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baptiLe~
him into
God\ church.
Thc church
i~
calle<.! the body of
Chri ~l.
So
\\C
rcad: ' 'B; one Spirit
are we all baptiLed into onc body..
( 1
Cor.
12: 13).
Again: the church i'> calkd ·'Jcru–
sa lcm above" or ·'the heavenl) Jeru–
salcm" ( Heb.
12:22-23).
0low not ice.
in Galatians 4:26: "But
J c ru~alcm
which i:-, above
i ~
rrce. wh ich i . the
mother of' us al!. "
The analogy
i ~
this: Whcn 'bcgo t–
ten by God thc Fathcr by rccciv i ng
H i~
holy spirit. wc are put in to th e
church. which during thi s gcstation
period
i~
our
~l O
1
HI:.R.
The human mother of thc t'etus
within hcr womb
~crve
the funct ion
of
t'eedin~
her unborn ch ild with
phy ical food. so that it may de–
velop and grow phy ically. And abo
she carric::. it \\ hcre he mav
be~t
protect it from physical
inj~r)
or
harm. unti l parturition - delivcry
from her womb.
The spiritual mother - the church
- is commi sioned
10
''feed the
ft ock' '
(1
Pet.
5:2 )
through th e mi n–
istry which God has sc t i n thc
church ··ror thc perfect ing of the
saints ... f'o r the edifying of the
body of
Chri~ t.
ti ll wc all come i n
tht: -unity of the faith. and of the
knowledgc of the Son of God. unto
a perfect man ..... (Eph.
4:11-13).
Just as the human
fetu~
Jcvelops
and grO\\S
ph)~icu lly
during the
PRI:.-birt h gc tation period. so WE.
ufter begettal
by
God':, spi rit. de–
velop and gro\\ SPI RITUALLY in PRE–
birth
~ t ate.
Human life
slor/.1'
with
v.
hat the
Bible term:, "cor ruptible sccd" -
physical male -,perm. Divine li fe
stans
\\'ith th at which is in–
corru p t ible thc holy spi r i t of God
cnter i ng thc human person. But as
thc human ern bryo must GROW t ill
i t become:, a fetus. which must
GROW
to thc poin t of' bcing born
into the human t'amily.
so
the Chris–
tian in \\hOm divine life ha been
:-ta rt ed b) the gi ft of' God\
in–
cOJ'I'IIjJiible
spirit
mu~t
<IRQ\\' to\\·ard
perl'ection to be born into the Goo
fami ly. He \\ ill
1hen
be perfect. un–
ablc to
~in.
But not only i'> thc church to feed
thc mcmbcrs Ón the Word of God–
pi ritu al f'ood - but also to protect
th ese concei\ cd bu t yc t unborn chi l–
drcn of God from spiri tua l harm. as
The
PLAIN TRUTH August 1976
When a person is born
again, he will be a spirit
being, not a human being.
He will be composed of
spirit with lite inherent
-
not then existing by the
breath of air and the
circulation of blood.
th c very ncxt vcr:-e shows: " Th at \\'e
henccfonh be no more ch ildrcn.
tos~ed
lO and fro. and carricd about
with C\'ei') wind of doctrine. b) the
sleight of men. and cunning crafti–
ness. whercby they lie in wait to
deceive . .... (Eph.
4: 14).
Then. at the time of the re:.urrec–
tion. \\e in the church - the spi ri–
tual mothcr - shall be DELIVERED
from her. and born into - brought
l'orth into thc kingclom. the spirit–
composcd h\t-ltLY ofGod.
Sons of God NOW
Now. furt hcr: " For
a~
many as are
lcd by the Spirit of Gocl. they are
thc sons of God" (Rom. 8:
14).
Thc
unborn child in hi:-. mothcr's \\'Omb
is thc ch ild of his father and mother.
th ough not
ye1
born
dcli vcrcd
from the \\'Omb. So are\\ c. if God's
spir it d\\'clb in us
i f'
\\'C
are being
lcd by God' spirit - children or
God. Yet. at
1/lis time,
\\C are in the
geswtion
qate. not yct that
pauuri–
lion.
