Bible Study on 1John 5, verses 6 to 9, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost

 

1John 5:6 ¶  This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. 7  For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 8  And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. 9  If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.

The heresy of Gnosticism was apparently a problem during the time of the early church as John combats it. This Gnosticism, the perfectability of man, the secret knowledge of an elite, the idea that matter was part of a fraud perpetuated by the God of the Old Testament who was evil, that God could not come in the flesh because of that, a sort of the movie Matrix played out in history where Jesus came to enlighten us and deliver us from the evil God, a type of Satan, and denying that there could be a God in the flesh who could have died on the Cross, and finally that every person was responsible for their own salvation. Now that Gnosticism has come down to us in the form of Communism/Socialism/Marxism where early philosophers talked about returning to the innocence of the Garden of Eden without God as in the Crosby, Stills, and Nash song made famous at the Woodstock music festival of the 1960s. By the way, Woodstock, NY was where the Communist Party was instituted in the early 20^th century.

Anyway, back to John’s letter, there are two interpretations of the water and the blood. One is that Jesus came to earth in the water birth, born of water, and that He ended His life by shedding His blood for us. This has justification in John’s gospel.

John 3:3  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4  Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? 5  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Another, more popular interpretation, is that Christ began His ministry in Baptism and ended in shedding His blood for us, as meanings for the water and the blood.

Verse 7 is one of the most hotly disputed verses in Bible history and yet, that is odd, because it is alluded to or quoted by early church fathers in every century of the early church. In spite of that, some “bible scholars” insist it was added in the 7^th century. It is in Jerome’s Latin Vulgate from the early 5^th century and many insist that it reflects the Old Latin Bible of the second century in controversial arguments that are too long to explain here. I recommend reading In Defense of the Authenticity of 1 John 5:7  by C. H. Pappas and A History of the Debate over 1 John 5:7-8 by Michael Maynard, the latter of which I’ve read from cover to cover. If the verse is not in your Bible then you should get a different Bible.

This verse is the hinge on which the theology of God, the Godhead, swings. As I’ve noted before regarding the Targums, or the Jewish understanding of the Bible in the first century and before, in the Godhead was the living Word of God, the angel of the LORD, who appeared to men and interacted with them. It is how Adam and Eve could have walked and talked in the Garden of Eden with God. It is who appeared to Moses in the burning bush. It is, among many other incidences which you will see if you watch or read my commentaries, the preincarnate Christ.

There are three in heaven who are one. They are one God with three parts; God the Father, invisible, the Son of God, the Word by which all things exist and who interacted physically with mankind, the Holy Ghost, His very mind in action as God’s Spirit, the operative side of the Holy Ghost working within the universe and indwelling each believer. I’ve gone over this many times so I won’t belabor the point here.

See my comments on 1John 1:1-4.

John 10:30  I and my Father are one.

The Spirit of God, His very mind acting in and upon creation, the living Word of God entering into human flesh as in the water birth, the only time God was born as a human being, and the blood, His blood by which we are all saved, agree and point to the God of heaven and earth. The physical world and the physical universe all point to the invisible God and His living Word by which all things were created.

Christ’s birth, death, burial, and resurrection and the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in His believers all manifest this foundational truth of Christian belief.

Christ bears witness to the eternal God as the eternal God bears witness to the Son of God, God walking in human flesh on the earth by whom we are saved and God’s Biblical ministry of reconciling mankind to Himself is finally complete.

Bible Study on Genesis 26, verses 6 to 11, Isaac caught sporting with Rebekah

 

Genesis 26:6 ¶  And Isaac dwelt in Gerar: 7  And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon. 8  And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife. 9  And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her. 10  And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us. 11  And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.

Here again we have a picture of a righteous heathen king and a picture of one of God’s men acting in a most unbecoming and cowardly manner. Isaac repeats the lack of faith in God’s protection as did his father, Abraham. Clearly, the possibility of being killed and having your wife taken for another man’s pleasure must have been a cultural practice and a grave danger in the ancient world for Isaac, like Abraham, to be too afraid he might be killed for his wife.

