The first step of the reproduction of the God-man by the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit is regeneration. The Lord Jesus spoke about regeneration to Nicodemus in John 3. To this ethical, cultured, and religious gentleman, He said, “You must be born anew” (John 3:7). To be born anew, or again, is to be born of another essence, the divine essence. The Lord seemed to be saying to Nicodemus, “You were born of the human essence, and now you need to be born of another essence—the essence of God. Nicodemus, you must be born of God.”
To be born of God is to be born of the Spirit. What is the Spirit? The Spirit is the extract of God. Actually, this extract is not merely of God; it is also of Jesus Christ. The regenerating Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
If we compare John 3:6 with John 3:14 and 15, we shall see that the Spirit here is the extract of Jesus Christ. In John 3:6 the Lord Jesus says, “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” If we would have the divine life, we must be born of the Spirit. In John 3:14 and 15 the Lord Jesus goes on to say, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that every one who believes in Him may have eternal life.” Here the Lord refers to Himself as the crucified and resurrected Christ. Whoever believes in Him will have eternal life. Having eternal life is equal to being reborn. In other words, to be reborn is to have the divine life.
What does it mean to be born again, to be born of the Spirit? To be born of the Spirit is to receive the divine life. In these verses from John 3 we first have the Spirit and then the crucified and resurrected Son of Man. As we compare these verses we see that here the Spirit is the extract of Jesus Christ.
The Spirit of whom we are born to have eternal life is the extract of the crucified and resurrected Christ. Crucifixion is a “pressing” that produces an extract. When pressure is applied to an orange, we get the juice as the extract of the orange. We may compare the crucifixion of Christ to the pressing of an orange. When Christ was on the cross, He was “pressed.” After being pressed on the cross, He came forth as the “juice” of the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit. Furthermore, just as the essence, elements, nature, and substance of an orange are in the extract, so the essence, elements, nature, and substance of Christ are in the all-inclusive Spirit. It is by this Spirit that Christ, the God-man, is reproduced.
In our preaching of the gospel we need to tell others that Christ is the life-giving Spirit. We need to tell them that Christ was pressed on the cross to become the Spirit. Now if sinners repent, believe in Him, and call on Him, they will receive the Spirit. Whenever a person calls on the Lord Jesus, he receives the Spirit. This Spirit is actually the reality of Jesus Christ as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit.
In Acts 2 we have the outpouring of the Spirit. In Acts 2:17 Peter quotes Joel’s word about the pouring out of God’s Spirit upon all flesh and his word that “whoever calls on the name of the Lord, shall be saved” (Acts 2:21). Since God has poured out His Spirit, what people need to do in order to be saved is to call on the name of the Lord. Whoever calls on the Lord’s name will be saved, and to be saved is actually to receive the Spirit.
As we have pointed out a number of times, the name denotes the person. Jesus is the name of the Lord, and the Spirit is His person. Therefore, when we call on the Lord’s name, we receive His person, the Spirit. This is what it means to be saved.
Some Christians oppose this matter of calling on the Lord. They say falsely that this is mere shouting or vain repetition. However, calling on the Lord’s name is not vain. When we call on the name of the Lord Jesus, we call on the name of the dear, all-inclusive One, the One who is above all. God has given this One a name that is above every name (Phil. 2:9). We can testify that when we call on the name of Jesus, the Spirit comes. Jesus is His name, and the Spirit is His person, the extract of His being.
The reality of a person’s name is the person himself. For this reason, when we call the name of a particular person who is present, the person responds. The principle is the same with calling on the name of Jesus. Whenever we call on this name, we get the person. Since the person is the Spirit, when we call on the name of Jesus, we receive the Spirit. From experience we know that when we believe in Jesus and call on His name, the Spirit comes as the all-inclusive Person to be our life.