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Featured Ye must be born again !

Discussion in 'Calvinism & Arminianism Debate' started by Brightfame52, Feb 9, 2022.

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  1. Dave G

    Dave G Well-Known Member

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    I gave it...Ephesians 5:26:

    " Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
    26 that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
    27 that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."


    Also, please see John 15:3.
    That He is, my friend ( John 1:1-3 ), and I quite agree.

    If that's how you understand God's grace ( that there are requirements that need to be met by us as men before He will release it to us ), then I can see that we disagree.

    To me, that describes a system of works that the Lord then has to rely on in order to grant or withhold His gifts...
    and that makes the gifts into rewards and the person that does them respected in God's eyes for doing them.

    Again, that is not grace, my friend, that is works...which no one is saved by ( Ephesians 2:8-9 ).
    That is the way that seems right to us as men ( Proverbs 14:12 ), but which His word says is not the way to God.


    That said,
    I wish you well, and may He bless you in many ways.
     
    #61 Dave G, Mar 2, 2022
    Last edited: Mar 2, 2022
  2. Brightfame52

    Brightfame52 Well-Known Member

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    Must have preexisted in Christ to be born again


    1 Pet 1:23

    23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

    Being born again not of corruptible seed [adam] but of incorruptible seed, the word of God [Christ the Logos Jn 1:1,4,14].

    Now understand, in order to have been born of adam of corruptible seed, our very existence in the flesh proves or is evidence that God gave us natural physical life in the earthly adam. This means adam was our natural father or progenitor. Now we did not will our way into adam, ask to be in adam, but this was determined by God. God also determined who, when and where our physical life would be manifested by child birth Acts 17:26

    26And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

    Ecclesiastes 3:1-2

    To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

    2A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

    The key here is understanding that in order to have been born physically, God must have purposed and chose in adam, and gave us physical life in him even before it was developed and manifested. Yes, God chose us in adam.

    Now, in order to be born of incorruptible seed into a spiritual life, one must have been in Christ the Spiritual Father or Progenitor, we must have been given to Him for His Spiritual Offspring, in other words, we must have been chosen in Him as part of His seed. If one is truly born again, it demonstrates that we were Chosen in Him and God gave us Spiritual Life in Him before the world began. Eph 1:4 and 2 Tim 1:9.

    So when Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again, in essence Jesus was telling him that he must be one of the chosen ones in Him before the world began. To be born of incorruptible seed, which is Christ, the Logos of God..
     
  3. Brightfame52

    Brightfame52 Well-Known Member

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    A Birth

    A Birth is not the Creation or origination of Life, but the manifestation of life and is termed procreation. The natural man that a believer has [ as by nature children of wrath] is also called the old man Eph 4:22; Col 3:9, for this was created in Adam, but procreation by natural generation. That New Man Eph 4:24

    And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

    Also see New Creature 2 Cor 5:17

    Immortal Life in a Believer [Eternal or Everlasting Life], or the inward man as Rom 7:22; 2 Cor 4:16, This Life was given us in Christ Jesus before the World began, and is made manifest by Spiritual Generation when Born of God, and presented with the Gospel, for the Gospel brings this immortal life to light or manifestation 2 Tim 1:9-10

    Thats why Jesus says, those believing on Him during His Public Ministry, were having Eternal Life Jn 6:47

    Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.

    Those believing on Him were born of Incorruptible Seed !
     
  4. Brightfame52

    Brightfame52 Well-Known Member

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    1 Pet 1:23

    1 Pet 1:23

    23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

    When Peter writes of being born again of incorruptible seed, there is no reason why it is not the seed we read of in Isa 53:10

    10Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

    This is the seed of the Suffering Servant, which is the word of God made flesh John 1:1,14

    1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Also see Rev 19:13

    For Peter goes on to write, being born again, of that incorruptible seed, by the word of God !

    The Logos of God. Yes the Logos of God, was given a Seed Isa 53:10

    And as He it was and is incorruptible. In order to enter the Kingdom of God, one must be born of this incorruptible seed,

    The only way to be born of this incorruptible seed, we would have to be in that seed, and that's done solely by God's Sovereign and Eternal Purpose.3
     
  5. Brightfame52

    Brightfame52 Well-Known Member

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    An act of Sovereign Mercy !

    Titus 3:5

    5Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

    New Birth or Regeneration of any individual is an act of of Mercy, not a offer of mercy. It is stated here that its according to His Mercy that He saved the Elect, by New Birth. Its also stated that God will have mercy on whom He will have Mercy, mans will or effort does not dictate whom God has Mercy upon Rom 9:13-16

    13As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

    14What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.

