R.A. Torrey Collection: Torrey, R.A. - What Bible Teaches (about Man): 06 The New Birth

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R.A. Torrey Collection: Torrey, R.A. - What Bible Teaches (about Man): 06 The New Birth



TOPIC: Torrey, R.A. - What Bible Teaches (about Man) (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 06 The New Birth

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Ch 06 The New Birth





I. WHAT IS THE NEW BIRTH? 2Co_5:17 — "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." Gal_6:15 — "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature."



First Proposition: The new birth is a new creation. 1Jn_3:14 RV — "We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not abideth in death." Eph_2:1; Eph_2:4-5 RV — "And you did he quicken, when ye were dead through your trespasses and sins .... But God being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, quickened us together with Christ (by grace have ye been saved)."



Second Proposition: The new birth is a passing out of death into life, the impartation of life to men dead through trespasses and sins.



It is evident that baptism is not the same as the new birth. The language used above does not fit baptism. One of the passages given ( Gal_6:15) expressly contrasts the new birth with an outward ceremonial.



The same thing is evident from 1Co_4:15 — "For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel." Here Paul tells the saints in Corinth that he had begotten them again. If baptism were the new birth, this must mean that Paul had baptized them. But in 1Co_1:14; 1Co_1:17 ("I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius: . . . For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect"), Paul says he had not baptized them. Clearly the new birth is not baptism.



That baptism is not the same as the new birth is clear also from Act_8:13; Act_8:20-23 — "Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done .... But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity."



In this passage we are told that Simon was "baptized," but that he was "in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity," and bound for perdition.



Compare also Luk_23:43 — "And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise" with Joh_3:3, — "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God .... Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."



QUESTION: If baptism is not the same as the new birth, to what does the word "water" in Joh_3:5 refer?



ANSWER: Let us look elsewhere and see what are the agents and instruments by which the work of regeneration is wrought: 1Pe_1:23 — "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." Jas_1:18 — "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures." 1Co_4:15 — "For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel." Tit_3:5 — "Not by works of righteousness which ye have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost."



In these passages we see that regeneration is wrought by the word and Spirit of God. In . Joh_3:5 (cited above), we have the Spirit. Can the "water" be taken to mean "the word" without forcing the language?



Compare to Eph_5:25-26 — "Husband, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word." It has been said that the Greek word translated "word" here in Ephesians, is a different word from the word translated "word" when the Word of God is spoken of. But see 1Pe_1:25. Here the same Greek word that is translated "word" in Eph_5:26 is used twice of "the Word of God," and that, too, in direct connection with regeneration by the word. See also Joh_15:3 — "Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you." See also Joh_17:17 — "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."



But some may ask, Why didn't Jesus say plainly, "Except a man be born of the word and the Spirit"? The answer to this is simple. The whole passage is highly figurative. The word translated "the Spirit" is itself figurative, meaning literally "wind" and is without the definite article. Literally translated, the passage would read, "Except any one be begotten out of water and wind." In this the wind symbolizes the vivifying element, the Holy Spirit. (Compare to Eze_37:9-10.) Naturally, therefore, "the water" symbolizes the cleansing element, the "word." (Compare to Joh_15:3.) The passage thus reduced to unfigurative language would read, "Except any man be born of the word of God and the Spirit of God." Thus, we would have Jesus teaching the doctrine afterwards taught by Paul and James and Peter ( 1Co_4:15; Tit_3:5 Jas_1:18; Peter 1:23).



Another interpretation suggested takes both water and wind as symbols of the Spirit, the one setting forth his cleansing work and the other His quickening work. It matters very little, as far as Bible doctrine is concerned, which interpretation we accept: for whether or not the doctrine that men are begotten again by the Word is found here, it certainly is found elsewhere ( Jas_1:18; 1Pe_1:23; 1Co_4:15). And if the cleansing work of the Spirit is not found here, it is found elsewhere.



Indeed, whatever work you find attributed to the Holy Spirit in the Bible, you will also find attributed to the Word. This is because the Spirit works through the word. The word is the sword of the Spirit ( Eph_6:17).



If it is still insisted that the water here refers to baptism, it is evident that mere water baptism is not regeneration, for the passage says, "Except a man be born of water and the Spirit." It is clear that baptism is not the same as new birth.



It is also evident that the new birth is not a mere outward change of conduct. The language used above does not fit this. Rom_12:2 — "and be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God." Tit_3:5 — "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost."



Third Proposition: The new birth brings about a renewal of the mind.



The word for mind here includes thoughts, feelings, and purposes. 2Pe_1:4 RV — "Whereby he hath granted unto us his precious and exceeding great promises; that through these ye may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust."



Fourth Proposition: The new birth imparts a new nature, even God's own nature, to the one who is begotten again.



The natural or unregenerate man is intellectually blind to the truth, "the things of the Spirit" ( 1Co_2:14), corrupt in his affections ( Gal_5:19-21), and perverse in his will ( Rom_8:7). This is the condition of every unregenerate man, no matter how cultured, refined, or outwardly moral he may be. In the new birth, God imparts to us His own wise and holy nature, a nature that thinks as God thinks ( Col_3:10), feels as God feels, and wills as God wills ( 1Jn_3:14; 1Jn_4:7-8). "Old things are passed away, behold they are become new" ( 2Co_5:17 RV). Compare to Eze_36:26-27: "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them."



