Things New and Old: New Birth, Family of God, Kingdom of God

Things New and Old

Ancient truths revealed in the Scriptures are often forgotten, disbelieved or distorted, and therefore lost in the passage of time. Such ancient truths when rediscovered and relearned are 'new' additions to the treasury of ancient truths.

Christ showed many new things to the disciples, things prophesied by the prophets of old but hijacked and perverted by the elders and their traditions, but which Christ reclaimed and returned to His people.

Many things taught by the Apostles of Christ have been perverted or substituted over the centuries. Such fundamental doctrines like salvation by grace and justification have been hijacked and perverted and repudiated by sincere Christians. These doctrines need to be reclaimed and restored to God's people.

There are things both new and old here. "Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things" 2Ti 2:7.

Friday, December 15, 2017

New Birth, Family of God, Kingdom of God

The Beige Imperialist and the Brown Imperiled

The new birth,

the family of God, and

the kingdom of God.

I read this quote in a Facebook post and it piqued my sleepy mind.

"Jesus said, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). This kingdom you've got to be born into. All right, watch this, there came a time when you were born into that kingdom. When the Lord is talking about being born into that kingdom, He is not talking to you about something that you must do. He is talking to you about something that is done to you. If you will tell me what you did to be born into the family of your parents, I'll tell you what I did to be born into the family of God. The answer in both cases is nothing." - Excerpt from the sermon titled Three Essentials by .......

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(I excluded the name of the author so that the readers' mind will not be distracted by denominational loyalty)

I left this comment:

That's quite misleading.

No one is born into the kingdom of God.

The new birth makes entering the kingdom of God possible. The kingdom of God is contrasted with the earthly theocratic kingdom of Israel.

The kingdom of God must be entered through conscious confession of Christ as the Messiah.

To be born into the family of God and to be born into the kingdom of God (if there is such a thing to begin with) are completely different theological concepts. There is obvious confusion between the two concepts.

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p/s

The Lord is NOT talking about being born into that kingdom; the Lord is talking about the absolute necessity of the new birth in order for a man to perceive, and enter the kingdom of God. Perceiving and entering the kingdom of God requires strenuous effort on the part of those already born again.