I'm sorry, but I still don't understand your interpretation of what the Lord Jesus meant by being "born again."
To put it simply, how can a person be considered born again?
Was Judas Iscariot saved, or was he not?
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To put it simply, how can a person be considered born again?
The historical records in the Bible have much in the way of spiritual truth to teach us.
What do you mean by this? Perhaps you could explain it in more detail.
And let me ask my question again.
How do you understand the Lord God's statement, "What has been is what will be, and there is nothing new under the sun"?
ECCLESIASTES 1:9
9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
A person can be considered born again if they have been given new life by Jesus Christ. That is the being born that John spoke of in John 1:
(Joh 1:13) who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Perhaps it would be good if I gave an example of what I mean. Take the well-known account of David killing Goliath. It's a historical record - the Israelites were really fighting the Philistines who had a champion in the person of the giant Goliath. David really did kill Goliath with a sling and a stone. But there are spiritual truths in the account, too, including the fact that David relied on God for victory, despite the seeming might of Goliath. Goliath trusted his huge weapons. David trusted almighty God. When we face enemies (and as Paul says, we are not in a physical war but a spiritual one), we can follow David's example and trust in God.
The contexts seems to show that it is about man's striving for new ways to make life enjoyable, but that such thinking is "vanity of vanities." As John Gill wrote in his commentary on that verse: "so that what is now seen and heard is only what has been seen and heard before; it is but the same thing over again; and that is the reason why the eye and ear are never satisfied."
I know someone who has been kind, understanding, helpful, and loving toward others since we were children. In short, from the time we were young until we grew older, he has always been that way and has not changed. In fact, I think he has become an even better person.
Can you say that he is born again even though there was no bad character or sinful behavior that needed to be replaced?
He also has fear of God, so he avoids doing things that are wrong.
When we face enemies (and as Paul says, we are not in a physical war but a spiritual one), we can follow David's example and trust in God.
To be specific, who are the enemies referred to here?
What do you mean by "we are not in a physical war but a spiritual one". Can you give an example of spiritual war?
How about the person I shared with you whom I know personally?
Does he still need to be given a new life?
What kind of new life will the Lord give, according to what you said?
I know someone who has been kind, understanding, helpful, and loving toward others since we were children. In short, from the time we were young until we grew older, he has always been that way and has not changed. In fact, I think he has become an even better person.
Can you say that he is born again even though there was no bad character or sinful behavior that needed to be replaced?
He also has fear of God, so he avoids doing things that are wrong.
I don't believe that living a kind, understanding, helpful, and loving life is what the Bible means when it talks of being born again. The point is, that although we can compare one person to another, God makes clear in His word that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. That is why we need the Saviour. Jesus said:
(Joh 6:47) Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.
He doesn't say, "He who is kind, understanding, helpful, and loving toward others has everlasting life."
Does this person you know believe in Jesus Christ? Does he rely on Jesus Christ for salvation, or is he trusting in his own goodness?
Yes, every time we are tempted by Satan, it is a battle in a spiritual war. That is why the armour Paul writes of in Ephesians 6 is made up of spiritual weapons. We read in that chapter:
(Eph 6:12 NKJV) For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
The contexts seems to show that it is about man's striving for new ways to make life enjoyable, but that such thinking is "vanity of vanities." As John Gill wrote in his commentary on that verse: "so that what is now seen and heard is only what has been seen and heard before; it is but the same thing over again; and that is the reason why the eye and ear are never satisfied."
To be specific, what do you mean by "Man's striving to find new ways to make life enjoyable"?
My understanding is that this refers to the modern technologies that humans have developed over time.
That is why humans were given intellect and emotions, so that they could do these things.
And from what I see, God allows these things because humans have free will in their physical lives.
Regarding what John Gill wrote whatever it may be, I apologize, but I do not consider everything that comes only from human beings as truth.
I believe that only what comes from God is the truth, because God alone is the truth.
Are you saying that our enemy is Satan?
EPHESIANS 6:12
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Are Satan's followers not considered enemies?
And do you mean that we are fighting a spiritual battle and not a literal one?
Hope you may answer the 3 questions.
What can you say about those who read and believe in the Holy Scriptures, even though they belong to different groups within Christianity?
You can see how they praise Jesus.
Can you say that they are born again?
Yes, of course there are new ways invented all the time, and new technologies. I think the meaning of Ecclesiastes 1:9 is that the pleasures or satisfaction that new inventions bring is no more lasting than older inventions.
I agree that Scripture is the final authority. I don't see that what I quoted from John Gill's commentary disagrees with what we find in Scripture.
Looking at the thread title again, I think you and I seem to have wandered from the subject of whether Judas Iscariot was saved or not, so I'll leave it there.
While I do not dispute your assessment of David and Goliath as David trusting in God rather than material objects, I am also reminded of another way of viewing the account that I learned many years ago. This alternative view was that David won because he thought outside the cox. Goliath presented the traditional mighty fighting man image and could not be bested by another mighty fighting man. But he could be bested by refusing to fight as a mighty fighting man and instead fought against by one who refused to engage in close combat but rather relied on mobility and fighting from a distance. The point being that there can be more than one way to approach a problem and restricting oneself to a specific approach might not always be best.
So you disagree with Paul when he asserts that there is no one who is righteous but that ALL have sinned? If Sin is merely a moral failing, then your friend might well be sinless, but if morality is not the issue but rather a side effect of the issue of Sin, then their upright moral behavior merely conceals the need for them to be regenerated by the HS.
While that is a reasonable conclusion, it cannot be the whole lesson because it doesn’t put God at the centre. Rather, it excludes Him to irrelevance.
It can make God irrelevant, just as invoking God as a shield or an answer to some question can also make the living God irrelevant b ignoring the living God and instead substituting our personal caricature of God.
Thanks for replying. What you suggest about David thinking outside the box (I assume "cox" was a typo) doesn't seem to fit with David's words to Goliath:
(1Sa 17:45-46 NKJV) Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.