Why must one be born again?
In short, God loves us and wants to give us His life—He wants children. John 1:12-13 says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor the will of man, but of God.”—from this verse we can observe that righteousness (the right to become children of God) is birthed in a person. It is not imputed, or accredited to a person. Being righteous before God requires a completely new life—His life. Paul had the attitude that once the Life of Christ is birthed in Him, He must continue to grow in that life.
Philippians 3:12-15 says, “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you;” –So Paul is encouraging “as many as are perfect”—those who have received the perfect life of Christ—that the perfection of Christ should be made more and more evident in their lives.
And he says a few verses down, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.” (verses 20-21) –So we can see from these two verses that Paul is making the point that our faith and pressing on toward perfection rests solely on the hope that Jesus is going to accomplish this in us, and that eventually we will get a new body—a body of “glory” which is like His. We must keep this in the forefront of our minds, realizing that our home is not on this earth, but in heaven.
Not only does God want to give us life, but we must realize that in that life—in Christ’s life—is every good thing both now and in heaven.
This can be pretty well summed up in 1 Peter 1:3-9,
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.”
It can be observed from this passage that God has a distinct purpose and plan for those who have been born again of the Spirit—things we can experience right now, and things we will experience in the future. This passage does not address our past—before we were born again.
According to 1 Peter 1:3-9, as born-again believers and followers of Jesus Christ, what we will experience now:
· We have a living hope
o That hope is active—striving to be like the Lord (1 John 3:2-3)
· Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead
o Because of His mercy, I’m not just going to heaven, but going to be resurrected from the dead. I can’t go to heaven and be in the presence of the Lord unless I am resurrected and made like Him
· Protected by the power of God through faith in Him
o Not just a Bible verse or doctrine—He is living inside me! (2 Timothy 1:7)
· Joy (“greatly rejoice”)
· Distress from various trials/hard times or situations
o Colossians 1:24-29—we are His body on earth. When He was here, He suffered—so should we
o Trials help us have our faith focused on God’s power and love and bring us together in those two things(2 Corinthians 1:8-10; 1 Cor. 12:14-26)
· Inexpressible joy by love and faith
As we can see, not everything is peaches and roses—there will be difficulties as a direct result of following the Lord. Peter is making the point, however, that these “trials”, as he puts it, are given to us by God so that our faith will be proven. Like mentioned above, our belief is not to be a wavering, unsure belief, just as our faith is not to be. But we are to put our whole confidence and hope in what the Lord has promised us.
According to 1Peter 1:3-9, as born-again believers, what we can experience in the future:
· Obtain an imperishable inheritance in heaven
o It is reserved in heaven, and He wants to give it to me—He will preserve me now as well
· Salvation “ready to be revealed”—referring to the salvation we have already received, but will be made known more clearly
o 2 Corinthians 3:17-18—it is a transformation process; we experience this on earth
· After faith is proven, it will result in praise, glory, and honor
· The outcome of our faith is salvation of our souls
o We are not finally saved until the day of the Lord comes (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11), so we must be watchful and dependant on the Lord
My Hope is Christ—Being Like Him
· 2 Peter 3:11-13 says, “Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.” --Being holy and godly will save me from the wrath of God to come, to a place of righteousness.
In light of this, I want to be diligent in my relationship with the Lord, and I want my brothers and sisters to be diligent. Anybody who does not know the Lord, let them turn to Him.
Paul encourages the believers in Corinth to have an undistracted devotion in 1 Corinthians 7:35, “This I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is appropriate and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.” Let’s let go of anything that will distract us from focusing on what is important—being like the Lord. This is our salvation.
“Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, ‘Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.”
~Revelation 12:10-11
Lord help me. Give me strength to do Your will.
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