1
John 2:29 “If you know
that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices
righteousness is born of Him.”
I read a teaching on this
doctrine that pointed out that this is the first of seven occurrences of the
phrase “born of God,” or “born of Him,” in the little epistle of 1 John. If
anyone wishes to know how to recognize one who has truly been “born again; born
from above”, these seven descriptors are available for that purpose.
John 3:3 Jesus
answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again
he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
The first such test, in our
text, is that such a person is one “that practices righteousness.” The second
and third tests are found in 1 John
3:9: “No one who is born of God practices
sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born
of God.” That is, he will not practice sin because God’s own nature has
been implanted in him.
1 John 4:7 “Beloved,
let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves
is born of God and knows God.” So, another evidence is genuine love.
1 John 5:1 “Whoever
believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves
the Father loves the child born of Him.” Still another is genuine faith in Christ, which in
turn produces genuine love.
1 John 5:4-5 “For
whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the
victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the
world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” Those who are truly born again will not be
permanently defeated by the world.
Finally, 1
John 5:18 says, “We know
that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born
of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.”
John 3:5-7 Jesus
answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water
and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is
born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is
spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’”
The term “born again” is
being used very loosely these days, and we need to realize that true “regeneration
of the spirit” is a permanent, life-transforming miracle accomplished by God
Himself in a believer’s life.
Born of God
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