So far we have seen what God has done for us in His Son and through His work on the cross. To this could be added the salvation of the soul (1 Pet. 1:9), the washing and cleansing of our sins (Rev. 1:5–6; 2 Pet. 1:9) and our purchase (1 Cor. 6:20). Now we come to what He has done in us and to us. Through reconciliation, redemption, forgiveness and justification, our sinful deeds have been removed, but our sinful nature has not been changed. The nature of man is incorrigible (see Rom. 8:7). As a descendant of fallen Adam, every man possesses this corrupt, sinful nature. His sins can be forgiven, the sinner can be justified, but this does not remove his sinful nature. With this ‘old nature’, man cannot live on earth in a way pleasing to God, nor spend eternity in the glory of God. Therefore, something new must come into being, and this happens through the new birth.
The Pharisee, Nicodemus, had to learn that only someone who is “born anew” can see the kingdom of God (John 3:3). The new birth represents a fundamental new beginning in human life. Through this birth, which the Lord Jesus calls a birth “of water and the Spirit” in John 3:5, man receives a new nature and new, divine life. The “water” is not an image of baptism, but of the Word of God in its purifying power (cf. John 15:3; Eph. 5:25), and the “Spirit” is the Holy Spirit (cf. John 3:6). All who are thus “born of God” become “children of God” and reveal in their lives that they are “partakers of the divine nature” (John 1:12–13; 2 Pet. 1:4). Believers have also received eternal life (John 3:16). This is not only a life without end, but it is the life of the Son of God. He Himself is eternal life (1 John 5:20).
However, not only did we possess a corrupt, sinful nature, but to God we were also spiritually dead, even though we were alive in sin (Eph. 2:1). God took us out of this spiritual death – He “quickened us with the Christ” (Eph. 2:5; Col. 2:13). The life of the risen Christ is now our life (Col. 3:4). It is secure and untouchable, for it is “hid with the Christ in God” (Col. 3:3).
And what has happened to the “old man”, that is, our position and our condition as sinful, lost people? According to Romans 6:6, “our old man has been crucified with him”, and in faith in the Lord Jesus at our conversion we have “put off the old man” and “put on the new” (Eph. 4:22f.; Col. 3:9–10).
Is it conceivable that God will take away the eternal life He has given us? Could Christ be my life today and not tomorrow? Could children of God ever lose the filial relationship in which He has placed them? Impossible! A child always remains a child, even if he or she disobeys! After all, it is not our work, but God’s, even if we also participate in it through faith.
New birth and Eternal life
So far we have seen what God has done for us in His Son and through His work on the cross. To this could be added the salvation of the soul (1 Pet. 1:9), the washing and cleansing of our sins (Rev. 1:5–6; 2 Pet. 1:9) and our purchase (1 Cor. 6:20). Now we come to what He has done in us and to us. Through reconciliation, redemption, forgiveness and justification, our sinful deeds have been removed, but our sinful nature has not been changed. The nature of man is incorrigible (see Rom. 8:7). As a descendant of fallen Adam, every man possesses this corrupt, sinful nature. His sins can be forgiven, the sinner can be justified, but this does not remove his sinful nature. With this ‘old nature’, man cannot live on earth in a way pleasing to God, nor spend eternity in the glory of God. Therefore, something new must come into being, and this happens through the new birth.
The Pharisee, Nicodemus, had to learn that only someone who is “born anew” can see the kingdom of God (John 3:3). The new birth represents a fundamental new beginning in human life. Through this birth, which the Lord Jesus calls a birth “of water and the Spirit” in John 3:5, man receives a new nature and new, divine life. The “water” is not an image of baptism, but of the Word of God in its purifying power (cf. John 15:3; Eph. 5:25), and the “Spirit” is the Holy Spirit (cf. John 3:6). All who are thus “born of God” become “children of God” and reveal in their lives that they are “partakers of the divine nature” (John 1:12–13; 2 Pet. 1:4). Believers have also received eternal life (John 3:16). This is not only a life without end, but it is the life of the Son of God. He Himself is eternal life (1 John 5:20).
However, not only did we possess a corrupt, sinful nature, but to God we were also spiritually dead, even though we were alive in sin (Eph. 2:1). God took us out of this spiritual death – He “quickened us with the Christ” (Eph. 2:5; Col. 2:13). The life of the risen Christ is now our life (Col. 3:4). It is secure and untouchable, for it is “hid with the Christ in God” (Col. 3:3).
And what has happened to the “old man”, that is, our position and our condition as sinful, lost people? According to Romans 6:6, “our old man has been crucified with him”, and in faith in the Lord Jesus at our conversion we have “put off the old man” and “put on the new” (Eph. 4:22f.; Col. 3:9–10).
Is it conceivable that God will take away the eternal life He has given us? Could Christ be my life today and not tomorrow? Could children of God ever lose the filial relationship in which He has placed them? Impossible! A child always remains a child, even if he or she disobeys! After all, it is not our work, but God’s, even if we also participate in it through faith.
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