The Born Identity – Part 5
Then the Lord raised up judges who delivered them from the hands of those who plundered them. Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they played the harlot after other gods and bowed themselves down to them. They turned aside quickly from the way in which their fathers had walked in obeying the commandments of the Lord; they did not do as their fathers [Judges 2:16-17].
The facts must become our experience before they do us any good. They must be worked from our heads down into our hearts. In the heart the Word of God transforms us into the image of Jesus. In the head we remain conformed to the world. From the heart the Word of God transforms us by renewing our minds, so that we know what God’s will is for our lives and desire to see Him fulfill it in and through us.
The first generation of Israelites failed to mix faith with the Word of God, so they failed to enter God’s rest. Their kids were not required to imitate their parents and be apostates to King YHWH. Nor did they! The second generation learned from the error of their parents, and they did mix faith with the Word of God. Accordingly they entered His rest and received the inheritance.
Just as the second generation was not required to follow their parents’ example with regard to spiritual matters, so too was the case with the third generation. Though their parents were mature men and women of God who walked by faith, the kids chose to reject their parents’ example and walk by sight, in imitation of their grandparents.
There is a moral to the story, dear friends. We have no choice when it comes time to choose parents. We are born with their identity (“The Born Identity”). However, when we reach adulthood, we have to decide for ourselves whether we want to keep that identity or not.
Of the first three generations of Israelites, each generation rejected their born identity. The same applies to us today. If we are from homes with non-Christian parents, we are not required to continue that legacy. We need to consciously choose new life in Jesus Christ and be born again (aka “The Reborn Identity”, part 2 of a potential trilogy).
If we are parents and we also are Christians, let us beware the moral from today’s study. Our kids have a born identity, yes, but they will grow up (if they haven’t already). At some point they will have to choose for themselves what their identity will be.
Their born identity only continues until adulthood. At adulthood they must choose to have a reborn identity, or they won’t have one. In that case they will be third generation Israelites. They will fall for all the false allurements of the world and serve the false gods readily available everywhere in our society.
Don’t think that salvation can come from being born, from the born identity of Christian parents. Only the reborn identity will suffice for eternal life, and that is not determined even one iota by natural birth.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
The facts must become our experience before they do us any good. They must be worked from our heads down into our hearts. In the heart the Word of God transforms us into the image of Jesus. In the head we remain conformed to the world. From the heart the Word of God transforms us by renewing our minds, so that we know what God’s will is for our lives and desire to see Him fulfill it in and through us.
The first generation of Israelites failed to mix faith with the Word of God, so they failed to enter God’s rest. Their kids were not required to imitate their parents and be apostates to King YHWH. Nor did they! The second generation learned from the error of their parents, and they did mix faith with the Word of God. Accordingly they entered His rest and received the inheritance.
Just as the second generation was not required to follow their parents’ example with regard to spiritual matters, so too was the case with the third generation. Though their parents were mature men and women of God who walked by faith, the kids chose to reject their parents’ example and walk by sight, in imitation of their grandparents.
There is a moral to the story, dear friends. We have no choice when it comes time to choose parents. We are born with their identity (“The Born Identity”). However, when we reach adulthood, we have to decide for ourselves whether we want to keep that identity or not.
Of the first three generations of Israelites, each generation rejected their born identity. The same applies to us today. If we are from homes with non-Christian parents, we are not required to continue that legacy. We need to consciously choose new life in Jesus Christ and be born again (aka “The Reborn Identity”, part 2 of a potential trilogy).
If we are parents and we also are Christians, let us beware the moral from today’s study. Our kids have a born identity, yes, but they will grow up (if they haven’t already). At some point they will have to choose for themselves what their identity will be.
Their born identity only continues until adulthood. At adulthood they must choose to have a reborn identity, or they won’t have one. In that case they will be third generation Israelites. They will fall for all the false allurements of the world and serve the false gods readily available everywhere in our society.
Don’t think that salvation can come from being born, from the born identity of Christian parents. Only the reborn identity will suffice for eternal life, and that is not determined even one iota by natural birth.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
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