1 John 5:1An Understandable Version (2005 edition)Every person who believes that Jesus is the Christ [i.e., God’s specially chosen one] has been [spiritually] conceived [and eventually born] by God. And everyone who [continually] loves God, who did the conceiving, also [must continually] love the person whom God has [spiritually] conceived. See the chapter |
Jesus said to him, “Truly, truly, I tell you, a person cannot see the kingdom of God [i.e., enter it. See verse 5], unless he is born from above.” [Note: The words “from above” are also used in verse 31, but in this place they could also mean “again,” or “anew” and refer to the source of a person’s second birth].
It was God’s purpose to bring us into being [spiritually] by the message of truth, so that we could become a kind of “first fruits” of those He created. [Note: “First fruits” here suggests either that Christians are the best of all of God’s creatures (Num. 18:12), or that they were the first to be converted, with many more to come].
We know that every person who has been [spiritually] conceived by God [and eventually born] does not continue in [a life of] sin, but God’s only conceived One [i.e., His Son] keeps him [from continuing to sin], and the evil one [i.e., Satan] does not continue to touch him [i.e., continue to control his life].