Are You Born of God? 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. 1 Jn 5:1

Are you born of God? Being born of God is not biological. It is not affected by the will of man nor earned by his works. In 1 John 5:1, the apostle John states three characteristics that the children of God display so that we can understand what it means to be born of God.

You must be born again. Nicodemus’ encounter with Jesus in John 3 is a moving illustration of man’s need to be regenerated. Nicodemus came to Jesus in the night seeking truth from Him, calling Him teacher, but he was unable to see that it was Jesus Himself who embodied truth and life. (Jn 3:2; 14:6) Why couldn’t Nicodemus see who Jesus actually was? Why is the world unable to see Jesus as He is? Every man is born spiritually dead and blind. Man must be regenerated to see the kingdom of God and Jesus as King. (Jn 3:3) Ever since the Fall, man’s perfect relationship with God has been severed. Man stopped seeking God and began creating his own way and his own gods. (Eph 2:1-3) Every false religion teaches salvation by good works, but the truth is that there is nothing man can do to restore his relationship with God or escape His Judgment. We have no part in becoming regenerated- it is God alone who chooses whom He wills to make alive by the Holy Spirit. Man must be born again by the Holy Spirit, who gives life to the hopelessly dead. (Jn 3:7-8) The evidence of a regenerated life is the inner transformation that inevitably leads to a holy life. When a man is born again and turn to Christ, his mind, worldview, and affections are changed forever. A forgiven sinner loves Christ, because he knows Jesus as his redeemer. The unregenerate man, though he may go to church and take part in religious activities, will eventually fall away, because the Spirit of God is not in him. (Heb 6:4-6, Rom 8:29-30)

You must believe. Faith is God’s instrument for effecting salvation. It is not faith itself that saves, but it is Christ who saves through faith. This saving faith is not a mere consent to the facts of salvation but a gift from God. (Eph 2:8-9) This is why saving faith begins with repentance- metanoia in Greek- which means a radical change. Unbelief is defined by a crass autonomy – an act of rejecting Christ to live life in whatever way they may see fit. This is the same sin of unbelief that exists today as it did two thousand years ago when unbelievers nailed Jesus to the cross. When an unbeliever is regenerated and begins to believe in Christ, he also confesses his sins and turn into Christ for salvation, hating sin as God hates sin. (Mk 1:15) Believers learn and see that Jesus is the only way. We assent with intellectual conviction of the saving power in the gospel message. Finally, we trust Christ with a single-minded commitment to the gospel. We put our entire hope of salvation in Christ alone and heed His call to deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and follow Him. (Mk 8:34) We throw away our self-righteousness, self-love, and self-lordship, and we count the cost of following Christ to death, trusting in His provision, sovereignty, and love. (Phil 2:17) Jesus is the only acceptable Object of saving faith.

Your regenerated heart and your God-given faith compel you to follow Jesus, the Son of God and only Savior. Every religious figure in history, except for One, died and remain in the tomb, and those who believe and follow after them, except for One, will have the same end. Only Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, and those who believe in Him will rise again as sons and daughters of God. (Jn 11:25-26) Jesus is the Christ- God came down as man and died as a sacrifice for our sin. (Matt 1:21) He showed the world the perfect love of God- an everlasting love that rescues undeserving sinners. By God’s Will we are now in Christ, who has been revealed to know as our Lord and Savior. Just as we have been made children of God, this salvation is available to everyone today, as they repent and believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…(1Cor 15:3-4)