Born again – Part 21

Some Of The Benefits/Rewards Of Spiritual Rebirth? Contd.

Being born makes you physically alive and places you in your parents’ family (1:13). Being born of God makes you spiritually alive and puts you in God’s family (1:12). Have you asked Christ to make you a new person? This fresh start in life is available to all who believe in Christ.

When you are born again, you are “born of God” (v.13). The “child of God” (v.12). BA people have been given a new openness to and relationship with God that was not theirs as a result of their natural birth. “He gave the right” (v12) Membership in God’s family is by grace alone—the gift of God. It is never a human achievement, as v13 emphasised. Yet, the imparting of the gift is dependent on human reception of it, as the words “received” and “believed” (v.12) make clear.

What is Eternal Life?
“Eternal Life” is the gift God bestows upon us, when we are born again. Eternal life is life in living fellowship with God—both now and forever. “Eternal/Everlasting” not only expresses perpetuity, but also quality of life—a divine type of life, a life that frees us from the power of sin and Satan and removes us from what is merely earthly, in order to know God (see Jn 8:34-36).

Eternal life is life at its best, having infinite definition, characterised by abiding fellowship with God. Eternal life in the NT eliminates the boundary line of death. Death is still a foe, but the one who has eternal life already experiences the kind of existence that will never end.

Yet, in this expression, the emphasis is on the quality of life; rather than on the unending duration of life. In terms of quality, life is (1) life imparted by God; (2) transformation and renewal of life; (3) life fully opened to God and centered in Him; (4) a constant overcoming of sin and moral evil; and (5) the complete removal of moral evil from the person and from the environment of that person.

“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (Jn 17:3)

Eternal life. Eternal life is more than endless existence. It is a special quality of life that we as believers receive, when we partake of the essential life of God through Christ. This allows us to know God in an ever-growing knowledge and fellowship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In the NT eternal life is described as:

(1) A present reality (5:24; 10:27-28). The present possession of eternal life requires a living faith. Eternal life is not secured and maintained merely by an act of repentance and faith occurring in the past. It involves also a present living union and fellowship with Christ (1 John 5:12). There is no eternal life apart from Him (10:27f; 11:25f; 1John 5:11-13).

(2) A future hope. Eternal life is associated with the coming of Christ for His faithful (see John 14:3; cf. Mark 10:30; 2Tim 1:1,10; Tit1: 2; 3:7) and is contingent upon our living by faith and by the Spirit (Rom 8:12-17; Gal 6:8)
(v) We receive covenant benefits

Note very carefully!

You can only experience the benefits of Spiritual Rebirth, if you are obedient to God’s commandments and Will.

“If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land: but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword” for the mouth of the LORD has spoken” (Isaiah 1:19,20).
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