Teaching on Calling on the Name of the Lord

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by Evangelical

"he did not have the resurrected Christ indwelling him" - neither did Nicodemus or Peter, James and John. Does not mean they were not born again. They all entered into the kingdom of God, even before Christ died on the cross. Luke 17:21 -You won't be able to say, 'Here it is!' or 'It's over there!' For the Kingdom of God is already among you." .

Jesus did not say "the kingdom of God will come after I die on the cross and resurrect".

The footnote is referring to the resurrected Christ. It is about all the powerful things believers can do once they receive the Spirit, the resurrected Christ, at Pentecost. The "greater works" one shall do, and the great intimacy with Christ. If we think that being born again means to be indwelt with the resurrected Christ (post-resurrection), then technically the thief on the cross was not "born again" either. That is not the meaning of being born again. People could be "born again" before Jesus died on the cross - a person is born again and sealed by the Holy Spirit at the moment of faith. God prospectively applied the death of Christ to people before Christ had even died. That's how all the old testament saints "got saved". That's how the 12 disciples "got saved" while they were following Christ up until His crucifixion (possibly not Judas Iscariot).

Nicodemus lived at the same time as John. Jesus told Nicodemus he had to be born again, as an adult. Nell has used Jesus's words as a kind of universal "simple gospel" principle. But if this is the case, why did John the Baptist not need to be born again as an adult?

Answer:
Because he was already filled with the Spirit from birth.

Luke 1:15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.

I understand this to mean that the death of Christ was prospectively applied to John the Baptist. He was already in the kingdom of God since his birth.

Evangelical, John the Baptist may have been filled with the Holy Spirit from even before his birth, but that does not mean he was born again, born of God, born of the Holy Spirit.

Bezalel, Micah, Zacharias, and Elizabeth were also filled with the Holy Spirit. (Ex 31.3, Mic 3.8, Lk 1.41, 67) Does that mean that they also were born again? According to your crazy definition, the first man in the entire Bible to be born again was an unknown jeweler, a goldsmith in the wilderness. Who knew?

Did you read Lee's footnote on this subject like I told you too? You better not include this stuff in your prophecy time, otherwise you might get quarantined by brother Drake. (Don't you know that Nigel Tomes and Titus Chu got quarantined for less.)