The Brothers Who Are Born From Above

2009-11-28 21:30

Salvation is not in the forgiveness of sins, but in being born again. If the forgiveness of sins is salvation, all the people on earth should be saved. It is because God completely forgave all the sins of all the people on earth through the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son.

It is written, "and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me." (Genesis 22:18). According to this words of the covenant, all nations on earth have together received the blessing of the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ, the seed of Abraham. He fulfilled it with his last words: "When he had received the drink, Jesus said, 'It is finished.' With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit." (John 19:30).

Therefore, it is written, "Then he adds: 'Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.' And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin." (Hebrews 10:17-18).

It is written about this gospel, "But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.'" (Luke 2:10). And also, the Lord Jesus said, "...Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation." (Mark 16:15). And also, Peter, an apostle of the Lord, said, "For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to men in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit." (1 Peter 4:6).

Salvation is not in the forgiveness of sins. Salvation is the gift of God for those who heard the gospel and believed in it; God has freely given it to them in Christ Jesus, His Son, whom He raised. It is written, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God." (Ephesians 2:8).

Therefore, the grace of the forgiveness of sins was given to all the people on earth, but the salvation is the gift of God for only those who believe. And so the Bible said, "Jesus asked, 'Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?'" (Luke 17:17). And also, "And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith." (2 Thessalonians 3:2).

The Spirit, whom those who believe in Jesus are to receive, is another Counselor, the Spirit of truth, whom the Lord sent. It is written, "'Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.' By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified." (John 7:38-39).

Believers receive the Spirit, that is, the Spirit of His Son, and get the right to become children of God. It is written, "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God." (John 1:12-13). The Bible refers to it as being born again. Being born again means being born from above.

It is written, "In reply Jesus declared, 'I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.'" (John 3:3). In the above passage, "again" means "from above." And so the passage can read as follows: "In reply Jesus declared, 'I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born from above.'" (John 3:3).

Therefore, it is written, "But he continued, 'You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.'" (John 8:23). And so, those who are not born again (from above) with Jesus, who was from above, are not children of God.

Therefore, the brothers who are born from above can share in the heavenly calling, and can ascend on high with Christ. The testimony said, "Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess." (Hebrews 3:1). The Bible calls it salvation. Amen. Thank you, Lord.