01.21 Regeneration And Baptism

XXI. Regeneration and Baptism

There is more or less confusion as to the relation of Baptism to Regeneration. Some teach that Baptism is a saving ordinance, and that in the administration of the rite the candidate is regenerated or "born again," and for this reason it is called a "Sacrament." Because of this belief many parents hasten to have their infants baptized for fear that they will be eternally lost. For a proper undertanding of the subject it is necessary that we ascertain the Scriptural meaning of the words "Regeneration" and "Baptism," and we shall find that one is an "Inner Experience," and the other is an "Outward Act."

I. REGENERATION In the third chapter of John’s Gospel we find two "Divine Necessities." First, "Ye must be BORN AGAIN," (John 3:3; John 3:5), second, "The Son of Man must be LIFTED UP." To whom did Jesus utter these words? Not to a gambler, a drunkard, a thief, a libertine, a heathen, a non-church goer, but to a Church Member. To Nicodemus, a Ruler of the Jews, a Pharisee, a Rabbi, a member of the Great Sanhedrin, learned in the "Law" and "Holy Scriptures," one of the Religious Leaders of his day and a "Master in Israel." As a Jew he was entitled to all the "Birthright Privileges" of a son of Abraham, and to be told by Christ that all his boasted "Birthright Privileges" did not entitle him to a place in the "Kingdom of God" was startling. "How," said Nicodemus, "can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?" Surely not! And if he could there would nothing be gained by a second NATURAL birth more than by the first. If a natural man could re-enter 10,000 times into his mother’s womb and be born he would be naught but a NATURAL man after all, for "That which is born of flesh is FLESH."

Why must men be born again? Because-"That which is born of flesh is FLESH, and that which is born of the ’Spirit’ (Holy Spirit) is SPIRIT." John 3:6. Men are not by nature the "Sons of God," they are the "Children of the Devil," (1 John 3:10), and Jesus so informed the Jews. John 8:37-44. There is a restricted "Fatherhood of God" and "Brotherhood of Man." It is only those who receive Christ as their personal Saviour that can become the "Sons of God." John 1:12. There is much being said in these days about "Building Character," which is only another phrase for the "Moral Evolution" of human nature, and by selection, or the intermarriage of the "Physically, Morally and Intellectually Fit," to produce a race of Supermen and Women. But this is impossible, being contrary to the history of the race and to Scripture. The "New Birth" is not a change of the "Old Nature" into a "New Nature" by either a gradual or sudden transformation, called development or reformation. Religious reformation may very much improve the flesh, but after all it is only religious FLESH. To use a Scriptural illustration, if we were to take a "nettle" from the roadside and bring it into a garden or hothouse, and watch over it, dress and water and warm it, we might be able to produce beautiful and different varieties of "nettles," but they would only be "NETTLES," we could never get "FIGS" from them. "Do men gather grapes of thorns, or ’FIGS’ of ’THISTLES’?" Matthew 7:16. "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?" Jeremiah 13:23.

What then is the "New Birth?" "It is the COMMUNICATION OF A NEW LIFE, the IMPLANTATION OF A NEW NATURE by the ’SPIRIT OF GOD.’"

