Jesus told the Pharisee named Nicodemus, that unless one is born again he cannot see or enter the kingdom of God (John 3:1-8). To be born again is to be "regenerated" (Titus 3:5). We must be made new in order for us to abide in the presence of a holy God. This is more than a mere "decision," "asking Jesus into your heart," or "praying the sinner's prayer." The new birth is radical in its orientation, affecting every aspect of our being.
To demonstrate the comprehensiveness of regeneration (or the new birth), John Piper helpfully gleans from 1 John to demonstrate how radical in nature regeneration really is.
Regeneration’s Evidences from 1 John— :
1st, Those who are born of God keep His commandments: By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; (1 John 2:3-4 NAU) The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. (1 John 3:24 NAU)
2nd, Those who are born of God walk as Christ walked. but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: 6 the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked. (1 John 2:5-6 NAU)
3rd, Those who are born of God don't hate other believers, but love them. The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. (1 John 2:9 NAU) We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. (1 John 3:14 NAU) Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:7-8 ESV)
4th, Those who are born of God don't love the world. Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1 John 2:15 NAU)
5th, Those who are born of God confess the Son and receive (have) Him. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. (1 John 2:23 NAU) Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. (1 John 4:15 NAU) He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. (1 John 5:12 NAU).
6th, Those who are born of God practice righteousness. If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. (1 John 2:29 ESV)
7th, Those who are born of God don't make a practice of sinning. No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. (1 John 3:6 NAU) No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. (1 John 3:9-10 ESV) We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. (1 John 5:18 ESV)
8th, Those who are born of God possess the Spirit of God. The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. (1 John 3:24 NAU) By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. (1 John 4:13 NAU)
9th, Those who are born of God listen submissively to the apostolic word. We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. (1 John 4:6 NAU)
10th, Those who are born of God believe that Jesus is the Christ. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. (1 John 5:1 ESV)
11th, Those who are born of God overcome the world. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith. (1 John 5:4 ESV)(J Piper, Finally Alive, 125-128)
No comments:
Post a Comment