Key verse: "For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the spirit of adoption. When we cry, Abba Father!" (Romans 8:15).
Introduction
To be born again, as described by Jesus Christ in today's Gospel John 1:1-17, means to discern, know and worship Christ, the Begotten Son of God, as the invisible image and likeness of God, in Jesus Christ as Messiah, oneself and all persons, in the mind of the spirit. Jesus Christ as Son of Man, teacher and Rabbi described the new birth as seeking, worshipping and serving Christ (LOGOS, ADONAI, JEHOVAH) in himself and all persons, as being born from above (John 17:21-23). Jesus declared that the born again experience is begetting, birthing and being born of water and of the spirit into eternal life, and mystery of the Economic Trinity of Jesus Christ, as the Beloved and Anointed One and at the same time Christ the Begotten Son, in the mind of the spirit.
Spiritual Resurrection
In today's Epistle Romans
8:12-17, the Apostle Paul declares that believers who are
born again experience repentance (metanoia). They choose to lay down living the old life, their lives in the mind of
the flesh, the lesser witness. They follow Jesus Christ and God's command to
take up the new life, by living their lives in the mind of the spirit, the greater witness (John 10:14-30; Mark 1:14-15, 8:31-34; Philippians 2:1-11). The
born again experience is knowing and realizing that they have been actually
resurrected from spiritual death. In resurrection from Spiritual
death, believers no longer feels grateful to honor, nor obliged to
obey the sinful nature, the mind of the flesh. Instead they cut the nerves and lifeblood
and mortify the instincts, thoughts and actions of the mind of the flesh, by
living their lives in the mind of the spirit (Romans 8:12-13).
Sonship of Believers
In the liberation,
salvation, sanctification and sustaining presence of the Economic Trinity,
these Christ-centered believers in all traditions, religions, cultures, ethnic
and secular groups, live their lives within witnessing paschal faith
communities, as God's beloved sons and daughters in Christ, in the mind of the
spirit. Because they dwell in the mind of the spirit, they do not relapse into
the old slavish attitudes of fear, anxiety, alienation, incivility, guilt and
condemnation of the mind of the flesh (Romans 8:1-11). In the mind of the spirit, they abide
in God's agape love, grace and truth. They discern and honor the Omnipresence,
Omnipotence and Omniscience of the Immanent Trinity as they cry, "ABBA
FATHER" (Ecclesiastes 7:39, Acts 17:28, Romans 8:14-15).
Witness of the Spirit
Like Jesus Christ,
spiritually resurrected believers discern that the Holy
Spirit is the only true witness of the Economic Trinity, Jesus
Christ and the Gospel of Christ, here on earth (John 16:5-15). By following
Jesus Christ in living the Paschal
Mystery in the mind of the spirit, the incarnate Godhead within
Jesus Christ and within spiritually resurrected believers endorses and
confirms the believer’s inward convictions, that they are truly the children of
God. As children of God they know that they are spiritual heirs and joint
heirs with Jesus Christ in eternal life and kingdom living here on earth, as it
is in heaven (Matthew 6:9-10, Romans 8:16).
Spiritual
relationships
Think of the great
advantages available believers who choose the greater witness of living their lives
in the mind of the spirit, within witnessing paschal faith communities. Like
Jesus Christ, as iconoclasts and intrapreneurs, they choose to endure the
suffering and rejection of those within their witnessing faith communities, who
choose the lesser witness of living their lives, in the mind of the flesh.
These spiritually resurrected believers recognize that in the mind of the
spirit, they are now sharing the regeneration, glory, kingdom living and eternal life which
Jesus knew, while here on earth. They choose to listen and follow Jesus as the Good Shepherd, by living the Paschal
Mystery in the mind of the spirit (John 10:14-30, Romans 8:17).
Conclusion:
Do you know what it means to be born again? Have you experienced the
new birth? Have you been born from above? Have you been born of water
and of the spirit? Have you experienced repentance (metanoia)? Do you have eternal life? Within your witnessing paschal faith community, are you choosing, experiencing, sharing and declaring the greater witness of the Gospel of Christ, in the mind of the spirit or the lesser witness of the Gospel of Christ, the mind of the flesh, as revealed in and through Jesus Christ (John 3:1-7, 10:16-18, Galatians 6:7-8)?
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