The New Birth

Read Time: 11 Minutes

Our relationship with God is like the one with our earthly father in regards to our standing and state. Most people don't think about the distinction between our standing or our state within our family. However, when it comes to rightly dividing the Word of God it is necessary to understand. 

We have the seed of our father within us, we will always be his son or daughter, that is our standing. There is nothing you can do to change that; it is physical and permanent. The same is true with your Heavenly Father. He placed His seed within you when you believed and acted on His Word at Romans 10:9 & 10 and it is incorruptible and irremovable (see Incorruptible Seed). 

Our state in the family, however, can change; our behavior determines our state within the family. When I was obedient and living up to the standards in my household my  state was one of acceptance. When I misbehaved I was not in good favor with my father. In order to mend that I had to ask for forgiveness. When the apology was accepted and forgiveness granted I was back in favor with my father. My standing, my sonship (daughtership?), was never in question, I am always my father's daughter but my state fluctuated.

God has given us the tools and instruction to have Christ in us; now it is our responsibility to be in Christ. Just as we must live up to the standards of our earthly household to maintain our state within the family to remain in fellowship one with another, we must do the same with God. When we were born again all of our sins were wiped out, we had a clean slate and our state was in perfect alignment and harmony. However, since we are mortal and godless ways are habitual and we haven't learned and renewed our mind to God's Word, we sin and our state before God changes, we become "out of fellowship" with Him. We must learn the standard whereby to stay in fellowship with Him. We have Christ in us but to be in Christ takes controlling our minds and actions.

Philippians 5
:1  If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, 
        if any comfort of love, 
        if any fellowship of the Spirit, 
        if any bowels and mercies,
:2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, 
        having the same love, 
        being of one accord, 
        of one mind.
:3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; 
        but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
:4 Look not every man on his own things,
        but every man also on the things of others. [To take care of one another,  not be self-absorbed]
:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

It is our responsibility to learn God's Word and renew our minds so that we may abide in fellowship with Him.

Romans 12
:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, 
            by the mercies of God, 
    that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, 
        holy, acceptable unto God, 
        which is your reasonable service.
:2 And be not conformed to this world: 
    but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, 
        that ye may prove 
            what is that good, 
            and acceptable, 
            and perfect, 
        will of God.

What happens when we don't do God's Word and we sin? What happens when we break fellowship with Him?

I John 1
:8  If we say that we have no sin, 
        we deceive ourselves, 
        and the truth is not in us.
:9 If we confess our sins, 
        he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, 
        and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
:10 If we say that we have not sinned, 
        we make him a liar, 
        and his word is not in us.
3
:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. 
    And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, 
        Jesus Christ the righteous:

These verses are talking about our state with God, our fellowship after salvation. When we were born again we were made righteous but sin is unrighteousness and when we confess our sins to God (those which we did after salvation) and ask forgiveness we are cleansed from all unrighteousness.  

So what do we do to stay in fellowship with God?

Well, first:

Matthew 22
:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
:37 Jesus said unto him, 
        Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, 
            and with all thy soul, 
            and with all thy mind.
:38   This is the first and great commandment.
:39   And the second is like unto it, 
            Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
:40   On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

The first thing we need to do is love God with:

• All of our heart, the innermost most part of our being,
• With our soul,  our breathe life, the who we are, the vital force which animates the body and shows itself in breathing,  and
• Our minds, our understanding

And secondly, love our neighbor as our self.  We cannot love our neighbor unless we love our self and I'll just put forth that it is difficult to love oneself unless you love God and recognize that He has forgiven you and you can forgive yourself. This love is agapeo the love of God in the renewed mind in manifestation.

I don't know about you but I need some specifics. The bible has many verses regarding our conduct and manners but here are a few that I keep coming back to, this is what I need to do with my heart, soul and mind.

Philippians 4
   [with my soul I . . .]
:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: 
    and again I say, Rejoice.
:5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. 
    The Lord is at hand.
:6 Be careful [anxious] for nothing; 
        but in every thing by prayer 
            and supplication 
            with thanksgiving 
        let your requests be made known unto God.
   [and the result]
:7 And the peace of God, 
        which passeth all understanding, 
    shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
:8 Finally, brethren, 
        [with my mind, my understanding . . .]
        whatsoever things are true, 
        whatsoever things are honest, 
        whatsoever things are just, 
        whatsoever things are pure, 
        whatsoever things are lovely, 
        whatsoever things are of good report; 
        if there be any virtue, 
        and if there be any praise, 
    think on these things.
:9 Those things, which ye have both learned, [with my mind] 
        and received, [in my heart]
        and heard, [in my mind]
        and seen in me, [manifestation of his soul]
    do: 
        and the God of peace shall be with you. [sigh of relief]

Do with all your heart, soul, and mind, and God's peace will be with us; He said His peace will be with us twice!! (vs. 7 & 9)

Now, I am not going to get into the segregation of the Word according to heart, soul and mind but know that it is our whole being that we need to devote to loving God and our neighbor as ourselves.

