The New
Birth (Sermon 45)
"Ye
must be born again." John 3:7
1. If
any doctrines within the whole compass of Christianity may be properly termed
fundamental, they are doubtless these two, -- the doctrine of justification,
and that of the new birth: The former relating to that great work which God
does for us, in forgiving our sins; the latter, to the great work which God
does in us, in renewing our fallen nature. In order of time, neither
of these is before the other: in the moment we are justified by the grace of
God, through the redemption that is in Jesus, we are also "born of the
Spirit;" but in order of thinking, as it is termed,
justification precedes the new birth. We first conceive his wrath to be turned
away, and then his Spirit to work in our hearts.
2. How
great importance then must it be of, to every child of man, thoroughly to
understand these fundamental doctrines! From a full conviction of this, many
excellent men have wrote very largely concerning justification, explaining
every point relating thereto, and opening the Scriptures which treat upon it.
Many likewise have wrote on the new birth: And some of them largely enough; but
yet not so clearly as might have been desired, nor so deeply and accurately;
having either given a dark, abstruse account of it, or a slight and superficial
one. Therefore a full, and at the same time a clear, account of the new birth,
seems to be wanting still; such as may enable us to give a satisfactory answer
to these three questions:
1. First,
Why must we be born again? What is the foundation of this doctrine of the new
birth?
2. Secondly,
How must we be born again? What is the nature of the new birth? And,
3. Thirdly,
Wherefore must we be born again? To what end is it necessary?
4. These
questions, by the assistance of God, I shall briefly and plainly answer; and
then subjoin a few inferences which will naturally follow.
1. And,
First, Why must we be born again? What is the foundation of this doctrine? The
foundation of it lies near as deep as the creation of the world; in the
scriptural account whereof we read, "And God," the three-one God,
"said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. So God created
man in his own image, in the image of God created he him:" (Gen. 1:26, 27)
-- Not barely in his natural image, a picture of his own
immortality; a spiritual being, endued with understanding, freedom of will, and
various affections; -- nor merely in his political image, the
governor of this lower world, having "dominion over the fishes of the sea,
and over all the earth;" -- but chiefly in his moral image; which,
according to the Apostle, is "righteousness and true holiness." (Eph.
4:24) in this image of God was man- made. "God is love:" Accordingly,
man at his creation was full of love; which was the sole principle of all his
tempers, thoughts, words, and actions. God is full of justice, mercy, and
truth; so was man as he came from the hands of his Creator. God is spotless
purity; and so man was in the beginning pure from every sinful blot; otherwise
God could not have pronounced him, as well as all the other work of his hands, "very
good." (Gen. 1:31) This he could not have been, had he not been pure from
sin, and filled with righteousness and true holiness. For there is no medium:
If we suppose an intelligent creature not to love God, not to be righteous and
holy, we necessarily suppose him not to be good at all; much less to be
"very good."
2. But,
although man was made in the image of God, yet he was not made immutable. This
would have been inconsistent with the state of trial in which God was pleased
to place him. He was therefore created able to stand, and yet liable to fall.
And this God himself apprized him of, and gave him a solemn warning against it.
Nevertheless, man did not abide in honour: He fell from his high estate. He
"ate of the tree whereof the Lord had commanded him, Thou shalt not eat
thereof." By this willful act of disobedience to his Creator, this flat
rebellion against his Sovereign, he openly declared that he would no longer
have God to rule over him; That he would be governed by his own will, and not
the will of Him that created him; and that he would not seek his happiness in
God, but in the world, in the works of his hands. Now, God had told him before,
"In the day that thou eatest" of that fruit, "thou shalt surely
die." And the word of the Lord cannot be broken. Accordingly, in that day
he did die: He died to God, -- the most dreadful of all deaths. He lost the
life of God: He was separated from Him, in union with whom his spiritual life
consisted. The body dies when it is separated from the soul; the soul, when it
is separated from God. But this separation from God, Adam sustained in the day,
the hour, he ate of the forbidden fruit. And of this he gave immediate proof;
presently showing by his behaviour, that the love of God was extinguished in
his soul, which was now "alienated from the life of God." Instead of
this, he was now under the power of servile fear, so that he fled from the
presence of the Lord. Yea, so little did he retain even of the knowledge of Him
who filleth heaven and earth, that he endeavored to "hide himself from the
Lord God among the trees of the garden:" (Gen. 3:8) So had he lost both
the knowledge and the love of God, without which the image of God could not
subsist. Of this, therefore, he was deprived at the same time, and became
unholy as well as unhappy. In the room of this, he had sunk into pride and
self-will, the very image of the devil; and into sensual appetites and desires,
the image of the beasts that perish.
