Not all the outward forms on earth, Nor will of man, nor blood, nor birth, The sov'reign will of God alone The Spirit, like some heav'nly wind, New models all the carnal mind, And forms the man afresh. WATTS. The carnal mind, in every age of the Church, hath been disposed to receive the doctrine of regeneration as a mere figure of speech. They are unable to explain it upon any principles of their own, and therefore wish, of all things, to class it under the character of metaphor, or parable. But it will be found by all the unawakened and unregenerated, in eternity, an awful reality to them. I well remember to have heard it said concerning a prelate of the highest rank in the establishment, who, in the close of life, expressed himself on this subject in these very solemn words-"I have read (said he) much on the subject of regeneration, and I have heard much upon it; I should hope it is, after all, but a mere figure of speech; but if it be a real truth, I can only say, that I know nothing of it in my own experience," What a dreadful confession this or a man in his dying hours! mental Our blessed Lord, who brought life and immortality to light by his gospel, brought this doctrine of regeneration also, as a fundapart of that gospel, to the full and complete testimony of it, in his conversation with Nicodemus the Jew, John iii. 1-21. I beg the reader to pay a close attention to this blessed scripture, looking up to God the Holy Ghost to render it plain and intelligible; and, under his divine teaching, the doctrine itself cannot fail to appear in its true light. Dr. Hawker. Let us inquire in what this new birth consists. Some make it to consist in water baptism. Baptism is an ordinance of Jesus Christ, which you should think highly of; but do not put it out of its place, by substituting it for quite another thing. I can find no scripture that says of baptism, this is regeneration: many confound the sign and the thing signified, and make them one and the same thing. The great design of Christ coming into the world was, to renew and This is a work of his own immediate hand, and regenerate men. yet we are told Jesus baptized not, but his disciples; a plain evidence that he made a distinction between baptism and regeneration. St. Paul, in writing to the Corinthians, says, I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius. But if baptism be regeneration, his meaning must be, I thank God that I regenerated none of you. Some make it to consist in a round of external duties. You may profess religion, till you are damned. Outward forms will leave the Some make it to soul as far from God, as a picture is from a man. consist in speculation—in a sound creed-head knowledge; which is equally false and dangerous. The phrase "born again" is metaphorical, and brings in natural things, with which we are familiarly acquainted, to assist our conceptions. At our first birth we become men, or partake of human nature; by our second birth we become Christians, are made partakers of a divine and spiritual nature. As our first birth introduces us into this world and into human society; so our second birth introduces us into the Church of Christ. As by our first birth we resemble our parents, at least in the principal lineaments of human nature; so, by our second birth, we are made partakers of the divine nature, we are made to resemble the blessed God in holiness, Eph. iv. 24. We are renewed after his image, in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born. of the Spirit is spirit." President Davies, Except a man be born again from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God. He must have a regeneration. And what is this regeneration? It is not to be christened in water, as these firebrands (ie. the Papists) would have it. How is it to be expounded then? St. Peter showeth, that one place of Scripture declareth another. St. Peter saith, And we be born again. How? Not by mortal seed, but by immortal. What is this immortal seed? By the word of the living God, by the word of God preached and opened: thus cometh in our New Birth. Latimer-Fox's Book of Martyrs. Regeneration is a spiritual change. Conversion is a spiritual motion. In regeneration there is a power conferred: conversion is the exercise of this power. In regeneration there is given us a principle to turn; conversion is our actual turning. That is the principle whereby we are brought out of a state of nature into a state of grace; and conversion the actual fixing on God as the terminus ad quem. In regeneration man is wholly passive; in conversion he is active. As a child, in its first formation in the womb, contributes nothing to the first infusion of life; but after it hath life is active, and its motion natural. The first receiving of us is wholly the act of God, without any concurrence of the creature; but after we are received, we do actually and voluntarily live in his sight. Charnock. The Evangelist John is clear on our side, touching this original and pedigree of it, both whence it is not, and whence it is. It is not born of blood, i. e. it belongs not to, nor is brought forth in any, as they are men, made of flesh and blood; nor as they are Abraham's seed according to the flesh; Rom. ix. 7. nor is it born of the will of the flesh, the carnal and sensual affections having nothing to do in the spiritual birth: nor of the will of man; the rational faculties, by which men are set above the rank of other creatures, even these contribute nothing to our divine sonship, But it is of God; John i. 13. i. e. it is his work alone, and the natural man has nothing to do in it; he is as perfectly unactive in it as the dry bones in causing themselves to live; (Ezek. xxxvii. 