Subject: eph 1:4-5 what is predestination, chosen |
Bible Note: Thank you Apollos for your input. Perhaps, what follows may be of assistance. Subject: Born Again. Is born again that which a person becomes upon receiving the Lord Jesus as his own personal saviour, or is it what God must do to a person to enable him/her to receive Jesus ?. PS I am not a Calvinist. Sincerely yours. Edwin Brain. Without question the biggest single problem that the church has is an abysmal lack of in depth Bible teaching. For example when a born again Christian is not even able to explain exactly just what is meant by "Born again" how can he possibly communicate the Gospel to the un-saved ?. Let me explain, The unconverted are spiritually dead, see. 1Cr 2:14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. This of course all happened at "The fall", see. Gen 2:17 "for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.".. This is an incorrect translation, as it should read, "for in the day that you eat of it, dying you shall die". That is to say, two deaths, spiritual death at the moment you eat thereof, followed by physical death in due course. Have a look at Jhn 6:44 "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. Jhn 6:65 And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father." Now read. Mat 16:16 Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Mat 16:17 Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. Mat 16:18 "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it Note, "Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven" You are petros and upon this petra I will build my church" ie each member of my church will have what you Peter have just had, that is direct divine intervention into their lives, enabling them to accept me for who I am. The one and only "I AM" He who died that they might live. How can any flesh be saved, read, Mat 19:25 When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?" Mat 19:26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Now lets have a look at. Jhn 3:5-6, Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Jhn 3:6 "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. But first a suitable background against which to view the revenant words, Let us say two different worlds, or two different modes of existence, what about Physical life, and Spiritual life. Now then how did you get into this physical world. Well you were born into it weren't you?. Now exactly how much contribution did you make to your physical birth, non whatsoever you owe your existence entirely to the activity of another, namely your human father. Likewise your arrival into the spiritual world (If you are to get there) will be due entirely to the activity of another, namely, the Lord our God, who will then be your heavenly Father. The water refereed to in v 5 of John 3, is of course amniotic fluid which is required to be born of the flesh refereed to in the next verse. In fact using Hebrew parallelism, v 6 in given in order to clear up any doubt as to exactly what is meant by water in v 5. To sum up therefore it is clear from the text that it is impossible to be saved, unless one is first born again into the spiritual world, thus enabling one to understand the way of salvation, and thereby to receive Jesus as ones own personal Saviour.. Born again can also be translated as born from above, ie born of God. My Conversion follows. May the Lord bless you all. Edwin Brain. |