“GOD’S BEGOTTEN FAMILY”
Too often we hear and read of senseless killings, senseless shopping malls and night club killings, trucks
and cars used to run over crowds of people, senseless school shootings! We hear of wars and rumors of wars,
famines and pestilence’s and earthquakes in different places!
There is every reason to believe we are truly living in the last days. These events are graphically pictured
in our Dailey news reports and in the pages of our instruction book – the Bible. World news proves we are
indeed living in “Perilous times.” The tragedy of this is Satan has seduced the majority of mankind and man-kind is lost in a maze of “foolish reasonings” But for us there is hope, it is necessary for us to understand some
basic truth. That basic truth is found in Ephesians 6:12, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
Principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the Darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in
high places.”
Most living in the United States of America today are not recognizing the real and true nature of its
enemy. Most believe like the world and Washington D.C., thinking that we are battling against flesh and blood
human beings, rejecting the concept that the real enemy is Satan and his demons, which is "The ruler of the
darkness of this world," and who is the “spiritual wickedness is in high places.”
Satan is a spiritual being of superior intelligence and is incredibly subtle. Subtle, Strong's # 6175,
has a root meaning of crafty, cunning, difficult to distinguish!
In Genesis 3, we have read how Satan deceived Eve. TODAY he is busy deceiving this world by
counterfeiting God's One World Government, calling it “One World Order,” stealing the idea from our
Creator. Satan obviously is lusting for a one universal government, with himself being as the head! But, his
dream will be defeated by a spiritual force of greater intelligence and power.
Notice Daniel 2, where we read of a time when the God of heaven shall set up His kingdom, which shall
never be destroyed. “In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a Kingdom, which shall never
be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these
kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever” (Dan 2:44).
At this time in history Isaiah 11 shows us in verse 9, “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy
mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” This kingdom
of God is a part of what Jesus, the Christ preached in the parable of the pounds.
Christ made it clear that there is rewards for following His way of life, rulership over cities when His
kingdom is established. Remember – a kingdom is made up of 1.) a king ruling over territory; 2.) occupied
by people; 3.) who are governed by; 4.) rules and laws. The kingdom of God is going to be established on this
earth on the ruins of Satan’s man made governments.
This will be the times of restitution we are told in Acts 3:21, “Whom the heaven must receive until the
times of restitution of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy Prophets since the world
began.” The word “Restitution” here in Acts 3:21, is rendered from a Greek noun, meaning restoration to a
former state, this is just like our Lord did, when He renewed the earth and created Adam, to live in the Garden
of Eden.
In order for us to be in this renewed – former state in God's soon coming kingdom we must engage in
a seven step plan. The first step– and entrance into the Kingdom of God is to believe the gospel— God’s good
news, the message brought by Christ and taught thru His prophets and apostles! “This good news of our Lord,
is God, the Fathers soon coming kingdom to this earth!!” This can not be separated from obedience to Jesus,
the Christ as our personal Savior and coming King.
This fact is made abundantly clear by Christ's own words in the book of Matthew and Luke. In Matthew
Christ said, “Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter Into the kingdom of heaven; but he that
does the will of My Father which is in heaven” (Mat 7: 21). And in Luke 6, follows this same thought. “And
why call you Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6: 46).
One other witness is found in Matt 15:8 - 9, “This people draws nigh unto Me with their mouth, and
Honors Me with their lips; but their heart is far from Me. But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines
the commandments of men.” We can see clearly the first step in following God is to believe the gospel
message, of our Lord
The second and third steps are linked together by the apostle Peter in Acts 2. Peter was asked after
preaching to an audience, what shall we do? His clear answer is found in Acts 2:38, “Repent, and be baptized
every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission [ forgiveness ] of sins, and you shall receive the
gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Repent, in God’s living book of life means: to be deeply broken up about one's past way of life and to
decide firmly on a course of change and to continue no longer to live in sin. We all know what the Bibles
definition of sin is: “Sin is the transgression of God's laws” I John 3:4. Christ said in Luke 13:3 and 5, “Except
you repent, you shall all likewise perish.”
