross, and was resurrected.
Jesus is the Lord of salvation who eliminated all sins of this world through the water of His baptism and His blood, and made us who believe in this truth to be born again.
John 3:16 says, “That whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” We have obtained eternal life by believing in Jesus. We are born again by believing in the gospel through which the Lord saved us with water and the Spirit.
If we do not believe in the gospel of salvation through His baptism and blood that Jesus gave us, if we do not believe that Jesus is God and our Savior, we will go to eternal hell.
However, Jesus, the Creator, came to earth in human flesh, received baptism, died on the cross and was resurrected — these heavenly works that make us born again are the salvation that Jesus accomplished.
That is why the Lord said to Nicodemus, “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”
What is God’s work that He has done for us humans? Jesus Himself came to earth in flesh and received baptism, and for those sins that were transferred through baptism, He was judged to death on the cross in our place, rose again from death, and became the eternal Savior for those who believe in Him from the beginning to the end of the world — this is God’s work.
Jesus not only created the heavens, earth, universe, and all things, but it is also the Lord’s work that He saved our souls from sin and gave us eternal life. This is the gospel of water and the Spirit that makes us born again. The work of making sinners righteous, this salvation is precisely the work that Jesus has done.
Jesus has saved you and me, us humans, from the devil and from the sins of this world. Jesus came to earth and to save sinners, He received baptism taking on the sins of the world, went to the cross to be crucified and die, rose from death, and saved all who believe from sin and judgment.
Our believing in this truth is our doing God’s work. The salvation of being born again is received through faith in the salvation of water and blood.
God has given us humans two kinds of grace: one is special grace, and the other is common grace.
Common grace from God is what provides for our physical life — the sun, air, nature, all plants, and food. This is called common grace because it is the Lord’s grace given universally to both the righteous and sinners alike.
Then what is special grace? It is this: Jesus, who is God, came to this earth to save us from all sins — we who were bound for hell in confusion due to sin.
He received baptism to take on all sins of this world and shed His blood on the cross, taking judgment in our place. This special grace is that He makes all who believe in this truth to be born again by saving them from sin.
The Special Blessing
| What is the special blessing? |
| Being born again through the baptism of Jesus, His crucifixion and His resurrection. |
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” This is the special grace of God given to us.
Jesus, wearing human flesh, came to this earth, was baptized, and crucified to remove all our sins and give us eternal new life. This is the special grace, and what Jesus did to save us, the special grace of salvation. Believing this truth, we receive the special grace of God, being born again of water and the Spirit, the grace of salvation. Do you believe? —Yes.—
Claiming to believe in Jesus while rejecting the special grace of God and advocating an ethical Christian life is a vain faith.
One who is born again through God’s special grace can discern whether another person is born again or not.
Throughout my many sermons, regardless of what I preach, I have never failed to deliver the gospel of being born again through Jesus’s baptism and the cross. Whether I am preaching the words of Genesis, the words of Revelation, or any scripture, the conclusion always reaches the special grace of God given through the new birth provided by Jesus.
This is because Jesus’ baptism and his death on the cross to save sinners from their sins is the core message of the Bible, and this truth of the gospel most clearly reveals God’s grace of salvation.
Salvation through Jesus’s baptism and the cross is God’s special grace. But what about the false pastors of this world? They do not know the word of God’s special grace.
They use Christian ethics and human morality to disguise themselves as angels of light in God’s name, doing their own work of revealing themselves. Yes, they may perform miracles and heal illnesses, but such acts are far from God’s special grace and are merely evil.
Dear brothers and sisters, this truth —that the Lord gave us the gospel of the remission of sins for us who were fundamentally sinners— is His special grace. Through this special grace, He makes believers born again.
God made us, who were fundamentally sinners, into new people and children of God through the water of baptism, blood, and resurrection. This truth that makes believers righteous and free from sin is the Lord’s special grace. Do you believe? —Yes.— Have you also received that special grace? —Yes.—
Jesus’s baptism, blood, death, and resurrection — this is the gospel of special grace given through water and the Spirit. We truly give thanks for our Lord having saved us by this special grace.
Today, many people who claim to believe in Jesus do not know the truth of salvation—the grace given to us, who, as fundamental sinners, had no choice but to go to hell. This grace is the gospel of Jesus’ baptism and His blood, which allows us to be born again through water and the Spirit.
Therefore, it is truly regrettable that they base their faith on religious belief, ethical belief in Christianity, or doctrinal belief learned in the past, and thus live a religious life without being born again.
With so many people believing in Jesus around the world and in our country, and with such a long history... they still believe in Jesus without knowing the truth of being born again, which is God’s special grace.
In this last age, the Lord will make this gospel of truth known to everyone—those who are to believe will believe, and those who do not will remain under judgment as they are.
A sinner can become righteous and enter the kingdom of heaven only by being born again through the Word of water and the Spirit. Many Christians desire to be born again and strive to achieve it. However, while they often say that one must be born again to enter heaven, they do not actually know through which Word and how specifically one becomes born again.
That is why many people live a superstitious faith, thinking in their own minds, ‘Since I believe in Jesus, I must have been born again,’ or ‘At that time, my body and heart felt fervent, so I must have been born again,’ relying on their emotions to assume they have been born again.
What is the Word of God that Truly Gives Rebirth?
| What is the difference between faith and religion? |
| Faith is to believe what Jesus did to save us, while religion is to rely on one’s own thoughts and works. |
The Bible clearly states in 1 John 5:4-6 that the elements of being born again are water, blood, and the Spirit of God. True rebirth comes through God’s water, blood, and the Spirit.
