1st John 5:2-4. “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” BORN OF GOD – CHILDREN OF GOD – LOVE OF GOD. It is fact, not some strange unworldly fantasy When God gives new birth, it is a spiritual reality. From spiritual death the Holy Spirit awakens the soul, And imparts divine life and by His word we will know We are children of God not aliens, those who have no place In the divine inheritance; part of the blessings of grace – Imparted in children is the character of our Father – And one of those characteristics is children of God love one another.
Love is not just emotions that have some unusual or passing feel It is emotional its true – but far more, it is a value that is real. Love that is from God is not based on a person’s own felt worth God looks on an eternal soul and values them more than the earth. The witness of God is established as Christ is revealed to us. He has given His written word, and that word reveals to us thus God is in Christ testified by the Spirit and through scriptures of truth – We whom God has loved are children of God by new birth.
“I thank Thee, O God for these divine actions that have been directed towards we Thy children. We are not aliens, or strangers, but children new born and loved. This holy position is true, and yet I seem to grasp only a little of all it means. In all of the transcendent glory of Thy person and work, I have been made an inheritor. I thank Thee from my heart, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.”
We start our life with God right where we are. We do not have to, nor can we, go back and start over hoping to have a clean slate to start with. Life on the natural plane is incomplete and disappointing. Life on the natural plane is sinful. When we are born again by the Spirit of God, our new nature makes life possible to be changed. It is important for believers in Christ to step right out into the Christian life will full confidence in God. For some this may be a more dramatic change in lifestyle than others, but the inward change brought about by the new birth has a number of ways that it is seen. By the power of God, we have been given all we need to live effectively where we are and at this time in history.
There is an obvious reason for believers in Christ to love other believers. All believers "that Jesus Christ is the Christ, is born of God." Believing doesn't make us born again. Believing is the continuing proof of being "born of water and of the Spirit." The word of God and the Spirit of God brought regeneration that has changed us into those who love God, and who love and accept God's people. Love to God and a desire to obey Him are seen outwardly by brotherly love in those who have a common relationship with our heavenly Father. All true believers are children of God and all who believe in our Lord Jesus Christ are brothers and sisters. Love for God's children is evidence of genuine faith in Christ. Our love for God is evident when we keep His commandments.
Everyone in the body of Christ has been born of God and that was seen by moral obedience to the commands of God, not just excited emotional outbursts. The new life of a believer originates with being "born again," and conflict is to be expected with the world system. By the power of the Spirit of God, believers "overcome the world," by our faith in Him being real. The first act of faith moves us to "overcome the world," and the continual day by day living by faith is such that overcoming the world is a continuous life of victory. That faith in Christ brought us into God's family, and faith in Him keeps us consistent in living to please our heavenly Father.