The Doctrine of Salvation | 2 Peter 1:3-4 | Message 10
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3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
2 Peter 1:3-4
When a person truly meets Christ, something radical happens. Jesus told Nicodemus, a respected religious leader, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).
Nicodemus was brilliant, moral, and admired. He walked the streets of Jerusalem with prestige—but inside he was empty. He came to Jesus by night, afraid of what others might think. Many today are just like him: religious, yet restless; successful, yet spiritually lost. The Lord allowed that inner vacuum to draw Nicodemus to Himself, just as He uses loneliness, pain, or emptiness to draw people today.
Jesus did not tell Nicodemus to “try harder,” “attend more synagogue services,” or “improve his morals.” He said, “You must be born again.” The Greek word anōthen means “from above.” It describes a divine birth that comes from God Himself. To be born again is not religion reformed but life recreated. Salvation is God doing for us what we could never do for ourselves.
When you are born again, eight evidences are evident in your life.
First, a changed life. The change may be dramatic for some, gradual for others, but it is unmistakable. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Second, conviction of sin. You can no longer sin comfortably. The Spirit of God sounds alarms inside you. What once delighted you now disturbs you.
Third, a new love for God. Jesus said, “He who is forgiven much loves much” (Luke 7:47). If you say you are born again but have no love for the church or the things of God, you need to reexamine your heart.
Fourth, repentance. Salvation always involves turning from sin. Jesus said, “Except you repent, you shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3). The night I was saved at youth camp, I turned from my sin to Christ. I changed my mind about sin, about myself, and about God. That is repentance.
Fifth, spiritual discipline. When believers wander, the Lord disciplines them because He loves them. “For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives” (Hebrews 12:6). Discipline is evidence that you belong to Him.
Sixth, answered prayer. Before I met Christ, my prayers were routine—“God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food.” After I was saved, prayer became personal. I began praying for my friends by name to be saved and watched God answer one by one. A born-again believer knows what it means to see God work through prayer.
Seventh, growth. Wherever there is life, there is growth. If you plant something alive and water it, it will grow. Spiritual stagnation may mean spiritual death. Sitting in a pew does not make you a Christian—being alive in Christ does.
Eighth, good works. Works do not save us, but they prove that salvation is real. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Ephesians 2:10). True faith produces fruit.
Salvation is not a moral improvement plan; it is a miracle of divine grace. Religion can clean the outside, but only Christ can change the inside. When a person is born again, heaven invades the human heart, and eternity begins now. Jesus told Nicodemus that unless a man is born “from above,” he will never see—that is, never experience—the kingdom of God. The word “see” in Greek means to perceive or experience fully. Salvation is more than knowing about God; it is knowing Him personally.
The evidence of true salvation is love and gratitude. One of my favorite hymns, “The Love of God,” captures that truth. The words were found written on the wall of a prison cell by a man forgiven of terrible sins who had been made new in Christ.
O love of God, how rich and pure,
How measureless and strong;
It shall forevermore endure,
The saints’ and angels’ song.¹
He was incarcerated, but he was free on the inside. The moment Christ entered his life, his chains fell away.
Let me ask you—have you been born again? Has there been a moment when you turned from sin and trusted Jesus Christ alone for salvation? Being religious is not enough. Nicodemus was religious, but he was lost. Only when he met Jesus did he find new life. You can, too. Come to Christ today. Confess your sin. Believe in His name. Experience the new birth that makes all things new.
Footnote
1. Frederick M. Lehman, “The Love of God,” 1917, in Songs That Lift the Heart (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1919). The third stanza is based on a Jewish poem from the 11th century, found written on the wall of a patient’s room in an insane asylum and later adapted by Lehman into the hymn.
