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THE NEW BIRTH

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International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jul 29, 1889

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 15, No. 29.

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THE NEW BIRTH.

By T. S. Parmelee

BIRTH is the beginning of life. The beginning of our natural life is called birth; the beginning of the spiritual life is also called birth. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." John 3:6.
Everyone who receives Christ is born of God. "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; which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John 1:12, 13.
To be without this life is to be dead. This is the condition of all who are carnally minded. To receive this life is to be made alive, or quickened. "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins." Eph. 2:1. "For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." Rom. 8:6.
When the Spirit of God has given new life to thebeliever, a new creation has taken place. "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Eph. 2:10.
The new birth is regeneration, or new creation, and always accompanies the forgiveness of sins. The new life is begun in every true believer. "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God." 1 John 5:1.
The new life is begun before the world is overcome. "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the son of God?" 1 John 5:4, 5.
We can do nothing without that life which flows to us through a connection with Christ the living vine, in answer to our faith. Jesus says: "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me." John 15:4.
God works a miracle for every person who accepts Christ. "Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed, and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." 1 Cor. 12:3.
The one who never had the Spirit of God working in him never was a child of God. "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." Rom. 8:9.
The new life that we receive when we are forgiven is one of the first-fruits of the Spirit. Paul says, "Ourselves also which have the first-fruits of the Spirit." Rom. 8:23. The same verse tells about the redemption of the body that completes the work of the Spirit in us.
After we become sons of God, we keep purifying ourselves; for the work is not completed. And we do this just as long as we have this hope of being like Jesus. We will not be like him until he comes, so in God's strength we will purify ourselves until he comes. Then the Spirit of God will have completed its work in us, and we will be born again in a larger sense than when we first believed. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him, purifieth himself even as He is pure." 1 John 3:2, 3.
We will not take any credit to ourselves; for all our strength, even the ability to believe, is from Christ. He is "the author and finisher of our faith."
God has never promised to bring us, in this life, to a place where we will not be tempted. Such a condition would not be the image of Jesus Christ, for Christ was tempted. But he will give his children ability to overcome when they are tempted, and when they overcome it will be evidence that they have received life from the Living Vine, and are still the sons of God. "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life." James 1:12. "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." Heb. 12:6.
From the time we first believe until our probation closes, God has deeper experiences and greater blessings in store for us; but there is no time in this period when we will be without chastisement, and if we have reached a place where we have none, we are not children of God. "But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons." Heb. 12:8.
T. S. PARMELEE. Athens, Michigan.