Born again – Part 20

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

In this age, the Holy Spirit is given to believers as a down payment of what we are going to have in greater fullness in the future. His presence and work in our lives is a pledge of our future inheritance (cf. Rom 8:23; 2 Cor 1:22; 5:5).

We have the privileges of God’s children
What we have as children (Romans)

What we have as Adam’s children: Ruin 5:9; Sin 5:12, 15, 21; Death 5:12, 16, 21; Separation from God 5:18; Disobedience 5:12, 19; Judgment 5:18; Law 5:20.

What we have as God’s children: Rescue 5:8; Righteousness 5:18; Eternal life 5:17, 21; Relationship with God 5:11, 19; Obedience 5:19; Deliverance 5:10, 11; Grace 5:20.

Restoration of our relationship to God our Father
The story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) is a classic example of what happens when one is born again.
“Journey into a far country” (v.13). In this parable, the Lord teaches that a life of sin and selfishness, in its deepest sense, is a separation from God’s love, fellowship and authority. The sinner or backslider is like the young son who, pursuing the pleasures of sin, wastes the physical, intellectual and spiritual gifts given by God. Such waste results in disillusionment and sorrow, sometimes degrading personal conditions, and always the lack of a true and real life that can be found only in a right relationship with God.

“…..he came to himself” (v17). Before the lost son or a sinner can come to God, he or she must see his or her true state of slavery to sin and separation from God (vv14-17). Although the Father longs with love and compassion for the prodigal to return home (v.20), the prodigal must change his or her mind about sin (v.17), confess, “I have sinned” (v.18) and humbly return to the Father (vv19, 20a). To bring the prodigal or the lost to this place is the work of the Holy Spirit (John 16:7-11).

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Rom 5:1,2)

Peace with God. This is not merely a subjective feeling (peace of mind), but primarily an objective status, a new relationship with God. Once we were God’s enemies, but now we are His friends.

Paul states that, as believers, we now stand in a place of highest privilege (“this grace in which we stand”). Not only has God declared us not guilty, but He has also drawn us close to Himself. Instead of being enemies, we have become His friends—in fact, His own children (John 15:15; Galatians 4:5)

Spiritual rebirth imparts Eternal life and you become a true child of God
Through the process of regeneration eternal life from God Himself is imparted to the believer’s heart (Jn 3:16; 2 Pet 1:4; 1 Jn 5:11; and he or she becomes a child of God (John 1:12; Rom 8:16-17; Gal 3:26) and a new creation in Christ (2Cor 5:17; Col 3:9-10).

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (Jn 1:12,13)

All who welcome Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives are reborn spiritually, receiving new life from God. Through faith in Christ, this new birth changes us from the inside out—rearranging our attitudes, desires, and motives.

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