The New Birth

“No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent
me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written
in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man
therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh
unto me.” John 6:44-45. “And he said, Therefore said I unto you,
that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of
my Father.” (Verse 65).

The Father draws people to Jesus. Jesus baptizes them by the
Holy Spirit, and the Spirit gives them the new life in Christ so
that they become born again. We become new creations in
Christ. When God created the first man, Adam, he breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life; and man becomes a living
soul. Genesis 2:7. When Jesus baptizes us by the Holy Spirit
it is a new creating act. The Spirit gives us the new life in
Christ and makes us to new creations. “So then if anyone is
in Christ, that one is a new creation; the old things have
passed away; behold, all things have come to be new!”
2 Cor. 5:17.

Earlier we have been only created beings, now
we are relatives to the Creator. Jesus’ Father becomes our
Father, and we are all brothers and sisters in Christ.
The new birth is no adoption as it says in the English Bible.
In that case we would not be God’s children, only God’s
adoptive children. And God would be only our adoptive father.
Who is then our real Father? In Swedish we have also the
word ‘adoption’ with the same spelling, but it occurs nowhere
in the Bible.

Through the new birth we enter the Assembly of God, God’s family.
This has nothing to do with churches and denominations. The
Bible describes the Assembly of God as the Body of Christ.
Accordingly, a living Body. Rom. 12:4-5. 1 Cor. 10:17. 12:27.
“But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body,
as it hath pleased him.” 1 Cor. 12:18. We cannot by men be selected
to members of the Assembly of God.

The Pentecostal preachers use to speak so proudly about the
baptism by the Holy Spirit, and they mean that the “Pentecostal
Revival” has conveyed this truth. However, what did the
“Pentecostal Revival” do? The “Pentecostal Revival” censored
away a big part of the truth of the baptism by the Holy Spirit,
so that this truth has been preached and understood only partly.
As a result of this, the truth of the baptism by the Holy Spirit
has never been preached within the Pentecostal movement.
They have learnt only a little part of this truth, and this they
have turned back to front.

Because of this false doctrine about the baptism by the Holy
Spirit, people have not understood the connection between the
baptism by the Holy Spirit and the new birth. They do not
understand that it is when Jesus baptizes us by the Holy Spirit
we get the new life in Christ and we become born again. The
Holy Spirit gives us the new life in Christ and make the new
birth. We are born of the Spirit. John 3:3-8.

They have preached that the baptism with the Holy Spirit is
only for those who are born again. Yet, on the day of Pentecost
the apostle Peter promised people, which were not born again,
that they would get the Holy Spirit as a gift when they did
repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Consider,
that Peter promised the Holy Spirit to people who had not been
born again! And when they received the Holy Spirit, what
happened then? Well, then they got the new life in Christ and
became born again!

In the Assembly of God (the Body of Christ) we are all
baptized by the Holy Spirit, but not all are speaking with
tongues. 1 Kor. 12:12-31. The Pentecostal preachers have
turned this back to front. They say that only those who can
speak with tongues are baptized by the Holy Spirit, and the
speaking with tongues is the only certain sign of that someone
is baptized by the Holy Spirit. This is a dangerous denying
of a work that Jesus and the Holy Spirit have done, and
legalization of false speaking with tongues.

Jesus is born again

Jesus was the first one who was born again. He is the
Firstbegotten among many brothers. Rom. 8:29. Hebr. 2:11-18.
Before Jesus was born again, nobody could be born again.
When was Jesus born again? When he rose from the death.
His resurrection was also his new birth.

“He is the Head of the body, the Assembly, who is the
Beginning, the Firstborn out of the dead ones that He having
first place in all things.” Col. 1:18. “… the First-begotten
out of the dead ones.” Rev.1:5. “… the One designated the
Son of God in power, according to the Spirit of holiness,
by the resurrection of dead ones, Jesus Christ our Lord;”
Rom. 1:4. And again, when He brought the Firstbegotten
into the world, He said, “And let all the angels of God
worship Him.” Hebr. 1:6.

Jesus is the firstborn in double meaning. He is the
Firstbegotten of all creation. For all things were created in
Him, the things in the heavens, and the things on the earth,
the visible and the invisible; whether thrones, or lordships,
or rulers, or authorities, all things have been created through
Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and all things
have subsisted in Him. Col. 1:15-17. In the verse 18 we see
that he is also the Firstborn out of the dead ones.

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Allan Svensson, Sweden

Why did the Pentecostal Revival take an end?
http://www.algonet.se/~allan-sv/CRISIS.HTM