Romans 12
:9 Let love be without dissimulation. 
    Abhor that which is evil; 
    cleave to that which is good.
:10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; 
        in honour preferring one another;
:11 Not slothful in business;
     fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
:12 Rejoicing in hope; 
    patient in tribulation; 
    continuing instant in prayer;
:13 Distributing to the necessity of saints; 
    given to hospitality.
:14 Bless them which persecute you: 
        bless, and curse not.
:15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, 
    and weep with them that weep.
:16 Be of the same mind one toward another. 
    Mind not high things, 
        but condescend to men of low estate. 
    Be not wise in your own conceits.
:17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. 
    Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
:18 If it be possible, 
            as much as lieth in you, 
        live peaceably with all men.
:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, 
        but rather give place unto wrath: 
        for it is written, 
            Vengeance is mine; 
                I will repay, 
        saith the Lord.
:20 Therefore 
    if thine enemy hunger,
        feed him; 
    if he thirst, 
        give him drink: 
    for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
:21 Be not overcome of evil,
        but overcome evil with good.

In order to remain in Fellowship with our Heavenly Father we must walk in the light as He is light.

I John 1
:3  That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, 
    that ye also may have fellowship with us: 
        and truly our fellowship is with the Father, 
        and with his Son Jesus Christ.
:4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, 
        and declare unto you,
    that God is light, 
    and in him is no darkness at all.
:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, 
    and walk in darkness, 
    we lie, and do not the truth:
:7 But if we walk in the light, 
        as he is in the light, 
    we have fellowship one with another, 
    and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

This is written to us so that our joy may be full, that is pletho, filled to capacity with not an iota of space left over. If we walk in the light of God's Word we have fellowship with one another, God and Jesus Christ. 

Fellowship is the secret to the more abundant life with God.

I John 3
:18 My little children, 
    let us not love in word,
        neither in tongue; 
    but in deed and in truth.
:19 And hereby we know that we are of the truth, 
    and shall assure our hearts before him.
:20 For [the reason being] if our heart condemn us, 
    God is greater than our heart, 
        and knoweth all things.
:21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, 
    then have we confidence [parrhesia boldness,  no reservation] toward God.
:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, 
    because we keep his commandments, 
    and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
:23 And this is his commandment, 
        That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, 
        and love one another, 
    as he gave us commandment.
:24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. 
    And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

"And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight." Fellowship is the secret to a more abundant life with God. When we have broken fellowship with God our heart condemns us and we no long have confidence toward God. God's peace is not with us, things don't go right, prayers don't get answered. Our daily walk with God needs to be close and personal; we can do this by learning His Word and speaking with Him. God writes these things to us that our joy may be full.

It is important to know that when I confess Jesus Christ as lord and believe that God raised him from the dead I am saved, I  have repented unto salvation and that can only be done once.

Acts 2
:38  Then Peter said unto them, 
        Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ
        for the remission of sins, 
        and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Once you have repented unto salvation you receive remission of sins, the sin of Adam as well as sins you have committed against God in your life time; you have a clean slate. Afterwards you can no longer repent for it is a one-time deal. You will need to confess your sin to God when you blow it but you cannot repent again for God's seed is permanent, the price was paid once, you can only be saved once.

Hebrews 6
:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, 
        and have tasted of the heavenly gift, 
        and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
:5     And have tasted the good word of God, 
        and the powers of the world to come,
:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; 
        seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, 
        and put him to an open shame.

It is impossible to repent again unto salvation because God's seed is incorruptible, and Christ died only once for us. 

In God's Word there is two types of confession, confession unto salvation (Romans 10:9-10),  confessing the savior from sin and confessing one's sins to the Heavenly Father after salvation to restore broken fellowship. 

Our standing with God is sure for we are Sons and Daughters of God because of seed. Our state with God is determined by our obedience to His will which is written in the Word. His commandments are not grievous and are designed for us to have a more-than-abundant life. We have been saved; now it is time to come unto a knowledge of the truth and walk in Christ. When we sin we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ, and can confess our sins and be forgiven. 

We no longer need to sacrifice like in the Old Testament to cover our sins, we are in a new administration.  The only sacrificing that is to be done now is:

Romans 12
:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, 
        by the mercies of God, 
    that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice , 
        holy, 
        acceptable unto God, 
    which is your reasonable service.
:2 And be not conformed to this world: 
    but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, 
        that ye may prove what is that good, 
            and acceptable, 
            and perfect, 
        will of God.

Hebrews 13
:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, 
    that is, 
        the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

Philippians 4
:18 But I have all, and abound: 
    I am full, 
        having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, 
            an odour of a sweet smell, 
            a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.

The only sacrifices we make now are to conform ourselves to the Word instead of the world, offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually and give of our abundance. 

Read God's Word, learn God's Word and do God's Word and:

Philippians 4
:9 Those things, which ye have both learned, 
        and received, 
        and heard, 
        and seen in me, 
    do: 
   and the God of peace shall be with you.