*** Rbi8 Bible 1 John 5:1-4 ***
5 Everyone believing that Jesus is the Christ has been born from God, and everyone who loves the one that caused to be born loves him who has been born from that one. 2 By this we gain the knowledge that we are loving the children of God, when we are loving God and doing his commandments. 3 For this is what the love of God means, that we observe his commandments; and yet his commandments are not burdensome, 4 because everything that has been born from God conquers the world. And this is the conquest that has conquered the world, our faith.
 
 

Awake, August 22, 1974, pages  27 & 28
What Is the Bible's View?
Yes what is the Bible's view???
Must You Be Born Again?
OUTSTANDING among God's gifts to sinful mankind is the opportunity of coming into friendly relations
with Him through Jesus Christ, with the hope of gaining everlasting life.—John 3:16.
What must one do to attain that reward? Many claim that all who would gain eternal life must be “born
again.” They quote Jesus’ words to Nicodemus: “Most truly I say to you, Unless anyone is born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God. . . . Unless anyone is born from water and spirit, he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God.”—John 3:3, 5. Such persons also refer to 1 John 5:1, which says: “Everyone believing that Jesus is the Christ has been born from God,” and from this they draw the conclusion that all true believers in Jesus must be “regenerated” or “born again” as children of God. Is that really the meaning of these texts? If you are to enjoy a fine relationship with God and eternal life, must you be “born again”? Let us examine what the Bible means by this term. The apostle Peter, at 1 Peter 1:3, 4, explains the purpose of the new birth in this way: “According to [God’s] great mercy he gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an incorruptible and undefiled and unfading inheritance. It is reserved in the heavens for you.” Persons whom God calls to heaven will be immortal, incorruptible spirit persons, “sharers in divine nature.” (1 Cor. 15:42-44, 53; 2 Pet. 1:4) Since “flesh and blood cannot inherit God’s kingdom,” these individuals
must undergo a change. (1 Cor. 15:50) To have this hope they must be “born from water,” experiencing
Christian baptism in water. Also, they must be born or begotten by God’s holy “spirit,” thus gaining the
prospect of enjoying spirit life in the heavens. (John 3:5) Ones reborn in this way become spiritual “sons” of
God.—Rom. 8:14, 15.
 

*** Rbi8  1 Corinthians 15:50-52 ***
50 However, this I say, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit God’s kingdom, neither does corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Look! I tell YOU a sacred secret: We shall not all fall asleep [in death], but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, during the last trumpet. For the trumpet will
sound, and the dead will be raised up incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
 

Why does God adopt people for spirit life in the heavens? Revelation 20:6 states: “They will be priests of
God and of the Christ, and will rule as kings with him for the thousand years.” The apostle Paul declared:
“If we go on enduring, we shall also rule together as kings.” (2 Tim. 2:12) God’s purpose in calling humans
to heaven, therefore, is to form a heavenly government under Christ Jesus.—Rev. 5:9, 10.
Any government consists of only a small part of the total population. Does the Bible indicate that only a
limited number make up God’s heavenly government? Note how many are mentioned at Revelation 14:1:
“And I saw, and, look! the Lamb standing upon the [heavenly] Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and
forty-four thousand.” ÞRe 14 ÜVerses 3 and 4 speak of “the hundred and forty-four thousand, who have
been bought from the earth” as being, not all who gain salvation, but, rather, only “first fruits to God and to
the Lamb.”—Compare James 1:18.
The Scriptures show that others besides these will gain eternal life. Jesus spoke of having “other sheep,
which are not of this fold.” (John 10:16) Revelation chapter 7 contrasts the 144,000 Christian, spiritual
Israelites with a “great crowd, which no man was able to number” and which the Lamb, Jesus Christ, guides
“to fountains of waters of life.” (Rev 7 Verses 4, 9, 17; Gal. 6:16) In the parable about separating the
nations “as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,” Jesus distinguished those whom he called his
“brothers” from the “sheep” who, nevertheless, “inherit [God’s] kingdom” and enter “into everlasting
life.”—Matt. 25:32, 34, 40, 46; Rom. 8:29.
 

