1. Natural degeneration The need for regeneration lies in our natural
degeneration. In consequence of the fall of our first parents, all of us were
born alienated from the Divine life and holiness, despoiled of all those
perfections with which man's nature was at first endowed.
Ezekiel 16:4-5
gives a graphic picture of the terrible spiritual plight at our entrance into
this world: cast out to the loathing of our persons, rolling ourselves in our
own filth, impotent to help ourselves. That "likeness" of God (Gen 1:26)
which was at first stamped on man's soul, has been effaced, aversion from
God and an inordinate love of the creature having displaced it. The very
fountain of our beings is polluted, continually sending forth bitter
springs, and though those streams take several courses and wander in
various channels, yet are they all brackish.
Therefore the "sacrifice" of the
wicked is an abomination to the LORD (Pro 15:8), and his very plowing
"sin" (Pro 21:4).
There are but two states, and all men are included
therein: the one a state of spiritual life, the other a state of spiritual death;
the one a state of righteousness, the other a state of sin; the one saving,
the other damning; the one a state of enmity, wherein men have their
inclinations contrary to God, the other a state of friendship and
fellowship, wherein men walk obediently unto God, and would not
willingly have an inward notion opposed to His will.
The one state is
called darkness, the other light: "For you were [in your unregenerate
days, not only in the dark, but] sometimes darkness, but now are you
light in the Lord" (Eph 5:8).
There is no medium between these
conditions: all are in one of them. Each man and woman now on earth is
either an object of God's delight or of His abomination.
The most benevolent and imposing works of the flesh cannot please Him,
but the faintest sparks proceeding from that which grace has kindled are
acceptable in His sight. By the fall man contracted an unfitness to that
which is good. Shaped in iniquity and conceived in sin (Psalm 51:5), man
is a "transgressor from the womb" (Isa 48:8): "they go astray as soon as
they be born, speaking lies" (Psalm 58:3), and "the imagination of man's
heart is evil from his youth" (Gen 8:21).
# Don't dare saying this is quoting scripture out of context!
He may be civilized, educated,
refined, and even religious, but at heart he is "desperately wicked" (Jer
17:9), and all that he does is vile in the sight of God, for nothing is done
from love to Him, and with a view to His glory.
"A good tree cannot bring
forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit" (Mat7:18). Until they are born again, all men are "unto every good work
reprobate" (Ti 1:16).
By the fall man contracted an unwillingness to that
which is good. All motions of the will in its fallen estate; through defect of
a right principle from whence they flow and a right end to which they
tend, are only evil and sinful.
Leave man to himself, remove from him all
the restraints which law and order impose, and he will swiftly degenerate
to a lower level than the beasts, as almost any missionary will testify. And
is human nature any better in civilized lands? Not a whit. Wash off the
artificial veneer and it will be found that "as in water face answers to face,
so the heart of man to man" (Pro 27:19).
The world over, it remains solemnly true that "the carnal mind is enmity
against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be"
(Rom 8:7). Christ will prefer the same charge in a coming day as when He
was here on earth: "Men loved darkness rather than light" (John 3:19).
Men will not come to Him that they might have "life." By the fall man
contracted an inability to that which is good. He is not only unfitted and
unwilling, but unable to do that which is good. Where is the man that can
truthfully say he has measured up to his own ideals? All have to
acknowledge there is a strange force within dragging them downward,
inclining them to evil, which, notwithstanding their utmost endeavors
against it, in some form or other, more or less, conquers them.
Despite
the kindly exhortations of friends, the faithful warnings of God's servants,
the solemn examples of suffering and sorrow, disease and death on every
side, and the vote of their own conscience, yet they yield. "They that are
in the flesh [in their natural condition] cannot please God" (Rom 8:8).
Thus it is evident that the need is imperative for a radical and
revolutionary change to be wrought in fallen man before he can have any
fellowship with the thrice holy God. Since the earth must be completely
changed, because of the curse now resting on it, before it can ever again
bring forth fruit as it did when man was in a state of innocence; so must
man, since a general defilement from Adam has seized upon him, be
renewed, before he can "bring forth fruit unto God" (Rom 7:4). He must
be grafted upon another stock, united to Christ, partake of the power of
His resurrection: without this he may bring forth fruit, but not "unto
God."
