Retrobyter
Active Member
Shalom, dragonfly.
One can be "born again" now. That does NOT mean, however, that he is ready to "receive his inheritance" now. Even a son that is born to a king and is heir to the throne may not actually ascend the throne for many years! Just look at Prince George, the future King of England. He's OBVIOUSLY not ready to reign as king, right? So, yes, one can be "born of the Spirit" - the "HOLY Spirit," the "Ruach haQodesh" - right now, but that doesn't mean that he is ready to "rule and reign with Christ" right now. There are things that must happen first:
Romans 8:16-23
16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
KJV
So, we who have been "born again" are ASSURED of a place with the Messiah when He comes and reigns; we are ASSURED of eternal life - life that goes on and on forever into eternity, but we have not yet received the FULL REALIZATION of what that means! And, we don't get it when we die, as many teach (i.e., "going to heaven when we die"); we get it when the Messiah returns and resurrects OUR bodies, transforming them into incorruptible, immortal, imperishable bodies! Bodies that are glorious - that is, bodies that will glow, as His does! Bodies that can GIVE LIFE, not just live, like His does! Blasting bodies, "spiritual" bodies (Greek: sooma pneumatikon = a "spiritual body"), bodies that can blow or "breathe" into the nostrils of the dead and make them living souls, not just "natural" breathing bodies (Greek: sooma psuchikon = a "soul-ish body"), barely able to sustain our own lives! (1 Corinthians 15:35-57.)
Now, as far as the "spirit of slumber" on Isra'el is concerned, yes, it is a different condition than that of Isaiah 6. It's Isaiah 29:
Isaiah 29:1-14
1 Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices.
2 Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel.
3 And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.
4 And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.
5 Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.
6 Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.
7 And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.
8 It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.
9 Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
10 For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.
11 And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:
12 And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.
13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
KJV
This is what Rav Sha'uwl (Teacher Saul, the Apostle Paul) quoted in Romans 11:8:
Romans 11:1-12
11 1 “In that case, I say, isn’t it that God has repudiated his people?” Heaven forbid! For I myself am a son of Isra’el, from the seed of Avraham,(d 2 Chronicles 20:7; Psalm 105:6) of the tribe of Binyamin. 2 God has not repudiated his people,(e 1 Samuel 12:22; Psalm 94:14) whom he chose in advance. Or don’t you know what the Tanakh says about Eliyahu? He pleads with God against Isra’el, 3 “Adonai, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars, and I’m the only one left, and now they want to kill me too!" (f 1 Kings 19:10, 14) 4 But what is God’s answer to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not knelt down to Ba‘al." (g 1 Kings 19:18) 5 It’s the same way in the present age: there is a remnant, chosen by grace. 6 (Now if it is by grace, it is accordingly not based on legalistic works; if it were otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.) 7 What follows is that Isra’el has not attained the goal for which she is striving. The ones chosen have obtained it, but the rest have been made stonelike, 8 just as the Tanakh says,
“God has given them a spirit of dullness —
eyes that do not see
and ears that do not hear,
right down to the present day. (h Deuteronomy 24:3; Isaiah 29:10)
9 And David says,
“Let their dining table become for them
a snare and a trap, a pitfall and a punishment.
10 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they can’t see,
with their backs bent continually." (i Psalm 69:23-24)
11 “In that case, I say, isn’t it that they have stumbled with the result that they have permanently fallen away?” Heaven forbid! Quite the contrary, it is by means of their stumbling that the deliverance has come to the Gentiles, in order to provoke them to jealousy. (j Deuteronomy 32:21) 12 Moreover, if their stumbling is bringing riches to the world — that is, if Isra’el’s being placed temporarily in a condition less favored than that of the Gentiles is bringing riches to the latter — how much greater riches will Isra’el in its fullness bring them!
CJB
So, this condition has NOT been entirely lifted, yet; HOWEVER, it IS BEGINNING to lift! Jews and Hebrews around the world are beginning to recognize that Yeshua` was and IS their Messiah and the veil is beginning to be lifted off of their eyes! THOUSANDS are coming back to the Lord through the ministries of Messianic Judaism and Jews for Jesus!
Yeshua`s victory on the cross - that Roman execution stake - was thorough but it was not complete. All the seeds for all of His conquests were accomplished at that time, but they have NOT all come to fruition, yet. Only someone wearing those proverbial "rose-colored glasses" would think to say that this world shows ANY sign that all of His conquests have come to fruition! And, as Yogi Berra was known to say, "It ain't over 'til it's over!" All of His victories were assured at the cross (and His Resurrection), but all of His victories, as yet, have NOT been realized!dragonfly said:Hi Retrobyter,
My apologies for skipping over your response to me in post #114. Really, I am not going to argue with your interpretation, even though I think you misunderstand the victory of Yeshua on the cross, and whereas we had no power to not sin, now, if we resist the devil, he will flee from us. Why would he be frightened of us if his power is undiminished? I think there are a lot of verses you skip over, which tell us that Satan's power has been broken. Still, I realise that for many 'Christians' (not necessarily you, of course), the idea that sin is not longer acceptable in the believer's heart and life, is - to say the least - unpopular as a doctrine - despite that Jesus, Peter, Paul and John all taught it.
