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Spiritual Birth
(From Forerunner Commentary)

The first law of science is the fact that only life can beget life. Life cannot come from the not-living. Life could not have gradually come into existence from nothing. God could not have gradually come into existence. God and the Word always have coexisted—without father, without mother, having neither beginning of days nor end of life—but living from eternity through eternity. Out of matter God created the fauna and the flora—animal and vegetable life. We might classify all existence in kingdoms. The mineral kingdom, the plant kingdom, animal kingdom, human kingdom, angel kingdom, and the God Kingdom. Man was created in the human kingdom, and potentially may be born into the God Kingdom. But religionists who boast of being already "born-again Christians" are sadly deceived. The ultimate creation of man—to become God—necessitated the development of godly character within him. So at this point notice the system of duality in this ultimate God creation. Physically, man was made complete in two stages; first male, then the addition of female. Spiritually and mentally, he was to be made complete in two stages; first a human mind empowered by a human spirit. Even as God had supreme mind, man was made with human mind. But in mind and spirit man was not yet complete. To complete his physical creation, once the female was added to the male, they became one as a human family. So, in the spiritual creation, the addition of the Holy Spirit of God must be added to the human spirit. This makes the man spiritually at one with God. But even at this stage the principle of duality is still in force. Once the Holy Spirit is joined with his human spirit his human mind is complete, but he is still a human, now begotten as a God person. He is only an heir of God, not an inheritor of the God Kingdom. He is only begotten, not yet born as God. The duality principle continues. Human birth is the precise type of God birth. In the woman is an egg cell called an ovum. It possesses potential life. Yet unless fertilized by the human sperm cell from the body of the father, it has a life span of less than 28 days. The male sperm cell on entering it endows it with the start of human life. But to call it already a born human compares to the deceived calling themselves "born-again Christians." On conception the ovum is called an embryo. It must grow physically, fed through the mother. By four months, when taking on human form, it is called a fetus. It continues through a period of gestation for nine months from conception to parturition, when it is born. The first human, Adam, was created, as we might say by analogy, a spiritual ovum. He had only a temporary physicochemical existence. If "fertilized" by the male divine sperm of God (His Holy Spirit—actually God-life), he would have been begotten, but not yet born as God. But God is supreme perfect spiritual character. Before Adam could even qualify to be begotten into the God Family, he had to choose between the way of God and the way of Satan, who still sat on the throne of the earth. Herbert W. Armstrong (1892-1986) A World Held Captive

John 3:5-8  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) In connection with John 4:24, this verse implies that, since God is Spirit, if one is going to be born of the Spirit, he will be composed of exactly the same substance as God. To make it even clearer, Jesus gives an illustration in verse 8 so that no one would misunderstand His intention. Wind is invisible. When something gets moved by the wind, a person can see that object moving. He does not see the wind moving but the object. The wind, composed of air, is invisible to his eyes. This illustrates one who is born of the Spirit. Spirit is invisible but no less real than air. Nobody would argue that air, of which wind is composed, has no substance, for though it is invisible, it is made up of particles too small to be seen by the unaided eye. John W. Ritenbaugh Image and Likeness of God (Part 4)

1 Corinthians 15:47-48  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) In other words, even as all men follow the pattern of Adam, so will all those of the new creation follow the pattern of the second Adam, Christ, who was born again by a resurrection. John W. Ritenbaugh You Must Be Born Again!

1 Corinthians 15:47  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) This is what Jesus was saying to Nicodemus. He was of the earth, earthy—human. He was flesh, not spirit. He was born of the flesh, so that is what he was—flesh. When one is born of the Spirit, he will be spirit. Paul is here explaining the same truth. But we cannot be spirit in this present age. Herbert W. Armstrong (1892-1986) Life After Death?

Ephesians 2:10  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) The word "we" in New Testament language usually refers to Christians, as Paul intended in verse 10. We, then—if we are Christians—are God's "workmanship." We today are being "created"—why?—"for good works." God, with the Holy Spirit He has put within us, is forming in us perfect spiritual character! He is creating us in His own character-image! He is creating us to be the supreme masterpiece of all His works of creation—individuals who will ultimately be capable of exercising awesome powers in the universe! Man, the material creation, is only the first phase. Now the clay model has to be fashioned and molded by experience, with the aid of God's Holy Spirit, into the finished spiritual masterpiece. An analogy of this process would be a caterpillar going through a metamorphosis and emerging a beautiful butterfly. Man must undergo a spiritual "metamorphosis," or change—to emerge as perfect spiritual members in the divine God Family! What It Means to Be Born Again

1 Peter 5:1-2  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) The Father begets. He does not "bring forth"; the mother does that, later. After the father's part, which initiates the process, there is always a lapse of time leading to final birth. At the time of begettal, birth (parturition) has not yet occurred. In the case of human beings, it follows about nine months later. During the intervening time, just as the mother nourishes and protects the unborn son or daughter in her womb during the gestation period, so the true church is commissioned to nourish and protect true Christians in her spiritual womb—to "feed the flock." God's spirit-begotten children must be nourished on the spiritual food supplied by God—the words of Scripture—and live by every word of God, in order to grow up spiritually. If by the return of Jesus Christ we have grown and matured in spiritual character, we will become born "children of God," being "children of the resurrection" as Christ was at His resurrection. We will then no longer be subject to death (Luke 20:35-36). But if the spirit-begotten child of God does not grow spiritually, he can become a spiritual miscarriage. What It Means to Be Born Again

 

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