    15For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

    16So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

    So New Birth or Being born again is governed by that same principle, we did not determine our first birth either, it also was determined by God's Sovereignty. It is insane thinking for one to teach and believe they receive a New Birth or are born again or regenerated because of an act they do , like believe ! For New Birth or Regeneration in scripture is described also in what is a metaphor and that is a Creation! Scripture says Isa 43:7

    Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him. cp Acts 15:7

    That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.

    The word for created in Isa 43:7 is the Hebrew word bara' and means:

    to create, shape, form

    a) (Qal) to shape, fashion, create (always with God as subject)

    1) of heaven and earth

    2) of individual man

    3) of new conditions and circumstances

    4) of transformations

    b) (Niphal) to be created

    1) of heaven and earth

    2) of birth

    3) of something new

    4) of miracles


    Now notice of the varied meanings of the word that one of them is of birth !

    So its not unscriptural to classify a New Birth as a New Creation. Paul writes in Eph 4:24

    24And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

    And so we have depraved and sinful men claiming to become a New Man by an act of their freewill, they assisted or cooperated with God in His Creation..

    Now I can understand why the Man of Sin sits in the Temple of God saying that he is God, because he shares in a prerogative that Only God should have, and that is to be the Creator. In Isa it is said of God, that all whom are called by His Name, that is to be a Christian, that He Created for His Glory. Those who teach they are Born again because of a decision they made, an exercises of their choice and freewill, call God a Liar and boldly proclaim that they played a part in their being created and so they share the Glory that belongs only to God.. Isa 42:8

    I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.
     
  6. Revmitchell

    Revmitchell Well-Known Member
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    It doesnt say that at all. In fact the elect are not even in view in this passage. You have added "the elect" to that passage. Reformed theology requires this type of eisegesis in order to exist.
     
  7. Brightfame52

    Brightfame52 Well-Known Member

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    Yes it does say that, and the elect are always in view, exclusively in view in any Salvation matter.
     
  8. Revmitchell

    Revmitchell Well-Known Member
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    Please break that verse down and show how it says that.
     
  9. Brightfame52

    Brightfame52 Well-Known Member

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    Im not going to spend a lot of energy on you sir, I have already laboured in this thread and you have obviously ignored it all.
     
  10. Revmitchell

    Revmitchell Well-Known Member
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    Which is your MO. You make claims you cant back up and when cornered you take this position.
     
  11. Brightfame52

    Brightfame52 Well-Known Member

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    Okay, deal with what I have provided, start with the OP
     
  12. Brightfame52

    Brightfame52 Well-Known Member

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    Eph 4:24

    24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

    2 Cor 5:17

    17Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

    Gal 6:15

    15For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.

    To create is to bring something into existence that had not a being before, So New Birth or Regeneration if answers it figure, must mean something brought into existence; And yet proud man will insist that they contributed to their creation, that they had a choice in the matter ! That is equivalent to saying they had a choice to be formed in the womb Job 31:15

    Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb !

    God declares, All who are called by His Name [ Christian], He created them for His Glory Isa 43:7

    7 Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.

    "Even everyone that is called by my name…
    That is called by the name of God, a son or daughter of his; or by the name of Christ, a Christian; whoever belongs to the Lord, whom he calls by his name; and who, being called by his grace, call upon his name, make a profession of his name, and serve and worship him: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him, yea, I have
    made him;

    all which is expressive of the power and grace of God, in the regeneration and conversion of his people; which is a creation, a formation, a making them for himself, for the glory of his grace, and to show forth his praise; and therefore he will gather them in, and bring them into a body together, into a church state, that this end may be answered. " John Gill


    The Freewillers and Arminians oppose God in this Truth, by insisting that their wills had part in their being created His People, What utter Blasphemy and Arrogance !
     
  13. Brightfame52

    Brightfame52 Well-Known Member

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    Be careful man is not God and only He creates !

    Contrary to the logical conclusions of those who believe in a freewill salvation, creation or new creation was not accomplished through offers of mercy. If Faith comes before New Birth or Regeneration, and they mean becoming a New Creation, then according to them, man's faith is the cause of becoming a new creature, and since creating work is only a work of God, for only God can Create, then man makes himself God !
     