If we, who believe in Jesus, want to be born again, we must understand and remember that it is only through faith in the clearly written Word of God—the truth of water, blood, and the Spirit—that we can be born again. We must understand that we cannot be born again through visions we see, speaking in tongues, or any physical sensory experiences.
John 3 tells us that unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. If one is to be born again, one generally has to believe in Jesus twice.
When people first believe in Jesus, they often believe in Him religiously. Through God’s commandment, the Law, they come to realize their sins. Initially, they believe in Jesus religiously and only come to know that they are wicked sinners. This is because they realize their sinfulness through God’s commandment, the Law.
Everyone, when you believe in Jesus, you must not believe in Him as just one of the many religions in this world. Christianity is not a religion. It is the truth of salvation that grants life.
If people understand and believe in Christianity as merely one of many religions, then after believing in Jesus, nothing will remain. Instead, they will be left with confusion, emptiness, and countless indelible sins before God filling their hearts. Isn’t that true?
No one would want to believe in Jesus and become a hypocritical religious person like the Pharisees. Surely, they would have wanted to become truly born-again Christians. However, they will end up being great sinners, living in sin as hypocrites before the Lord and people. This outcome occurs because they have continued to believe in Jesus without knowing the truth of being born again.
If people believe in Jesus and live a life of faith without being born again, they will only see Jesus as part of a good religion. As a result, their own thoughts will become confused, and their hearts will be left with nothing but emptiness.
Those who have believed in Jesus until now without being born again have believed in Jesus wrongly. Therefore, they have become hypocrites before God and people, pretending to be more faithful and noble Christians, becoming false religious people.
Religious people are those who thoroughly hide themselves and act hypocritically, and if you are one of such religious people, you must turn back. If you believe in Jesus as a religion, you cannot escape from sin, and you will always remain a sinner, always be hypocritical, and always live in sighs. To escape from all your sins after believing in Jesus, you must clearly believe in the recorded truth that came through water, blood, and the Spirit.
When you come to know that Jesus’s Baptism is the Secret of Salvation
| What makes us born again? |
| The baptism of Jesus, His death on the Cross, and His resurrection |
The Bible says that what makes people born again is the imperishable and unfading Word. Let’s look at what Apostle Peter wrote about Jesus’s baptism. First, in 1 Peter 3:21, it is written, “There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism.”
The Bible records in 1 Peter 3:21 that Jesus’s baptism is our salvation. Those who believe in Jesus must know and believe in the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist, not the baptism we received.
When we believe that the baptism Jesus received was the Word to give us new life by removing all our sins as fundamental sinners, we receive the salvation in which the Holy Spirit seals us.
Because when we know and believe that the baptism Jesus received from John is the word of salvation for the remission of sins, we are saved from all sins once and for all, become righteous once and for all, and receive eternal life once and for all.
In other words, by accepting in our hearts and believing in the truth of being born again through the salvation that God has given us, we receive salvation from all the sins of the world once and for all.
That is why I said that being born again means being born twice. At first, one believes in Jesus as a religion, but later, by realizing and believing in the true truth, one is born again.
The meaning of the name ‘Jesus’ is ‘for He will save His people from their sins’ (Matthew 1:21). If we believe in Jesus and correctly understand and believe what Jesus did, all sins disappear, and a person becomes a new creature, becoming sinless and born again.
At first, one believes in Jesus and leads a religious life, but the second time, they hear and believe in their heart that the baptism and blood that Jesus received for us is the gospel of salvation that has removed all the sins of the world, and they are born again.
What is the truth that allows the Lord to make us born again? It is that Jesus, who is God, came to this earth, received baptism from John, shed His blood on the cross, and was resurrected from death.
Being born again comes from believing in Jesus, who saved us through water and blood, as our God and our Savior.
We must understand how the people of the Old Testament were born again.
The Laying on of Hands and Blood that Removed Sin in the Old Testament
| What are God’s attributes? |
| Justice and Love |
Then, what is the gospel of being born again in the Old Testament? First, let us examine the gospel of salvation found in Leviticus chapter 1. We must understand through the Scriptures how the people in the Old Testament era were born again.
In Leviticus 1:1-3, it is written: ‘Now the Lord called to Moses, and spoke to him from the tabernacle of meeting, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of the livestock—of the herd and of the flock. If his offering is a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish; he shall offer it of his own free will at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord.”’
The book of Leviticus clearly explains through the sacrificial laws how people could be united with God. The sacrificial laws that appear in the Old Testament are truths that we must know in order to be born again. Therefore, we all must know and believe these words well.
God called Moses and spoke to him from the tabernacle where He dwelled. This was to remove the sins of the Israelites.
‘If any of you brings an offering to the LORD, you shall bring your offering of livestock—of the herd or of the flock. If his offering is a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish; he shall offer it at the door of the tent of meeting, that it may be accepted before the LORD.’
In the Old Testament, when the Israelites broke God’s Law and committed sin, they offered an unblemished animal to God to receive the remission of their sins daily. However, they could not offer just any animal to God; they had to offer an unblemished animal as commanded by God. And they had to offer it according to the Law so that it would be acceptable to God.
The offering that would be acceptable to God had to be, first, without blemish, and second, one must transfer their sins by laying hands on the head of the sacrifice, and then they received the removal of all their sins by killing the sacrificial animal, applying its blood to the horns of the altar, and pouring the rest on the ground.
The sacrificial law within the tabernacle that God gave was the law of salvation through which God bestowed grace upon all the people of Israel by removing their sins.
The Law was given as 613 commandments, consisting of “do’s and don’ts” before God, and precepts that people had to keep in their lives.