Abimelech, though, after a long time, looks out a window and sees Isaac sporting with his wife. This, we assume, is some kind of sexual play that would not be expected between a brother and a sister. Sporting can mean play or a jest or even mocking but common sense tells us that this play would have to be in such a manner as to reveal Isaac and Rebekah’s relationship. See here how sport and sporting are used elsewhere.

It can be to take delight in;

2Peter 2:13  And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;

Proverbs 10:23  It is as sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of understanding hath wisdom.

Perhaps to mock and make fun of if the following has no more sinister meaning considering the nature of the ancient world’s culture and religion;

Judges 16:25  And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars…27  Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.

Or clearly just to mock and make fun of;

Proverbs 26:19  So is the man that deceiveth his neighbour, and saith, Am not I in sport?

Isaiah 57:4  Against whom do ye sport yourselves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood,

In any event, this righteous Abimelech has caught the deception played on him and announces that anyone who touches Rebekah or Isaac will die. Here is a heathen man who understands righteousness and God’s standard regardless of his culture and we will see that again. This brings to mind Peter’s statement;

Acts 10:34 ¶  Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: 35  But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

It was not so many hundreds of years ago that all men would have known God’s standards of righteousness through Noah and clearly, as that knowledge became degraded over time, the strains of judgment and righteousness were still present in some form. Some heathen knew in their heart, or at least acknowledged they knew, what God regarded as right and wrong, unlike even many Christians today.

Bible Study on 1John 5, verses 1 to 5, Who is he that overcometh the world

 

1John 5:1 ¶  Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. 2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. 3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. 4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

Verse 1 is a very straightforward statement. If you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, and all that entails you are born of God.

John 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

 

John 6:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

John 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 7  If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. 8  Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. 9  Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

Romans 10:9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Underscoring John’s previous statements he says that if you love Christ you must love those begotten by Him, your brothers and sisters in Christ. We know we love God’s children specifically when we love God and keep His commandments. Matthew Henry wrote this in his commentary;

“II. The apostle shows, 1. How we may discern the truth, or the true evangelical nature of our love to the regenerate. The ground of it must be our love to God, whose they are: By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, v. 2. Our love to them appears to be sound and genuine when we love them not merely upon any secular account, as because they are rich, or learned, or kind to us, or of our denomination among religious parties; but because they are God's children, his regenerating grace appears in them, his image and superscription are upon them, and so in them God himself is loved. Thus we see what that love to the brethren is that is so pressed in this epistle; it is love to them as the children of God and the adopted brethren of the Lord Jesus. 2. How we may learn the truth of our love to God—it appears in our holy obedience: When we love God, and keep his commandments,”

John 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

And we overcome the world by our faith in Christ.

1John 4:4  Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

Notice how verses 4 and 5 apply to statements made in Revelation.

Revelation 2:7  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. 11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death…17  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it…26  And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:

Revelation 3:5  He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels…12  Him that overcometh 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.

Bible Study on Genesis 26, verses 1 to 5, Go not down into Egypt

 

Genesis 26:1 ¶  And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar. 2  And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: 3  Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; 4  And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; 5  Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

Now we are returned to the narrative, the story of Isaac and Rebekah, after the flash forward about Esau and Jacob. Sometimes the Bible not only flashes back to explain why something happened but in this case flashes forward to prepare us for what is going to happen.

Here, Isaac follows in his father’s footsteps and seeks relief in a famine in the land of the Philistine king, Abimelech. Remember, I said Abimelech may be a title like Pharaoh and might not be the name of the king. It is most likely that this is a different king than the one which encountered Abraham earlier. But whether it is or isn’t God had specifically told Isaac not to go into Egypt but to stay in Canaan, the land which his seed would eventually inherit. God repeated His promise to Isaac that He made to Abraham about the grant of land He will provide which will be completely fulfilled upon Christ’s return to rule from Jerusalem. God says this is because Abraham obeyed Him and kept His part of the agreement, and make sure you understand how the Holy Spirit speaking through Moses has provided for our understanding here; charge, commandments, statutes, and laws. These words are synonyms and you should keep this in mind as you read these words throughout the Bible.

