Jehovah God’s All-Important Part

10. The fact that more than man’s part is needed to be “born again” can be seen from what illustration?

¹⁰ Acquiring knowledge of Jehovah God and Jesus Christ, exercising faith, repenting, converting, dedicating and being baptized​—do these steps automatically result in a person’s being “born again”? By no means! You could no more be “born again” spiritually due to your own efforts than you could have been born in the first place due to your own efforts. Even as physical birth requires an active role on the part of human parents, so this spiritual birth, this being “born again,” requires an active role on the part of the divine Parent, Jehovah God, and his heavenly organization, or “woman.” (Isaiah 54:1, 5) All that the person taking the above steps can do is put himself in line to be “born again,” if that be God’s will.

11. If it is God’s will, what action does he take toward those who have done their part?

¹¹ Because of mankind’s inherited imperfection, God himself now acts in behalf of those individuals whom he pleases to call to the heavenly kingdom. That is why we read: “We have been declared righteous as a result of faith.” Faith in what? Faith in Christ’s sacrifice, for it is stated: “We have been declared righteous now by his blood.” (Romans 5:1, 9) Notice that it is God and not the person himself that thus officially declares that one righteous. This gives him a standing different from that of “the creation,” mankind in general who must await “the revealing of the [spiritual] sons of God” before they can be “set free from enslavement to corruption and have the glorious freedom of the [earthly] sons of God.” (Romans 8:19-22) Those whom God declares righteous thus have the right to perfect human life imputed to them. Because of this, Jehovah God can now act directly upon them by his spirit.​—Romans 8:33.

How Can a Person Be Certain?

16. Since when has the “faithful and discreet slave” placed the emphasis on the earthly hope, and to what conclusion does this lead?

¹⁶ Those sharing in preaching this good news of the Kingdom in modern times are confident that Jehovah God is leading his dedicated servants by means of his visible spirit-begotten organization, the “faithful and discreet slave.” (Matthew 24:45-47) Under its direction the heavenly hope was held out, highlighted and stressed until about the year 1935. Then as ‘light flashed up’ to reveal clearly the identity of the “great crowd” of Revelation 7:9, the emphasis began to be placed on the earthly hope. (Psalm 97:11) It is reasonable to conclude, therefore, that by that time the full number of 144,000 would have been nearly completed. Of course, any individuals proving unfaithful would need to be replaced. But, understandably, these would be comparatively few. And by whom would these be replaced? It seems reasonable also to conclude that most likely this heavenly hope would be extended to some who had endured in integrity, who had stuck to their dedication over the years, rather than its being held out to unproved newly dedicated ones. (Compare Luke 22:28-30.) However, from reports at hand it appears that even some newly dedicated Christians have considered themselves to be “born again.”

17. What kind of feelings cause some to think mistakenly that God has implanted in them the heavenly hope?

¹⁷ Any who in comparatively recent times dedicated themselves and were baptized and who consider themselves to be “born again” would do well to reflect seriously on the following questions: What reasons have you for feeling that Jehovah God has planted this hope in you? Could it be that your emotional feeling is a holdover from the mistaken belief you previously held while in Babylon the Great that heaven is the destiny of all good people? Or could it be that you feel this way because you had great inward disturbances, that you at first fought against the idea but it gradually won out? But did it win out because you wanted it that way, perhaps even unconsciously? Such struggles do not of themselves prove that you were “born again.”

18. Why would not appreciation of deep spiritual matters of itself prove that a person had been “born again”?

¹⁸ Or do you feel that you have been chosen by God to be one of the 144,000 anointed ones because of your keen appreciation of spiritual things, because of your fondness for deep spiritual truths? Then note that ever so many who do not profess to be “born again” are ‘spiritual men’ in the fullest sense of the word. (1 Corinthians 2:14, 15) And there is no question about the spiritual strength of those men and women of faith listed in Hebrews chapter 11. None of those were “born again.” All of them looked forward to “a better resurrection [to life under God’s kingdom]” right here on this earth.​—Hebrews 11:35.

19. (a) Why would great zeal not necessarily prove that God had bestowed upon a person the heavenly hope? (b) What incident seems to indicate that with some the profession of having the heavenly hope might be due to a lack of modesty?

¹⁹ Or might it be that you feel the way you do because of your displaying more zeal than some of your fellow Christians? But that of itself could not be the determining factor, for the apostle Paul time and again found it necessary to counsel anointed Christians in regard to taking their spiritual obligations seriously. (1 Corinthians 11:20-22; Galatians 4:9-11) Or could it be that your profession to be of the anointed is due to a lack of modesty? There are some who quite recently have professed to be of the anointed but who, instead of building unity in the congregation, have felt they must have their own Bible study group. To the contrary, mature “born again” Christians remain close to the local congregation even though it is largely comprised of the “other sheep.” (John 10:16) However, a person’s being “born again” is a personal matter between God and each Christian. No one should judge another on this question.​—Romans 14:10.

20. In view of the foregoing, to what conclusions do we come on being “born again”?

²⁰ From all the foregoing what do we conclude? That Jehovah God is just and righteous, wise and loving. He has the right to assign his intelligent creatures to their respective roles​—some to serve his purpose in the heavens, others to do so here upon earth. It is not as though the heavenly prize is something to be gained by personal choice and effort, or to be coveted selfishly. It is unique and no human creature may presume upon it. It is indeed a marvelous undeserved kindness that Jehovah God bestows on a few of his creatures, in the furtherance of his wise, just and loving purposes, but not due to any special merit on their own part. Being “born again” is limited to these. (Romans 3:23, 24; 11:33-36) Also, everlasting life on the paradise earth is an unspeakably privileged goal toward which rightly inclined persons may press forward. (Revelation 21:1, 3, 4) All is undeserved kindness. No one should be so presumptuous as to say to Jehovah, “What have you been doing?”​—Daniel 4:35.