God gave the Law to the Israelites, and while they knew that God’s Law was right, they did not have the ability to live according to God’s Law.
This is because fundamentally, humans inherited twelve sins from Adam. As a result, humans lost the ability to do what is right before God. Thus, humans became unable to act according to God’s commanded Law. Instead, they became people who could only commit fundamental sins that they themselves did not want to commit. All people were destined to be born as sinners and die as sinners.
However, because God loved mankind, He gave the Law of sacrifice so that all people could be saved from their sins. God gave the sacrificial law of the tabernacle so that the people of Israel and all humanity could receive the remission of sins through the sacrificial law that God established.
Through the sacrificial law, God spoke to us of His justice and love and granted salvation to humanity.
God gave the sacrificial law through which people could receive the remission of sins and entrusted the sacrifices to the tribe of Levi. Among Jacob’s twelve sons, only the tribe of Levi was given the priestly authority to offer sacrifices.
Moses and High Priest Aaron came from the tribe of Levi. And God gave the sacrificial law for the remission of sins to the high priest from the tribe of Levi. Therefore, if we understand well how the tribe of Levi offered sacrifices to God in the tabernacle, we too can be born again.
We need to understand well God’s Words about the sacrificial law of the tabernacle. This is the most important message that God deals with in the Old Testament, and in the New Testament, its fulfillment was accomplished through the blessing of being born again of water and the Spirit through Jesus Christ.
God called Moses from the tent of meeting and commanded him to appoint his brother Aaron as the high priest, who would transfer all the sins of the people onto the sacrificial goat.
Let us look at the recorded words of what God commanded Moses to do. In Leviticus 1:2, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of the livestock—of the herd and of the flock.’”
God had already determined the sacrificial offering that would bear our sins. God said that if anyone wants to have all their sins removed before God, they must offer an unblemished bull or sheep as a sacrifice.
Furthermore, it is written, “If his offering is a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish; he shall offer it of his own free will at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord.”
In the Bible, the word ‘burnt offering’ refers to the sacrifice where instead of the sinner dying, an animal receives the sinner’s sins through the laying on of hands and receives judgment in their place.
Here, ‘acceptable’ means to receive with joy. Then how should the offering be presented for God to receive it joyfully? The answer is given in verse 4.
It says, “Then he shall put his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.” Please remember the word “lay your hand” here. Also, ‘accepted’ means that God gladly receives the sacrificial offering in place of the sinner.
When a sinner lays hands on the head of the burnt offering, the sinner’s sins are transferred to the sacrificial animal. Therefore, before offering the sacrifice to God, the sinner must first perform this law of transferring their sins by laying hands on the head of the sacrificial animal, only then could God gladly accept the offering in place of the sinful person.
In the Old Testament, when people sinned or failed to live according to God’s Law, they had to offer unblemished livestock such as goats, sheep, cattle, or doves as sacrificial offerings before God in their place. And before offering their sacrifice before God, they had to transfer their sins to the animal by laying their hands on its head.
Then, after killing the sacrificial animal that had received their sins, they had to apply its blood to the horns of the altar and pour the blood on the ground to receive the remission of sins according to God’s established law. Since the wages of sin is death, to pay for sin and be freed from it, sacrifices had to be offered according to the law that God had established.
Leviticus 1:5 records, “He shall kill the bull before the Lord; and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall bring the blood and sprinkle the blood all around on the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of meeting.” We must understand that the sacrificial laws recorded in the Bible are essential truths that we must know and reflect upon in our hearts.
At the entrance of the tabernacle stood the burnt offering altar, which had four horns, one at each corner. When a sinner laid hands on the head of the sacrificial animal, transferring their sins to it, the priest would then kill the animal and apply its blood to the four horns of the burnt offering altar.
In the Bible, the horns of the altar represent judgment, so applying blood to the horns means that the sacrificial offering was killed in place of the sinner and paid the price of sin with blood.
Therefore, God removed the person’s sins upon seeing the unblemished sacrificial offering, the laying on of hands, and the blood applied to the horns.
The sacrificial animal must shed blood because the wages of sin is death. Since the life of all flesh is in the blood, blood must be shed. Hebrews 9 states, “without shedding of blood there is no remission.” Thus, God’s law that the wages of sin is death was fulfilled through the death of the sacrificial animal.
This blood should have been shed by the sinner, but instead the sacrificial animal received the laying on of hands and was killed in place of the sinner, and the priest applies its blood to the four horns of the altar. These horns, as shown in the New Testament in Revelation 20:11-15, refer to the Book of Works.
Therefore, applying blood to the horns of the altar is equivalent to applying one’s own blood to the Book of Works, which is judgment. This truth of salvation, where blood is applied to the horns of the altar, testifies that the sacrificial animal received the sinner’s sins through the laying on of hands and shed its blood as judgment for those sins, thus paying the price for sin.
The sins that people commit before God are recorded in two places. One is on the tablet of people’s hearts, and the other is in the judgment book before God. Thus, all human sins are engraved both before God and in people’s hearts. Therefore, the Bible states that human sins are recorded in two places.
In Jeremiah 17:1, it is written, “The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; With the point of a diamond it is engraved On the tablet of their heart, And on the horns of your altars.” And in Leviticus 17:11, it states, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood.” Since blood is the life of a person, the reason for applying the blood of the sacrificial animal that received the laying on of hands and was killed to the horns is because blood is God’s law that removes sin (Hebrews 9:22).
“And he shall skin the burnt offering and cut it into its pieces. The sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar, and lay the wood in order on the fire. Then the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat in order on the wood that is on the fire upon the altar; but he shall wash its entrails and its legs with water. And the priest shall burn all on the altar as a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the Lord” (Leviticus 1:6-9).
