1 John 3:2-9
"Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we SHALL BE, but we know WHEN HE IS REVEALED, WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. WHOEVER ABIDES IN HIM does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you, He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. WHOEVER HAS BEEN BORN OF GOD DOES NOT SIN, for His (JESUS') seed remains in him; and HE CANNOT SIN, BECAUSE HE HAS BEEN BORN OF GOD".
First of all, we must differentiate between "born again" and "born of God". When an individual is born again, he/she has been forgiven their sins, and made a new creature, a new CREATION in Christ Jesus! One of the definitions of born in this discussion is "to be made". We understand that Jesus has been likened to a potter, we being like clay. The potter fashions and forms the clay into what he desires. We understand that Jesus is "a wise masterbuilder". A wise builder does not build the 3rd floor structure of a building before he builds the 2nd; in fact, he can't. Nor does Jesus. He teaches us, revelation by revelation, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to our newly created spirit. When John says, "Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him", I feel he is saying that whoever practices lawlessness has either rejected His revelation which comes by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit OR has not yet heard in the spirit. If it has not yet been revealed to you, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to overcome. As He reveals Himself to us, we KNOW more of Him and are empowered to fall not short. When we sin, we show that, at least in that activity, that we do not know Him. When we SEE what He reveals we are empowered to perform that in righteousness. Jesus is the Son of God and the Son of Man. He was tempted in every way we are, yet without sin. He wanted nothing more than to be one with His Father. The result: a sinless life.
As we seek, knock and ask, His holiness is revealed from faith to faith and we, by necessity, are undone. He reveals Himself to us: we see Him, we know Him and He is making us like Him!
2 comments:
Thank you for the lovely meditations. Do you believe once one is born again they can be damned? (friend of your sister)
Hello, thank you for your comment and for your interest in these messages.
Born again (born from above), or the new birth in the Holy Spirit, is not meant to be an end in Christ but a beginning. In fact, the scriptures tell us we should go on to perfection(mature to completion) in Him (Hebrews 6:1; 2 Corinthians 13:11).
Paul says to the messianic Hebrews, those who already have been born again, "we are not of those who draw back to perdition(destruction), but of those who believe to the saving of the soul"(Hebrews 11:32-39). Clearly, some have drawn back to destruction.
Paul rebukes the immaturity of the messianic Hebrews, likening them to babes when they should be "of full age" or mature.
He says, "For the earth drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; but if it (having received His goodness and truth) bears thorns and briers (they are producing bad fruit), it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned" (Hebrews 5:12-14; 6:7,8). These had the opportunity to be mature but had decided against it. Paul is warning them.
"For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning"(2 Peter 2:20).
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