And onl) II LIRS. not inher–
i tors!
Continuc: ' 'And if chi ldrcn. then
he ir:.: hei rs of' God. ami j oi nt-hcirs
\\ ith Chri,<,t: if
~o
be that we su fl'cr
wi th him. t hat we may be [f'uture –
at rcsurrcct ionj also glorifi ed
to–
gc thd' (verse
17) .
Now see how this passage desig–
na tes the rc!'>urrcction i nto GLORY.
\\hen \\e
~h alli.IL !->pi rit. a~
a I.I IRTII!
"For the earnc t expcctation of
the creatu re [crca t ionJ \\a i tcth fo r
th e manifestation
or
the ons of
God·· - tha t
i~
1he 1i111e
of Chri t's
coming to RI: IG:-i and of' th e rcsur–
rection
to
SP IRII compo!>ition -
" ... bccause thc crcature [crca t ion]
i tself' also
slw/1
be delivered [a birth]
from the bondage of corruption in to
the gloriou:-. l iben y or thc child ren
of God. For we know that the whole
creation groaneth and
lrtll'oi/e¡/¡ in
pain
togcthcr until now" (\·erse!>
19-
22).
Hcre is anothcr
compari~on.
We
shall be ddi\ cred t'rom
¡/lis ll·orld
(thc church is
in.
though not
r~/ this
world) in to the glorious \\ ORLD
1
o–
MORRO\\' and thc kingdom which
~hall
rule it.
The C' RLA I ION
i ~
\\'ait i ng for this
time of Ch r ist's coming. the rcsur–
rcction. and thc kin gdom of' God.
becausc t hc crcu t ion
sha/1 be DE–
L! VER ED
from t hc bondage of
co rrupt ion. Jt
i ~
not now dclive rcd.
l t SHALL
BE
at thc resu rrcct ion.
A lthough
t hi~
i:- not rcfcrring di–
rect ly to
our
being born agai n. it
1
a
direct
compari~on
to t hc BIRTH of a
chi ld being DEI I VFRED from its
mot hcr's \\omb.
The re:-urrcction. the time when
v.c
are changed to
BL
~pirit
and to
I~I IL Rt
r the kingdom. wi ll be a time
of
l)U l
VI:.RY
r
RO~I
the bondagc of
corruptible
llc~h
and from this
world ofSIN -
A
RLAI l31RTII!
Christ Born a Second Time
By the Resurrection
Con tin uc in Roman::. 8: "For whom
he did rorcknow. he abo did pre–
clcstinate to be conlormed to thc im–
age of'
hi~
Son. that he
[Jc~us]migh t
be the
fir~tbom
among many breth–
rcn" (\·erse 29).
O\\'
compare with Romans
1:3-
4: ··concerning his Son Jc!>us Christ
our Lord. which was rnade of the
sced of David
accordin~
to the
l~esh:
and dcclarcd to be thc Son of
God ... by thc rc:-urrcction from the
dead."
Jesus was, in the human fl esh -
H is first birth
a dcscendant of
David. But, by the resu rrect ion f'rom
t he dead (born AGA IN). Jesus be–
camc the born Son of God. now no
longer human. but composcd or
SPIR IT - a spi rit bei ng. He thus be–
ca me t hc J· IR
" 1
so BORN of many
brethren
\~
ho
slw/1
be
BORN AGAI
at thc time of th e resurrection of
tho e\\ ho are Chri:,t' .
Of
course we under!>tand. and so
did Paul in \\ riting thc above. th at
Jesus
\\'US
abo t hc Son of God while
in the human llesh. Though
bom of
a hu111an
woman. He was sired bv
God. But this is comparing the twÓ
birt hs: the one from thc human
M a ry . as descended f r om th e
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