There is no such thing as "Spontaneous Generation of Life." All life must come from PRE-EXISTING LIFE. We speak of the "Inorganic" and "Organic" Kingdoms. The Kingdoms of "No-Life" and of "Life." A dead stone cannot pass of itself from the "Inorganic" into the "Organic" Kingdom. There is a door between the two Kingdoms, but it opens on the Organic Kingdom side. While the stone cannot open that door the plant can,and by thrusting its rootlets into the soil can disintegrate the stone and take of its chemical constituents and give them of its own life. Likewise there is a door between the "Vegetable Kingdom" and the "Animal Kingdom," but it opens on the "Animal Kingdom" side. The plant cannot turn itself into flesh, but the animal by eating the plant can change it from "vegetable life" to "animal life." So there is a door between the "Natural" and "Spiritual" worlds, but it cannot be opened from the "Natural" side. Therefore a man to have "Spiritual Life" must be born from above. A sculptor may take a piece of marble and carve from it a lifelike figure, but it is still MARBLE and LIFELESS. In the "Human Kingdom" there can be no life without parentage. There must be a father and a mother. The same is true of the "Spiritual Kingdom." In the "Spiritual Kingdom" the Holy Spirit is the FATHER, and the "Human Heart" is the WOMB (Mother) into which the "SEED" of the "Word of God" is dropped. "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the WORD OF GOD." 1 Peter 1:23. If seed in the Natural World, either of plant, animal, or man, is lifeless, there will be no new life, and if the "Seed of the Word of God" is not VITALIZED by the Holy Spirit when it falls into the human heart there will be no "New Birth." This explains how men and women can read and study the Scriptures and not be converted. To illustrate, a man may have heard or read a thousand times the words-"Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." John 5:40. But one day on the street he is handed a card on which those words are printed in large letters. Angered by the publicity of the act, and offended at the intimation that he needs to be saved, he tears the card into pieces and throwing it into the gutter with an oath he passes on. But he cannot dismiss the incident from his memory. Do what he will it persists in returning. He finds himself unfitted for business. The evening is spent in a place of amusement, but the words on the card haunt him, and he leaves the theatre to go home and spend a sleepless night. What is the matter? Why that "text" was no longer "lifeless," it had been "vitalized" by the Holy Spirit, it had fallen into the womb of the man’s heart and was in the process of generating a "New Life" in the man. Leave it alone and it will do its office work and the man will become a "New Creature" in Christ Jesus. If in our experience we can remember or recall the verse of Scripture that was the means of our conversion then we can point to it as the Holy Spirit vitalized seed of the Word that caused the generation of the "New Life" in our heart.

HOW TO BE BORN AGAIN If I must be "born again," I may be born again, for God never commands an impossible thing. We have considered the manner and the means of the communication of the New Birth, it now remains to show how it may be secured. In the night interview of Nicodemus and Jesus, Jesus used three illustrations. (1) That of a BIRTH. (2) That of the "BRAZEN SERPENT." (3) That of the WIND. We have explained the first, let us now consider the second. "AS Moses lifted up the ’Serpent’ in the Wilderness, even SO must the ’Son of Man’ be lifted up." Nicodemus being a "Master" in Israel knew well the incident of the "Brazen Serpent." Numbers 21:4-9. He knew how that when the Children of Israel essayed to compass the land of Edom and became discouraged, that they murmured against Moses, and the Lord sent "Fiery Serpents," and they bit the people and many died, and Moses was commanded to make a "Brazen Serpent" and put it on a pole, that whosoever looked upon it should be healed of the poisonous bite. The "Fiery Serpents" were a type of the Devil, and the "Brazen Serpent" was a type of Jesus lifted up upon the Cross to counteract and destroy the work of the Devil. From this we see that it is not Jesus as an example, but Jesus "lifted up" and CRUCIFIED that saves. The "Brazen Serpent" was "lifted up" that all Israel might see it, and Jesus was "lifted up" that all men might see HIM. "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This He said, signifying what death he should die." John 12:32-33. How forcibly that night interview must have been recalled to Nicodemus’ memory as he and Joseph of Arimathea bent over the body of Jesus preparing it for burial. I think I can hear Nicodemus say to Joseph, "Joseph, He told me it would be this way that night I visited Him at John’s house in Jerusalem and He explained to me how I might be born again. He said as Moses lifted up the ’Brazen Serpent’ in the Wilderness so He must be lifted up, and now He has been ’lifted up.’ Handle Him tenderly Joseph, for He is our Lord and Saviour."

Let us study that Wilderness scene, for if we can grasp its lessons we will know the steps we must take to be saved.

