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Scripture Reading: Titus 3:5; 2 Cor. 5:17; Ezek. 36:26-27a; 2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 12:2a; Col. 3:10
I. The washing of regeneration:
А. Regeneration being a change of position — a new state of things — cf. Matt. 19:28.
B. Washing being the laver to purge away the old things of our natural life on the negative side — 2 Cor. 5:17:
1. Organically.
2. Metabolically.
II. The renewing of the Holy Spirit:
А. To reconstitute our being on the positive side:
1. With the divine life — John 1:13b; 3:5b.
2. With the divine nature — 2 Pet. 1:4.
3. By renewing our heart.
4. By renewing our spirit — Ezek. 36:26.
B. To transform us — 2 Cor. 3:18:
1. By dwelling in us — Ezek. 36:27a; Rom. 8:9, 11.
2. By renewing our soul — 12:2a.
3. By renewing the new man unto full knowledge according to the image of God — Col. 3:10.
Focus: The washing of regeneration is to purge away the old things of our natural life, and the renewing of the Holy Spirit is to reconstitute us and transform us with the divine life and the divine nature into the image of God.
In this lesson we want to see the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit spoken of in Titus 3:5.
The Greek word for regeneration in Titus 3:5 is different from that for regenerated in 1 Peter 1:23. The only other place the word is used is in Matthew 19:28, where it is used for the restoration in the millennium. Regeneration in Titus 3:5 is a change of position, a new state of things. When a person is reborn, the divine life gets into him. Then there is a change of position, and the state of things becomes new. Titus 3:5 speaks of the washing of a changed position, a state of things that has become new. Being born again is the commencing of a change from one state to another.
Titus 3:5 speaks of the “washing of regeneration.” The Greek word for washing here is literally laver. The same word is used in Ephesians 5:26 for washing — “the washing of the water in the word.” The laver of the Old Testament tabernacle was for the washing away of uncleanness. The washing of regeneration is a laver to purge away the old things of our natural life on the negative side. Second Corinthians 5:17 says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away; behold, they have become new.” Everything of our natural life is old. These old things of our natural life are purged away by the washing, the laver, of a changed position and of a new state of things.
This washing is organic, not something of doctrinal knowledge, outward correction, or outward regulation. The washing of regeneration is altogether related to another life that enters into our being organically. If a person swallowed a pearl, it would enter into his being in an inorganic way because the pearl does not possess any element of life. But when a person eats nourishing food, the food is digested and assimilated by him. The food gets into his being as his life supply in an organic way, and it even becomes the constituents of the tissues of his physical being. Food gets into us organically. It is absolutely related to life. The washing of regeneration, of the changed position and new state of things, is also absolutely in life and with life. It is an organic, inward washing in life that carries away all the negative things, purging away all the things of the old nature of our old man.
Furthermore, this washing is metabolic because it imparts something new into us, and the new things of the divine life replace the old things of our natural life. In the metabolism of our physical body, the old, negative things are carried away and replaced with the new supply of life so that we may be strengthened and grow. The washing of regeneration is also a metabolic process, a metabolic washing, in which the old, negative things of our natural life are carried away and replaced with the new things of the divine life for our supply and growth in the divine life.
The washing is mainly to purge away the old things of our natural life on the negative side, and the renewing of the Holy Spirit is to reconstitute our being on the positive side. Something new, real, and solid of the divine life is being carried into our being to renew our old life.
The renewing of the Holy Spirit is always with the divine life. John 1:13b says that we are begotten of God, and 3:5b says that we are born of the Spirit. To be born of God, to be born of the Spirit, is to have the divine life imparted into our being. The divine life is now the renewing element in our being. The Holy Spirit renews our being with such a solid element, that is, the divine life. The Holy Spirit renews us not only with the divine life but also with the divine nature. Second Peter 1:4 says that we are partakers of the divine nature. The divine life and the divine nature are the elements of the renewing of the Holy Spirit.
We also need to point out that the Holy Spirit renews us by renewing our heart and by renewing our spirit. Ezekiel 36:26 says that God gives us a new heart and puts a new spirit within us. Actually, the new heart and the new spirit are the renewed heart and the renewed spirit. This may be compared to the old heaven and old earth being renewed to be the new heaven and new earth. Our old being is being renewed into a new being. At the time of our rebirth, God gave us a new heart and a new spirit. In other words, He renewed our heart and our spirit by the Spirit.
The heart is a loving organ, and the spirit is a receiving organ. We love God with our heart and receive God with our spirit. But both our spirit and our heart were old and were not fulfilling their proper functions. In our new birth the Spirit of God renewed our heart to love God and renewed our spirit to receive God. This is fully proven by our experience. We can testify that when we were born again, we began to love God, and we longed to receive God by contacting Him in our spirit.
The renewing of the Holy Spirit is not just to reconstitute our being on the positive side but also to transform us. Second Corinthians 3:18 says, “We all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.”
The Holy Spirit transforms us first by dwelling in us. Ezekiel 36:27a says that besides giving us a new heart and putting in us a new spirit, God also put His own Spirit into our being. Romans 8:9 and 11 show that the Spirit of God dwells in us to saturate our being with the divine, resurrection life.
The Holy Spirit dwells in us in order to transform us by renewing our soul. Romans 12:2a says that we are to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. This means that the indwelling Spirit of God renews our soul, comprising our mind, our emotion, and our will.
Furthermore, according to Colossians 3:10, the Holy Spirit transforms us by renewing the new man unto full knowledge according to the image of God, the One who created him. This means that the indwelling Spirit of God renews us day by day unto the full knowledge of God according to what God is, according to the image of God. The renewing work of the Holy Spirit is making all of us a part of the renewed new man so that the new man may resemble God in full. The new man is the Body of Christ, the church. We have to stress emphatically that the renewing of the Holy Spirit eventually consummates in making us absolutely in the image of God in full.
The focus of this lesson may be expressed in the following statement: the washing of regeneration is to purge away the old things of our natural life, and the renewing of the Holy Spirit is to reconstitute us and transform us with the divine life and the divine nature into the image of God. This makes us the same as God is, not in an individual way but in a corporate way.
