Section 3
hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear shall live." Here we see a positive point: those who are spiritually dead still have ears to hear the voice of the Son of God. This means that the dead in spirit are still able to hear the gospel. On the one hand, the Bible tells us that fallen human beings are dead. On the other hand, the Bible says that even those who are spiritually dead can hear the gospel. It is of God's mercy and sovereignty that the dead have ears to hear the gospel.
When a spiritually dead person hears the gos pel, he may say, "I believe in Jesus; I love Him." Then as he calls on the name of the Lord Jesus, the divine life is imparted to him, and he is ger minated to become a new creation.
BECOMING A NEW CREATION
Before we were germinated through the Man- Savior's resurrection, we were the old creation. But from the time of our germination we began to be the new creation. The old creation does not have the divine life and nature, but the new creation, which consists of believers born again of God (John 1:13; 3:15; 2 Pet. 1:4), does have the divine life and nature. Therefore, we are a new