How can any one turn to God without a principle of spiritual
motion? How can he live to God who has no spiritual life? How can he befit for the kingdom of God who is of a brutish and diabolical nature? 2.
Total depravity The need for regeneration lies in man's total depravity.
Every member of Adam's race is a fallen creature, and every part of his
complex being has been corrupted by sin. Man's heart is "deceitful above
all things and desperately wicked" (Jer 17:9).
His mind is blinded by Satan (2 Corinthians 4:4) and darkened by sin
(Eph 4:18), so that his thoughts are only evil continually (Gen 6:5). His
affections are prostituted, so that he loves what God hates, and hates
what God loves.
His will is enslaved from good (Rom 6:20) and opposed
to God (Rom 8:7). He is without righteousness (Rom 3:10), under the
curse of the law (Gal 3:10) and is the captive of the Devil. His condition is
truly deplorable, and his case desperate. He cannot better himself, for he
is "without strength" (Rom 5:6).
He cannot work out his salvation, for
there dwells no good thing in him (Rom 7:18). He needs, then, to be born
of God, "for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything, nor
uncircumcision, but a new creature" (Gal 6:15).
Man is a fallen creature.
It is not that a few leaves have faded, but that the entire tree has become
rotten, root and branch. There is in every one that which is radically
wrong. The word "radical" comes from a Latin one which means "the
root," so that when we say a man is radically wrong, we mean that there is
in him, in the very foundation and fiber of his being, that which is
intrinsically corrupt and essentially evil.
Sins are merely the fruit, there
must of necessity be a root from which they spring. It follows, then, as an
inevitable consequence that man needs the aid of a Higher Power to effect
a radical change in him. There is only One who can effect that change:
God created man, and God alone can re-create him. Hence the imperative
demand, "You must be born again" (John 3:7).
Man is spiritually dead
and naught but almighty power can make him alive. "By one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all
men" (Rom 5:12)
I am posting this when I read Regeneration is "baptismal"
Pink
degeneration. In consequence of the fall of our first parents, all of us were
born alienated from the Divine life and holiness, despoiled of all those
perfections with which man's nature was at first endowed.
Ezekiel 16:4-5
gives a graphic picture of the terrible spiritual plight at our entrance into
this world: cast out to the loathing of our persons, rolling ourselves in our
own filth, impotent to help ourselves. That "likeness" of God (Gen 1:26)
which was at first stamped on man's soul, has been effaced, aversion from
God and an inordinate love of the creature having displaced it. The very
fountain of our beings is polluted, continually sending forth bitter
springs, and though those streams take several courses and wander in
various channels, yet are they all brackish.
Therefore the "sacrifice" of the
wicked is an abomination to the LORD (Pro 15:8), and his very plowing
"sin" (Pro 21:4).
There are but two states, and all men are included
therein: the one a state of spiritual life, the other a state of spiritual death;
the one a state of righteousness, the other a state of sin; the one saving,
the other damning; the one a state of enmity, wherein men have their
inclinations contrary to God, the other a state of friendship and
fellowship, wherein men walk obediently unto God, and would not
willingly have an inward notion opposed to His will.
The one state is
called darkness, the other light: "For you were [in your unregenerate
days, not only in the dark, but] sometimes darkness, but now are you
light in the Lord" (Eph 5:8).
There is no medium between these
conditions: all are in one of them. Each man and woman now on earth is
either an object of God's delight or of His abomination.
The most benevolent and imposing works of the flesh cannot please Him,
but the faintest sparks proceeding from that which grace has kindled are
acceptable in His sight. By the fall man contracted an unfitness to that
which is good. Shaped in iniquity and conceived in sin (Psalm 51:5), man
is a "transgressor from the womb" (Isa 48:8): "they go astray as soon as
they be born, speaking lies" (Psalm 58:3), and "the imagination of man's
heart is evil from his youth" (Gen 8:21).
