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From: The Doctrine of the New Birth, by A.W. Pink (I have occasionally run into people who attend services, but when asked if they are saved or if they know they are born again, will answer something like "I don't even know what that means - born again.")
The new birth is an absolute necessity. It is something for which there is no substitute whatsoever. None can enter the kingdom of God save those who have been born again. That the new birth is an imperative necessity is clear from the words of our Lord to Nicodemus—“Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again” (Joh 3:7). He did not say, “Ye may be born again,” or “Ye ought to be born again,” but “Ye must be born again.”
Nowhere else did Jesus Christ put a single statement so strongly or insist upon it with such emphatic repetition. Said He, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” And again, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” And yet again, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again” (Joh 3:3, 5-7). On other occasions He threw wide open the door of mercy—“Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”—but here He deliberately bars the gate of heaven against all the unregenerate. Hence, His words to Nicodemus become the more solemn when we remember that they fell from the lips of One who never excluded a single soul from eternal blessedness unless truth compelled Him to do so. It is none other than the Son of God who says, “Ye must be born again.”
But why is the new birth an imperative necessity? Why is it that no unregenerated person can either see or enter the kingdom of God?
The spiritual kingdom demands a spiritual nature. This follows a universal law. To appreciate or produce music, one must possess musical gifts. I take a young man and place him in the hands of an efficient music teacher. For several years he takes lessons from him. He diligently studies the theory of music and endeavors to master the laws of harmony. He practices regularly for several hours a day. In a few years’ time, will that boy be a musician? That depends altogether upon one thing—does he possess a musical nature? Musicians are born, not manufactured! It is the same in art. Artists are not the product of mechanical training, but the outcome of inherent genius. One cannot be an artist unless one possess the artistic talent. To be a real mathematician, one must have a mathematical turn of mind. To enter the realm of music, one must be musical. To enter the realm of art, one must have an artist’s soul. And to enter the kingdom of God, one must have a godly or spiritual nature, and the only way to acquire this is by being born again. Hence, “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again” (Joh 3:7). It is self-evident. It is a logical as well as an imperative necessity. It is a requirement which follows a universal law. Take the purest woman to heaven who has never been regenerated, and she would be miserable. She cannot really enjoy a spiritual prayer meeting now, much less could she enjoy heaven. She prefers the social gathering, the dance, the picture show, and if she is deprived of them, she is discontented, and if she is compelled to spend an hour in the company of godly people, she is wretched.
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 word which means “the root” so that when we say a man is radically wrong, we mean that there is in him, in the very root and fiber of his being, that which is intrinsically corrupt and incurably evil. Sins are merely the fruit; there must of necessity be a root from which springs the fruit. We sin because we are sinful by nature; we are sinful by nature because we are fallen creatures. It follows, then, as a natural consequence, that man needs the aid of a Higher Power to effect a radical change. There is only One who can effect the change. God created man, and God alone can re-create him. Hence the imperative demand, “Ye must be born again.”
Reformation cannot take the place of the new birth. Reformation has to do with a man’s habits, and not the man himself. If the works of my watch are out of order, no altering of the hands or polishing of the case will make it keep correct time—the trouble is inside. So it is with the sinner. A man may be correct in his deportment, clean in his habits and punctilious in his dealings, and still be dead in trespasses and sins. To one of the Pharisees, our Lord said: “Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness” (Luk 11:39). So it is with reformers. No amount of reformation can change the heart. “It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing” (Joh 6:63). I may gather some weeds out of a field and transplant them in my garden: I may fertilize and irrigate them, but no amount of attention will transform them into rose bushes. So a new environment will not change man’s sinful nature. He needs to be born “of God.”
Religion cannot take the place of the new birth. Spurgeon said: “It is difficult to say how far a man may go in religion and yet die in his sins.” The Pharisees read the Scriptures, fasted oft, gave tithes, and made long prayers, and yet they rejected the counsel of God. It is possible to have one’s name inscribed upon a church register, and yet not have it written in the Lamb’s book of life. No performance of religious duties can take the place of the new birth. How many there are who rely upon the fact that they say their prayers, read their Bibles, attend church, and partake of the Lord’s Supper, but who, nevertheless, are building upon the sand, rather than the Rock which is Christ!
The need of the new birth is universal. It was not to the woman taken in adultery, nor the thief on the cross, that our Lord said: “Ye must be born again,” but to Nicodemus, a Pharisee, a teacher in Israel, a man of unblemished character. Unless Nicodemus was “born again,” he could not enter the kingdom of God. Neither can you! Mark well, then, the Lord’s words: “Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again.”