1. The first thing necessary for an Israelite to know was that he was BITTEN. Not until he felt the sting of the serpent’s bite would an Israelite feel concerned about his health. So the sinner has no concern about his spiritual health until he realizes that the "poison of sin" will destroy his soul.

2. The second thing for an Israelite to know was that there was a GOD-PROVIDED REMEDY.

Now an Israelite might have been bitten and not have known about the "Brazen Serpent" and have perished for want of knowledge. So there are many who know that sin is destroying their lives but do not know of the way of deliverance. It is necessary that they learn in some way of God’s "provided remedy" for sin-JESUS.

3. The third thing for an Israelite to know was that the God-provided remedy was of no account UNTIL APPLIED.

If a bitten Israelite, knowing of the "Brazen Serpent," refused to look at it he died. So the sinner, who, conscious of his sinful state, refuses to accept Christ as his Saviour will die in his sins.

We can imagine a bitten Israelite when asked to look at the "Brazen Serpent," saying-"Oh! I have got no faith in that piece of brass. I will just try a poultice or drink this medicine that I have in the house." So men and women today instead of looking to Christ, resort to man-made remedies to soothe the pangs of conscience, such as good works, penances, music, worldly entertainments, and religious fads.

We can imagine another bitten Israelite saying-"I will not have anything to do with the ’Brazen Serpent’ until I know how it cures. I want to know the philosophy of the thing. If God had told us to rub the bitten place with a piece of brass in the form of a serpent, or to take a piece of brass and boil it with some herbs and make a medicine that we were to take, then I could understand the philosophy of the thing, but to simply look at a ’Brazen Serpent’ on a pole that is all foolishness and I will perish before I do it." So men and women argue today. They say, "I cannot understand the philosophy of the Atonement, and I will not accept the work of the Cross until you make it plain to my reason."

Again we can imagine a bitten Israelite saying-"I will wait until tomorrow to see if I am not better, and if I am no better then I will go and have a look at the ’Brazen Serpent’ to see whether there is anything in it." So men and women today live in the hope that tomorrow there will be an improvement in their spiritual condition, and if not, they say they will have a "try" at religion.

Another bitten Israelite comparing his wound with that of his neighbor may have said, "My wound is not half as bad as my neighbor’s, so I will not do anything as long as he lives." So men and women compare their spiritual condition with that of their neighbors and say, I am not as bad as they are and if they are saved I will be." But comparing ourselves with others, or looking at the wound will not do, we must look to the REMEDY. It was not the "Brazen Serpent" that healed, it was the "LOOK OF FAITH." It was because the bitten Israelites believed the "Promise of God" that a "LOOK" would save them, that they were saved. So it is not necessary for us to understand the philosophy of the "Plan of Salvation," but simply believe what God has said that if we accept the "Crucified Christ" as our Saviour we shall be saved. Let us then take our eyes off of our neighbor, off of ourself, off of the Church, off of the ordinances, off of the Priest, and fix them on the "Cross of Calvary," and accept the finished work of Christ. The Israelites were shut up to the "Brazen Serpent," so we are shut up to Christ. He is God’s only remedy for sin. There is no salvation in any other. Acts 4:12. As every bitten Israelite who refused to look at the "Brazen Serpent" died, so all who refuse to look to Christ for salvation-"shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the Presence of the Lord, and from the Glory of His Power." 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10.

HOW MAY I KNOW I HAVE BEEN BORN AGAIN? This leads us to the consideration of Jesus’ third illustration, that of the WIND. "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." John 3:8. You cannot see the wind, it is in itself invisible. The only way you can tell that it is in motion is by its effects, as seen in the swaying trees and the clouds of dust. So it is with the Holy Spirit, He is invisible and the only way you can tell that He is at work is by His influence on the hearts of men. When we see a vile and wicked sinner changed into a new creature in Christ Jesus, then we know that the Holy Spirit has been at work. Here are some of the "BIRTH-MARKS" of the "New Born" child of God.