# Don't dare saying this is quoting scripture out of context!
He may be civilized, educated,
refined, and even religious, but at heart he is "desperately wicked" (Jer
17:9), and all that he does is vile in the sight of God, for nothing is done
from love to Him, and with a view to His glory.
"A good tree cannot bring
forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit" (Mat7:18). Until they are born again, all men are "unto every good work
reprobate" (Ti 1:16).
By the fall man contracted an unwillingness to that
which is good. All motions of the will in its fallen estate; through defect of
a right principle from whence they flow and a right end to which they
tend, are only evil and sinful.
Leave man to himself, remove from him all
the restraints which law and order impose, and he will swiftly degenerate
to a lower level than the beasts, as almost any missionary will testify. And
is human nature any better in civilized lands? Not a whit. Wash off the
artificial veneer and it will be found that "as in water face answers to face,
so the heart of man to man" (Pro 27:19).
The world over, it remains solemnly true that "the carnal mind is enmity
against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be"
(Rom 8:7). Christ will prefer the same charge in a coming day as when He
was here on earth: "Men loved darkness rather than light" (John 3:19).
Men will not come to Him that they might have "life." By the fall man
contracted an inability to that which is good. He is not only unfitted and
unwilling, but unable to do that which is good. Where is the man that can
truthfully say he has measured up to his own ideals? All have to
acknowledge there is a strange force within dragging them downward,
inclining them to evil, which, notwithstanding their utmost endeavors
against it, in some form or other, more or less, conquers them.
Despite
the kindly exhortations of friends, the faithful warnings of God's servants,
the solemn examples of suffering and sorrow, disease and death on every
side, and the vote of their own conscience, yet they yield. "They that are
in the flesh [in their natural condition] cannot please God" (Rom 8:8).
Thus it is evident that the need is imperative for a radical and
revolutionary change to be wrought in fallen man before he can have any
fellowship with the thrice holy God. Since the earth must be completely
changed, because of the curse now resting on it, before it can ever again
bring forth fruit as it did when man was in a state of innocence; so must
man, since a general defilement from Adam has seized upon him, be
renewed, before he can "bring forth fruit unto God" (Rom 7:4). He must
be grafted upon another stock, united to Christ, partake of the power of
His resurrection: without this he may bring forth fruit, but not "unto
God."
How can any one turn to God without a principle of spiritual
motion? How can he live to God who has no spiritual life? How can he befit for the kingdom of God who is of a brutish and diabolical nature? 2.
Total depravity The need for regeneration lies in man's total depravity.
Every member of Adam's race is a fallen creature, and every part of his
complex being has been corrupted by sin. Man's heart is "deceitful above
all things and desperately wicked" (Jer 17:9).
His mind is blinded by Satan (2 Corinthians 4:4) and darkened by sin
(Eph 4:18), so that his thoughts are only evil continually (Gen 6:5). His
affections are prostituted, so that he loves what God hates, and hates
what God loves.
His will is enslaved from good (Rom 6:20) and opposed
to God (Rom 8:7). He is without righteousness (Rom 3:10), under the
curse of the law (Gal 3:10) and is the captive of the Devil. His condition is
truly deplorable, and his case desperate. He cannot better himself, for he
is "without strength" (Rom 5:6).
He cannot work out his salvation, for
there dwells no good thing in him (Rom 7:18). He needs, then, to be born
of God, "for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything, nor
uncircumcision, but a new creature" (Gal 6:15).
Man is a fallen creature.
It is not that a few leaves have faded, but that the entire tree has become
rotten, root and branch. There is in every one that which is radically
wrong. The word "radical" comes from a Latin one which means "the
root," so that when we say a man is radically wrong, we mean that there is
in him, in the very foundation and fiber of his being, that which is
intrinsically corrupt and essentially evil.
Sins are merely the fruit, there
must of necessity be a root from which they spring. It follows, then, as an
inevitable consequence that man needs the aid of a Higher Power to effect
a radical change in him. There is only One who can effect that change:
God created man, and God alone can re-create him. Hence the imperative
demand, "You must be born again" (John 3:7).
Man is spiritually dead
and naught but almighty power can make him alive. "By one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all
men" (Rom 5:12)
I am posting this when I read Regeneration is "baptismal"
Pink