Sinner, in a little while at most you will be lying upon your deathbed (if deathbed you have). Then, it will matter nothing how large the fortune you have accumulated, how considerable the learning you may have acquired, nor how great the popularity or fame to which you may have attained; all that will matter then will be, Have you been “born again?”
Should any reader be exercised in soul, and led to inquire, “How can I be born again? How can I find Christ?” the best answer that we can give is contained in the words of the Lord Jesus when He said: “Search the Scriptures...they are they which testify of Me” (Joh 5:39).
The new birth is an absolute necessity. It is something for which there is no substitute whatsoever. None can enter the kingdom of God save those who have been born again. That the new birth is an imperative necessity is clear from the words of our Lord to Nicodemus—“Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again” (Joh 3:7). He did not say, “Ye may be born again,” or “Ye ought to be born again,” but “Ye must be born again.”
Nowhere else did Jesus Christ put a single statement so strongly or insist upon it with such emphatic repetition. Said He, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” And again, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” And yet again, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again” (Joh 3:3, 5-7). On other occasions He threw wide open the door of mercy—“Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”—but here He deliberately bars the gate of heaven against all the unregenerate. Hence, His words to Nicodemus become the more solemn when we remember that they fell from the lips of One who never excluded a single soul from eternal blessedness unless truth compelled Him to do so. It is none other than the Son of God who says, “Ye must be born again.”
But why is the new birth an imperative necessity? Why is it that no unregenerated person can either see or enter the kingdom of God?
A. Man Is Spiritually Dead
The new birth is a necessity because by nature man is spiritually dead. “By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Rom 5:12). In the day that Adam ate of the forbidden fruit he died spiritually, and a person who is spiritually dead cannot beget a child who possesses spiritual life. By natural descent we enter this world “dead in trespasses and sins” and in consequence “alienated from the life of God” (Eph 2:1; 4:18). This is no figure of speech, but a solemn fact. Every child which is born into this world enters it entirely destitute of a single spark of spiritual life. Here, then, is the answer to the above questions—a dead person cannot see or enter any kingdom. Man is devoid of spiritual life, and if ever he is to enter the kingdom of God, which is the realm of spiritual life, he must be born into it.B. The Spiritual Kingdom Requires a Spiritual Nature
The new birth is necessary because the spiritual kingdom requires a spiritual nature. Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. Heaven is the habitation of the thrice Holy God and only those who are holy can dwell in His presence for “without holiness no man shall see the Lord” (Heb 12:14). In order for a man to be happy he must be in harmony with his surroundings. If I were to take a number of live fish out of the water, place them on a silver salver, carry them into a garden full of fragrant flowers, and were to produce from a harp the sweetest strains of music, those fish would not be happy. Why? Because they are out of their natural element. They are not in harmony with their environment. So it would be if an unregenerate person were to enter heaven. He has no faculty for discerning spiritual things; he has no capacity to appreciate the divine glory; he has no power to worship in the beauty of holiness. An unregenerate person could no more enjoy heaven than could a deaf and dumb man an oratorio. To take such an one there, would be like leaving a blind man to walk through the halls of our art galleries.The spiritual kingdom demands a spiritual nature. This follows a universal law. To appreciate or produce music, one must possess musical gifts. I take a young man and place him in the hands of an efficient music teacher. For several years he takes lessons from him. He diligently studies the theory of music and endeavors to master the laws of harmony. He practices regularly for several hours a day. In a few years’ time, will that boy be a musician? That depends altogether upon one thing—does he possess a musical nature? Musicians are born, not manufactured! It is the same in art. Artists are not the product of mechanical training, but the outcome of inherent genius. One cannot be an artist unless one possess the artistic talent. To be a real mathematician, one must have a mathematical turn of mind. To enter the realm of music, one must be musical. To enter the realm of art, one must have an artist’s soul. And to enter the kingdom of God, one must have a godly or spiritual nature, and the only way to acquire this is by being born again. Hence, “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again” (Joh 3:7). It is self-evident. It is a logical as well as an imperative necessity. It is a requirement which follows a universal law. Take the purest woman to heaven who has never been regenerated, and she would be miserable. She cannot really enjoy a spiritual prayer meeting now, much less could she enjoy heaven. She prefers the social gathering, the dance, the picture show, and if she is deprived of them, she is discontented, and if she is compelled to spend an hour in the company of godly people, she is wretched.
