In order to answer this hard-hitting question; there are a couple of facts that must be considered. Fact number one: Like every other person, a Christian is a human being. Fact number two: All human beings were born to this earth, enshroud or cloaked in the sin-like nature of Adam; the first man.
Consider the story of the first man, Adam:
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die (Gen. 2:16-17).” This command was addressed to Adam. Eve, Adam’s wife, was created after the command was given to Adam (Gen. 2:18-22). Sometime after Eve’s creation, however; she was tempted of the serpent; took of the fruit, and did eat. Not only did she eat, but she gave also unto her husband; and he did eat (Gen. 3:6).” Adam’s partaking of the fruit was his disobedience to God; his Creator. Here, is where “sin” began for all of humankind (Rom. 5:17).
Sin is the transgression against divine or moral law. Law is the divine boundary between good and evil. Sin is an overstepping of that boundary. Sin, against God, is precisely what Adam did. After Adam; every member of the human race was born to this earth; in sin (Job 14:1; Ps. 51:3-5; Rom. 5:12).”
Because of Adam, and due to sin, each person till this present day falls short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). Falling short; is imperfection; a separation from God. This separation leaves each individual subject to evil; makes him less than perfect; prone to lie, and subject to mistakes and shortcomings, in general. This faulty human condition is the makeup of every man (also woman) throughout his earthly life.
Even if a man or woman becomes religious, or a churchgoer on earth (in the natural); he or she is still subject to the universal, sin condition of human-kind. He is still prone to the faults and failures of man. He still falls short of the glory of God. Falling short means failure to meet divine standards (Rom. 3:23). It is falling short of the mark. It is the error; a deviation from right or truth; a blunder (Rom. 1:18). It is iniquity.
Iniquity; of which, every man is guilty; is the lack of moral principles; a condition inherently wrong (Rom. 1:18 – 28; Jas. 2: 10). Even when a person is right, he is also capable of being wrong (Rom. 7:21). Therefore, we conclude; the only thing that makes a Christian any different from everybody else is the Christian’s spiritual reconnection with God; through acceptance of and adherence to; His Son, Jesus (Rom. 5:1; Rom. 5:17; Col. 1:20-21). This reconnection or reconciliation is spiritual and seen only through God’s eyes (1 Sam. 16:7). Earthly man can never be sure of the spiritual status of another person. At best, man can only guess whether a person is or is not spiritually reconnected with God.
The reconnection that God sees is also known as the “new birth” or “born again (John 3:3).” The term; “born again” is also referred to as the “second birth.” As a person is born of Adam, in sin, into this earth, his second birth allows him to be born, or reconciled back, into the realm or into the kingdom of, God.
The Christian is born again. The non-Christian or everybody else is not.
*Unless otherwise indicated, Bible quotations here are taken from the Schofield Reference Bible; Copyright © 1909, 1917, Copyright renewed, 1937, 1945, 1957, by Oxford University Press, Inc.
Consider the story of the first man, Adam:
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die (Gen. 2:16-17).” This command was addressed to Adam. Eve, Adam’s wife, was created after the command was given to Adam (Gen. 2:18-22). Sometime after Eve’s creation, however; she was tempted of the serpent; took of the fruit, and did eat. Not only did she eat, but she gave also unto her husband; and he did eat (Gen. 3:6).” Adam’s partaking of the fruit was his disobedience to God; his Creator. Here, is where “sin” began for all of humankind (Rom. 5:17).
Sin is the transgression against divine or moral law. Law is the divine boundary between good and evil. Sin is an overstepping of that boundary. Sin, against God, is precisely what Adam did. After Adam; every member of the human race was born to this earth; in sin (Job 14:1; Ps. 51:3-5; Rom. 5:12).”
Because of Adam, and due to sin, each person till this present day falls short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). Falling short; is imperfection; a separation from God. This separation leaves each individual subject to evil; makes him less than perfect; prone to lie, and subject to mistakes and shortcomings, in general. This faulty human condition is the makeup of every man (also woman) throughout his earthly life.
Even if a man or woman becomes religious, or a churchgoer on earth (in the natural); he or she is still subject to the universal, sin condition of human-kind. He is still prone to the faults and failures of man. He still falls short of the glory of God. Falling short means failure to meet divine standards (Rom. 3:23). It is falling short of the mark. It is the error; a deviation from right or truth; a blunder (Rom. 1:18). It is iniquity.
Iniquity; of which, every man is guilty; is the lack of moral principles; a condition inherently wrong (Rom. 1:18 – 28; Jas. 2: 10). Even when a person is right, he is also capable of being wrong (Rom. 7:21). Therefore, we conclude; the only thing that makes a Christian any different from everybody else is the Christian’s spiritual reconnection with God; through acceptance of and adherence to; His Son, Jesus (Rom. 5:1; Rom. 5:17; Col. 1:20-21). This reconnection or reconciliation is spiritual and seen only through God’s eyes (1 Sam. 16:7). Earthly man can never be sure of the spiritual status of another person. At best, man can only guess whether a person is or is not spiritually reconnected with God.
The reconnection that God sees is also known as the “new birth” or “born again (John 3:3).” The term; “born again” is also referred to as the “second birth.” As a person is born of Adam, in sin, into this earth, his second birth allows him to be born, or reconciled back, into the realm or into the kingdom of, God.
The Christian is born again. The non-Christian or everybody else is not.
*Unless otherwise indicated, Bible quotations here are taken from the Schofield Reference Bible; Copyright © 1909, 1917, Copyright renewed, 1937, 1945, 1957, by Oxford University Press, Inc.
