Comments on: John 1:12,18 – He Gave Us the Right to be called Children of God

By: Peter Thomas

Peter Thomas — Fri, 31 Mar 2023 20:40:07 +0000

Dear DjCL, thank you for your question. I think this passage says more than just that Jesus gives them the right to become God’s children, but that right still needs to be exercised. If we read further, it says “He gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13). So John is talking about a supernatural birth here, that is not based on human actions but solely by God’s work. If we go on to read Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus we get further information. This is a “new birth”, that is done by the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit (John 3:3-8). This is the most amazing truth. God did not just take the initiative to forgive us or sins by sending His Son to die for us. It was not even inviting us to heaven. The most amazing truth is that God makes us His children and becomes our Father. This relationship is only available to those who “believe in Jesus” (i.e. that He is everything He claimed to be, that He atoned for our sins by dying on the cross, and rose again in victory), as this passage affirm, and not for those who don’t. Putting it another way, being a child of God is one of the distinguishing characteristics of every true Christian.

By: DjCL

DjCL — Tue, 28 Mar 2023 21:47:37 +0000

“the right to become…”
So, as I read it, a person believes, has accepted the gospel, is a “believer. And as such, Jesus gives them the right to become God’s child. In other words, they are not presently His child but have the right to become one. They are “saved” but not yet His child.
So… how does one become His child, or in other words, how does one exercise the right Jesus gives the believer?

By: Usha Cherian

Usha Cherian — Fri, 12 Mar 2021 01:13:07 +0000

Tku so much Sandeep. Yes, we are so blessed to be called God’s children by believing in Jesus Christ and to have HIS Spirit living inside of us , Who gives us strength to move on in life wiith the hope that one day we can see HIM face to face and be with HIM eternally.

By: Peter Thomas

Peter Thomas — Thu, 11 Mar 2021 05:35:34 +0000

Thank you for your deep insights, Sandeep. Yes, we do have a unique and better perspective because we have the entire Bible to read and understand with the help of the Holy Spirit.

By: Sandeep Thomas

Sandeep Thomas — Thu, 11 Mar 2021 04:42:19 +0000

Although it would have been great to be living at the time of Jesus to see him in person, we have an opportunity to know and understand Him in a very new and unique way now since the Holy Spirit has been sent in Jesus’ name by God the father as mentioned also in John 14:26. Though we can’t really see God we get many glimpses of Him and His work in the Old Testament. Throughout the bible, we see His handy work woven into the very fabric of humanity. As we progress into the New Testament, we see the same God take the form of man (John 10:30) to live amongst us sinful human beings. But He did this to show us His power and to allow us to see the sacrifice He was willing to endure to rescue our souls from eternal damnation. I think He did this (coming down as human) so that we ourselves as human beings could identify with Him. Him being fully man would have gone through similar struggles, temptations, thoughts, emotions, and life in general, just like we all would have growing up. In-fact as he grew up the temptations would have been much stronger coming from Satan to continuously slip Him up. However, what we do know is that Jesus never once sinned nor did He give into temptation, perhaps it was also because of the amount of time He spent with His father to grow and mature (Luke2:52).

By: Peter Thomas

Peter Thomas — Thu, 25 Feb 2021 16:15:14 +0000

Thank you, Joyce. Yes, while the Jesus was on earth, people (including his disciples) had limited access to Him, compared to the access we now have to the presence of God through the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:1). As you have also said, there is a struggle to put God first above all due to partial spiritual blindness (even for believers), pride and unbelief. One of the main ways we battle this is by constant exposure to the Word of God, and meditating on its truths. The Holy Spirit uses it to strengthen our faith and to reveal Jesus to us more and more, and make us increasingly dependent on Him through prayer.

By: Joyce Premila

Joyce Premila — Sat, 20 Feb 2021 06:45:26 +0000

Jesus is the second Adam. All who believe in Him are born of the Spirit and we are adopted into the family of God–We have the right to be called his sons and daughters–just as any adopted child once adopted has the right to call his/her parents ‘mother/father’.
This life is not physical but spiritual–the invisible realm. This was made possible because Jesus God himself-the son of God–came to earth as a human–who could be touched and had all the characteristics of mortal man–cept his innate sin nature–yet he had the capacity to sin–but didnt–as seen by the temptations of Jesus.
We are blessed because the Holy Spirit speaks to each one of us-and is with us–So while the disciples were limited with Jesus till his resurrection–they were people with purpose and power and led by the Holy Spirit
I am still unable to draw close to Jesus-because my sin nature pulls me to do everything but place him first–my daily chores at home, the phone calls I make, social media esp whatsapp–I have learnt –still learning-not to read whatsapp messages before reading God’s Word-SEcondly I can be judgemental and that is pride which keeps me from drawing close to God-Thirdly I need to know that God is my everything–and people come second. To trust God is key to victory–but people and their expressed opinions can often blind me to reality and truth. I need to focus of God alone, his truth alone, to draw closer to him