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come o nly an
REIR,
not YET an in–
heritor !
"Now this 1 say, brethren, that
ftesh a nd b lood cannot inherit the
kingdom of God; neither doth cor–
ru ption inh e rit incorru pt io n "
(1
Cor. 15:50).
Leading up to this verse, Paul had
made it very clear.
"The first man is of the earth,
earthy [human]: the second man is
the Lord from heaven [a divine
Goo Being]" (1 Cor. 15:47).
This is what Jesus was saying to
Nicodemus. He was of the earth ,
earthy - human - he was flesh, not
spiril. He was boro of the ftesh, so
tha t's what he was - FLESH. When
one is born of the Spirit, he wi ll BE
SPIRIT.
8 UT WE CANNOT BE spirit in this
present age.
THERE IS A TIME ELEMENT CON·
CERNED WlTH BEING BORN AGAIN!
Cont inue, now,
in
1
Corinthians
15:
"As is the earthy, such are they
also that are earthy" (verse 48).
T hat is precise1y what J esus was ex–
plaining to Nicodemus. He was
born of the ftesh - he WAS flesh. He
was born of the earth - he
was
earthy. And so are we all! And ,
same verse, ' '... and as is the heav–
enly, such are they also that
are
heavenly." Bu t for us humans ,
WHEN? Not in this life!
Next verse: "And as we have
borne the image of the earthy, we
shall [future - resurrect ion] also
bear the image of the heavenly"
(verse 49). As we are now tl esh, we
shall be SPIRIT - at the resurrection.
That is when we shall be "BORN
AGAIN" - when we shall
see,
enter
into, the Kingdom of God - when
we
are
spiri t - at the resurrection!
"Now this 1 say, brethren, that
flesh and blood cannot inherit the
kingdom of God; neither doth cor–
ruption inherit incorruption. Be–
ho ld, I shew you a mystery; We
shall not a ll sleep [be dead], but we
shall a ll be
changed,
in a moment. in
the twinkling of an eye, at the last
trump: for the trumpet shall sound,
and the dead sball be rai sed in–
corruptible, and we [the then living]
shall be
changed"
(verses 50-52).
There
is the TIME
when
we may be
Now In belng "born
again," the process of
this blrth begtns when
God's divlne spirtt-life ls
imparted to us by
the Holy Sptrit,
from His very person.
born again -
when
we may
see, en–
ter into, inherit
the Kingdom -
when "BORN AGAIN" - and NOT BE–
FORE!
How CHANGED When Born Again
How shall
we
be changed? The next
words answer!
"For this corruptible [tlesh, as we
now are] must put on incorruption
[spirit - that which is born of God
is
spirit] a nd this mortal must put on
immortality." Be changed from ma–
terial flesh to spirit!
Until
boro again, we cannot
see
the Kingdom of God - (J esus to
Nicodemus, J ohn 3:3).
Until
boro again, we cannot
enter
into
the Kingdom of God - (Jesus
to Nicodemus, John 3:5).
Until
no longer tlesh, but
changed
into SPIRIT, we cannot enter into the
K ingdom of God - (Jesus to Nico–
demus, John 3:6-8).
While
sti ll flesh and blood (as
Nicodemus was a nd we are)
we
can–
not
inherit
the Kingdom of God -
( P au l to th e Co rinthians ,
1
Cor. 15 :50).
Until
the resurrection, at Christ's
coming, we shall not be changed
from corruptible flesh into in–
corruptible SPIRIT (Paul - 1 Cor.
15:50-53 and verses 22-23).
Until
the resurrection. therefore,
we cannot
see, enter
into, or
inherit
the Kingdom of God. WE CANNOT
BE BORN AGAlN UNTIL THE RESUR–
RECTION!
Now Heirs - Not Yet lnherltors
While in our present status, boro of
the tlesh and composed of flesh, we
cannot see, enter into, or inherit the
Kingdom of God. Notice, now, the
status of the truly converted Chris–
tian, in this life - this world:
"Now if any man have not the
Spiri t of Christ, he is none of his"
(Rom. 8:9). Unless one has received
the Holy Spirit, and this Spirit is
dwelling in him, he is not a Chris–
tian. J oining a church does not
make one a Christian. Receiving
and fo llowing God's Spirit does!
Holy Splrlt Enterlng Compares to
Sperm Enterlng Ovum
But now see how God's Spirit enter–
ing and dwelling in one compares to
the physical sperm impregnating the
ovum - the imparting of eterna!
SPIRIT life, later to produce - to
bring forth - a SPIRIT PERSON! A
fertilized ovum - an embryo - is
NOT a
born
human person. Lifc
from the father has been imparted
to it - he has begotten it - but
neither embryo nor fetus is YET a
born
person. In the same manner
the Spirit-begotten human is not,
yet,
a SPIRIT PERSON Or BEING, as
J esus said he shall be
when
boro
again!
Continue: "But if the Spirit of
him that raised up Jesus from the
dead dwell in you, he that raised up
Ch rist from the dead shall also
quicken your mortal bodies by his
Spirit that dwelleth in you"
(-..:erse 11).
UNOERSTAND THIS! There is a di–
rect comparison between having
been boro of the ftesh. and being
born AGAIN of God. Jesus said that
which is born ofthe flesh
is
flesh - a
born
human.
That which is born of
the Spirit (God)
is
spirit - a born
SPIRIT PERSON!
A mortal human life
starts
when a
sperm cell from the body of the
father impregnates- imparts physi–
cal LIFE to - an ovum (egg cell) in
the mother. At this point the father
begets, sires. He does not "bring
forth": the mother does that, later.
His part in the PROCESS leading
!O
final birth is then
done.
BuT THERE
lS
A TIME ELEMENT. At the TIME of
begettal , birth (parturition) has not
YET occurred.
It is necessary to make this ex–
planation , at this point, because the
popular deception of a deceived tra–
ditional "Christianity" is to claim
that when one " receives Christ" -
"accepts Christ" - "professes
Christ" - or first receives God's
The
PLAIN TRUTH February 1977