The priest cuts the sacrificial animal into pieces and burns it on the burnt offering altar as an offering to God which is called either a burnt offering or an offering made by fire.
This sacrifice symbolically shows that when we sin before God, we should shed our blood and be killed like this animal, and then enter the fires of hell to receive judgment for our sins. This burnt offering was God’s righteous sacrifice of judgment for sin.
God fulfilled His law of righteous love and salvation through the sacrificial burnt offering — through the laying on of hands on the sacrificial animal, its death, blood, and burning by fire, completing both His law of justice and His law of love.
Because God is righteous, He had to judge by fire the sacrificial animal that received our sins through the laying on of hands, instead of us dying. Because God loves people, He had to judge all the sins of sinners through the sacrifice of the burnt offering.
The sacrificial law of the Old Testament is a shadow of Jesus Christ. Therefore, in the New Testament era, because our Lord loves us, He had to receive baptism from John the Baptist, the representative of mankind, taking upon Himself all the sins of the world, and become the sacrificial offering in place of sinners by dying and shedding His blood on the cross.
The salvation from sin accomplished through Jesus’ baptism and blood was to save all who believe in Jesus from all the sins of the world once and for all.
Atonement for a Day’s Sin in the Old Testament
| Whom does the unblemished sin offering of the Old Testament symbolize? |
| Jesus Christ |
Let’s look at Leviticus 4:27-31, “If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally by doing something against any of the commandments of the Lord in anything which ought not to be done, and is guilty, or if his sin which he has committed comes to his knowledge, then he shall bring as his offering a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has committed. And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill the sin offering at the place of the burnt offering. Then the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour all the remaining blood at the base of the altar. He shall remove all its fat, as fat is removed from the sacrifice of the peace offering; and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a sweet aroma to the Lord. So the priest shall make atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him.”
Not only the Israelites, who are descendants of Adam, but all people in this world are born as complete bundles of sin. Therefore, people’s inner hearts are bundled with sin. People are bundled with numerous sins such as evil thoughts, lustful hearts, murder, pride, theft, lies, and so on.
In the Old Testament, for such people to remove the sins they committed in one day, they had to bring an unblemished sacrificial animal before God, lay their hands on the head of the animal at the tabernacle altar in the presence of the priest to transfer their sins at once. Then that animal had to be killed, and the priest would offer the rest of the sacrifice to God on behalf of the people, removing their sins of one day and making them reconciled with God.
If there were no God’s commandments in the Law telling people what to do and what not to do, people would not know what sins they have committed even after sinning. That’s why God gave us the Law that makes us aware of sin (Romans 3:20).
We must understand what sin is through God’s Law. We become aware of our sins when we examine ourselves against God’s codified Law of “do’s and don’ts” that He has established.
People come to know their sins not by measuring them according to their individual conscience, but by examining themselves against God’s Law.
Therefore, people do not commit sins intentionally, but because they were born as sinners, they commit sins unknowingly in their lives. All the trespasses that people commit due to their weakness are considered sins. All of these —both the sins people commit knowingly and all the sins they commit unknowingly— are called sins of ignorance.
People are fundamentally imperfect. Therefore, even the Israelites commit sins of trespasses unknowingly because of their weakness. Human sins and trespasses are categorized as follows: bad thoughts in the heart are called sin, and actually committing those sins through actions is called transgression. And all of these combined are called the sins of the world.
However, even if God wants to remove a person’s sins, He cannot remove the sins of those who claim they have no sin. How can sin be removed from someone who insists they are without sin? Therefore, a person must first acknowledge and accept before God that they are a sinner destined for hell.
In the Old Testament, all sins were transferred through the laying on of hands. “Ah, now I have no sin” — It was through this faith that they became free from sin, because they transferred their sins to the sacrificial animal through the laying on of hands, so they no longer had to die for their sins.
Through the sacrificial animal, laying on of hands, and blood, both God’s love and righteous judgment were fulfilled, and this is the truth of salvation.
Because God made humans from dust, people are but a handful of dust. Pouring the blood of the sacrificial animal that received all sins through laying on of hands at the bottom of the altar (the ground) and applying it to the horns of the altar means that the sins engraved both before God and in our hearts have been erased. This is because the price for the sins recorded in our hearts has been paid.
“And the priest shall burn it on the altar for a sweet aroma to the Lord” signifies in the Bible that the oil directly represents the Holy Spirit. Thus, to atone for the sins we have committed, we must offer sacrifices according to the laws set by God, and we must believe and accept in our hearts the sacrificial method of salvation as ordained by God.
God commanded to set apart and offer unblemished lambs, goats, or cattle as sacrificial offerings. In the Old Testament, the sacrificial animal was a chosen offering. A cow is an animal that chews the cud. The requirement for the sacrificial offering to be without defect is because Jesus Christ, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and came to this earth, was to be that sacrificial offering.
In the Old Testament, people could receive the remission of sins by laying their hands on unblemished lambs or goats to transfer their sins, and through the priest offering sacrifices with the blood. Similarly in the New Testament, Jesus took on all the sins of the world once and for all by being baptized by John the Baptist, and by shedding His blood and receiving judgment in our place, He made it possible for all who believe in Jesus as their Savior to receive salvation from all sins.
Only Aaron’s Descendants could become High Priests
Looking at the Old Testament, not just anyone could become a priest — only Levites could become priests. Among the Levites, only Aaron’s descendants could serve in the position of High Priest. If someone from the tribe of Judah were to say, “I am of royal blood, so I will offer the sacrifice,” they would either be struck with leprosy or be immediately put to death by God. God had predetermined the Law that in the sacrificial system, the High Priest must be a descendant of Aaron.
