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With trouble all over the world, and temptations on every side, one of the most glorious promises of the Messiah to His people was this one, “If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be.” (John 12:26a)
Yahshua said to His disciples shortly before His departure, “In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” (John 14:2) Eagerly and rightly, Christians look forward to this resurrected life. It is not merely a desire to escape the problems of this world that fuels such a desire, however. For the genuine Christian, the restoration of all things means so much more than just immortality and personal comfort. It means an end to suffering everywhere, (Rev 21:4) and the rightful exaltation of the Creator by all intelligences in the universe. (Isa 45:23)
But what about the interim? What do we do in the meantime?
Some have said of the future, “Won’t it be wonderful when we are in the presence of our Lord, and experience the fullness of His glory?” The truth is that the Gospel, or the Good News, is even better than that.
From the moment we accept Yahshua as our Savior, and turn our lives over to His loving service, a wonderful thing happens. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2Cor 5:17)
“Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently, being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” (1Pet 1:22, 23)
Some have said, “It is true that Christ taught, ‘Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God,’ (John 3:3) but we cannot experience this fully until the resurrection.”
They may then quote Paul, who writes, “There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars, for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead: it is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.” (1Cor 15:41-44)
Now, the reason for this doctrine is not because Peter’s words (which say we “have purified” our souls “being born again”) are difficult to understand, but because those who claim this doctrine realize that the Bible also teaches “whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin.” (1John 3:9)
If any man accepts that verse as it reads (and the many other supporting verses such as 1John 5:18, 1Pet 4:1 and Romans 6-8) yet realizes that he still commits willful sins, he has two choices. He must either acknowledge that he has not yet fully accepted Christ, or he must believe that the new birth is somehow yet future, and that accepting Christ places us in a position where we will be fully “born” in the future – at the resurrection.
There are two problems with that argument; the first is that the Scriptures repeatedly describe the born-again experience as being the current life of a Christian while he is yet on earth. The second is that even if it were true we should not consider ourselves fully “born” until the resurrection, it still rules out the possibility of committing willful sin once one has entered into the “waiting” period. We will examine these one at a time.
1) When does a man become “born again?”
Peter has already given us the answer to this one, but we will examine it in more detail here. The passage, again, reads, “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently, being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” (1Pet 1:22, 23)
It is absolutely true that the New Testament will sometimes use tenses in ways that are confusing to modern, English readers (e.g., Romans 7) however the context invariably clears the matter up beyond the possibility of controversy. There is, for the record, nothing about the grammar of Peter’s statements that would suggest any unusual wording, but even within the text itself we see proof that it could not have an exclusively future interpretation.
Peter is counseling them to act now (or 2000 years ago) in a certain way because of something that has already happened to them. It is because we are (not will be) “born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible” that we can even obey the instruction to perfectly love one another. It would not be reasonable to conclude that Peter says, “Because you will be born again some day, love one another now.”
Furthermore, Christ taught this, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3) In case some would limit the word “see” there to mean “experience in visible fullness at the resurrection,” a second statement gives a deeper dimension: “Yahshua answered, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.’” (verse 5)
Verse five is a clarification of verse 3, given for the sake of Nicodemus who was asking the questions. Unless a man is born again (and this by water and the Spirit) he cannot “enter” the Kingdom of God. Yet do we “enter” the Kingdom of God at the resurrection, or before?
The Scriptures tell us plainly:
“[Yahweh] hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son.” (Col 1:13)
“But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Yahshua the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” (Heb 12:22-24)
“The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8)
“Even when we were dead in sins, [Yah] hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Yahshua.” (Eph 2:5, 6)
“If ye know that He is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of Him.” (1John 2:29)
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.” (1John 4:7)
All these verses speak of the new birth as a current, ongoing experience that takes place before the resurrection. Even before we “see” the Kingdom with natural eyes, (Job 19:25, 26) we claim to have entered into It, and in order to enter it, we must first be “born again.”
Here is the conclusion of that question: “Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.
“Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over Him. For in that He died, He died unto sin once; but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom 6:4-11)
After our baptism, we “should” (not will) walk in the newness of life – that is a current exhortation, not a promise of things to come. We note that earlier Paul says we are “raised […] up together” with Him already, (Ephesians 2) and so while we await the physical restoration of our bodies, we know that we already “Walk in the Spirit, and [we] shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” (Gal 5:16) All of Romans 8 explains that if we are in Christ, we walk in the Spirit; we reckon the flesh dead, and therefore fulfill the Gospel promises because the power of the resurrected life (we ARE “raised […] up together”). We do not need to wait for new bodies in order to cease from sin.
