Subject Fifty-seven

GOD’S SAVING WAY

Scripture: Ezek. 36:25-28

1. Cleansing—to solve the problem of our deeds
   1. Man became filthy because of sin. There are two aspects of man’s sin: the shortage of morality toward man, which is the filthiness of our conduct, and the shortage of worship toward God, which is the filthiness of idol worship. Since man’s conduct is filthy, it needs to be cleansed.
   2. God caused the Lord Jesus to shed His blood on the cross to cleanse away the sins of those who believe into Him.
   3. When we believe into the Lord, God will use the blood of the Lord Jesus to cleanse away all our filthiness. Stress strongly that when we believe into the Lord, God uses the blood of the Lord Jesus to cleanse away the filthiness of our conscience.
2. Renewing—to solve the problem of our nature
   1. Because of sin, our hearts became corrupted and our spirits became deadened. The heart and the spirit are important elements of man’s being. Once sin entered into man, man’s nature was corrupted, and his spirit was deadened. The preceding paragraph speaks of man’s conduct, which is filthy and needs to be cleansed. This paragraph speaks of man’s nature which is corrupted and deadened and needs to be renewed. Renewing is for resolving the corruption of man’s nature, and cleansing is for resolving the filthiness of his conduct.
   2. When we believe into Him, God renews our corrupted heart and makes it a new heart. Man’s corrupted heart is evil. Worse than that, it is hardened toward God. As to morality, it is evil; as to God, it is hardened. Hence, it says in Ezekiel that our heart was a stony heart, as hard as a rock. When God saves us, He softens our stony heart and thus renews our heart.
   3. When we believe into the Lord, God not only renews our heart but also renews our spirit. The religions of the world and the philosophy of men can never cleanse the conduct, much less renew the disposition. The heart is man’s loving organ. Man’s likes, his delights, and his willingness are functions of the heart. Because of the fall, our heart was hardened toward God. It did not love God, did not want God, and had no delight in God; on the contrary, it was full of hatred and rebellion toward God, and it turned away from God and rejected Him. When God saved us, He softened our stony hearts and caused us to turn back to Him. Nevertheless, the heart does not have the ability to have fellowship with God, although it may have the desire to do so. The spirit is the organ for fellowship with God. It is the spirit that can contact God and have fellowship with Him. So when God saved us, He not only renewed our heart but also renewed our spirit. The renewed heart enables us to desire God, love Him, and have delight in Him. The renewed spirit enables us to be near Him and contact Him. The renewed spirit is a spirit which has been made alive. Because of the fall, our spirit was deadened toward God and lost its function toward God. When God renewed our spirit, He made our spirit alive again and restored its function. Our heart used to be hardened toward God, but the renewed heart softened us so that we could turn toward God. This is like the blind eyes and the deaf ears. Because they have lost their functions, they are deadened. However, if the eyes are opened and the ears can hear again, they are renewed.
3. The giving of the Spirit
   1. Although we have covered the matter of our conduct being cleansed and our disposition being renewed, we have not yet covered the matter of receiving God’s life.
   2. When God saves us, He not only cleanses our conduct and renews our disposition, but also gives us His own Spirit. He puts the Spirit inside of us so that we may contact Him and be mingled with Him. Formerly, God and man were not mingled together and could not make contact. But now man can contact God and be mingled with Him.
   3. God’s Spirit is God’s life. Once God’s Spirit gets in, His life also gets in, and we are regenerated. Regeneration is to be born again, to be born of God, to receive another life besides man’s natural life. Once we are regenerated, we have God’s disposition, and we become the children of God. When God’s life, which is God Himself, gets into us, God and man are mingled together.
4. The result
   1. Our conduct is cleansed. Our disposition is renewed. We have God’s life and God’s disposition. God Himself also lives in our spirit.
   2. Therefore, we can be God’s children, and God can be our God. This means that we can serve God. He cleanses our filthiness so that we may be justified and accepted by God. He renews our disposition and softens our hearts so that we may turn to God and love God. At the same time, God’s Spirit also lives in us to enable us to know God and contact Him. Hence, we can be God’s children, and God can be our God.