ESV 1 Peter 1:22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24 for
“All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
And this word is the good news that was preached to you.
Ok.. The seed is the Word of God.. So we are reborn by believing in the truth that is the Word of God.. It is the Word of God that is imperishable..
But if we later on decide that the Word of God is false and we renounce the Gospel of Jesus then we no longer have the imperishable seed and we have cast away that which saves us.. Belief and trust in the Word of God..
If you go to Matthew chapter 13 you will read the parable of the sower of the seed.. Jesus later on in the same chapter starting at verse 18 interprets the parable for the Apostles.. And explains that the seed represents the Word of God...
Question: My understanding of "born again" means to be born in the Spirit and not the flesh.
John 3: 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
So in this passage is Jesus saying here in verse 23 that the Holy Spirit is imperishable or the disciples who have been given it?
Well the Holy Spirit is God in the spirit and thus is eternal.. The disciples during the ministry of Jesus where given the Spirit and where told by Jesus to go out and preach the Gospel to others they did so and did many miracles during that time.. But this was not a permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit.. You can trust me when i say that because on the day of Pentecost after Jesus had ascended into Heaven the same disciples received the Holy Spirit again but this time it was a permanent indwelling that stayed with them for the rest of their lives.. Now of course if the Holy Spirit had remained with them from the first time they had been given the Holy Spirit then they would not have had to receive it a second time..
Also Jesus knew that He would only lose one disciple that being Judas. Jesus being LORD had foreknowledge and knew the other disciples would remain believers till the end of their lives. Judas had been like the others when they received the Holy Spirit on the first occasion when they where preaching the Gospel when Jesus was with them.. But after on the day of Pentecost Judas had already betrayed Jesus and had committed suicide and did not receive the Holy Spirit on Pentecost..
I agree that the Holy Spirit of GOD is indeed imperishable however every man who walks on earth with or without the Holy Spirit is able to be tempted by Satan, those who have received the Holy Spirit and are tempted to sin directly against GOD this is a great sadness, but it does happen and for this there is no forgiveness.
There is only 1 sin that is unforgivable.. That is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.. So a Christian sinning after being saved will not cause them to be cast into the eternal lake of fire.. What will see them condemned is if they come to disbelieve what they once believed (The Gospel) and thus they will no longer trust in the atonement of Jesus..
For a Christian the critical factors are Belief and Trust in the Gospel.. Not attaining perfect performance in sin avoidance or never failing to do good deeds.. No person will ever achieve those perfect standards.
I know some believe him to be Satan but I use Judas Iscariot in this example... Can you imagine being in the presence of Christ knowing he is the Son of GOD fellowshipping seeing the miracles he performs, hearing his teachings from his mouth, watching him walk on water..... Then Satan who was able to possess him "because as we all know sin lets Satan in" whispering in his ear "if you turn him into the Leaders of the Church he will have no choice but to stand and fight for children of Israel"
Judas betrayed Christ with a kiss. The disciples were taught within the Jewish Scriptures and their faith that a Messiah was coming that would deliver Israel and his disciples thought Jesus was that Messiah. Satan misused the Scriptures to bring Judas to sin against GOD.
I believe this is an exemplary example of sinning against the Holy Spirit. Even if Judas had begged at Jesus feet for forgiveness I don't think he could have received it. LOVE is the answer to all the questions
I believe Judas could have been forgiven if He had trusted in the Gospel message.. The Bible does not record Judas as having blasphemed the Holy Spirit like the scribes did in Mark 3 verses 22 - 30.. Yes judas did regret his betrayal of Jesus but in the end He never placed his faith in the Atonement of Jesus..
Note how Jesus called out to God on the day of His execution for the forgiveness of those who where brutally killing Him and how on the day of Pentecost many of those where where involved in the deed where saved. After Peter told them::
Acts 2: KJV
36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus,
whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. {37} ¶
Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles,
Men and brethren, what shall we do? {38} Then Peter said unto them,
Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive
the gift of the
Holy Ghost. {39} For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. {40} And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. {41} ¶
Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls."
If the very people who mocked Jesus and where glad to see him suffering a terrible death where forgiven then of course Judas could have been forgiven if be had believed like they ended up believing.. Note also how Peter denied Jesus 3 times before the cock sounded.. Peter was also forgiven..