The Atonement for the Year’s Sins of the Israelite Nation
In the Old Testament, when people sinned, they had to bring an unblemished animal daily before the priest. The procedure began with laying hands on the head of the sacrifice to transfer their sins, then cutting the throat of the sacrificial animal. The priest would then apply the blood to the horns of the altar, pour it on the ground, cut the meat into pieces, separate the fat, place it on the altar, and burn it together with the fat as an offering. Thus, the Israelites received daily absolution from sins through these sacrifices.
When the Israelites sinned, they needed one animal, and when they sinned again, another animal was required. As this continued, the number of animals was vastly insufficient compared to the sins they committed.
Therefore, the Israelites became weary of offering daily sacrifices for their sins and became negligent in offering sacrifices before God. Because the people’s obligation to offer sacrifices to God was endless, they began to develop a desire in their hearts to stop making sacrifices.
No matter how hard we try to live according to God’s Law, we cannot help but sin, and although we try to repent daily to resolve these sins, our prayers of repentance fall far short compared to our sins. Therefore, true freedom from sin is only possible through faith in the salvation law established by God.
No matter how much a person believes in God and tries to live according to the laws God has set, they reach a limit due to insufficient ability. Thus, they ultimately come to realize their own weakness and inability to live according to the Law, acknowledging that they are destined for hell.
That is why God, from His side, established a sacrificial law for the Israelites that would eliminate all their accumulated sins for the entire year at once (Leviticus 16:17-22).
In Leviticus 16:29, it says “This shall be a statute forever for you.” This ordinance refers to an established law, and what was established is found in Leviticus 16:29-31, “In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you. For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever.”
The Israelites received great rest in their hearts when, on the tenth day of the seventh month, the High Priest offered a sacrifice once on behalf of the Israelite people, completely removing all the sins that had accumulated over the year, thus giving the people great rest through their faith.
In Leviticus 16:6, it says “Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house.” Aaron, as the High Priest of the Old Testament era, had to offer a bull for his own atonement, and similarly had to present a burnt offering before God through the laying on of hands and blood.
So on the tenth day of the seventh month, High Priest Aaron offered the yearly atonement sacrifice on behalf of the Israelite nation. Normally, even priests could not be in the holy place. Therefore, on the tenth day of the seventh month, Aaron first offered sacrifice for himself and his household, and then offered sacrifice on behalf of all the people to remove their year’s worth of sins.
Leviticus 16:7-10 states, “He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord’s lot fell, and offer it as a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it, and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness.” Here, two goats were taken on the tenth day of the seventh month.
At this time, High Priest Aaron first offered sacrifice for himself and his family to receive the remission of sins, and then “cast lots for the two goats,” with one lot for the Lord and one lot for the scapegoat.
In the Bible, Azazel means “to put forth” or “to send away.” This signifies presenting the sacrificial offering for all the people before God.
Of the two goats, one was offered before the Lord, and in the tabernacle, the High Priest laid hands on it on behalf of the people to transfer the year’s worth of sins of the Israelite nation.
After laying hands on it, killing it and collecting its blood, he would enter the holy place before God’s ark and sprinkle the sacrificial blood seven times on the ark to remove the year’s sins of the Israelite nation.
The other goat was used when High Priest Aaron laid hands on it in front of the Israelite people, transferring all the sins committed by the Israelite people over the year to that sacrificial goat, so that this goat would receive judgment in place of the Israelite nation. By offering this sacrifice to God, he removed all of Israel’s sins for the year, thus bringing them salvation.
To atone for the year’s sins of the Israelites, it was necessary to have two sacrificial animals and two kinds of sacrifices offered by the high priest. And these sacrifices had to be conducted according to the laws set by God.
The sacrificial offering had to be without blemish according to God’s Law, and the sacrificial offering must receive the transfer of sins through the laying on of hands by the High Priest, be killed, and its blood sprinkled seven times on the east side of the ark.
Without the sacrifice offered by the high priest, the people of Israel would never have received atonement. But through the ordained sacrificial system of laying on of hands, blood, the high priest, and the sacrificial offering, God provided salvation by removing the Israelites’ sins for the entire year at once. This salvation was the method and law of salvation of a righteous God.
God gave Aaron the office of High Priest to offer sacrifices of atonement for God and the people. Aaron had the authority to offer the great atonement sacrifice on the tenth day of the seventh month, and by performing this duty before God, he completely removed all the people’s sins and made them clean.
When the Israelite people saw High Priest Aaron, representing the Israelite nation, laying hands on the sacrificial goat to transfer all of Israel’s sins for the year, they became confident that all their sins committed during the year were removed. The salvation from sin for the Old Testament Israelites came through the sacrifice offered by High Priest Aaron on their behalf on the tenth day of the seventh month.
For the People
Aaron, in front of all the Israelites, offered one of the two goats before God, while for the other, he laid his hands on the sacrificial goat in front of the Israelites, saying, “Oh God, the people of Israel have committed murder, adultery, theft; they have been jealous, quarrelsome, bowed to idols, violated the Sabbath, taken Your name in vain, and have committed all sins against what You commanded to ‘do’ and ‘not do.’” He laid his hands on the sacrificial animal. At that time, a year’s worth of the people’s sins were transferred to the goat through the laying on of hands.
Looking at Leviticus 16:18-20, it says, “And he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord, and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. Then he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, cleanse it, and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel. And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat.” This is how they offered one goat as a sacrifice before God.