The new birth is a most desirable and glorious experience. Just to think that the all-holy God comes to men sunken in sin, dead through trespasses, the vilest of sinners — blind, corrupt, perverse — and imparts to them His own wise, holy, and glorious nature! The doctrine of the new birth is one of the most precious and inspiring in the word of God.



II. THE RESULTS OF THE NEW BIRTH. 1Co_3:16 — -"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" 1Co_6:19 — "What! know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?"



First Proposition: The regenerated man is a temple of God; the Spirit of God dwelleth in him.



When anyone submits himself to the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit takes up His abode in Him. Rom_8:9 — "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.



Second Proposition: The regenerated man is not in the flesh, but in the Spirit The flesh is not the sphere in which he thinks, feels, lives, and acts; rather, the Spirit is the sphere in which he thinks, feels, lives, and acts.



While the regenerated man is not the flesh, he still has the flesh: Gal_5:16-17 — "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would."



The new nature received in regeneration does not expel, destroy nor eradicate the old nature. The two exist side by side. The old nature is present, but its deeds are to be put to death through the Spirit. Rom_8:13 — "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live."



The flesh is present but we are not under its dominion.



It is said by some that Gal_5:17 represents a lower experience, but in Romans 8 we get a higher experience when the carnal nature is eradicated. Actually, in Rom_8:12-13, we see the flesh still present, but triumphed over. Rom_8:2 — "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death."



Third Proposition: The regenerated man is made free from the law of sin and death.



We see in Rom_7:14-24 what the law of sin and death is: "For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do, I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.



For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh), dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.



For the good that I would, I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"



After regeneration the law still works, but the higher "law of the Spirit of Life" comes in and sets us free from its power. In man merely awakened by law, the "law of sin and death" gets a perpetual victory, whereas in the regenerate man, the law of "the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" gets the perpetual victory. Rom_12:2 RV — "And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God."



Fourth Proposition: The regenerated man is outwardly transformed by the inward renewing of his mind so that he is no longer fashioned according to this world.



The regenerated man, however, does not at once manifest perfectly that of which he has the germ in himself. He begins as a babe and must grow: 1Pe_2:2 — "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby." Eph_4:13-15 — "Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ."



The new life must be fed and developed. Col_3:10 RV — "And have put on the new man, which is being renewed unto knowledge after the image of him that created him.



Fifth Proposition: The regenerated man is being made anew in knowledge into the likeness of his Creator.



This result of the new birth is a progressive process. The mind of the believer is brought day by day into conformity with the mind of God. Rom_8:5 — "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit."



Sixth Proposition: The regenerated man minds the things of the Spirit He directs his mind toward the things of the Spirit; sets his thoughts, affections and purposes upon them. 1Jn_5:1 — "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.



Seventh Proposition: The regenerated man believes that Jesus is the Christ.



Of course the faith that John speaks of here is a faith that is real — i.e., a faith that enthrones Jesus as Christ in the heart. Compare to Mat_16:16-17-''And Simon Peter answered and said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." See also Joh_1:12-13 — "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." 1Jn_5:4 RV — "For whatsoever is begotten of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that hath overcome the world, even our faith."



Eighth Proposition: The regenerated man overcomes the world.



The world is at variance with God; it lieth in the evil one ( 1Jn_5:19), and it is constantly exercising a power to draw the believer into disobedience to God (see context, 1Jn_5:3), but the one born of God by the power of faith gets the victory over the world. 1Jn_3:9 RV — "Whosoever is begotten of God doeth no [is not doing] sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin [be sinning], because he is born of God." (See the original Greek.)



Ninth Proposition: In the one born of God the seed of God remains, and therefore the one born of God does not practice sin.



QUESTION: What is meant here by sin?



ANSWER: Sin here is manifestly something done.



QUESTION: What kind of acts are defined in verse 4, "Transgression of the law" or "lawlessness" (RV)?



ANSWER: Any acts that reveal disregard for God's will as revealed in His word. Sin here is a conscious intentional violation of God's law. The regenerate man will not be doing what he knows is contrary to God's will.



He might do an act contrary to God's will that he does not know is contrary to God's will. It is not, therefore, lawlessness. Perhaps he ought to have known that it was contrary to God's will, and when he is led to see it he will confess his guilt to God.



The tense of the verb "doeth" used here is the present, which denotes progressive or continued action. The literal translation of the passage would be "Every one begotten out of God, sin is not doing, because his seed in him is remaining; and he cannot be sinning, because out of God he is begotten." I” is not taught that he never sins in a single act, but it is taught that he is not going on sinning, making a practice of sin.



The one begotten of God cannot be sinning, because he is begotten of God. The new nature imparted in regeneration renders the continuous practice of sin impossible. 1Jn_2:29 RV — "If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one also that doeth righteousness is begotten of him."



Tenth Proposition: He that is begotten of God practices righteousness.



