²¹ Acts 26:23. That Jesus is “the firstborn of the dead” means more than that He was the first to be resurrected from the dead, never to die again; the expression also refers to the fact that His resurrection has secured the resurrection of His people, and is both the pledge and the pattern of it.

²² Cf. John 16:16 22 where Jesus refers to His physical resurrection under the figure of a “birth,” too.

²⁵ The Christian is born again after the righteous image of the Son of God, but that is “regeneration,” not “justification.”

²⁸ Cf. 1 Kings 8:32; Job 33:32; Is. 5:23; Jer. 3:11; Ezek. 16:51-52; Dan. 8:14, “cleansed” is “justified” in Hebrew; i.e., reconsecrated and restored; Luke 7:29; 16:15; Rom. 3:4; 2 Chron. 6:23, the righteous is said to be “justified” – how could this mean “born again”? The righteous man already is righteous by nature. Here he’s being declared or shown to be righteous.