Thoughts from The Bible

Thoughts from the Bible

Tuesday, 20 February 2024 09:11

A Work In Progress By
by Joey Carroll Corinth Missionary Baptist Church

The Christian life is a remarkable journey. A journey that begins with birth, new birth in fact. He who was born is born again. His physical or first birth made him a part of humanity as a whole as he shared in that common ancestry from Adam. But once he is spiritually born or born again, he shares in a spiritual ancestry and lineage that began with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Once the new birth takes place, then a process of growth begins to take place that continually transforms that person’s character into the very character of the Son of God. It certainly does not take place overnight but take place it most certainly does.
If you will remember, when we started walking through 1 John, we made mention that John is always good to be clear about his intentions. In 1 John 5:13, John writes, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.” (NASB) So we know who John has written this letter to and we know why he wrote it. 1 John is written to believers in order to give them a confidence that they have truly been born again and that they will indeed experience eternal life. How does John convince them of this?
John convinces his readers of their conversion not by recalling to their mind some outward religious observance that they participated in but rather of the ongoing process of change that they were currently undergoing.

As we continue reading through 1 John, if you haven’t picked up on it already, there is an abundance of present tense verbs. The verb tense that denotes an action that is currently being carried out. A “habit of life” verb tense that points to a pattern of behavior or the common practice of life.
One of the easiest places to see this is found in 1 John 3:7-10. Note the use of the word “practices” in these verses. If someone’s life is characterized by the “practice” of sin, they should be deeply concerned about the genuineness of their salvation. If their life can be described as a
 pattern of pursuing a righteousness or right behavior, they should be greatly encouraged by the affect of the grace of God in their lives.
Be careful however. It is not the practicing of righteousness that saves them but rather the presence of a growing practice of righteousness that should give them confidence that God has indeed caused them to be born again.

There will be several instances in 1 John where John helps us understand the process of growth in the Christian life by using these present tense verbs. But we must not forget that this whole wonderful process of growth began with a moment in time when the Holy Spirit caused us to be born again as we turned from our sin and received Jesus as our Lord. The things that happened in that moment John describes for us 1 John 2:12-14 and they should give us a confident assurance of our faith as well.

When we set aside the phrase “I am writing” or “I have written” that is repeated 6 times in these 3 verses, and when we set aside for the moment the references to age, we are left with some truths that we can certainly celebrate as those who have been born again. First, our sins have been forgiven. Secondly, we have overcome the evil one. Thirdly, His word abides in us and lastly, we have a true saving knowledge and relationship with the Son and the Father.

And as we mature and grow as a Christian, these things that happened once and for all at our new birth, become more and more precious realities that we can take the greatest of joy and confidence in. Perhaps that is why John uses words that denote a growing age, “children,” “young men,” and “fathers.”
Genuine saving faith begins with a spiritual and powerful new birth. What was dead is born again and the evidence of that birth is revealed overtime as that young “child” in the faith begins to grow and mature into a “young man” and then an older “father” who’s life looks just like that of his Lord’s.