Then in verses 21-22, it says, “Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.”
The scapegoat, after receiving the sins of the Israelites through the laying on of hands by the high priest, wandered alive in the uninhabited wilderness and died in place of the people.
The sins of humans are recorded in two places, and the sins recorded in both places must be cleansed. First, one must receive atonement before God, and second, one must receive removal of the sins that exist in one’s own heart.
For the sins of people recorded in God’s book of judgment, the sacrificial offering dies, and its blood is applied so that people’s sins are washed away and atonement is received.
God sees that blood and accepts it as payment for the sins of the Israelite people, acknowledging that through the laying on of hands, all the sins of the Israelite people were transferred to this animal, and this animal died and was judged in their place. This is how He acknowledges and accepts that sacrifice. He acknowledges that faith.
In the Old Testament, the gospel of cleansing sins through the laying on of hands and blood was God’s gospel of salvation from sin. Please do not forget that this gospel of salvation remained the same in the New Testament era.
Through this process, the Israelites were saved from all their sins by faith, believing that all the sins they had committed throughout the year were transferred to the Azazel goat at once through the laying on of hands.
In the Old Testament, those who believed in the sacrificial law of laying on of hands and blood, which God established to remove all sins for one year, gained the assurance of salvation that all their sins were washed away. All sacrifices in the Old Testament were a shadow of the gospel of cleansing of sins in the New Testament through Jesus, where sinners are born again as righteous people.
The Gospel of Sin Removal in the New Testament
How was the removal of all people’s sins accomplished in the New Testament? In Matthew 1:21-25, it says, ‘“And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.’
Our Lord came to this earth as Immanuel, God with us, to save us from all our sins. Therefore, His name was called Jesus.
Jesus came as the Savior of all humanity in human form to remove all sins of all people who were created in God’s image. Our Lord came to this earth and performed the work of atonement to save us from sin.
The Gospel of Being Born Again
In Matthew 3:13-17, ‘Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him. When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”’
In the New Testament, Jesus saved all sinners from all their sins by receiving baptism from John the Baptist at the Jordan River at the age of 30, where the sins of the world were transferred to Him. By receiving baptism from John the Baptist at this time, Jesus fulfilled all the righteousness of God.
Why did Jesus receive Baptism in the Jordan River where all the Sins of the World were transferred to Him?
| What is revealed in the gospel? |
| The righteousness of God |
In Matthew 3:13-17, it is recorded that Jesus, the High Priest of heaven, and John the Baptist, the representative of the earth and the last High Priest, met to fulfill God’s righteousness. Through this event, by receiving baptism where all the sins of the world’s sinners were transferred to Jesus, He removed all the sins of the world.
John the Baptist, who baptized Jesus, is the greatest among those born of women. In Matthew 11:11, Jesus testified about John the Baptist, saying he was “among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist.”
Just as in the Old Testament, when the sacrificial lamb received the laying on of hands from the sinner or the high priest, all the sins of the one who laid hands, the sins of the people of Israel, were transferred to the sacrificial lamb and they were made sinless, In the New Testament, when Jesus received baptism from John the Baptist, all the sins of the world were transferred to Jesus who came as the Lamb, and those who believe in this truth receive salvation through faith.
The gospel of being born again through the remission of sins is the gospel that all the sins of the world are completely washed away through Jesus’ baptism and blood. Therefore, the gospel of Jesus’ baptism, through which all the sins of the world were transferred to Him, is the gospel permitted by God, which saves humanity from the sins of the world and makes people sinless, fulfilling God’s righteousness.
Jesus received baptism as the most appropriate way to bear the sins of all sinners to accomplish God’s salvation.
What does ‘all righteousness’ mean? It means that Jesus received baptism to bear humanity’s sins and to remove their sins from His side, making all who believe in Him righteous. Jesus’ baptism was to cleanse the sins of us sinners by Himself.
“For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith” (Romans 1:17). The righteousness of God refers to God sending His Son to this earth to be baptized by John and to shed His blood, thereby removing all sins to save all people from all the sins of the world.
In the New Testament, the righteousness of God is Jesus’ baptism and blood.
What is the righteousness that we sinners receive from God? It is that Jesus received baptism from John the Baptist, equivalent to the laying on of hands, to remove the sins of sinners.
The reason we, who were sinners, become righteous is that about 2,000 years ago, Jesus received baptism from John the Baptist, and through this, all our sins and all the sins of the world were transferred to Jesus Christ. Those who believe in this truth become righteous through the salvation of Jesus, who bore all the sins of the world.
By accepting the salvation of this truth, we become righteous people with no sin, and this is God’s righteousness, through which we obtain salvation before God.
Matthew 3:15 states, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” When Jesus was baptized, Matthew 3:16-17 says, ‘the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”’
These words are God the Father Himself testifying that His Son fulfilled all righteousness through His baptism, bearing witness to this salvation.
God the Father Himself testified, “This Jesus who has just been baptized by John is my Son.” God the Father personally testified that His Son received baptism to bear all the sins of humanity and to save humanity from all sins.
God the Father’s personal testimony was to ensure that the work done by Jesus, His Son —the righteous work of removing the world’s sins through baptism— would not be in vain.
Jesus, while being the Son of God, is also the Savior who saved sinners from the sins of the world. When God the Father testified “with whom I am well pleased,” it means He was pleased with this truth that Jesus, in obedience to the Father’s will, took upon Himself all the sins of the world through baptism.
The word “baptism” contains meanings such as ‘to wash,’ ‘to transfer,’ ‘to pass on,’ and ‘to bury.’ Because all our sins were transferred to Jesus when He was baptized, we can receive salvation from all the sins of the world by believing this in our hearts.