  14. Martin Marprelate

    Martin Marprelate Well-Known Member
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    There are two main reasons why I do not believe that the phrase Water and Spirit can refer to baptism, and why I support the Reformed Baptist position. Firstly, if baptism is intended by this phrase then that ordinance is absolutely necessary for salvation. ‘Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God’. On that basis, the thief on the cross is damned; likewise such groups as the Quakers and the Salvation Army, who do not practise water baptism, are, every single one of them, utterly lost. Yet there is no other Bible text that teaches this. On the contrary, two verses (1Peter 1:23; James 1:18) ascribe the New Birth not to baptism, but to the Word. Moreover Paul (1Cor. 1:17) wrote that, ‘Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel’, a strange thing to say if baptism is so very necessary to salvation.

    Secondly, I cannot believe that our Lord would be reinforcing what is the chief error of Pharisaism; the idea that outward purification can bring about inward cleansing. Pharisees like Nicodemus spent all their time in ritual washings and cleansings (Mark 7:3-4). Is it really likely that the Lord Jesus would be saying to him, “What you need, Nicodemus, more than anything else, is another ritual washing”? If that was our Lord’s meaning, then why was Nicodemus so dumbfounded by it? More ceremonial, outward cleansings would have been right up his street, water off a duck’s back in more ways than one! No, Nicodemus’ problem was not on the outside but the inside. “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness” Mark 7:21f). Can an external washing purify a man from inward sin and depravity? Of course not! “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. …….. For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matt. 23:25ff). In the Shakespeare play, Lady Macbeth cries out, “Will these hands ne’er be cleansed?” No matter how many times she washed them, the blood of her sin still seemed to stain her hands. No outward washing could make her inwardly clean. The cleansing she needed would have had to deal with her guilt within.

    So if 'water and Spirit' does not mean baptism, what does it mean?
    ‘Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do you not know these things?”’ (John 3:10). What our Lord is saying is that if Nicodemus was such a great Old Testament teacher, he would know what He was talking about instead of being so totally confused and dumbfounded. Therefore there must be some reference in the Hebrew Scriptures to the New Birth and to Water and Spirit which would have helped Nicodemus to understand; otherwise our Lord’s rebuke would have been unfair. With this in mind let us consider the following verses:-

    ‘For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take your heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them’ (Ezek 36:24ff).

    “Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom. Purge [N.I.V., ‘cleanse’] me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow ……..Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me (Psalm 51:6,7,9,10).

    Here, in these two texts, we surely get a preview of the work of God, the Holy Spirit, in the New Birth. It is a two-fold work of water and Spirit: an inward cleansing from sin and idolatry, and a renewal of the heart and spirit for future obedience. That it is a spiritual cleansing rather than baptism that is meant in these passages is indicated by the mention of hyssop in Psalm 51. This is not some ancient Hebrew soap, as I first thought when I read the Psalm as a very young Christian, but rather the sprig of a plant. On the day of the Passover, the Israelites were instructed (Exod.12:22) to dip the hyssop in the blood of the slain Passover lamb and sprinkle it on the lintel and the doorposts of their houses. Therefore, to be cleansed with hyssop is to be washed in the blood of the Lamb (Heb.9:11ff; Rev. 7:14). No outward ablution could ever cleanse us from moral ‘filthiness and idolatry’. We need a cleansing which works from within.
     
  15. Martin Marprelate

    Martin Marprelate Well-Known Member
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    In the New Testament, one gets an inkling of this two-fold process in verses such as 1Cointhians 6:11 or Ephesians 5:26, but the clearest expression is found in Titus 3:3-5. Here Paul has been telling Titus not to be too harsh to the Cretan converts, but to show a little gentleness and humility. ‘For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another…..’ that’s what Paul and Titus were like before they were born again. ‘…..But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit. What is the nature of the New Birth? It is a birth of Water and Spirit; the washing away of indwelling sin and corruption, and renewal by God, the Holy Spirit.
     
  16. Brightfame52

    Brightfame52 Well-Known Member

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    More on being born again !

