The quotes
in Blue are comments from JW Files
The quotes in Black are from the Watchtower
Society and Boldfaced and or Underlined for emphasis.
***
Rbi8 Bible 1 John 5:1-4 ***
5 Everyone believing that Jesus is the Christ has
been born from God, and everyone who loves the one that caused to be born loves
him who has been born from that one. 2 By this we gain the knowledge
that we are loving the children of God, when we are loving God and doing his
commandments. 3 For this is what the love of God means, that we observe
his commandments; and yet his commandments are not burdensome, 4 because
everything that has been born from God conquers the world. And this is the conquest
that has conquered the world, our faith.
Awake, August 22, 1974,
pages 27 & 28
What Is the Bible's View?
Must You Be Born Again?
OUTSTANDING among God's gifts to sinful mankind is the opportunity of coming
into friendly relations with Him through Jesus Christ, with the hope of gaining
everlasting life.—John 3:16.
What must one do to attain that reward? Many claim that all who would gain eternal
life must be “born again.” They quote Jesus’ words to Nicodemus: “Most truly
I say to you, Unless anyone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
. . . Unless anyone is born from water and spirit, he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God.”—John 3:3, 5. Such persons also refer
to 1 John 5:1, which says: “Everyone believing that Jesus is the Christ has
been born from God,” and from this they draw the conclusion that all true believers
in Jesus must be “regenerated” or “born again” as children of God. Is that really
the meaning of these texts? If you are to enjoy a fine relationship with
God and eternal life, must you be “born again”? Let us examine what the Bible
means by this term. The apostle Peter, at 1 Peter 1:3, 4, explains the purpose
of the new birth in this way: “According to [God’s] great mercy he gave us a
new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead, to an incorruptible and undefiled and unfading inheritance. It is reserved
in the heavens for you.” Persons whom God calls to heaven will be immortal,
incorruptible spirit persons, “sharers in divine nature.” (1 Cor. 15:42-44,
53; 2 Pet. 1:4) Since “flesh and blood cannot inherit
God’s kingdom,” these individuals must undergo
a change. (1 Cor. 15:50) To have this hope they must be “born from water,” experiencing
Christian baptism in water. Also, they must be born or begotten by God’s holy
“spirit,” thus gaining the prospect of enjoying
spirit life in the heavens. (John 3:5) Ones reborn in this way become spiritual
“sons” of God.—Rom. 8:14, 15.
***
Rbi8 1 Corinthians 15:50-52 ***
50 However, this I say, brothers, that flesh and
blood cannot inherit God’s kingdom, neither does corruption inherit
incorruption. 51 Look! I tell YOU a sacred secret: We shall not all fall asleep
[in death], but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of
an eye, during the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead
will be raised up incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Why does God adopt people
for spirit life in the heavens? Revelation 20:6 states: “They will be priests
of God and of the Christ, and will rule as kings with him for the thousand
years.” The apostle Paul declared: “If we go on enduring, we shall also rule
together as kings.” (2 Tim. 2:12) God’s purpose in calling humans to heaven,
therefore, is to form a heavenly government under Christ Jesus.—Rev. 5:9, 10.
Any government consists of only a small part of the total population. Does the
Bible indicate that only a limited number make up God’s heavenly government?
Note how many are mentioned at Revelation 14:1: “And I saw, and, look! the Lamb
standing upon the [heavenly] Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four
thousand.” Rev. 14 Verses 3 and 4 speak of “the hundred and forty-four thousand,
who have been bought from the earth” as being, not all who gain salvation, but,
rather, only “first fruits to God and to
the Lamb.”—Compare James 1:18. The Scriptures show that others besides these
will gain eternal life. Jesus spoke of having “other sheep, which are not of this fold.” (John 10:16) Revelation
chapter 7 contrasts the 144,000 Christian, spiritual Israelites with a “great crowd, which no man was
able to number” and which the Lamb, Jesus Christ, guides “to fountains of waters
of life.” (Rev 7 Verses 4, 9, 17; Gal. 6:16) In the parable about separating
the nations “as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,” Jesus distinguished
those whom he called his “brothers” from the “sheep” who, nevertheless, “inherit
[God’s] kingdom” and enter “into everlasting life.”—Matt. 25:32, 34, 40, 46;
Rom. 8:29.
***
Rbi8 Bible Revelation 7:4-10 ***
4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed, a
hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the sons
of Israel:
5 Out of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand sealed;
out of the tribe of Reu'ben twelve thousand;
out of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand;
6 out of the tribe of Ash'er twelve thousand;
out of the tribe of Naph'ta·li twelve thousand;
out of the tribe of Ma·nas'seh twelve thousand;
7 out of the tribe of Sim'e·on twelve thousand;
out of the tribe of Le'vi twelve thousand;
out of the tribe of Is'sa·char twelve thousand;
8 out of the tribe of Zeb'u·lun twelve thousand;
out of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand;
out of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand sealed.
