“But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.” John 1:12-13
We become children of God by believing and accepting Jesus. When we believe and accept, we are born again and receive spiritual life from God, our Father. When we understand the spiritual position God puts us in, we will see ourselves as God’s child and start behaving like his child. Belief comes first, behavioural change comes second. When we disobey God and do our own thing, we upset our fellowship with God, but we don’t stop being his child. This is beautifully illustrated in the story Jesus told of the prodigal son, who thought he had forfeited his right to sonship but he hadn’t (Luke 15:19).
“We are not saved by how we behave, we are saved by how we believe” (Neil Anderson). If we think our obedience controls our relationship with God, we deny God’s grace. We would be saying Jesus’ death on the Cross wasn’t enough to save me, that God needs me to be living virtuously, as well.
The devil may challenge us about our status, “What right do you have to call yourself a child of God? Just look at your behaviour, it never gets any better!” We can respond by saying, “God gave me the right. It’s not based on my behaviour, but rather on my belief in God’s Word.”
When our beliefs line up with God’s truth, our actions will eventually follow, but it takes time. In the interim, we can know that when we believed and accepted Christ, we are born again.
Other posts on this topic here.