    Jn 3:8

    7Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

    To be born again is not a command for people to go out and try to make themselves born again, by things they must do, for that is not what Jesus is Talking about. What Jesus is saying is that another you must be born again, a whole New Creation apart from Being born of the Flesh, or natural Childbirth. The you that we are by Nature, is not changed or altered, but an additional you, from another source must be born. You see, we must be born out of an incorruptible seed. The life we [The Elect] were given in Adam was out of an corruptible seed 1 Pet 1:23

    23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed[Adam], but of incorruptible[Christ], by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

    However, in order to be born again there must be a Life that we already have in the Incorruptible Seed, which is The Word of God, or the Logos of God, who is Jesus Christ, the Seed Gal 3:16

    16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

    We must have had a seed substance Life or existence in Christ, as we had in Adam, to be born again of the Spirit. So Jesus in His conversation with Nicodemus was informing him, unless a man has a seminal[Spiritual] existence in the incorruptible seed [Christ], they shall not see or enter the kingdom of God. Folks the Spiritual Birth that John writes of in Jn 3, is in no way related to the flesh, its origin is out of a whole different realm Jn 3:6a

    6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

    And what is really insane today is the false teaching that a Spiritual New Birth is a product of the flesh, the natural mans faith or his freewill or his decision causes it, in total contradiction to Jn 1:12-13

    12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

    13
    Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

    They are teaching that the right to become a Child of God was by the will of the flesh, but that right was not because of the will of the flesh or of man, but it was out of the Will of God ! The fact of the matter is this, we had no choice or say so in being born physically out of adam, nor out of Christ, if we belong to Christ ! 3
     
  17. Brightfame52

    Brightfame52 Well-Known Member

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    Being born of the incorruptible seed, is being born out of Christ, being in or of His Seed. Christ is the Logos of God ! 1 Pet 1:23

    23Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

    Jesus Christ was the Logos made Flesh Jn 1:1,14 and When He died and rose again, He had His Seed in Him. Now everyone belonging to that Seed is Born Again by the Resurrection of the Word of God, Jesus Christ from the Dead. 1 Pet 1:3

    3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

    Now notice how this is complemented . Being born again by incorruptible Seed, the Word of God.

    Being Born Again here is the greek word anagennaō and it means:


    to produce again, be born again, born anew

    2) metaph. to have one's mind changed so that he lives a new life and one conformed to the will of God

    Now this word is used again in 1 Pet 1:3

    3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

    That confirms what 1 Pet 1:23 is saying, Being born out of the incorruptible Seed, who is the Lord Jesus Christ.

    Now, one had to be seminally in Christ's Incorruptible Seed Substance to be born out of it, in the same manner they would have had to been seminally in Adam's Seed Substance to be born out of Him !

    So New Birth is impossible without having been Chosen in Christ before the foundation [Eph 1:4], because thats when He received His Seed or generation, so believers were a Chosen Generation 1 Pet 2:9

    But ye are a chosen generation or Offspring], a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;

    So Eph 1:4 and 1 Pet 2:9 complement one another Those Chosen in Christ before the foundation are the Chosen Generation of 1 Pet 2:9 !
     
  18. JD731

    JD731 Well-Known Member

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    When one employs the letters of Peter, the apostle of the circumcision, to try to prove the bazaar doctrines of the Reformed, it only demonstrates the extreme ignorance of biblical prophecy and a dangerous practice of approaching the wonderful scriptures in the context of ones own presuppositions at the expense of ignoring the true and actual and biblical context that is conveyed by the words that Peter wrote.

    The letters addressed to the strangers who reside in the listed provinces of Asia Minor, whom he mentions as being elected by receiving the Spirit of God in chapter 1:1-2 is a fulfillment of a prophecy that was made to them some 800 years earlier in Hosea chapter one and I do not have to guess about it because it is clearly stated in 1 Peter 2:9-12. Hosea says this 10 tribe nation would be separated from God by being driven off their land, hence the reason for calling them strangers, and would not be his people but in the same breath it would come to pass that these same people would one day be called the children of the living God. The operative word is children in that text, an honor that requires a birth. This is why Peter is emphasizing being born again and explains how God is accomplishing that through faith in the Christ that had been preached to them by his gospel, the spiritual seed that contains the life that is typified and contrasted in the corruptible human seed that put them into the family of Abraham.

    The letters of Peter to the strangers scattered throughout Asia Minor teaches the exact opposite of what is taught by the various Reformed denominations.
     
  19. Brightfame52

    Brightfame52 Well-Known Member

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    The inspired word of God has nothing to do with ethnicity. Its a Spiritual Book !
     
  20. JD731

    JD731 Well-Known Member

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    This is exactly your problem. The Bible is a Jewish book and the words in it are precise and exact and must be believed for one to walk in the light of it. Gentiles have been invited into fellowship with God because of his grace and mercy, not because he saw anything in you worth saving before he created the world.
     
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