1. He that is "Born of God" hath the witness IN HIMSELF. 1 John 5:10. Romans 8:16.

2. He that is "Born of God" ABIDETH IN HIM. 1 John 3:24.

3. He that is "Born of God" LOVETH THE BRETHREN. 1 John 3:14.

4. He that is "Born of God" OVERCOMETH THE WORLD. 1 John 5:4.

5. He that is "Born of God" is LED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. Romans 8:14.

He that is "Born of God" will have a new nature and disposition. He will have a "New Tongue." He will speak the language of Canaan and love to talk about Heavenly things. He will feed on "New Food." It will no longer be the novel and light literature, but the Word of God. He will have a "New Song." No longer operatic airs and minstrel melodies, but sacred music. He will seek "New Society." Old companionships will be broken off and he will seek the society of God’s people.

II. BAPTISM

Having seen the meaning of Regeneration and that it is an "Inner Experience," let us now examine the meaning and purpose of Baptism that we may see that it is but an "Outward Act" that symbolizes the "New Birth," and is to be observed not as a means to our salvation, but because we have been saved. Right here someone may ask, "Did not Jesus say to Nicodemus- ’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’ (John 3:5), and does not WATER mean Baptism, and does it not therefore require both the ’New Birth’ and ’Water Baptism’ to save a soul?" No. The word "Water" does not mean "Water Baptism." Water stands in the Scriptures for- the "Word of God." "Of His own will ’begat He us with the WORD OF TRUTH." James 1:18. "Being ’born again,’ not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the WORD OF GOD." 1 Peter 1:23. It must not be forgotten that Baptism is only for BELIEVERS. Acts 8:36-37. Therefore a person must be saved, or "New Born," before they should be baptized. This forbids the Baptism of infants, but not of children who have reached the age of accountability and are old enough to believe and exercise saving faith.

What is the purpose of Baptism ? First it is to symbolize the "Death" and "Resurrection" of Christ.

"Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His DEATH? Therefore we are BURIED with Him by Baptism into DEATH; that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His DEATH, we shall be also in the likeness of His RESURRECTION." Romans 6:3-5.

Writing to the Corinthians Paul said-"I declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto you . . . how that Christ DIED for our sins . . . that He was BURIED, and that He ROSE AGAIN the third day." 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. Here we have the Gospel in a nutshell. It is the proclamation that Jesus DIED, was BURIED, and ROSE AGAIN for our sins according to the Scriptures. So we see that Baptism symbolizes the "Death," "Burial" and "Resurrection" of Christ, and that only one mode of Baptism can symbolize them, and that is complete IMMERSION IN WATER. In the second place Baptism is a public confession that the "Believer" has died to the "old life" and risen to a "New Life," and what can better symbolize this than the Believer being buried in the watery grave of the Baptistry and rising again from that liquid tomb to walk in resurrection life. And this symbolism can only be expressed by baptizing the candidate backward in the water but once. For we do not bury people face downward, nor three times. In the third place Baptism symbolizes our death, burial, and resurrection with Christ. That is, it expresses our union with Him. See the Chapter on "The Reciprocal Indwelling of Christ and the Believer." From what has been said we see that the "New Birth" and "Baptism" are not the same. That the "New Birth" is supernatural and can only be brought about by the Holy Spirit, while Baptism is an "Outward Act" performed for us by a properly qualified administrator, and that it simply symbolizes what has already taken effect in us by the "New Birth." Therefore there is no regenerating or saving power in Baptism. Why then should I be Baptized you ask? First, because your Saviour has commanded you to be. Mark 16:15-16. Secondly, because it is the mode prescribed for a public confession of your faith in Christ. Acts 8:36-37, Acts 6:14-15. Thirdly, because as a Believer you should connect yourself with some body of Believers, and the door to such a connection is Baptism. Acts 2:41-42.