9 After these things I saw, and, look! a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and
tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed
in white robes; and there were palm branches in their hands. 10 And they keep
on crying with a loud voice, saying:“Salvation [we owe] to our God, who
is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb.”
The
Society teaches that the 144,000 in verse is a literal number, but the 12 tribes
of Israel in verses 5 -8 is symbolic, verse 9 is symbolic and that the "great
crowd" is not in heaven.
***
Rbi8 Revelation 19:1 ***
19 After these things I heard what was as a loud
voice of a great crowd in heaven. They said: “Praise Jah, YOU people!
The salvation and the glory and the power belong to our God,
The
Society teaches that this is symbolic
***
Rbi8 Bible John 10:7-9 ***
7 Therefore Jesus said again: “Most truly I say to YOU, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All those that have come in place of me are thieves and plunderers;
but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the door;
whoever enters through me will be saved, and he will go in and out and
find pasturage.
Jesus
teaches that he is the only way.
***
Rbi8 Bible John 10:16-17 ***
16 “And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold;
those also I must bring, and they will listen to my voice, and they will
become one flock, one shepherd. 17 This is why the Father loves me,
because I surrender my soul, in order that I may receive it again.
All
the sheep listen to Jesus' voice, not just the anointed have this privilege.
Must these “sheep” be born
again? Remember that the main purpose of such rebirth is to call people to heaven.
But is heaven the only destiny for believers in Jesus Christ? Interestingly,
Jesus encouraged his followers to pray that God’s will “take place, as in heaven,
also upon earth.” (Matt. 6:10) In this same vein Revelation 21:3, 4 describes
the time when “the tent of God is with mankind . . . And God himself . . . will
wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will
mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore.”Mankind lives
only on earth, since creatures of flesh and blood cannot enter heaven. (1 Cor. 15:50) It is here on earth, then, that the “sheep”
of Jesus’ parable, including the “great crowd,” will gain everlasting life. They
“inherit the kingdom” by taking possession of territory subject to the king,
Christ Jesus. As spiritual rebirth is an experience only for those who go to
heaven, Christians not of that class are not born again.
***
Rbi8 Bible Hebrews 11:12-16 ***
12 Hence also from one [man], and him as
good as dead, there were born [children] just as the stars of heaven for
multitude and as the sands that are by the seaside, innumerable.13 In
faith all these died, although they did not get the [fulfillment of the] promises,
but they saw them afar off and welcomed them and publicly declared that they
were strangers and temporary residents in the land. 14 For those who say such
things give evidence that they are earnestly seeking a place of their
own. 15 And yet, if they had indeed kept remembering that [place] from
which they had gone forth, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they are reaching out for a better [place], that is, one belonging
to heaven. Hence God is not ashamed of them, to be called upon
as their God, for he has made a city ready for them.
***
Rbi8 Bible 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 ***
5 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, should
be dissolved, we are to have a building from God, a house not made with
hands, everlasting in the heavens. 2 For in this dwelling house we do indeed
groan, earnestly desiring to put on the one for us from heaven, 3 so
that, having really put it on, we shall not be found naked. 4 In fact, we who
are in this tent groan, being weighed down; because we want, not to put it off,
but to put on the other, that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5
Now he that produced us for this very thing is God, who gave us the token of
what is to come, that is, the spirit. 6 We are therefore always of good courage
and know that, while we have our home in the body, we are absent from the Lord,
7 for we are walking by faith, not by sight. 8 But we are of good courage
and are well pleased rather to become absent from the body and to make our home
with the Lord.9 Therefore we are also making it our aim that, whether
having our home with him or being absent from him, we may be acceptable
to him. 10 For we must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of the
Christ, that each one may get his award for the things done through the body,
according to the things he has practiced, whether it is good or vile.
This does not mean that
persons with earthly hopes do not have holy spirit. Faithful servants of God
in pre- Christian times, though not begotten as spiritual sons of God with heavenly
hopes, had God’s spirit. (Judg. 6:34; 11:29; 14:6; 2 Sam. 23:2; 2 Tim. 3:16) John the Baptist, for example, was “filled with holy spirit”;
yet he did not go to heaven, for Jesus said
of him: “A lesser one in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he is.”—Matt.
11:11.
***
Rbi8 Bible Matthew 11:11-12 ***
11 Truly I say to YOU people, Among those born of women
there has not been raised up a greater than John the Baptist; but a person
that is a lesser one in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he is.
