In the Apostle Peter’s first letter to the believers who were
exiled in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia (1 Peter
1:1), he uses the expression “born again”:
1 Peter 1:3-6
3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a
living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4. to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and
will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
5. who are protected by the power of God through faith for a
salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while,
if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,
7. that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold
which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to
result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus
Christ;
8. and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you
do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy
inexpressible and full of glory,
9. obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your
souls.
~ New American Standard Bible
I think that Peter makes it clear that life on earth is merely a
stepping stone to the eternal life promised to believers; and he urges
them, now that they have had their spiritual eyes opened, to live by a
higher standard: “…do not be conformed to the former lusts which were
yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy
yourselves also in all your behavior….” (1 Peter 1:14-15) So much for
the “cheap grace” that Dietrich Bonhoeffer warned about! *
In 1 Peter 1:22-25, the Apostle once again uses the words “born
again”:
22. Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through
the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently
with a pure heart,
23. having been born again, not of corruptible seed but
incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,
24. because
"All flesh is as grass,
And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass.
The grass withers,
And its flower falls away,
25. But the word of the LORD endures forever."
Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.
~ New King James Version
*
http://www.all-creatures.org/heart/5dec98.html