In addition, you can see that the word LORD has every letter capitalized. This is the translation of the word Jehovah, 6510 times as LORD, four as God, and four as Jehovah according to Strong’s. God’s name is provided and translated as LORD.

Amos 5:8  Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name:

Bible Study on 1John 4, verses 14 to 21, God is love

 

1John 4:14 ¶  And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. 15  Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. 16  And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

The essence of salvation is belief and faith. We confess that Jesus Christ is and was God in the flesh. He loved the world at the Cross and loves those who believe in Him for eternity and we love our brothers and sisters in Christ because He loved us first.

Romans 10:9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

 

1John 4:17 ¶  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 18  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 19  We love him, because he first loved us. 20  If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 21  And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

Our love is completed, finished, and made entire and full when we stand before God in judgment. We have shared in the divine mind on this earth being filled with the Holy Ghost upon our receiving of Christ as our Saviour and as God in the flesh. We have the mind of Christ who are born again. We need not fear or worry as we are eternally saved. I have been over this many times in other letters such as Hebrews. Because He loved us first we are able to love Him. Loving God is only possible because of His love for us first. But we cannot say we love God if we hate our brothers and sisters in Christ. The person who loves God loves the brethren also. This is a fundamental of the Christian faith.

This is a recurrent theme of John’s letters.

Luke 10:27  And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

Bible Study on Genesis 25, verses 29 to 34, Esau sells his birthright

 

Genesis 25:29 ¶  And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: 30  And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. 31  And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. 32  And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? 33  And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. 34  Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.

The narrative of Jacob and Esau is provided as an introduction before Moses returns to the story of Isaac. These passages are a foundation that will explain why Jacob and Rebekah felt justified to deceive Isaac and rob Esau of his legal due. The point here is that Esau did not regard his birthright and sold it to Jacob. In the ancient heathen world and even up to today in some countries the oldest son was to inherit his father’s property and religious duties within the family. Esau was willing to sell his sacred right and privilege to his brother.

The question will become, now that Esau swore to give up his birthright and sold it for a bowl of stew, how to get Isaac to bless Jacob first and grant him the birthright.

Sod, we can figure out from the context is made or cooked. Notice how sod is used again in 2Chronicles 35:13. Sodden used to be the past participle of to seethe or boil. Sod is short for that.

Exodus 16:23  And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.

Exodus 23:19  The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.

Pottage is soup or stew.

2Kings 4:38  And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets.

Esau will sell his birthright for a bowl of red stew and Edom comes from that. Edom, according to Strong’s dictionary, means red.

This is why the Red Sea is called the Red Sea.

1Kings 9:26  And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Eziongeber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom.

What is the birthright that Esau surrendered to Jacob for a meal? As the oldest Esau was, by custom, to inherit his father’s wealth and be head of the family, and his father’s standing before God. It was also of religious significance among the heathen, as the eldest son would inherit the family, the wealth, and the religious responsibilities to maintain the family gods and the family fire as De Coulanges tells us in his book The Ancient City. Later, Jacob’s son, Reuben, will forfeit his birthright by a grievous sin against his father. Esau surrendered his birthright to be the head of the family for a meal. Of course, we know that God chose Jacob because of this and in retrospect Esau gave up the privilege of having the Messiah come through his lineage, of having God come to earth to live as a man, the Son of God and the Son of man in one person, through his descendants, for a bowl of soup.

Notice it says that Esau despised his birthright. Despise is a synonym of hate in the Bible. It simply means to hold in contempt or to disregard or to view someone lower in your eyes than they should be naturally.

Proverbs 5:12  And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

Amos 5:21  I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.

Matthew 6:24  No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Despise is the opposite of honoring someone or something, meaning to hold them in low esteem.

 1Samuel 2:30  Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

Understanding this will help you understand difficult verses such as this where in comparison to Christ it is said;

Luke 14:26  If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

We can find examples in this in Americans who despise their right to vote and don’t do it, not out of protest, but just because they don’t think it’s a big deal. It’s not worth the trouble to them. We find examples of this in Christians who despise uniting with other Christians in worship as the Church, not because they have moved to a new place and don’t know any Christians or believe that that institutional churches are not Biblical, but, because it’s too much trouble and they’d rather sleep in.

