God gave the right to be children of God

John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.


In the last post, we established that life is something that we need here on earth. It is not something that we get when we die, it is something that we get when we are alive. We will pursue the question how we get it, but first we see from today's text, that God gives to those that are born of God are given by God the right to become children of God.

So in pursuing the question, "how do we get this life from God?" We must see from today's text that God is the granter of such life! So invariably, we must go to God and seek to receive from God, the life that he gives to those he gives the right to become children of God.

We must seek life from God, seeking life from God is not the same as

1. Seeking forgiveness
2. Believing in God
3. Confessing sins
4. Praying to God
5. "Accepting Christ"
6. Repenting or forsaking sins
7. Asking God to forgive you
8. understanding you are in violation of God's law
9. Believing God is able to give life
10. Believing in Jesus
11. Religious ceremonies
12. The physical act of baptism
13. From your church or your religious leader

Being born of God, and being a child of God, is receiving life from God, the right to become a child of God is granted by God through believing in his name.

God demonstrated through out the Old Testament and through out the new testament, that he seeks to make children of God and he seeks to do so so by the same means through out, by faith, by believing in him, and believing in the life giving power of God. This entire book is written according to John to that end:

• John 20:31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

So we see that believing is the channel that God brings for life, it is the means that results in life. Faith and believing does not give life, it is the channel through which life flows. Men are given life by the grace of God, and faith is the pipe that brings forth the grace.

If we build a house and put some of the finest pipes available into the house and the foundation for the delivery of water, the pipes, even of the best quality and construction, can do nothing to give us the life sustaining power of water. Rather they are the vehicle through which the water may come. But unless the source of water, be it the city, were to turn on the water, all the greatest pipes can provide nothing to us. The source of the water must direct it to us, and the pipes, like faith, is the means by which we receive the object we seek.

So it is with faith. We can understand all mysteries and all prophesies, but if the author of mercy does not bestow life on us, we can not have it, regardless of our faith. We must seek that the author of life would put life in us and we must craft the faith that results in the life giving power of God actually resulting in life, the life that God gives, apart from the will of man, will of the flesh, nor of blood, but of God.

May God bless us with great fear, a fear to know that this is no small matter. We must know that we need life from God. May he bless us with incredible fear, to know that we are dead, we are in need of life, and that life must come from God, by Faith. In blessing us with fear, may we take great fear in falsely putting confidence in something that never actually resulted in life from God. May the word of God and the Spirit lead us into all truth. To the praise and glory of God

What is Eternal Life

John 20:30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.
John intended that the reader of the book would receive life. What is it to have life and why is it necessary? What is this life and what is eternal life? You may already have a pre-conceived notion influenced by various sources. But, we must ask, what is this life?
Life from God, is that something we need when we die? -or- Is life from God something that we need now, because we are dead and in need of life now?

For most, eternal life is perceived as something that they need when they die! But is that what Jesus proclaimed? A vital question that demands understanding! How crucial is this, crucial enough that Jesus said without this rebirth, without this life, a man can not enter the kingdom of God!

John Piper is one of the men that God used to open my eyes to the truth of Jesus Christ and his Gospel, but John made the statement that Jesus did not tell Nicodemus how to be born again? He said that this was not declared to him and in declaring his need for rebirth, he did not advise Nicodemus how it could happen. Frankly, I was astonished to hear this and realized that the influence on the definition of what eternal life is comes from all sorts of sources. A friend of mine started affirming Piper's position and we dialogued on the perspective of Jesus not informing Nicodemus how to be born again. I took him to this text in John 20, and said, not only did Jesus tell Nicodemus how to be born again, but his apostle John wrote a whole book on it, and included the Nicodemus account in it! My friend conveyed that he felt that this life that John was referring to was eternal life when you die, and seemed perplexed at the thought of the life John proclaimed being life now. Frankly, as I began to proclaim this position, the logic fit perfectly to me, but I realized that few today have preached such truths, and that it is widely held that life refers to something you get in the future. As my friend questioned the usage of this life John refers to to mean eternal life when you die rather than the rebirth Jesus proclaimed, I began to realize that few today have ever explained this text in this way. It became abundantly clear to be the case, when I hear that Piper would make such an astonishing statement.

I raise the question if a man must be born again, does he not need life? Is the term born again simply a religious term that distinguishes some Christians from others? To say that something needs to be born (again) invariably declares that life is needed. To be born means to receive life from God, to be born again means to be born to life by God. Nicodemus was alive as any man alive today, but Jesus told him he needed life in order to enter the Kingdom of God! He did not tell him that he will get life when he gets to heaven! To the contrary, he said, verily, verily, unless a man be born again, he can not enter the Kingdom of God. So Jesus said that you need life to enter the Kingdom of God, but there is wide spread confusion in our culture today, in that bible teaching has egregiously influenced / deceived many to think that eternal life is something you get when you die.

Without a doubt this is one of the most important questions a professed follower of Christ should know about! To be deceived into thinking that eternal life is what you get when you die, it will be drastically problematic to learn that you did not have what was needed to get into the Kingdom of Heaven, thinking you would get what was needed to get in when you die, but actually needed it to in order to get in and will now hear those damning words of Jesus:

Mat 7:21 " Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'

How sobering is that, many think they have it figured out! Do you think you have it figured out? Do you think this does not apply to you? It seems that there is no question that EVERY one of these who asked clearly did much in the name of the Lord, but were cast into outer darkness. Do we have this life of God now? Do you have this life of God that apart from which, you will be cast into outer darkness?

How do we get this life?

• From our church?
  
• From church leaders?
  
• Through religious ceremonies?
  
• Through the outward act of baptism?
  
• Thru praying a prayer?
  
• Thru confessing our sins? By asking for forgiveness?
  

Is there any more essential question to answer?