3. If
it be said, "Nay, but that threatening, 'In the day that thou eatest
thereof, thou shalt surely die,' refers to temporal death, and that alone, to
the death of the body only;" the answer is plain: To affirm this is flatly
and palpably to make God a liar; to aver that the God of truth positively
affirmed a thing contrary to truth. For it is evident, Adam did not die in
this sense, "in the day that he ate thereof." He lived, in the sense
opposite to this death, above nine hundred years after. So that this cannot
possibly be understood of the death of the body, without impeaching the
veracity of God. It must therefore be understood of spiritual death, the loss
of the life and image of God.
4. And
in Adam all died, all human kind, all the children of men who were then in
Adam's loins. The natural consequence of this is, that every one descended from
him comes into the world spiritually dead, dead to God, wholly dead in sin;
entirely void of the life of God; void of the image of God, of all that
righteousness and holiness wherein Adam was created. Instead of this, every man
born into the world now bears the image of the devil in pride and self-will;
the image of the beast, in sensual appetites and desires. This, then, is the
foundation of the new birth, -- the entire corruption of our nature. Hence it
is, that, being born in sin, we must be "born again." Hence every one
that is born of a woman must be born of the Spirit of God.
1. But
how must a man be born again? What is the nature of the new birth? This is the
Second question. And a question it is of the highest moment that can be
conceived. We ought not, therefore, in so weighty a concern, to be content with
a slight inquiry; but to examine it with all possible care, and to ponder it in
our hearts, till we fully understand this important point, and clearly see how
we are to be born again.
2. Not
that we are to expect any minute, philosophical account of the manner how this
is done. Our Lord sufficiently guards us against any such expectation, by the
words immediately following the text; wherein he reminds Nicodemus of as indisputable
a fact as any in the whole compass of nature, which, notwithstanding, the
wisest man under the sun is not able fully to explain. "The wind bloweth
where it listeth," -- not by thy power or wisdom; "and thou hearest
the sound thereof;" -- thou art absolutely assured, beyond all doubt, that
it doth blow; "but thou canst not tell whence it cometh, nor whither it
goeth;" -- the precise manner how it begins and ends, rises and falls, no
man can tell. "So is every one that is born of the Spirit:" -- Thou
mayest be as absolutely assured of the fact, as of the blowing of the wind; but
the precise manner how it is done, how the Holy Spirit works this in the soul,
neither thou nor the wisest of the children of men is able to explain.
3. However,
it suffices for every rational and Christian purpose, that, without descending
into curious, critical inquiries, we can give a plain scriptural account of the
nature of the new birth. This will satisfy every reasonable man, who desires
only the salvation of his soul. The expression, "being born again,"
was not first used by our Lord in his conversation with Nicodemus: It was well
known before that time, and was in common use among the Jews when our Saviour
appeared among them. When an adult Heathen was convinced that the Jewish
religion was of God, and desired to join therein, it was the custom to baptize
him first, before he was admitted to circumcision. And when he was baptized, he
was said to be born again; by which they meant, that he who was before a child
of the devil was now adopted into the family of God, and accounted one of his
children. This expression, therefore, which Nicodemus, being "a Teacher in
Israel," ought to have understood well, our Lord uses in conversing with
him; only in a stronger sense than he was accustomed to. And this might be the
reason of his asking, "How can these things be?" They cannot be
literally: -- A man cannot "enter a second time into his mother's womb,
and be born:" -- But they may spiritually: A man may be born from above, born
of God, born of the Spirit, in a manner which bears a very near analogy to the
natural birth.
