There are lots of indicators in God's Word that once Jesus Christ makes us into a new creation we will never go back and be the old again.
The account of Nicodemus is one such story.
John 3:1-8 "1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews;
2 this man came to Jesus at night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
3 Jesus responded and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a person be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?”
5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
6 That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which has been born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it is coming from and where it is going; so is everyone who has been born of the Spirit.”"
Christ told Nicodemus that once a man is born from his mother he can never go back into his mother's womb and become a baby again. He also said once we have been born of the Spirit of God we can never return to our state before we were changed into a new creation by Christ. Our rebirth in Christ is not fleshly, it is Spiritual. Our flesh remains a problem to the born-again believer, a battle begins between our flesh and the Spirit of God Who lives in us.
God gave us many examples in nature of this principle that once we have been changed by God we can never go back and be the old thing again.
2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new". This verse means that anyone who is in Christ is a new person, with a new moral and spiritual condition."
God gave us the butterfly, when it begins in the cocoon it is a worm. When it emerges from the cocoon it is a beautiful butterfly. It can never go back to being a worm again ever.
We are worms worthy of God's punishment and judgment before we are born again. After we have trusted Christ He makes us into something beautiful. We are not perfect because we live in this sinful flesh that must be dominated by the Spirit in us daily as we die to self.
Notice that when we die as believers our flesh cannot go because God cannot be in the presence of sin. Our Spirit goes to be with the Father but our flesh remains to rot away. We will have new bodies at the resurrection, only the new bodies free from sin will be able to go into the presence of God. Our Spirit which was changed by Christ at our born-again experience does go directly to the Father upon our fleshly death.
Isaiah 41:14
"14 Fear not, you worm Jacob,
you men of Israel!
I am the one who helps you, declares the Lord;
your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel."
Without Christ, mankind is a worm worthy of judgment and wrath. With Christ we are made new with His Spirit dwelling in us. He becomes a part of us and deals with the flesh continually to help us grow in holiness.
Hebrews 12:5-7 "…5 And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives.” 7 Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?…"
The born-again believers don't have to work really hard to keep their salvation, Christ Himself lives in them guiding them daily. Those who resist the teachings of the Holy Spirit will suffer loss, not of their salvation but the loss of rewards.
1 Corinthians 3:14-16 "…14 If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as if through the flames. 16 Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?"
There are many who have little or no fruit of the Spirit, they may or may not be born again. If they rage against the truth then they have never been born again. If they neglect to obey but do not rage they may be infantile believers who will miss many blessings in this life and the next for their stubbornness unless they confess it to be cleansed by Christ.
However, and this is a big one, God said we shall know them by their fruit. Those who are not at all ashamed of their sin and rage against those who correct them are very likely not born again. The fruit of the Spirit are the character qualities of Christ. The least that should happen to a believer when they are confronted about their sinful attitudes is a sense of shame leading them eventually to confess to be cleansed.
Galatians 5:22-23
"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
The fruit of the Spirit are the character qualities of Christ, they are not works but they do lead to works as an outpouring of what is in the heart.
1 John 1:9 "9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
An unbeliever confesses their sinfulness to God to become born again. A believer confesses their individual sins to be cleansed of them to further grow in holiness. Those of us who are born again ought to be confessing, growing and changing as the Lord cleanses us continually until He takes us home.
1 John 1:8 in the Bible, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us".
This passage in 1 John is speaking to believers. Those who think they never sin are denying the existence of their sinful flesh that fights against their Spirit continually.
Galatians 5:17-25
"17 For the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, in order to keep you from doing whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law."
Those who sin in attitude or deed defending it and excusing it as good are not born again. these are the pretenders who want the safety and blessings God offers but they do not want Him. They are takers without regard to offending God Who created them.
Those who love the Lord with all their heart are those who are ashamed quickly of their sinful attitudes and deeds and cannot rest until they have confessed them to God and to whoever they offended.
May each one reading this take inventory asking God to show them their state so they can walk with Christ in agreement with Him.
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