Rights and Privileges of Being Born Again in the Spirit

September 19, 1994 (Valle Verde)

Text: 1 Peter 1: 23-25

Kingdom Citizens, born in the Spirit of Obedience to the Father’s Will, have
privileges as emphasized in 1 Peter 1:21-25. The privileges of sons and daughters are
more than what one can accumulate in the world. Being born again in the Spirit of
Obedience, we have the privilege:
• To be born in the royal family of God’s people;
• To be indwelt by His spirit by virtue of repentance.
• To have a God who is unlimited, a rich God whose promises are for all His sons
and daughters;
• To have eternal life which can be obtained through His Words;
• To have a permanent residence which is the New Jerusalem; and
• To call Him ‘Abba, Father.’

But we cannot talk about privileges unless we talk about responsibilities.

With privilege comes responsibility.

As you have responsibility towards yourself such as washing your face when you
get up in the morning, brushing your teeth, taking a bath, eating the right of food,
among others, and towards others such as obeying your parents if you are a minor,
working diligently if you are employed along with the privilege to receive salary every
month, or paying taxes to the government along with the privilege to stay in a country
that protects peace and order for us, as sons and daughters, we also have responsibilities
towards God, the Almighty Father, who created us all.

It is a privilege to become a child of God

but you also have your responsibilities.

Privilege and Responsibility cannot be separated.

When you separate privilege from responsibility,

the privilege will be gone.
 When one only wants privilege, he is actually looking
for nothing, because these two are inseparable.

Responsibilities of Newborn Babies

“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:”
1 Peter 2:2

Babies do not appreciate the privilege of their position and the parenthood of
the Almighty Father towards them while they are still babies. But the privilege of their
position is there all the time.

1. Feed on the Word of God

• To obtain salvation:
- You have to accept His Words and feed on the Word of God that you may
grow strong. Babies can only grow when they eat. If we do not feed upon
the right food and have enough of it, we shall remain babies and shall be
dwarf in our spiritual existence.
- The Lord is strengthening and establishing you, because later on, you will
be used in His Kingdom here on Earth to spread His word and propagate
his Kingdom.

2. Grow into Manhood

Pass through the three levels of spiritual growth: Circumcision, Son Accountable
and Son Placement

• Eat the Right Kind of Food

¤ We can only grow if we eat the right food and the right food is always the
word of God.
¤ Avoid junk foods (such as gossips).
¤ Gossips will make your flesh fat but will make your soul thin.
¤ Never listen to anything that will not give strength to the Soul.

• Desire for the Sincere Milk of the Word

¤ To prevent you from being dwarf in your spiritual existence, you must
desire for the sincere milk of the word.
¤ You are made strong, and you grow because you are being prepared for
the harder food which is meat.
 ¤ The Kingdom does not dwell on social Gospel where is there is only milk,
where people only want to hear gentle words that you have to be careful
not to hurt their feelings.
¤ In the Kingdom there is milk, but there is also meat.

Don’t be afraid of responsibilities. That is part of growth.

3. Be like the Appointed Son

• Pass the Baptism of Fire
(1 Corinthian 3:5-10)
- Who Can stand strong in times of trials;
- Think like an eagle; and
- Fly like an eagle that can soar in the midst of strong winds and storms of
trials.
- There is nothing that assaults you that you will not overcome.
- You are called an overcomer in fulfillment of Revelation 21:7.

That is why I love you because I want you to become like me.

How the Apostle Peter describes the children of God

1. Obedient to the Father’s Will

Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of

the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto
you, and peace, be multiplied.
Peter 1:2

“As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in
your ignorance:”
1 Peter 1:14

It is our privilege to be born, but it is a greater privilege to accept that we are now
sons and daughters who have grown to maturity and have the ability to understand the
grace of God.
- From being babies, we now have the greatest privilege to understand what the
Father has done to us, that He is now our Father, and we are His own.
- When you call on Him, He listens and pays attention because you are now His
son or daughter.

How do you express obedience?

Don’t let your character be molded by the desires of this unregenerated world
but be holy before God as God is holy and holiness always has the component of
obedience.
- We cannot be holy if we are not obedient to His Will.
- Obedience makes us holy.
- This is when we see that we have the mark as children of God.

2. We are Living Stones

Peter was thinking and looking at a building which is a spiritual building
made by God. When we were born again, we became living stones and were made
partakers of His divine nature.
- We can lean on stones.
- Stones can bear heavy objects.
- To form a building, you have to put one stone upon another. A building cannot
stand without the stones put together.
We are the building of God. So, each of us is a living stone.

“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth
in you?”
1 Corinthians 3:16

“For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your
spirit, which are God’s.”
1 Corinthians 6:20
Being a temple of God is a big responsibility

Responsibility Privilege

- not to be lifeless - We are all called priests of the

- You are not lifeless stones in the
spiritual house of the Lord but
living stones and our responsibility
is to offer sacrifices of praise to God
the Almighty Father.
Almighty Father. In the Old
Testament, the priests offered to
God. Now that we are born again
in the spirit of obedience to His
Will, when we worship and say,
“Praise the Father,” that is already
offering unto God.

Are we exercising this privilege of our priesthood and discharging our responsibility
in this matter of offering up spiritual sacrifices to the Father?
Let us discharge our privileges. It is a privilege to be a lively stone and it is our
responsibility to offer praises and sacrifices unto Him living sacrifices in order to receive
living answers.

3. Pilgrims of this World

We are strangers and pilgrims of this world (1 Peter 2:11), strangers in this
world for we belong to another world which is the New World, His Kingdom which
is now on earth; we are pilgrims on the way to Heaven. We are temporary residents
here on earth but permanent residents of Heaven.
Our responsibility is not to be affected by the circumstances of this world.
Do not become engulfed and tainted with the life of the world around us. We must
become separate people from simple and worldly things and that our whole manner
of life is marked by spirituality and moral integrity. That should be maintained.
We are in this world but we are not of this world.

“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the
pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
“And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of
God abideth for ever.”
1 Jn. 2:15–17
4. We are Good Stewards
We are also called Good Stewards. It is a privilege but it also has responsibilities.
- As good stewards of God, we are hospitable and are to serve one another.
- Some have been entrusted with lovely homes, some with businesses, some
with talents that others do not have, and some with money or the gift of
friendship.

But they are only stewards of these gifts. The responsibility is to use these
faithfully not for their own enjoyment but for the benefit of others; and if they do
this, they must do it for the glory of the Almighty Father.
It is a privilege to become born again and bear the name of Jesus Christ.
It is in us that the Words of the Father, saying, “My people shall be called by
my one name,” are fulfilled. Our responsibility is to be exactly like the Father
through His Appointed Son. We must be loving, gracious, kind, considerate, gentle,
understanding and humble.

This should lead us to the following questions:

- Are you a son or a daughter of God?
- Are you like the Almighty Father, Jesus Christ, represented by His Appointed
Son ?
- Are you becoming more and more like Him from day to day?