4. Before
a child is born into the world he has eyes, but sees not; he has ears, but does
not hear. He has a very imperfect use of any other sense. He has no knowledge
of any of the things of the world, or any natural understanding. To that manner
of existence which he then has, we do not even give the name of life. It is
then only when a man is born, that we say he begins to live. For as soon as he
is born, be begins to see the light, and the various objects with which he is
encompassed. His ears are then opened, and he hears the sounds which
successively strike upon them. At the same time, all the other organs of sense
begin to be exercised upon their proper objects. He likewise breathes, and
lives in a manner wholly different from what he did before. How exactly doth
the parallel hold in all these instances! While a man is in a mere natural
state, before he is born of God, he has, in a spiritual sense, eyes and sees
not; a thick impenetrable veil lies upon them; he has ears, but hears not; he
is utterly deaf to what he is most of all concerned to hear. His other
spiritual senses are all locked up: He is in the same condition as if he had
them not. Hence he has no knowledge of God; no intercourse with him; he is not
at all acquainted with him. He has no true knowledge of the things of God,
either of spiritual or eternal things; therefore, though he is a living man, he
is a dead Christian. But as soon as he is born of God, there is a total change
in all these particulars. The "eyes of his understanding are opened;"
(such is the language of the great Apostle;) and, He who of old "commanded
light to shine out of darkness shining on his heart, he sees the light of the
glory of God," his glorious love, "in the face of Jesus Christ."
His ears being opened, he is now capable of hearing the inward voice of God,
saying, "Be of good cheer; thy sins are forgiven thee;" "go and
sin no more." This is the purport of what God speaks to his heart;
although perhaps not in these very words. He is now ready to hear whatsoever
"He that teacheth man knowledge" is pleased, from time to time, to
reveal to him. He "feels in his heart," to use the language of our Church,
"the mighty working of the Spirit of God;" not in a gross, carnal
sense as the men of the world stupidly and willfully misunderstand the
expression; though they have been told again and again, we mean thereby neither
more nor less than this: He feels, is inwardly sensible of, the graces which
the Spirit of god works in his heart. He feels, he is conscious of, a
"peace which passeth all understanding." He many times feels such a
joy in God as is "unspeakable, and full of glory." He feels "the
love of God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost which is given unto
him;" and all his spiritual senses are then exercised to discern spiritual
good and evil. By the use of these, he is daily increasing in the knowledge of
God, of Jesus Christ whom he hath sent and to all the things pertaining to his
inward kingdom. And now he may be properly said to live: God having quickened
him by his Spirit, he is alive to God through Jesus Christ. He lives a life
which the world knoweth not of, a "life which is hid with Christ in God."
God is continually breathing, as it were, upon the soul; and his soul is
breathing unto God. Grace is descending into his heart; and prayer and praise
ascending to heaven: And by this intercourse between God and man, this
fellowship with the Father and the Son, as by a kind of spiritual respiration,
the life of God in the soul is sustained; and the child of God grows up, till
he comes to the "full measure of the stature of Christ."
5. From
hence it manifestly appears, what is the nature of the new birth. It is that
great change which God works in the soul when he brings it into life; when he
raises it from the death of sin to the life of righteousness. It is the change
wrought in the whole soul by the almighty Spirit of God when it is
"created anew in Christ Jesus;" when it is "renewed after the
image of God, in righteousness and true holiness;" when the love of the
world is changed into the love of God; pride into humility; passion into
meekness; hatred, envy, malice, into a sincere, tender, disinterested love for
all mankind. In a word, it is that change whereby the earthly, sensual,
devilish mind is turned into the "mind which was in Christ Jesus."