So, returning to your point about us only having a down payment of the Holy Spirit, would you say, therefore, that no-one is actually born again until they have been raised from their graves?
Was that a different spirit of slumber than the one Isaiah was told to prophesy over Israel in chapter 6 of his prophecy?
If so, when was that spirit of slumber lifted, and why did Jesus keep quoting if from Isaiah to say how apposite it was, if it had been lifted?
One can be "born again" now. That does NOT mean, however, that he is ready to "receive his inheritance" now. Even a son that is born to a king and is heir to the throne may not actually ascend the throne for many years! Just look at Prince George, the future King of England. He's OBVIOUSLY not ready to reign as king, right? So, yes, one can be "born of the Spirit" - the "HOLY Spirit," the "Ruach haQodesh" - right now, but that doesn't mean that he is ready to "rule and reign with Christ" right now. There are things that must happen first:
Romans 8:16-23
16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
KJV
So, we who have been "born again" are ASSURED of a place with the Messiah when He comes and reigns; we are ASSURED of eternal life - life that goes on and on forever into eternity, but we have not yet received the FULL REALIZATION of what that means! And, we don't get it when we die, as many teach (i.e., "going to heaven when we die"); we get it when the Messiah returns and resurrects OUR bodies, transforming them into incorruptible, immortal, imperishable bodies! Bodies that are glorious - that is, bodies that will glow, as His does! Bodies that can GIVE LIFE, not just live, like His does! Blasting bodies, "spiritual" bodies (Greek: sooma pneumatikon = a "spiritual body"), bodies that can blow or "breathe" into the nostrils of the dead and make them living souls, not just "natural" breathing bodies (Greek: sooma psuchikon = a "soul-ish body"), barely able to sustain our own lives! (1 Corinthians 15:35-57.)
Now, as far as the "spirit of slumber" on Isra'el is concerned, yes, it is a different condition than that of Isaiah 6. It's Isaiah 29:
Isaiah 29:1-14
1 Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices.
2 Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel.
3 And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.
4 And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.
5 Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.
6 Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.
7 And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.
8 It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.
9 Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
10 For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.
11 And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:
12 And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.
13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
KJV
This is what Rav Sha'uwl (Teacher Saul, the Apostle Paul) quoted in Romans 11:8:
Romans 11:1-12
11 1 “In that case, I say, isn’t it that God has repudiated his people?” Heaven forbid! For I myself am a son of Isra’el, from the seed of Avraham,(d 2 Chronicles 20:7; Psalm 105:6) of the tribe of Binyamin. 2 God has not repudiated his people,(e 1 Samuel 12:22; Psalm 94:14) whom he chose in advance. Or don’t you know what the Tanakh says about Eliyahu? He pleads with God against Isra’el, 3 “Adonai, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars, and I’m the only one left, and now they want to kill me too!" (f 1 Kings 19:10, 14) 4 But what is God’s answer to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not knelt down to Ba‘al." (g 1 Kings 19:18) 5 It’s the same way in the present age: there is a remnant, chosen by grace. 6 (Now if it is by grace, it is accordingly not based on legalistic works; if it were otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.) 7 What follows is that Isra’el has not attained the goal for which she is striving. The ones chosen have obtained it, but the rest have been made stonelike, 8 just as the Tanakh says,
“God has given them a spirit of dullness —
eyes that do not see
and ears that do not hear,
right down to the present day. (h Deuteronomy 24:3; Isaiah 29:10)
9 And David says,
“Let their dining table become for them
a snare and a trap, a pitfall and a punishment.
10 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they can’t see,
with their backs bent continually." (i Psalm 69:23-24)
11 “In that case, I say, isn’t it that they have stumbled with the result that they have permanently fallen away?” Heaven forbid! Quite the contrary, it is by means of their stumbling that the deliverance has come to the Gentiles, in order to provoke them to jealousy. (j Deuteronomy 32:21) 12 Moreover, if their stumbling is bringing riches to the world — that is, if Isra’el’s being placed temporarily in a condition less favored than that of the Gentiles is bringing riches to the latter — how much greater riches will Isra’el in its fullness bring them!
CJB
So, this condition has NOT been entirely lifted, yet; HOWEVER, it IS BEGINNING to lift! Jews and Hebrews around the world are beginning to recognize that Yeshua` was and IS their Messiah and the veil is beginning to be lifted off of their eyes! THOUSANDS are coming back to the Lord through the ministries of Messianic Judaism and Jews for Jesus!