Note 3 at Lk. 7:28: Although John the Baptist was the greatest of the Old Testament prophets, he was not a born-again "new creature in Christ" (2 Cor. 5:17). When Jesus was raised from the dead, He enabled us to be "born of the Spirit" (Jn. 3:5-8) and become children of God, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:15-17). We were enabled to become "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Pet. 1:4) and full-fledged sons of God (1 Jn. 3:2). John operated under the Old Covenant when none of these promises were yet in effect. Jesus established a new order, "the kingdom of God," in which these promises became effective. God saw John and all of the Old Testament prophets through the law. He sees us through Jesus (Heb. 2:10-11; Jas. 1:18).