This second step – repentance, is followed up by the third step of baptism. In the eighth chapter of
Acts, we find an example of a eunuch and Phillip bearing witness to baptism. Baptism being a type of death and
burial, in total immersion in water. Act 8: relates to Phillip being sent by an angel of the Lord to help teach
the eunuch his path to salvation. “Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same Scripture, and preached
unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, see, here
is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, if you believe with all thine heart, you may. And
he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still:
and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him” (Act 8:35-38 ).
When an individual accepts to do the first three steps they are assured of receiving the fourth step, God’s
Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands. We find a example of this in verse 14 - 17, here in Acts chapter
8: “Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent
unto them Peter and John: who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy
Spirit: (for as yet the Holy Spirit was fallen upon none of them: Only they were baptized in the name of the Lord
Jesus.) Vs 17, “Then laid they [Peter and John ] their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit”. Having
received God's Holy Spirit, they just as we are now, begotten as the children of God.
Romans 8, speaks about us as having received the spirit of son-ship. “For as many as are led by the spirit
of God, they are the sons of God. For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have
received the spirit of adoption, whereby we Cry, Abba, Father. The spirit itself bears witness with our spirit,
that we are the children of God: 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” (Rom 8:14-17).
It is of importance that we note the Bible clearly reveals Christians are begotten not yet born again. 1
Peter 1: verse 3, speaks of us being begotten. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which
according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead.”
The fifth step to salvation and being in God’s kingdom is the fact— that the newly begotten must "grow
in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” abandoning old preconceived ideas and
concepts. We are now to put on the new man just as Eph 4 tells us. “That you put off concerning the former
conduct the Old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
and that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Eph 4:22 ).
In the book of Colossians its expressed in chapter 3, “To lie not to one another.” “Lie not one to another,
seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man, which is renewed in
knowledge after the image of Him that created Him” ((Col 3:9-10).
This growing process to perfecting takes many years of diligent enduring work and sacrifice. The primary
reward for changing, growing spiritually and, overcoming is expressed in Revelation 3:12. “Him that overcomes
will I make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the Name
of my God, and the name of the city of My God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven
from My God: and I Will write upon him My new Name.”
The sixth step is: never pacify or compromise with the action of sin in our lives! God has given us, as
human being the capacity and ability to self-examine ourselves to put our heart on a table and dissect it like a
surgeon with a scalpel. It is this characteristic that separates men from animals, who turn back to their own vomit
The Apostle Paul tells us, “Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that
cup” (1 Cor 11:28).
The person who can see themself as they are and makes course corrections has found the secret to finding
a peaceful life. Not only is it true success, it is the requirement for every person who wishes to be in the kingdom
of God. The lesson learned from examining ourselves is never compromise or pacify the self, when sin is
involved! This was a lesson the apostles learned from the Old Testament.
Christ said in the New Testament, “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit
for the Kingdom of God”(Luke 9:62). We cannot afford to look back and wish our way into God's kingdom.
We cannot be a hearer only of God’s word, we have to be a doer of God's word.
The seventh and final step comes as a result of the proceeding six steps! The seventh step is to be born
again! Nearly every error is based on false assumption and is taken carelessly for granted and this term “being
born again”is no exception. The error in this case is the untrue assumption that when one is converted, when one
has repented and accepted Jesus, the Christ in faith and has been baptized and has received God's Holy Spirit,
that they are now “born again.” The mis-application of just two words has led most to view the matter of
being born again, as some mysterious feeling one is supposed to experience when one accepts Jesus, the Christ
as their personal Savior.
In the English language we have two different words to express the reproductive process. The first is
the beginning of new life we call conception or begettle. All human life comes from an egg, called a cell which
must first be fertilized, impregnated, conceived or begotten from a second sperm-egg cell from the father. No
one ever calls this first part of the process a birth! The begotten egg-cell from the mother and father is called
a embryo and later called a fetus.