C. Man Is Totally Depraved
The new birth is an imperative necessity, because man is totally depraved. Every member of Adam’s race is a fallen creature, and every part of our complex being has been corrupted by sin. Man’s heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, his mind is blinded and darkened, and his thoughts are only evil continually. His reasonings are unsound, his affections are prostituted, and his will is alienated from God. He is without righteousness, under the curse of the law, and in bondage to sin and Satan; truly his case is desperate and his condition deplorable. He cannot better himself, for there dwelleth no good thing in him. He cannot work out his salvation for he is “without strength.” He cannot live a better life, for he is dead in trespasses and sins. He needs, then, to be born of God. “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth 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 word which means “the root” so that when we say a man is radically wrong, we mean that there is in him, in the very root and fiber of his being, that which is intrinsically corrupt and incurably evil. Sins are merely the fruit; there must of necessity be a root from which springs the fruit. We sin because we are sinful by nature; we are sinful by nature because we are fallen creatures. It follows, then, as a natural consequence, that man needs the aid of a Higher Power to effect a radical change. There is only One who can effect the change. God created man, and God alone can re-create him. Hence the imperative demand, “Ye must be born again.”
D. Nothing Else Can Take the Place of the New Birth
The new birth is a necessity because nothing else can take its place. There is no substitute for it. Education cannot take the place of the new birth. Education is simply the training of the natural man. Education can cultivate, but it cannot create. This should be apparent from the analogy furnished by the physical realm. Capacities which are missing at birth cannot afterwards be supplied by the extra cultivation of others. The sense of touch may be trained to a high degree of proficiency, but it cannot give sight. Hearing may be developed to the utmost acuteness, but it will not give the sense of taste or smell. Neither is it possible to produce a spiritual nature by the cultivation of the flesh. Nature maybe educated to the highest standard attainable, but it cannot be developed into something of a totally different order. There is no process by which a man may be developed out of a horse; nor a beast out of a bird. So also between the natural and the spiritual a wide gulf is fixed. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh,” and it never becomes anything else. But, “that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” A spiritual nature is the result of a spiritual birth, and not the outcome of cultivating the natural man.Reformation cannot take the place of the new birth. Reformation has to do with a man’s habits, and not the man himself. If the works of my watch are out of order, no altering of the hands or polishing of the case will make it keep correct time—the trouble is inside. So it is with the sinner. A man may be correct in his deportment, clean in his habits and punctilious in his dealings, and still be dead in trespasses and sins. To one of the Pharisees, our Lord said: “Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness” (Luk 11:39). So it is with reformers. No amount of reformation can change the heart. “It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing” (Joh 6:63). I may gather some weeds out of a field and transplant them in my garden: I may fertilize and irrigate them, but no amount of attention will transform them into rose bushes. So a new environment will not change man’s sinful nature. He needs to be born “of God.”
Religion cannot take the place of the new birth. Spurgeon said: “It is difficult to say how far a man may go in religion and yet die in his sins.” The Pharisees read the Scriptures, fasted oft, gave tithes, and made long prayers, and yet they rejected the counsel of God. It is possible to have one’s name inscribed upon a church register, and yet not have it written in the Lamb’s book of life. No performance of religious duties can take the place of the new birth. How many there are who rely upon the fact that they say their prayers, read their Bibles, attend church, and partake of the Lord’s Supper, but who, nevertheless, are building upon the sand, rather than the Rock which is Christ!
The need of the new birth is universal. It was not to the woman taken in adultery, nor the thief on the cross, that our Lord said: “Ye must be born again,” but to Nicodemus, a Pharisee, a teacher in Israel, a man of unblemished character. Unless Nicodemus was “born again,” he could not enter the kingdom of God. Neither can you! Mark well, then, the Lord’s words: “Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again.”
Sinner, in a little while at most you will be lying upon your deathbed (if deathbed you have). Then, it will matter nothing how large the fortune you have accumulated, how considerable the learning you may have acquired, nor how great the popularity or fame to which you may have attained; all that will matter then will be, Have you been “born again?”
Should any reader be exercised in soul, and led to inquire, “How can I be born again? How can I find Christ?” the best answer that we can give is contained in the words of the Lord Jesus when He said: “Search the Scriptures...they are they which testify of Me” (Joh 5:39).
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