- Be born again
The
second dimension of the life in the Spirit it is to be born again of the Spirit
and this second dimension of the Spirit was given to the disciples after the
resurrection of Jesus Christ when He was glorified.
Before
Jesus Christ was glorified after His resurrection He met Mary Magdalene and
said to her; “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but
go to My brethren and say to them, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father,
and to My God and your God.' But after
presenting Himself to the Father that same evening He appeared to His disciples
and said to them; "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send
you. “And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them,
"Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:17; 19-23).
So
the second dimension of the life in the Spirit it is to receive the Holy Spirit
and be born of the Spirit and so, Jesus Christ instructed His disciples saying;
“for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit
not many days from now."
Therefore,
when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at
this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" And He said to them, "It is
not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own
authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;
and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1: 5-8).
And
the admonition to anyone who wish to have life in the Spirit is; “Repent, and
let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission
of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is
to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord
our God will call" (Acts 2:38-39).
The
new birth is not of corruptible seed for we have been duly instructed saying; “But
as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God,
to those who believe in His name: who 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).
One
is born of the Spirit when his/her spirit is joined to the Spirit of God
because, the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children
of God” (Romans 8:16).
Humanity
is a free moral agent and so we have the prerogative to allow our spirit to
either be connected to the Holy Spirit and become a child of God or, allowing
our spirit to be connected to the spirit of the prince of the power of the air
and become a child of the devil.
But
we have received the consolation saying; “And you He made alive, who were dead
in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of
this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now
works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves
in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others” (Ephesians 2:1-3).
But
being born of the Spirit is not the ultimatum one needs to grow and develop
him/her and not remain as babes as some were chastised by the Apostle Paul
saying; “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as
to carnal, as to babes in Christ.’
I
fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to
receive it, and even now you’ are still not able; for you are still carnal. For
where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and
behaving like mere men? For when one says, "I am of Paul," and
another, "I am of Apollos," are you not carnal” (1Corinthians 3:1-4)?
The
second dimension of the spiritual life is the state of justification which
needs to be developed as emphasized by the apostle Paul who wrote; “For though
by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the
first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not
solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of
righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of
full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to
discern both good and evil” (Hebrews 5:12-14).
It
is therefore imperative that we examine ourselves and see whether we are still
babes, still carnal, behaving like mere men and causing fractions and divisions in
the body of Christ and unskilled in the word of righteousness.
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To be continued
Lucius Joseph
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