In order to deal with man’s sin and bring fallen man back to Himself, God sent Christ. Christ Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, “that we, having died unto sins, might live unto righteousness” (1 Pet. 2:24). This was typified in Numbers 21:4-9, when Moses lifted up the brass serpent in the wilderness. The children of Israel had committed sin and deserved death, but God told Moses to lift up the brass serpent so that those who had been bitten by the serpent might look upon it and live. In the same manner Christ was also lifted up. He died for us and bore our sins. Now we who were dead in sin may have God’s life and live (John 3:14-15).
God desires to release His life, so for that purpose He put His life in Christ (John 1:4; 1 John 5:11). The life of God which is in Christ was released when Christ died on the cross, for Christ is the grain of wheat which fell into the earth and died (John 12:24). When Christ died, God’s life was released. It is also true that God regenerated us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Pet. 1:3).
Regeneration means to be born of God (John 1:13), to be born of heaven (1 Cor. 15:47). Regeneration also means to be born of the water and of the Spirit (John 3:5). Concerning this we need some explanation. When John the Baptist came preaching and baptizing, he said, “I baptized you in water; but he shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1:8). John the Baptist put water and the Holy Spirit together, and the Lord Jesus also put water and the Holy Spirit together. The water to which John referred is the water of baptism; hence, the water to which the Lord Jesus referred must also be the water of baptism. The words spoken to Nicodemus by the Lord Jesus must have been words which could be easily understood. At that time many knew that John baptized with water; so when the Lord Jesus mentioned water, Nicodemus would readily understand that this referred to the water of baptism practiced by John. If the water mentioned by the Lord Jesus had implied something else, it would have been difficult for Nicodemus to understand. The water spoken of, therefore, must have referred to the water of baptism.
The baptism which John practiced was the baptism of repentance. He told people that they should believe on Him that should come after him, that is, on Jesus (Acts 19:4). The baptism of repentance which John performed could not cause men to be regenerated. To be regenerated, one must be born both of water and of the Holy Spirit. The baptism of repentance means not only that man’s actions are evil and dead and he needs to repent; it means also that man himself is corrupt and dead and needs to be buried, that is, to be baptized. When a man goes down into the water to be baptized, he admits before God that his actions are evil and confesses that his whole being is corrupt and dead in sin; therefore he deserves only death and burial.
But man is not born merely “of water.” He must be born “of water and of the Spirit.” He must also receive the Holy Spirit which the Lord Jesus gives in order to obtain God’s life. John the Baptist came preaching “Repent!” (Mark 1:4), to which the Lord Jesus immediately added, “Believe” (Mark 1:15). Repentance causes man to leave all that is of himself, while believing causes man to enter into all that is of God. Because of repentance man enters into the water, and because of faith he enters into the Holy Spirit. By entering into the water and the Spirit, he is born of water and of the Spirit. Through repentance we enter into the water and terminate the life of the old man. By believing we enter into the Holy Spirit and obtain God’s life. This is regeneration.
Although regeneration is to be “born of water and of the Spirit,” the work which brings a man subjectively to regeneration is accomplished completely by the Holy Spirit. (Objectively, it is accomplished completely by Christ.) Therefore, in John 3 the Lord Jesus spoke only once of being “born of water,” while he mentioned being “born of the Spirit” three times (vv. 5, 6, 8). Regeneration means that we have been “born of the Spirit.” The Spirit comes to “convict the world concerning sin” (John 16:8) and cause man to repent; He leads man to receive the Lord Jesus by faith; He then enters into such a believer who has repented and imparts God’s life to him that he might be regenerated. The Spirit enlightens man, causes him to repent, leads him to believe, and causes him to receive God’s life. He does all this by using the words in the Scripture, that is, by means of the word of truth of the gospel. Therefore the Scriptures say that God regenerates us by the gospel and by the word of truth (1 Cor. 4:15; James 1:18). We have been “begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which liveth and abideth” (1 Pet. 1:23). Through the Spirit and by the use of His words, God imparted and sowed His life into us. Because the Holy Spirit touched us, we believed God’s words, and God’s life entered into us. God’s life is embodied in His words. Moreover, God’s words are life (John 6:63). Therefore, when we receive God’s words, we receive God’s life.
The life which we receive at the time of regeneration is not fleshly life, but spiritual. Like the wind, this life is without form and cannot be seen (John 3:8). Yet it is very practical and can be realized by man. Therefore, regeneration is simply this: that in addition to his own life, man receives the life of God.
When we are regenerated, we have “authority to become children of God” (John 1:12), and we are related to God in life as a son to his father (Gal. 4:6; Rom. 8:15-16). God’s uncreated life is God’s life and also “eternal life” (John 17:3). It is the life which Adam could have obtained but did not. It is the life which man does not have before regeneration, but which enters into us at the time of regeneration. This is the characteristic of the new covenant, the glory of the new covenant. Hallelujah!
In God’s life is God’s nature. Therefore, when we have God’s life, we become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4). We can understand God’s heart, we spontaneously desire to do what God desires to do, and it is possible for us to live out God’s image (Col. 3:10). If a man says that he has received the life of the Son of God and yet does not in the least live out the nature of this life, neither does he love righteousness nor hate sin, then this man’s faith and regeneration are doubtful. God’s nature is in God’s life. If we are without the nature of God’s life, how can we say that we have God’s life?
