“However, He granted the right to become God’s children to everyone who did accept Him and trusted in His name. These people were born not of blood, flesh, or human will, but of God.” (John 1:12-13)
As stated in earlier verses, the apostle John declared that everyone was under the influence of sin and that no one could desire to know or be exposed to the light of Jesus (John 1:6–11). However, he also declared that Jesus will always win over the powers of evil (John 1:1–5).
The Bible offers proof that John’s assertion is accurate. There exist individuals in this gloomy world who identify as children of God and who follow Jesus. How does something like this occur?
We are children of God by believing in Jesus
John reveals this wonderful truth: “He gave the right to become children of God to everyone who did receive Him, who believed in His name” (John 1:12). The terms “believed” and “received” refer to the same thing in various ways. Because they acknowledged that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, these individuals demonstrated salvific faith. They trusted in His name, in His identity, in His essence.
Faith is a sincere commitment, a conviction that is paired with repentance, rather than just intellectual understanding. This is the definition of [being a convert to] Jesus. Faith in Jesus is the way that enables us to alter our “status” or “position.” It’s the pathway that makes us into “children of God.” God uses Christ to adopt us as His offspring.
We were once “children of your father the devil,” according to Jesus (John 8:44). Isn’t that strong language? However, this is the truth. We were spiritually dead and lived in darkness; this was our “status.” But at some point, we transitioned from being God’s children to becoming the devil’s offspring—from death to life and from darkness to light.
How could that have happened? How is it possible for a man to believe in Jesus while he is in the dark and neither wants nor is able to receive Him?
We are children of God by the will of God
Only through the new birth, which is made possible by God’s purpose, is it possible to pass from the darkness of sin to the light. According to John (1:13), we “…were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of man, but of God.”
In other words, one must be born again in order to accept Jesus as the Christ and Son of God and, consequently, to take pleasure in being God’s children. This new birth is not the result of human deed or desire, human will, or physical birth. This new birth is miraculous and a miracle on God’s behalf; it is the result of God and God’s will.
This explains why, despite our sinful past, we today acknowledge Jesus as our Lord and Savior. God gave us a second chance at birth, restored our free will, and made us want to follow Jesus and the light.
God reached out to Adam and Eve after they sinned, promising them a Savior as a sign of His love and kindness (Genesis 3:15). Similarly, God reaches out to sinful people of their own free will, baptizing them again and inspiring faith in order for them to choose Jesus as their Savior and become His children. Paul states in 2 Corinthians 4:6, “God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Furthermore, God “called you out of darkness into His marvelous light,” according to Peter (1 Peter 2:9).
Because this was God’s will, we are God’s offspring and have moved from darkness to light!
We are therefore expected to live in obedience to God as His offspring. Our lives that aim to please God and live for Him, in Christ, demonstrate our condition as God’s children.