This is the nature of the new birth: "So is every one that is born of the
Spirit."
1. It
is not difficult for any who has considered these things, to see the necessity
of the new birth, and to answer the Third question, Wherefore, to what end, is
it necessary that we should be born again? It is very easily discerned, that
this is necessary, First, in order to holiness. For what is holiness according
to the oracles of God? Not a bare external religion, a round of outward duties,
how many soever they be, and how exactly soever performed. No: Gospel holiness
is no less than the image of God stamped upon the heart; it is no other than
the whole mind which was in Christ Jesus; it consists of all heavenly
affections and tempers mingled together in one. It implies such a continual,
thankful love to Him who hath not withheld from us his Son, his only son, as
makes it natural, and in a manner necessary to us, to love every child of man;
as fills us "with bowels of mercies, kindness, gentleness,
long-suffering:" It is such a love of God as teaches us to be blameless in
all manner of conversation; as enables us to present our souls and bodies, all
we are and all we have, all our thoughts, words, and actions, a continual
sacrifice to God, acceptable through Christ Jesus. Now, this holiness can have
no existence till we are renewed in the image of our mind. It cannot commence
in the soul till that change be wrought; till, by the power of the Highest
overshadowing us, we are "brought from darkness to light, from the power
of Satan unto God;" that is, till we are born again; which, therefore, is
absolutely necessary in order to holiness.
2. But
"without holiness no man shall see the Lord," shall see the face of
God in glory. Of consequence, the new birth is absolutely necessary in order to
eternal salvation. Men may indeed flatter themselves (so desperately wicked and
so deceitful is the heart of man!) that they may live in their sins till they
come to the last gasp, and yet afterwards live with God; and thousands do
really believe, that they have found a broad way which leadeth not to
destruction. "What danger," say they, "can a woman be in that is
so harmless and so virtuous? What fear is
there that sohonest a man, one of so strict morality, should
miss of heaven; especially if, over and above all this, they constantly attend
on church and sacrament?" One of these will ask with all assurance,
"What! Shall not I do as well as my neighbours?" Yes as well as your
unholy neighbours; as well as your neighbours that die in their sins! For you
will all drop into the pit together, into the nethermost hell! You will all lie
together in the lake of fire; "the lake of fire burning with
brimstone." Then, at length, you will see (but God grant you may see it
before!) the necessity of holiness in order to glory; and, consequently, of the
new birth, since none can be holy, except he be born again.
3. For
the same reason, except he be born again, none can be happy even in this world.
For it is not possible, in the nature of things, that a man should be happy who
is not holy. Even the poor, ungodly poet could tell us, Nemo malus
felix: "no wicked man is happy." The reason is plain: All unholy
tempers are uneasy tempers: Not only malice, hatred, envy, jealousy, revenge,
create a present hell in the breast; but even the softer passions, if not kept
within due bounds, give a thousand times more pain than pleasure. Even
"hope," when "deferred," (and how often must this be the
case!) "maketh the heart sick;" and every desire which is not
according to the will of God is liable to "pierce" us "through
with many sorrows:" And all those general sources of sin -- pride,
self-will, and idolatry -- are, in the same proportion as they prevail, general
sources of misery. Therefore, as long as these reign in any soul, happiness has
no place there. But they must reign till the bent of our nature is changed,
that is, till we are born again; consequently, the new birth is absolutely
necessary in order to happiness in this world, as well as in the world to come.
I proposed in the Last place to subjoin a few inferences, which naturally
follow from the preceding observations.
1. And,
First, it follows, that baptism is not the new birth: They are not one and the
same thing. Many indeed seem to imagine that they are just the same; at least,
they speak as if they thought so; but I do not know that this opinion is
publicly avowed by any denomination of Christians whatever. Certainly it is not
by any within these kingdoms, whether of the established Church, or dissenting
from it. The judgment of the latter is clearly declared in the large Catechism:
[Q. 163, 165. -- Ed.] -- Q. "What are the parts of a sacrament? A. The parts
of a sacrament are two: The one an outward and sensible sign; the other, and
inward and spiritual grace, thereby signified. -- Q. What is baptism? A.