“The spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah” (Prov. 20:27). After Adam’s fall, man’s spirit became darkened. When the Holy Spirit regenerated us and put God’s life into us, He made our spirit alive (Eph. 2:5). It was like lighting a lamp. The first part of man to die at the time of Adam’s fall was the human spirit; therefore, at the time of regeneration, when the Holy Spirit puts God’s uncreated life into man’s spirit, the first part of man to become alive is his spirit. The work of the Holy Spirit starts from within man, working from the center to the circumference, from the spirit to the soul, and then to the body. When the Holy Spirit regenerates man, it is something done completely in the human spirit. In the past, our spirit died because of sin. Now the spirit has become alive (Col. 2:13), and we can know God and be sensitive to sin. For this reason, if a man says that he is regenerated, yet has no knowledge of God and no feeling concerning sin, his regeneration is doubtful.
When the Holy Spirit regenerated us, He gave us a “new heart” and a “new spirit” (Ezek. 36:26). For the Lord to give us a new heart does not mean that He has given us another heart, but that He has renewed our corrupted heart. In like manner, for God to give us a new spirit does not mean that He gives us another spirit, but that He enlivens our deadened spirit and renews our old spirit. A new heart enables us to think of God, desire God, and love God. A new heart enables us to have new desires and new inclinations toward heavenly and spiritual things. With a new spirit we are not weak and impotent toward spiritual things as before, and we are no longer ignorant of the things of God. With a new spirit, we become strong and powerful concerning spiritual things, we obtain understanding regarding the things of God (1 Cor. 2:12), and we have fellowship with God.
Another glorious thing which happens when we are regenerated is that God puts His Spirit within our spirit (Ezek. 36:27). After regeneration the Spirit indwells our renewed spirit. This is something the people under the old covenant knew nothing of. In the old covenant time the Holy Spirit of God did work upon man, but the Scriptures never say clearly that God’s Spirit came to dwell in man forever. How do we know that in the new covenant time the Holy Spirit dwells in us continually? We know this by the word the Lord told His disciples: “And I will ask the Father and He will give you another Comforter, that He may be with you forever; even the Spirit of reality, Whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him; but you know Him, because He abides with you and shall be in you” (John 14:16-17). The Comforter is really the Lord Himself coming in a different form, for the Lord continued: “I will not leave you orphans; I am coming to you” (v. 18). “He” in verse 17 is “I” in verse 18. Therefore the Comforter is the Lord Himself coming in another form. When the Lord was on the earth He was with His disciples all the time, but He could not dwell in them. After resurrection, the Lord became a life-giving Spirit. Hence, He could dwell in them. As God incarnate, Christ in the flesh could only be in the midst of men, but Christ as the Spirit can enter into men. Therefore, when the Spirit is in us, it is Christ in us (Rom. 8:9-10; 2 Cor. 13:5); and when Christ is in us, it is God in us (the Christ in Ephesians 3:17 is the God in v. 19). What a blessed thing it is that the Creator dwells in His creatures. This is the most wonderful, the most blessed, and the most glorious thing in the whole universe!
The Lord did not leave us orphans. This means that He Himself will take care of us, nourish us, nurture and edify us, and bear all our responsibilities. What Christ accomplished on the cross is objective, but the Spirit indwelling us turns the objective facts into our subjective experience. The Spirit of reality guides man into all the reality.
The word “comforter” in Greek has two meanings: one is “the helper who stands by.” This speaks of the Holy Spirit being our available Helper. Whenever we need His help it seems He is beside us and is ready to help us. The second meaning is “advocate.” Christ pleads our cause before God for our benefit.
When we were regenerated, we became a saved person. Moreover, when God saved us, it was through the washing of regeneration (Titus 3:5). Regeneration not only caused us to have life, but also washed us. Through regeneration our old creation was washed away. This means that we are saved and delivered from the old creation. We were originally an old creation, but now through the renewing of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5) we have a new heart, a new spirit, and an uncreated life. “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17).
When man has God’s life, he can know God and understand spiritual things. Today, spiritually, he is in the kingdom of God; in the future, in reality, he will enter into the kingdom of God (John 3:3, 5).
Through regeneration we not only have God’s life today, but also a living hope for the future. We have an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for us (1 Pet. 1:3-4). Upon the earth today we are a heavenly people, and in the future we shall enjoy the heavenly portion.
We can praise and thank God that regeneration is so wonderful and that its results are so blessed and glorious. We must sing:
O what a mystery, the Savior
With me is one!
O what a marvelous salvation
God gives me in His Son!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Glorious mystery!
Nothing in heaven or earth can sever
Jesus my Lord from me!
(Hymns, #1074)
When we were regenerated we became God’s kind. But we still need to grow up to maturity that we may be like His kind, that is, that we may become a glorified God-man. We must realize that every life has its own characteristic and ability. For instance, the birds have the bird life with its characteristic and ability. Birds like to fly and have the ability to fly. The fish have the fish life with the characteristic and ability of the fish life. The fish life enjoys living in the water and possesses the ability to live in water. Not only is the animal life like this, but the plant life as well. “Every good tree produces goodly fruit, but the corrupt tree produces evil fruit. A good tree cannot bear evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bear goodly fruit” (Matt. 7:17-18). This is the spontaneity of life; this is the law of life.
Since we were regenerated we have God’s life. This life also has its characteristic and ability. However, we must realize that, although this life which we have obtained is complete, it has not matured. The organism of this life is complete; it can reach the highest level. However, when we were regenerated, what we experienced was just a new birth. The life we received was not yet grown up and matured. It was like fruit whose life is complete yet immature. The new birth is complete in organism but not in maturity. Only maturity can bring completeness to every part of the organism. Therefore, after regeneration man needs a long process of renewal by the Holy Spirit until this life is perfected in every part of his being. In later paragraphs we shall see point by point how this seed of life manifests its character and ability.