*** Rbi8  Bible Revelation 7:4-10 ***
4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the sons of Israel:
5 Out of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand sealed;
out of the tribe of Reu'ben twelve thousand;
out of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand;
6 out of the tribe of Ash'er twelve thousand;
out of the tribe of Naph'ta·li twelve thousand;
out of the tribe of Ma·nas'seh twelve thousand;
7 out of the tribe of Sim'e·on twelve thousand;
out of the tribe of Le'vi twelve thousand;
out of the tribe of Is'sa·char twelve thousand;
8 out of the tribe of Zeb'u·lun twelve thousand;
out of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand;
out of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand sealed.
9 After these things I saw, and, look! a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations
and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes; and there were palm branches in their hands. 10 And they keep on crying with a loud voice, saying:
“Salvation [we owe] to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

The Society teaches that the 144,000 in verse is a literal number, but the 12 tribes of Israel in verses 5 -8 is symbolic, verse 9 is symbolic and that the "great crowd" is not in heaven.

*** Rbi8  Revelation 19:1 ***
19 After these things I heard what was as a loud voice of a great crowd in heaven. They said: “Praise Jah, YOU people! The salvation and the glory and the power belong to our God,

The Society teaches that this is symbolic

*** Rbi8 Bible John 10:7-9 ***
7 Therefore Jesus said again: “Most truly I say to YOU, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All those that have
come in place of me are thieves and plunderers; but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the door;  whoever enters through me will be saved, and he will go in and out and find pasturage.

Jesus teaches that he is the only way.

*** Rbi8 Bible John 10:16-17 ***
16 “And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; those also I must bring, and they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock, one shepherd. 17 This is why the Father loves me, because I surrender my soul, in order that I may receive it again.

All the sheep listen to Jesus' voice, not just the anointed have this privilege.

Must these “sheep” be born again? Remember that the main purpose of such rebirth is to call people to
heaven. But is heaven the only destiny for believers in Jesus Christ? Interestingly, Jesus encouraged his
followers to pray that God’s will “take place, as in heaven, also upon earth.” (Matt. 6:10) In this same vein
Revelation 21:3, 4 describes the time when “the tent of God is with mankind . . . And God himself . . . will
wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be
anymore.”Mankind lives only on earth, since creatures of flesh and blood cannot enter heaven. (1 Cor. 15:50) It is here on earth, then, that the “sheep” of Jesus’ parable, including the “great crowd,” will gain everlasting
life. They “inherit the kingdom” by taking possession of territory subject to the king, Christ Jesus. As
spiritual rebirth is an experience only for those who go to heaven, Christians not of that class are not born
again.

*** Rbi8 Bible Hebrews 11:12-16 ***
12 Hence also from one [man], and him as good as dead, there were born [children] just as the stars of heaven for multitude and as the sands that are by the seaside, innumerable. 13 In faith all these died, although they did not get the [fulfillment of the] promises, but they saw them afar off and welcomed them and publicly declared that they were strangers and temporary residents in the land. 14 For those who say such things give evidence that they are earnestly seeking a place of their own. 15 And yet, if they had indeed kept remembering that [place] from which they had gone forth, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they are reaching out for a better [place], that is, one belonging to heaven. Hence God is not ashamed of them, to be called upon as their God, for he has made a city ready for them.

*** Rbi8 Bible 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 ***
5 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, should be dissolved, we are to have a building from God, a house not made with hands, everlasting in the heavens. 2 For in this dwelling house we do indeed groan, earnestly desiring to put on the one for us from heaven, 3 so that, having really put it on, we shall not be found naked. 4 In fact, we who are in this tent groan, being weighed down; because we want, not to put it off, but to put on the other, that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now he that produced us for this very thing is God, who gave us the token of what is to come, that is, the spirit. 6 We are therefore always of good courage and know that, while we have our home in the body, we are absent from the Lord, 7 for we are walking by faith, not by sight. 8 But we are of good courage and are well pleased rather to become absent from the body and to make our home with the Lord. 9 Therefore we are also making it our aim that, whether having our home with him or being absent from him, we may be
acceptable to him. 10 For we must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of the Christ, that each one may get his award for the things done through the body, according to the things he has practiced, whether it is good or vile.

This does not mean that persons with earthly hopes do not have holy spirit. Faithful servants of God in pre-
Christian times, though not begotten as spiritual sons of God with heavenly hopes, had God’s spirit. (Judg.
6:34; 11:29; 14:6; 2 Sam. 23:2; 2 Tim. 3:16) John the Baptist, for example, was “filled with holy spirit”; yet
he did not go to heaven, for Jesus said of him: “A lesser one in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than
he is.”—Matt. 11:11.