The baptism that Jesus received is the fulfillment of salvation, God’s prophetic word that connects the Old and New Testaments. Thus, the Old and New Testament scriptures finally match as pairs.
These two paired events are: in the Old Testament, the high priest laying his hands on the sacrificial animal to transfer one year’s worth of sins of the Israelites (Leviticus 16:29), and in the New Testament, Jesus receiving baptism from John the Baptist to remove all the sins of humanity (Matthew 3:15-17).
Jesus received baptism to save sinners from the sins of the world. Because of Jesus’ baptism that bore our sins, all the sins in our hearts were transferred to Jesus, and those who accept this truth of salvation in their hearts —that all personal sins and original sin committed in the world were transferred to Jesus— have all their sins completely washed away from their hearts and are fully saved from all the sins of the world.
If you do not accept Jesus’ baptism and the cross by faith in your personal heart, you cannot wash away sins through any actions or any religion.
If all our sins were transferred and removed by any means other than Jesus’ baptism and the blood of the cross, it would not be the fulfillment of God’s Word.
The true salvation is Jesus’ baptism that bore all the sins of the world, and His judgment on the cross is the true salvation of Jesus for humanity.
Will you accept these words of salvation? Or will you not accept them? These are not the words of men. These are the words of God.
Jesus died on the cross because He had taken on the sins of the world through His baptism, and as a result, He was judged and shed His blood on the cross. And He rose from death to save those who believe. Jesus’ death on the cross was the result of the baptism He received to bear the sins of this world.
Romans 8:3-4 records, “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
Because human flesh was too weak to keep God’s Law and was destined for hell, the truth that Jesus took all the worldly sins of humanity through His baptism and bore all sins in His flesh was precisely the baptism Jesus received from John.
Because Jesus received baptism, His death on the cross could occur. This is the primitive wisdom of God’s gospel of removing sin.
If until now you have only believed in the cross of Jesus, then turn back and accept the gospel of salvation through both Jesus’ baptism, which bore all the sins of the world, and the blood of the cross. Only then can you become a child of God.
The Original Gospel
| What’s the original gospel? |
| The gospel of the water and the Spirit |
The original gospel is the gospel of atonement that blotted out sin — this is the gospel of Jesus’ baptism and blood, death and resurrection, which God accomplished through water and the Spirit. Our Lord washed away the sins of the world once and for all by receiving baptism in the Jordan River, and by dying on the cross and shedding His precious blood, He gave salvation to those who believe in the baptism of Jesus and salvation through His blood. Those who are saved received salvation by believing the words of truth of the original gospel in their hearts.
Therefore, all sins—past, present, and even all future sins that will be committed—have been completely washed away and removed through faith. Now those who believe and receive salvation are saved from all sins by believing in the truth of Jesus’ baptism (laying on of hands), the blood of the cross (judgment), and resurrection.
Do you now believe? Yes, I believe. Then you have become righteous.
Now let’s look at the recorded words of what happened after Jesus was baptized. First, in John 1:29, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
The Bible records events as happening “the next day.” John the Baptist testified that Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is because John the Baptist had transferred all the sins of the world to Jesus through baptism at the Jordan River.
A witness can only testify to what they know for certain. Similarly, John the Baptist could testify about Jesus the next day, saying “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” because he had personally baptized Jesus.
The gospel of being born again is this message that Jesus received baptism and took all the sins of this world to the cross.
“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) This Word means that Jesus took away all the sins of the world from the beginning to the end of the world through His baptism.
The sins you committed from when you were born from your mother’s womb until you were 10 years old are also the sins of the world. Do you acknowledge this truth that those sins were passed on to Jesus when He was baptized? Yes, I acknowledge. Also, you commit sins in the world from ages 11 to 20. These sins were also passed on to Jesus through baptism. Do you believe this? Yes, I believe. Then, were the sins from ages 21 to 30 also passed on? Yes, they were passed on.
Are the sins that you will commit in the future also the sins of the world? Yes, they are the sins of the world. Were those sins also passed on to Jesus’ body? Yes, they were passed on. Do you truly believe that all your sins were passed on to Jesus through the baptism He received? Yes, I believe. Do you believe that Jesus took responsibility for all the sins of the world through His baptism? Yes, I believe.
Do you also want to receive salvation from all the sins of the world? If you want to be saved, believe in Jesus’ baptism and the blood of the cross as your salvation from sin and as the gospel of being born again. If you believe, you are saved.
This is the salvation of being born again that God acknowledges. Jesus’ baptism and blood are the original gospel of being born again, the salvation from sin that God gave to sinners, and the gift through which one can be born again.
True faith and true rebirth are believing in the salvation of rebirth granted through the baptism received by the Lord and the blood shed on the cross, and embracing and believing in God’s love of salvation with all our hearts. The water and the blood of Jesus, this is the word of rebirth. We must accept the word of truth recorded in the Bible to be born again.
Religion and Faith
| What witness do we have in the hearts of the born again? |
| That Jesus blotted out all our sins with His baptism and blood |
If you believe in Jesus as a religion, you create Jesus according to your own thoughts and arbitrarily decide whether you are saved or not.
However, salvation from sin has nothing to do with our thoughts. God loved us and planned our salvation this way: In the Old Testament, He removed sins through sacrificial offerings, laying on of hands, and blood. In the New Testament, Jesus, who came as the Lamb of God, took on the sins of the world through His baptism and eliminated all the sins of humanity by shedding His blood on the cross.
Therefore, we receive salvation through this true faith of salvation, by knowing and accepting the truth of this original gospel.