Baptism is a sacrament, wherein Christ hath ordained the washing with water, to
be a sign and seal of regeneration by his Spirit." Here it is manifest,
baptism, the sign, is spoken of as distinct from regeneration, the thing
signified.
In
the Church Catechism likewise, the judgment of our Church is declared with the
utmost clearness: "What meanest thou by this word, sacrament? A. I mean an
outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. Q. What is the
outward part or form in baptism? A. Water, wherein the person is baptized, in
the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Q. What is the inward part, or
thing signified? A. A death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteousness."
Nothing, therefore, is plainer than that, according to the Church of England,
baptism is not the new birth.
But
indeed the reason of the thing is so clear and evident, as not to need any
other authority. For what can be more plain, than the one is a visible, the
other an invisible thing, and therefore wholly different from each other? --
the one being an act of man, purifying the body; the other a change wrought by
God in the soul: So that the former is just as distinguishable from the latter,
as the soul from the body, or water from the Holy Ghost.
2. From
the preceding reflections we may, Secondly, observe, that as the new birth is
not the same thing with baptism, so it does not always accompany baptism: They
do not constantly go together. A man may possibly be "born of water,"
and yet not be "born of the Spirit." There may sometimes be the
outward sign, where there is not the inward grace. I do not now speak with regard
to infants: It is certain our Church supposes that all who are baptized in
their infancy are at the same time born again; and it is allowed that the whole
Office for the Baptism of Infants proceeds upon this supposition. Nor is it an
objection of any weight against this, that we cannot comprehend how this work
can be wrought in infants. For neither can we comprehend how it is wrought in a
person of riper years. But whatever be the case with infants, it is sure all of
riper years who are baptized are not at the same time born again. "The
tree is known by its fruits:" And hereby it appears too plain to be
denied, that divers of those who were children of the devil before they were
baptized continue the same after baptism: "for the works of their father they
do:" They continue servants of sin, without any pretence either to inward
or outward holiness.
3. A
Third inference which we may draw from what has been observed, is, that the new
birth is not the same with sanctification. This is indeed taken for granted by
many; particularly by an eminent writer, in his late treatise on "The
Nature and Grounds of Christian Regeneration." To wave several other
weighty objections which might be made to that tract, this is a palpable one:
It all along speaks of regeneration as a progressive work, carried on in the
soul by slow degrees, from the time of our first turning to God. This is
undeniably true of sanctification; but of regeneration, the new birth, it is
not true. This is a part of sanctification, not the whole; it is the gate to
it, the entrance into it. When we are born again, then our sanctification, our
inward and outward holiness, begins; and thenceforward we are gradually to
"grow up in Him who is our Head." This expression of the Apostle
admirably illustrates the difference between one and the other, and farther
points out the exact analogy there is between natural and spiritual things. A
child is born of a woman in a moment, or at least in a very short time:
Afterward he gradually and slowly grows, till he attains to the stature of a
man. In like manner, a child is born of God in a short time, if not in a
moment. But it is by slow degrees that he afterward grows up to the measure of
the full stature of Christ. The same relation, therefore, which there is between
our natural birth and our growth, there is also between our new birth and our
sanctification.
4. One
point more we may learn from the preceding observations. But it is a point of
so great importance, as may excuse the considering it the more carefully, and
prosecuting it at some length. What must one who loves the souls of men, and is
grieved that any of them should perish, say to one whom he sees living in
sabbath-breaking, drunkenness, or any other willful sin? What can he say, if
the foregoing observations are true, but, "You must be born again?"