In fact, speaking of that current age, the New Testament only speaks of one class of people who do not cease from sin:
“The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the Day of Judgment to be punished; but chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities, whereas angels which are greater in power and might bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.
“But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption, and shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls, an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children, which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness.” (2Pet 2:9-15)
That is the only passage in the Bible in which a verse containing the phrase “cease from sin” appears, and it is used in the negative sense (describing who cannot do it) of those who will be destroyed.
Willful sin ceases in an individual the moment they are “justified” because it means that they are not the ones Peter is describing as “unjust.” Just and unjust are (obviously) opposites, and therefore if a man is declared “just” by Heaven, it is no longer true that he “cannot cease from sin.” It is actively taught that he will. (1John 3:9, 5:18)
And when are men justified?
“And by [Yahshua] all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the Law of Moses.” (Acts 13:39)
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Yahshua the Christ:” (Rom 5:1)
“Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” (Rom 5:9)
We are now justified by faith in Christ. The resurrection, the point at which are bodies are “glorified” is yet future, (Rom 8:17) and at that point “we shall be saved from wrath through Him,” but those who are glorified must first be justified, and it is when we are no longer “unjust” that we cease from sin.
“Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not; whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither known Him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for His Seed remaineth in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” (1John 3:6-9)
If we are not living as though translated into the Heavenly Kingdom while here on earth, we shall never “see” it with our eyes.
2) Can a living being sin before it is born?
The other prong of the argument says this, “Though we may accept the new birth by faith, we do not really experience its power until the resurrection. So, until then a Christian may continue in sins, or commit them from time to time.”
This comes about, first of all, from a misunderstanding of what “faith” really is. The Bible tells us, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Heb 11:1) One of the main meanings for the Greek word hupostasis, translated “substance,” is, “that which has actual existence.” Faith is not the opposite of “reality.” A thing which is not seen, but by the eyes of faith, is no less real than anything that may be encountered with the corporal senses. Likewise elegchos, or “evidence,” is “that by which a thing is proved or tested.”
If we accept the new birth by “faith” it means that we have accepted it in reality. Though we await its manifestation, we have it in its fullness, for John does not say we will be like Christ, he says, “as He is, so are we in this world.” (1John 4:17) We will not have our glorified bodies until His return, (1John 3:2) but even now we have the “mind of Christ” (1Cor 2:16) and that only comes about by being born according to the same Spirit that is within Him. It is the mind, not the body, that makes decisions about our actions (including righteousness and sin) for we “walk not according to the flesh,” (Rom 8:1) or the promptings of what is merely bodily in origin.
Of course, even if we were to accept the idea that the new birth does not really occur until the resurrection, it still does not mean that we willfully sin while we await his event. Life, as Christians believe, begins at conception, not birth; therefore if it is true that “the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me,” (Gal 2:20) this must begin exactly when the “life” begins!
Furthermore, the Scripture teaches that, “being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, […] the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of Him that calleth.” (Rom 9:11) A life that is not born does not commit sin, particularly if it is a holy life, and we know that His “Seed,” (the same word used for the element of conception – Gen 28:14) remains in us, and keeps us from falling. (1John 3:9, Jude 1:24) Since we are specifically told that we must “cease to do evil, learn to do well,” (Isa 1:16, 17) we are clearly held to a higher standard than one who is not yet physically born.
In the worst case, in which one may accept that the new birth does not happen until the resurrection, there is still no excuse for willful sin. According to the realities of the Christian life, that which is recorded in the Scriptures, the moment the life of Christ is conceived in us by the agency of the Holy Spirit, we possess the fullness of His life within us, and we walk in the newness of life NOW, awaiting only the redemption of the body.
Our hearts are already renewed. (Eze 36:25-27) Our minds are already renewed. (Rom 12:2) Our spirits are made holy by our union with the Father and Son. (Acts 2:14-18) All these things, the Bible tells us, leads us to walk in “the paths of righteousness, even for His Name’s sake,” (Psa 23:2) and we thereby fulfill the mission to which we have been called – to vindicate the character of our Father before the on looking universe.
Because we have been made “partakers of the divine nature,” (2Pet 1:4) let us covenant with the Father and Son that we, by Their holy power, will overcome every trial and temptation that Satan and the world can use to attack us, “because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.” (1John 4:4b)
David.