Here again we have the present participle tense, denoting continuous action. It is evident that the thought here is not that be does righteousness in a single case, but that he makes a practice of it. By righteousness is meant the performance of such acts as are conformed to the straight line of God's will revealed in His word. Righteousness is the habitual practice of the one who is begotten of God. He may do individual acts which are unrighteous, but he is a doer of righteousness; "righteousness" is his practice.



The present tense indicating continuous action is forceful in this verse. If we took it as referring to a single act the verse would teach that everyone who does a single righteous act is begotten of God. Of course this is not meant, and evidently the contrasted passage (chap. 3:9) cannot refer to a single act of lawlessness. 1Jn_3:14 RV — "We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not abideth in death." 1Jn_4:7 RV — "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God and every one that loveth is begotten of God, and knoweth God."



Eleventh Proposition: He that is begotten of God loveth the brethren.



QUESTION: Who are meant by the brethren?



ANSWER: Those who are begotten of God. 1Jn_5:1 — "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is begotten of God: and whosoever loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him."



The one who is begotten of God loveth every other one who is begotten of God. The other may be American, English, Negro, Semitic, or Chinese; he may be educated or uneducated, but he is a child of God and a brother, and as such an object of love.



QUESTION: What is meant by love?



ANSWER: 1Jn_3:16-18 defines what John means by love. It is not mere emotion or sentiment, but that genuine desire for another's good that leads to sacrifice for others — even the sacrifice of our own life if necessary. This love is the supreme result, evidence and test of the new birth. 2Co_5:17 RV — "Wherefore if any man is in Christ he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold they are become new."



Twelfth Proposition: In the regenerated man old things are passed away; they are become new.



Old ideas, old affections, old purposes, and old choices, are replaced by new ideas, new affections, new purposes, and new choices. Tit_3:5 — "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost."



Thirteenth Proposition: Through the bath of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit the regenerated man is already saved.



These results of regeneration are also its evidence and tests, especially the results expressed in Propositions 7-11. If anyone would know whether he has indeed been begotten again let him inquire, "Are the facts stated under Propositions 7- 11 true of me?"



III. THE NECESSITY OF THE NEW BIRTH. Joh_3:3 — "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."



First Proposition: No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. The necessity is universal. Joh_3:7 — "Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again."



Second Proposition: Men not only may but must be born again. The necessity is absolute and imperative.



Nothing else will take the place of the new birth. Education, morality, religion, orthodoxy, baptism, reform — none of these nor all of them together are sufficient. Gal_6:15 — "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature." "Ye must be born again." Joh_3:5-6 — -"Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."



Third Proposition: The reason why we must be born again is that all one gets by natural generation is 'flesh." What the character of the flesh is we learn from Paul: Gal_5:19-21 — "Now, the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, sedition, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such life; of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Rom_8:7 RV — "Because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." "The flesh" is radically and essentially bad. They that are in the flesh "cannot please God," nor "inherit the kingdom of God." The flesh is incapable of improvement ( Jer_13:23). What man needs is not to cultivate nor to improve the old nature, but to get a new one. Mat_12:33 — -"Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit."



IV. THE MANNER OF THE NEW BIRTH, OR HOW WE ARE BORN AGAIN. Joh_1:13 — "Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."



First Proposition: Believers are begotten again — not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.



The new birth is God's work, having its origin entirely in God's will. Tit_3:4-5 — "But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost." Joh_3:5-6 — "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."



Second Proposition: God begets men anew through the cleansing, quickening, and renewing work of the Holy Spirit. Jas_1:18 — "of his own will begat he us with the word of' truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures." (Compare to Col_1:5 — "For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel.") 1Pe_1:23; 1Pe_1:25 — "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.... But the word of God endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you."



Third Proposition: "The word of Truth" or "The word of God' (i.e., the word which is preached by the gospel) is the instrument the Holy Spirit uses in regeneration. 1Co_4:15 — "For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel."



Fourth Proposition: Men, by the preaching of the gospel, are used by God for the regeneration of believers. Gal_3:26 — "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." Joh_1:12-13 — "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."



Fifth Proposition: We become children of God through believing in or receiving Jesus Christ.



Jesus illustrates this same thought in Joh_3:14-15 by a reference to the brazen serpent. These words are an answer to Nicodemus's question, "How can these things be?" (v. 9). As the dying Israelite, with the poison of the fiery serpents coursing through his veins, was saved by looking at the brazen serpent on the pole and had new life coursing through his veins as soon as he looked, so we dying men, with the poison of sin coursing through our veins, are saved by looking at Christ "made in the likeness of sinful flesh," lifted up on the cross, and we have new life coursing through our veins as soon as we look. All we have to do with our regeneration is receive Christ. (Compare to 2Co_5:17 — "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.") In the new birth the word of God is the seed; the human heart is the soil; the preacher of the word is the sower, and drops the seed into the soil; God by His Spirit opens the heart to receive the seed ( Act_16:14); the hearer believes; the Spirit quickens the seed into life in the receptive heart; the new divine nature springs up out of the divine word; the believer is born again, created anew, made alive, passed out of death into life.