Esau is an example of a great many people in the world throughout history. And so, it is said that God held him in contempt, as well;

Malachi 1:2 I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob,3  And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.

Romans 9:13  As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

Bible Study on 1John 4, verses 7 to 13, let us love one another

 

1John 4:7 ¶  Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8  He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 9  In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10  Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11  Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. 12  No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. 13  Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.

For you Greekophiles out there this is the same love as noted in 1Corinthians 13 and translated as charity. This, like in that chapter, is a reference to a Christian’s love of their brothers and sisters in Christ.

The concept of love is a problem for many modern Christians who read the Bible by going back to the Greek. Let's look at another darling of liberal Bible expositors; John 21:15:17.
After the resurrection Jesus asks Peter three times if Peter loves Him, which calls into sharp, painful memory that Peter had denied His Lord three times as Jesus predicted He would. And there are many other great sermons from this passage, I'm sure.

But, there is a problem. My friend who pretends to be a Greek expert is about to burst. He excitedly points out that the first and second time Jesus asks the question He uses the word Agape' for to love someone from esteem or respect and also used for divine love. Each of those times Peter responds with Phileo, the love that comes from friendship or brotherly love. The last time Jesus Himself uses Phileo and once again Peter responds with the same. My pseudo-scholarly friend will say that this lends much more meaning to the conversation because Jesus is asking for a different kind of love, a divine love, which Peter is not capable of and this reflects a fundamental failure in mankind's capacity or willingness to love God in the right way blah, blah, blah.

What my friend who likes to think he is more intelligent and knowledgeable than a Christian janitor who can read English has done is to reveal his own ignorance. Agape' and Phileo are words for love that are used interchangeably. No extra insight into these verses is gained by playing ping pong with them. In Matthew 6:5 hypocrites phileo to pray standing in the synagogues, in Matthew 19:19 you are told to agape' your neighbor as yourself, John 15:9 says the world won't phileo the disciples, 1 Corinthians 16:22 says that if any man phileo not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha, and when we are repeatedly told to love our neighbor as ourselves with agape' the Scriptures in no way imply that this is superior to our brotherly love for our brothers and sisters in Christ. I doubt anyone would imply that the kind of love Jesus says we are to have for each other, which distinguishes us as His followers is inferior to the love we are supposed to have for a stranger who is in need.

Titus 3:4 doesn't have the love of God our Saviour toward man as agape'. Paul's admonition in Titus 3:15 isn't agape'. 1 Peter 1:22 uses both words for the same thought with phileo first and then agape'. Does knowing this change your understanding of the text? Does it help you know what you are to do? Is your lack of access or availability of access to the Greek a determinant of your ability to understand God's words? Finally, in Revelation 3:19 does it matter to you that Jesus phileo's here?

Now, my point in saying all of this is very clearly, in a limited time, and taking only a few examples, is that you will gain no valuable insights in the Bible by going back to the original languages. It's like telling me you are going to really get to know the Gettysburg Battlefield and then immediately digging the deepest hole in the ground that you can. I would tell you to compare verse with verse in the Bible or tour the entire battlefield. Keep in mind Paul's admonition in 1Corinthians 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

Dictionaries, encyclopedias, and even Strong's Concordance are not inspired by God. Compare scripture with scripture and ignore the scholar who says the original languages give more insight than the English. All they are trying to do is to take the authority of your Bible from you and replace it with their own intellect as your final authority.

So back to the passage here in 1John. If we don’t love our brothers and sisters in Christ then we cannot say we know God because God loved us so much that He lived as one of us and died for our sins, raising Himself from the dead to justify us so that we might live in eternity with Him. With such a great love expressed to us and for us how can we not love others sacrificially whom He also died and rose for?

God loved us first and the Son of God, or God made flesh, satisfied His own anger at our rebellion, was a propitiation to Him for us by Himself. Because He loved us, we should love each other. God’s love is completed or perfected in us when we love our brothers and sisters in Christ properly. Consider the following passage among many.

Romans 8:1 ¶  There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 3  For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4  That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

1Peter 1:21  Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. 22  Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: 23  Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.