*** Rbi8 Bible Matthew 11:11-12 ***
11 Truly I say to YOU people, Among those born of women there has not been raised  up a greater than John the Baptist; but a person that is a lesser one in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he is. (You need to read verse 12 )12 But from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of the heavens is the goal toward which men press, and those pressing forward are seizing it.

The phrase, "from the days of John the Baptist until now", why would we not include John the Baptist himself"? What Scriptures show that John did not have a hope for heavenly life? He did in fact live to meet the Messiah himself. Did Jesus actually tell him that he was the last of those to have an "earthly life," as opposed to everyone else who came after him that would inherit the kingdom of heaven? We have no evidence to show that he did.

Likewise today all who wish to please God seek the direction of his holy spirit in their lives. They endeavor
to “put on the new personality,” displaying “the fruitage of the spirit,” including love, kindness, mildness
and self-control. (Eph. 4:24; Gal. 5:22) But they do not have to be “born again” to do this.
It is interesting, too, that the “sheep” that would be separated from the “goats” were not to appear until “the
Son of man arrives in his glory,” during the invisible “presence” of Christ at the “conclusion of the system
of things.” (Matt. 25:31-33; 24:3) Similarly, the “great crowd” of Revelation 7:9-17 “come out of the great
tribulation,” at the end of the present system of things.—Rev. 7:14; Matt. 24:21, 22.
 

*** Rbi8 Bible Revelation 7:14-17 ***
14 So right away I said to him: “My lord, you are the one that knows.” And he said to me: “These are the
ones that come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the
blood of the Lamb. 15 That is why they are before the throne of God; and they are rendering him sacred
service day and night in his temple; and the One seated on the throne will spread his tent over them. 16
They will hunger no more nor thirst anymore, neither will the sun beat down upon them nor any scorching
heat, 17 because the Lamb, who is in the midst of the throne, will shepherd them, and will guide them to
fountains of waters of life. And God will wipe out every tear from their eyes.”

Where are the "great crowd" standing?

These things help us to understand the apostle John’s statement about “everyone” believing in Jesus as
being born from God. (1 John 5:1) John was writing to fellow believers of the first century C.E., all of
whom were of the heavenly “first fruits” class. And an examination of the context indicates that John did not
mean that every individual throughout history that would believe in Jesus would be born again and go to
heaven. His point was that no one could be born again unless he believed in Jesus Christ. Some in John’s
day were denying Jesus; these John associated with “the antichrist.”—1 John 2:22, 23.
Must you be born again? Not if you are one of mankind whose hope is to live on earth under the rulership of
God’s heavenly kingdom. Nevertheless, you must study the Word of God diligently, seek the direction of
God’s holy spirit, and display its fruitage in your life.—John 17:3.

Is that what 1 John 5: 1 says?

*** Rbi8 Bible 1 John 5:1 ***
5 Everyone believing that Jesus is the Christ has been born from God, and everyone who loves the one that caused to be born loves him who has been born from that one.

Ask yourself who is taking you away from Jesus, please read verse 8 below.

*** Rbi8 Bible John 10:1-17 ***
10 “Most truly I say to YOU, He that does not enter into the sheepfold through the door but climbs up some other place, that one is a thief and a plunderer. 2 But he that enters through the door is shepherd of the sheep. 3 The doorkeeper opens to this one, and the sheep listen to his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has got all his own out, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will by no means follow but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus spoke this comparison to them; but they did not know what the things meant that he was speaking to them. 7 Therefore Jesus said again: “Most truly I say to YOU, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All those that have come in place of me are thieves and plunderers; but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the door; whoever enters through me will be saved, and he will go in and out and find pasturage. 10 The thief does not come unless it is to steal and slay and destroy. I have come that they might have life and might have it in abundance. 11 I am the fine shepherd; the fine shepherd surrenders his soul in behalf of the sheep. 12 The hired man, who is no shepherd and to whom the sheep do not belong as his own, beholds the wolf coming and abandons the sheep and flees—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them— 13 because he is a hired man and does not care for the sheep. 14 I am the fine shepherd, and I know my sheep and my sheep know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I surrender my soul in behalf of the sheep. 16 “And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; those also I must bring, and they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock, one shepherd. 17 This is why the Father loves me, because I surrender my soul, in order that I may receive it again.

Jesus surrenders his soul, as he states in verse 17. However, the Society believes that Jesus’ ransom sacrifice does not directly apply to the "other sheep" as well, because they are supposedly not part of the "new covenant" he made with his disciples. (Where did they get this information?) That's not what the Bible teaches.
 

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