"No," says a zealous man, "that cannot be. How can you talk so
uncharitably to the man? Has he not been baptized already? He cannot be born
again now." Can he not be born again? Do you affirm this? Then he cannot
be saved. Though he be as old as Nicodemus was, yet "except he be born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Therefore in saying, "He
cannot be born again," you in effect deliver him over to damnation. And
where lies the uncharitableness now? -- on my side, or on yours? I say, he may
be born again, and so become an heir of salvation. You say, "He cannot be
born again:" And if so, he must inevitably perish! So you utterly block up
his way to salvation, and send him to hell, out of mere charity!
But
perhaps the sinner himself, to whom in real charity we say, "You must be
born again," has been taught to say, "I defy your new doctrine; I
need not be born again: I was born again when I was baptized. What! Would you have
me deny my baptism?" I answer, First, There is nothing under heaven which
can excuse a lie; otherwise I should say to an open sinner, If you have been
baptized, do not own it. For how highly does this aggravate your guilt! How
will it increase your damnation! Was you devoted to God at eight days old, and
have you been all these years devoting yourself to the devil? Was you, even
before you had the use of reason, consecrated to God the Father, the son, and
the Holy Ghost? And have you, ever since you had the use of it, been flying in the
face of God, and consecrating yourself to Satan? Does the abomination of
desolation -- the love of the word, pride, anger, lust, foolish desire, and a
whole train of vile affections -- stand where it ought not? Have you set up all
the accursed things in that soul which was once a temple of the Holy Ghost; set
apart for an "habitation of God, through the Spirit;" yea, solemnly
given up to him? And do you glory in this, that you once belonged to God? O be
ashamed ! Blush ! Hide yourself in the earth ! Never boast more of what ought
to fill you with confusion, to make you ashamed before God and man! I answer,
Secondly, You have already denied your baptism; and that in the most effectual
manner. You have denied it a thousand and a thousand times; and you do so
still, day by day. For in your baptism you renounced the devil and all his
works. Whenever, therefore, you give place to him again, whenever you do any of
the works of the devil, then you deny your baptism. Therefore you deny it by
every willful sin; by every act of uncleanness, drunkenness, or revenge; by
every obscene or profane word; by every oath that comes out of your mouth.
Every time you profane the day of the Lord, you thereby deny your baptism; yea,
every time you do any thing to another which you would not he should do to you.
I answer, Thirdly, Be you baptized or unbaptized, "you must be born
again;" otherwise it is not possible you should be inwardly holy; and
without inward as well as outward holiness, you cannot be happy, even in this
world, much less in the world to come. Do you say, "Nay, but I do no harm
to any man; I am honest and just in all my dealings; I do not curse, or take
the Lord's name in vain; I do not profane the Lord's day; I am no drunkard; I
do not slander my neighbour, nor live in any wilful sin?" If this be so,
it were much to be wished that all men went as far as you do. But you must go
farther yet, or you cannot be saved: Still, "you must be born again."
Do you add, "I do go farther yet; for I not only do no harm, but do all
the good I can?" I doubt that fact; I fear you have had a thousand
opportunities of doing good which you have suffered to pass by unimproved, and
for which therefore you are accountable to God. But if you had improved them
all, if you really had done all the good you possibly could to all men, yet
this does not at all alter the case; still, "you must be born again."
Without this nothing will do any good to your poor, sinful, polluted soul.
"Nay, but I constantly attend all the ordinances of God: I keep to my
church and sacrament." It is well you do: But all this will not keep you
from hell, except you be born again. Go to church twice a day; go to the Lord's
table every week; say ever so many prayers in private; hear ever so many good
sermons; read ever so many good books; still, "you must be born
again:" None of these things will stand in the place of the new birth; no,
nor any thing under heaven. Let this therefore, if you have not already
experienced this inward work of God, be your continual prayer: "Lord, add
this to all thy blessings, -- let me be born again! Deny whatever thou
pleasest, but deny not this; let me be 'born from above!' Take away whatsoever
seemeth thee good, -- reputation, fortune, friends, health, -- only give me
this, to be born of the Spirit, to be received among the children of God! Let
me be born, 'not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, by the word of God,
which liveth and abideth for ever;' and then let be daily 'grow in grace, and
in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!'"
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