Without the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist, there is no passing on of sin, and without the shedding of blood, there is no salvation from sin. All our sins were passed on to Jesus and washed away through His baptism, and as judgment for the sins of this world, Jesus bore all those sins, went to the cross, and paid the full price for those sins by shedding His precious blood.
Therefore, by accepting the truth of regeneration through the baptism and blood received by the Lord, we are saved from all the sins of the world.
True faith is believing in God’s righteous truth of salvation, where Jesus took on and completely washed away all the sins of the world when He was baptized for us, and received judgment for our sins by shedding His blood on the cross in our place.
God so loved humanity that to save everyone from all sins, we receive salvation through believing and accepting the gospel of being born again — through His baptism and the shedding of His blood on the cross.
Only by accepting and believing in this gospel, which the Lord accomplished to save humanity from all judgment of sin, can we be born again as righteous people without sin and be freed from all punishment due to sin.
“I believe in the Lord. Although I have no merit of my own, I believe in the gospel of His baptism, death, and resurrection where He took on the sins of the world for me.” In this way, we receive salvation with gratitude by believing in the gospel of being born again that the Lord has given us. Accepting and believing in God’s original gospel of being born again is true faith and true belief.
For us to be born again, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17), “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). We must know the truth (1 John 5:5-8) and believe in the testimony of water, blood, and the Spirit that Jesus truly became our Savior.
As it is written, ‘The truth shall make you free’ (John 8:32), have you gained freedom from all sin by believing in the word of water and blood that Jesus fulfilled, by believing in Jesus’s baptism and the cross?
Are you people who live a religious life, or are you people who live a life of faith? The Lord meets those who have faith in His baptism and blood, which is the gospel of rebirth.
If you are someone who believes in His baptism and blood, which is the gospel of rebirth through which Jesus eliminated sin, there will be no sin in your heart. However, if you are a religious person who believes in Jesus, you will always be a sinner because you have sin in your heart and continue to be insufficient.
Why is that? It is because you do not fully believe in the truth of salvation through Jesus’s baptism and blood, which is the gospel of rebirth that washes away sin.
Nevertheless, if you try to receive forgiveness by making prayers of repentance each time to be forgiven of all your sins, such people are those who live a religious life. Such people cannot receive salvation from their sins.
A person’s prayer of repentance cannot substitute for the gospel of rebirth — the salvation accomplished through Jesus’s baptism and blood that eliminated all sins of this world from the beginning to the end of time. This is because we receive salvation only through faith in Jesus’s gospel of sin removal, which eliminated all our worldly sins, even the future sins of believers.
To say it again, the daily prayers of repentance currently practiced in Christianity cannot substitute for the gospel of rebirth through which Jesus eliminated all sins from His side. All Christians must now believe in the gospel of rebirth, which is salvation from sin given by Jesus.
We are people who cannot perfectly repent of the sins we commit. False repentance does not bring us back to God but only comforts our own hearts. False repentance is a one-sided plea that ignores God’s will and ends with self. God does not desire such repentance.
What is true repentance? It is returning to God. It is coming back to the word of salvation where Jesus has saved sinners and believing in the word of truth as it is.
The gospel of rebirth that saves us from sin, where sin is completely erased, is the faith in the baptism, blood, and resurrection received by Jesus, and this faith is the gospel that leads to eternal life. We receive salvation through complete faith in this gospel word.
This is the gospel of rebirth that eliminates sin. This truth is fundamentally rebirth through Jesus’s baptism, blood, and resurrection, and this truth is the gospel of God’s kingdom that brings rebirth if we just believe it in our hearts.
Our Lord’s words that we must be born again of water and the Spirit is the gospel of truth saying that we must be born again by believing in the word of Jesus’s baptism and blood.
We can enter and see the kingdom of God the Father by believing in Jesus’s words. We must believe in what Jesus accomplished. The two pieces of evidence that God provided for our salvation —Jesus’s baptism and the blood of the cross, and His death and resurrection— believing in these words is the word of rebirth given to us.
Do you believe in the gospel of rebirth that eliminates sin? We have received salvation from all worldly sins, both original sin and personal sins, because we believe in Jesus Christ’s baptism and the blood of the cross. This faith is believing in the gospel of rebirth.
Jesus completely washed away all sins of all sinners in the world through His baptism and ended all judgment through His blood, shouldn’t we receive salvation from all sins by believing in this gospel of truth?
A person who has the true testimony of the word that Jesus spoke to make us born again, the word of Jesus’s baptism and blood, is truly someone born again of water and the Spirit.
God has testified that He acknowledges the faith of such a person (1 John 5:3-10). Those who believe and are born again have the testimony of water, blood, and the Spirit, which is God’s evidence of salvation, within their hearts.
In living a life of faith in Jesus, one must not believe in a false gospel, but in the true gospel that removes all sins through the Spirit, water, and blood.
Just as in the Old Testament, Commander Naaman’s leprosy was completely eliminated when he dipped himself seven times in the Jordan River (2 Kings 5), we must believe that Jesus eliminated all sins of all humanity living in this world through the gospel of rebirth —His baptism and the blood of the cross— and gave us salvation through our faith in that truth.
I am now delivering to you the gospel of rebirth through which Jesus has blotted out all sins of this world.
Love is not that we loved the Lord first, but because the Lord loved us first and because Jesus, who is God, eliminated all sins of the world for us, we receive salvation from all worldly sins and enjoy eternal life through our faith in this gospel of rebirth.
I hope we all believe in the true gospel of truth and are born again.
This sermon is also available in ebook format. Click on the book cover below.
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