(You
need to read verse 12 )
12 But from the days
of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of the heavens is the goal toward
which men press, and those pressing forward are seizing it.
The
phrase, "from the days of John the Baptist until now", why would we not include
John the Baptist himself"? What Scriptures show that John did not have a hope
for heavenly life? He did in fact live to meet the Messiah himself. Did Jesus
actually tell him that he was the last of those to have an "earthly life," as
opposed to everyone else who came after him that would inherit the kingdom of
heaven? We have no evidence to show that he did.
Likewise today all who wish
to please God seek the direction of his holy spirit in their lives. They endeavor
to “put on the new personality,” displaying “the fruitage of the spirit,” including
love, kindness, mildness and self-control. (Eph. 4:24; Gal. 5:22) But
they do not have to be “born again” to do this. It is interesting, too,
that the “sheep” that would be separated from the “goats” were not to appear
until “the Son of man arrives in his glory,” during the invisible “presence”
of Christ at the “conclusion of the system of things.” (Matt. 25:31-33; 24:3)
Similarly, the “great crowd” of Revelation 7:9-17 “come
out of the great tribulation,” at the end of the present system of things.—Rev.
7:14; Matt. 24:21, 22.
***
Rbi8 Bible Revelation 7:14-17 ***
14 So right away I said to him: “My lord, you are the
one that knows.” And he said to me: “These are the ones
that come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and
made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 That
is why they are before the throne of God; and they are rendering him sacred service day and night in his temple; and
the One seated on the throne will spread his tent over them. 16 They
will hunger no more nor thirst anymore, neither will the sun beat down upon
them nor any scorching heat, 17 because the Lamb, who is in the midst of the
throne, will shepherd them, and will guide them to fountains
of waters of life. And God will wipe out every tear from their eyes.”
Where
are the "great crowd" standing?
These things help us to
understand the apostle John’s statement about “everyone” believing in Jesus
as being born from God. (1 John 5:1) John
was writing to fellow believers of the first century C.E., all of whom
were of the heavenly “first fruits” class. And an examination of the
context indicates that John did not mean that every individual throughout history
that would believe in Jesus would be born again and go to heaven. His point
was that no one could be born again unless he believed in Jesus Christ. Some
in John’s day were denying Jesus; these John associated with “the antichrist.”—1
John 2:22, 23. Must you be born again? Not if you are
one of mankind whose hope is to live on earth under the rulership of God’s heavenly kingdom. Nevertheless, you must
study the Word of God diligently, seek the direction of God’s holy spirit, and
display its fruitage in your life.—John 17:3.
Is
that what 1 John 5: 1 says?
***
Rbi8 Bible 1 John 5:1 ***
5 Everyone believing that Jesus is the Christ has
been born from God, and everyone who loves the one that caused to be born loves
him who has been born from that one.
Ask
yourself who is taking you away from Jesus, please read verse 8 below.
***
Rbi8 Bible John 10:1-17 ***
10 “Most truly I say to YOU, He that does not enter into
the sheepfold through the door but climbs up some other place, that one is a
thief and a plunderer. 2 But he that enters through the door is shepherd of
the sheep. 3 The doorkeeper opens to this one, and the sheep listen to
his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4
When he has got all his own out, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him,
because they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will by no means
follow but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.”
6 Jesus spoke this comparison to them; but they did not know what the things
meant that he was speaking to them. 7 Therefore Jesus said again: “Most truly
I say to YOU, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All those that have come in
place of me are thieves and plunderers; but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the door; whoever enters through me will be saved, and
he will go in and out and find pasturage. 10 The thief does not come unless
it is to steal and slay and destroy. I have come that they might have life and
might have it in abundance. 11 I am the fine shepherd; the fine shepherd
surrenders his soul in behalf of the sheep. 12 The hired man, who is
no shepherd and to whom the sheep do not belong as his own, beholds the wolf
coming and abandons the sheep and flees—and the wolf snatches them and scatters
them— 13 because he is a hired man and does not care for the sheep. 14 I am
the fine shepherd, and I know my sheep and my sheep know me, 15
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I surrender my soul in
behalf of the sheep. 16 “And I have other sheep, which are not of this
fold; those also I must bring, and they will listen to my voice, and they will
become one flock, one shepherd. 17 This is why the Father loves
me, because I surrender my soul, in order that I may receive it again.
Jesus
surrenders his soul, as he states in verse 17. However, the Society believes
the "other sheep" are not part of the "new covenant" he made with his disciples,
only the anointed have this privilege. (Where did they get this information?)
That's not what the Bible teaches.
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