5-9.) or as Lazarus in reviving himself; of whom it is said, "He that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot ;” (John xi. 44.) which was such a demonstration of divine power, that the Pharisees themselves acknowledge, If they now let him alone, all men will believe in him. (ver. 48.) And if it were not so, the Lord alone should not be exalted. And with this falls in that other beloved disciple, James: "Of his own will begat he us;" ch. i. 18. 2 Pet. i. 3. i. e. by his own divine power he forms and brings forth the new creation, without any assistance from the old, or co-operation of it. They contribute no more to it, than those who sleep in the dust, to their own resurrection. Peter, he also tells us, "It is born of incorruptible seed." I Pet. i. 23. And John again, "that it is born of the Spirit;" John iii. 8. which is, plainly, to be the offspring of God. Of the same tenor is that of the prophet, "Thou hast wrought all our works in us." Isa, xxvi. 12. And that of Paul, "We are his workmanship." Eph. ii. 13. As also that of the Psalmist, "It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves." We find it here, and in John, expressed both negatively and posi tively, as purposely and for ever to exclude whatever is in man from being so much as thought contributory to the New Creation; and that the whole work might be fathered upon God only, which is indeed the natural result of all those scriptures, which speak of it under the notion of a creature; which necessarily implies, that the whole of it, both matter and form, is from the Creator: for, in truth, a creature's foundation is nothing, besides the good pleasure of God. It may further be noted, that in James, the Father of lights is said to beget it; and in the Galatians, Jerusalem, which is above, to be the mother of it; and in John as aforesaid, that it is born of the Spirit. Now if father and mother, begetter and bringer-forth, are both in heaven; what shall the man of earth found his pretensions upon, as to the parentage of the New Creature? Elisha Cole In regeneration the mind is savingly enlightened. There is a new light let into the understanding, so that they who were “some time darkness, are now light in the Lord," Eph. v. 8. The beams of the light of life make their way into the dark dungeon of the heart; then the night is over, and the morning light is come, which will shine more and more unto the perfect day. Now the man is illuminated, In the knowledge of God. He has far other thoughts of God than ever he had before, Hos. ii. 20. “I will even betroth thee 66 unto me in faithfulness, and thou shalt know the Lord." The Spirit of the Lord brings him back to that question, What is God? and catechiseth him anew on that grand point, so as he is made to say, “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth thee." Job xlii. 5. The spotless purity of God, his exact justice, his all-sufficiency, and other glorious perfections, revealed in his word, are, by this new light, discovered to the soul with a plainness and certainty, that does as far exceed the knowledge it had of these things before, as occular demonstration exceeds common fame; for now he sees what he had only heard of before. He is enlightened in the knowledge of sin. He hath other thoughts of it than be was wont to have. Formerly, his sight could not pierce through the cover Satan laid over it; but now the Spirit of God strips it before him, wipes off the paint and fairding, and he sees it in its native colours, as the worst of evils, exceeding sinful, Rom. vii. 13. O what deformed monsters do formerly beloved Justs appear! Were they right eyes, he would pluck them out; were they right hands, he would consent to their cutting off. He sees how offensive sin is to God, how destructive it is to the soul; and calls himself fool, for fighting so long against the Lord and harbouring that destroyer as a bosom friend. He is instructed in the knowledge of himself. Regenerating grace causeth the prodigal to come to himself, (Luke xv. 17.) and makes men full of eyes within, knowing every one the plague of his own heart. The mind being savingly enlightened, the man sees how desperately corrupt his nature is; what enmity against God and his holy law has long lodged there; so that his soul loathes itself. No open sepulchre, no puddle so vile and loathsome in his eyes as himself, Ezek. xxxvi. 31. “Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight." He is no worse than he was before; but the sun is shining; and so these pollutions are seen, which he could not discern, when there was no dawning in him, as the word is; Isa. viii. 20. while as yet the day of grace was not broken with Bp. Atterbury. Regeneration is an irresistible act of God's grace. No more re him. |