In the human kind it starts off with an egg-cell the size of a minute dot—smaller than a pin point! Before
an egg–cell from this action can be born, it must be nourished for a time in the womb of the mother, so it can
grow physically and develop strength before its is ready to be born. At this point of being in the mother womb
it has only been begotten as a fetus. When the fetus has developed for delivery from the mothers womb it enters
into this world as a tiny baby, it has now been born!
This sets an exact pattern of what happens in the spiritual realm! The New Testament Greek had only
one word for the two vitally different phases, that word is gen-na-o, Strong's # 1080, meaning: 1. to procreate;
2. begot; 3. be born; 4. bring forth; 5. conceive; 6. be delivered. Three of these six words mean:1. to conceive
or 2. to begot 3.they don’t mean ---- to be born. The remaining three definitions mean the actual birth— or to
be born!
King James makes the mistake in using the English word born where it actually meant begotten of God.
The experience of conversion in this life that the New Testament speaks of is a begettle, a conception, an
impregnation, not yet a birth or born. The plain simple meaning on this subject emerges crystal clear in John
3, where Christ helps Nicodemus to understand the difference between being born of flesh or being born of the
spirit. John 3:1, “There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to
Jesus by night, and said unto Him, rabbi, we know that you art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these
miracles that You do, except God be with Him. Jesus answered and said unto him, verily, verily, I say unto you,
except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus understood what being born meant
because he asked a simple question in verse 4, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the
second time into his mother's womb, and be born?” Nicodemus could not understand Christ’s reference to a
second birth, he could only think of a physical birth. His mind did not grasp Christ’s spiritual meaning, so Christ
immediately set him straight in verse 6. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the
spirit is spirit.” Christ plainly said when you are born again or born of the spirit essence
you will be spirit. Christ continues in verse 8, to tell Nicodemus what being born of spirit is like in John 3:8, ‘The
wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound thereof, but can not tell whence it comes, and whither it
goes: So is every one that is born of the spirit.”
Apostle Paul understood this. He wrote a whole chapter on it in I Corinthians 15, “Now this I say,
brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption”
(1Cor 15:50). Next notice verse 47. “The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from
heaven.” This is exactly what Christ was saying to Nicodemus in John 3.
But now look at verse 49 in 1 Cor 15: “And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear
the image of the heavenly.” Drop down to verses 53 to 55, “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and
this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal
shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in
victory. O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?”
The physical process of reproduction is a direct type of the spiritual. We are all fearfully and wonderfully
made and put together! This same thoughtfulness is in the spiritual process, when one - after believing the gospel
repents and is baptized and have hands laid on them to receive a portion of God’s Holy Spirit, are then begotten
into a living hope. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant
mercy has begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1Pet 1:3).
Paul adds to this, “For by one spirit are we all baptized into one body, Whether we be Jews or Gentiles,
whether we be bond or free; and aave been all made to drink into one spirit. For the body is not one member, but
many. If the foot shall say, because I am not the hand, I am not of the Body; is it therefore not of the body? And
if the ear shall say, because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole
body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now has
God set the members every one of them in the body, as it has pleased Him” (1 Cor 12:13-18 ).
Just as the human fetus develops and grows physically during the pre-birth gestation period, the newly
begotten Christian develops and grows spiritually in the pre-birth state, preparing to be heirs of God and joint
heirs with Christ as it says in Rom 8:16-18, “The spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the
children of God: 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.’
Paul was moved to continue writing, in verses 21-23 “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. “Because the creature itself also
shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. And not only
they, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves,
waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.”
Apostle Paul personifies the whole creation as eagerly looking forward to the time when we will be
revealed to a wondering world as the bride and sons of God! This will be when Christ returns to reign and we
return with Him.
What a humbling experience it is to be begotten while waiting to be born again spiritually into God’s
family ! ☜
James Russell