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Scripture Reading: John 3:3; 10:10b; 1 John 5:12
In this chapter we will continue to consider man’s problems. Other than the problems of emptiness and sin, we need to consider the problem of man’s life. Man’s existence, history, and experience all depend on man’s life. If a man loses his life, everything concerning him will come to an end. All things concerning man, including his career and all his enjoyment, depend on man’s life. When a person lies sick on his deathbed, his career, no matter how prestigious, and his enjoyment of material pleasures, no matter how rich, will come to an end. Therefore, all things concerning man depend on man’s life.
Every kind of life has a certain kind of living. The duck life has the duck living, and the chicken life has the chicken living. If we put some ducks and chickens close to the edge of a pond, the chickens will become frightened at the sight of water and will try to stay away from it, but the ducks will become happy and do their best to enter into the pond. We will be able to identify the chickens and the ducks simply by observing their living, their expression of life. This principle also applies to the plant life. Some trees, such as the apple tree and the peach tree, are difficult to distinguish when they are still saplings. However, they are easy to recognize when they are mature enough to produce fruit. The life of a peach tree produces peaches, and the life of an apple tree produces apples. Likewise, a good tree produces good fruit, and a corrupt tree produces bad fruit. Thus, all trees are recognized by their fruit (Matt. 7:17-18). Life brings in the expression of life. Thus, every kind of life has its own living, its own expression. This is a biological law.
We can apply the biological law to the life of man in order to see the characteristics of man’s life. Philosophers throughout the ages have argued over the question of whether human nature is inherently good or evil. One group of philosophers advocates that man is born good, another group believes that man is born evil, and yet another group considers that man is born innocent. However, we can discern human nature simply by considering our living. We can determine the kind of life that we have from the kind of expression that we have. If our living is good, our life must be good, and if our living is improper, it is difficult to believe that our life is good. We do not need to ask others or criticize them concerning their human life; we simply need to examine our own living and walk.
If we observe our behavior in a sober and serious way, we will immediately discover that our living is improper. In many matters we are neither honest nor righteous, and our thoughts are often filled with crooked, dark, despicable, and corrupt things. No one can say with a pure conscience that he has never deceived others. People deceive not only those who are outside their family but also those who are within their family. Some do dishonorable things in order to deceive their own husband, wife, and children. No one can say that he has never taken advantage of others or never stolen from others. Some people rob others on the streets, and others rob in less obvious ways, using their pens to steal from others. We need to consider all that we own, including the things stored in our homes and the clothing that we wear, and ask ourselves whether all these items have been obtained in a just and honest way. We need to examine our thoughts in order to see what our actual condition is. If there were a tool that could diagnose and display the actual condition of the heart and thoughts of man as thoroughly as an x-ray machine can diagnose the human body, no one would be able to stand before this kind of diagnostic light. Who can say that in every matter and in every respect his hands are clean and his heart is pure and upright? If we examine ourselves in this way, we will only be able to bow our heads and admit that our living is neither righteous nor honest.
In conversing with others, some people convey the assurance that they do everything according to their conscience. However, we should not be so bold as to give others such assurance. Can we genuinely assure anyone that as far back as we can remember, we have done everything out of a good conscience? If we are true to our conscience, we will never be able to convey to others such confidence in ourselves. When a doctor checks the condition of a patient’s lungs, he sometimes taps on different parts of the patient’s chest. He discerns the health of the patient’s lungs by the echo that he hears. Today, as they “tap” on their conscience, many people know their true condition by the different “echoes” that they hear. They are aware of their wrongdoings, including the things that they do in secret, behind the back of their parents, their spouse, and their employer. They know well what they owe their country and what offenses they have committed against their government. Many people know what they have done to deceive and hurt others. No one is completely faultless. We can only acknowledge in shame that our living is improper and that our behavior is dishonest.
However, it is not man’s will to have an improper and dishonest living. Many people do bad things not of their own will but because of the fallen and corrupted life within them. Every kind of life issues in a certain kind of living. We deceive others because our fallen and corrupted life is deceitful, and we steal because this life is greedy. When I was young, I had the concept that people told lies by learning from others. Thus, I thought that if my wife and I could refrain from telling lies at home, our children would not know how to lie to others or cheat them. This concept is wrong. I have learned from experience that even before a child learns to speak, he is able to lie. Before he can say anything, he is able do something deceitful. When my children were young, we once left a basin of water in our bedroom. One of my children saw the basin, put his hands into it, and began to play with the water. He did not know that we were standing outside the bedroom watching him play through a small opening in the door. We then softly pushed the door open and went into the room. As soon as he heard our footsteps, he withdrew his hands from the water and hid them behind his back. This was his attempt to deceive us and to lie to us. At that time I discovered that even though a child may have just learned to walk and may not have seen anything deceitful or know how to speak, he is already able to deceive others. No one needs to teach him to do this. Man’s deceitful behavior is nothing other than the expression of the deceitful life within man. The fallen life within man is deceitful, and this “fruit” will be manifested whenever there is an opportunity.
We should not consider that people sin and make mistakes because they are under a bad influence, nor that they commit sins by learning from others. Once, when I was preaching the gospel to some friends, they argued that people do bad things because they have come into contact with bad people. Their concept was that people would not gamble if they had never met others who gambled, or that people would not take bribes if they had not met those who broke the law and took bribes. They also believed that people would behave properly and uprightly if they were put in a good environment. After listening to them, I gave a crude illustration that expressed the proper concept. I told them of a person who owned a dog and a cat at home for a long period of time. The two pets lived together for some time and became friendly toward each other. However, the cat was not influenced by the dog’s life, nor was the dog influenced by the cat’s life. When a mouse appeared, the cat immediately threw itself onto the mouse, while the dog remained motionless, and when a stranger came to visit, the dog barked, but the cat remained quiet and did not move. Although the dog and the cat had been living together for a long time, the mouse-catching cat did not learn to bark, and the barking dog did not learn how to catch mice. Rather, both pets continued to live according to the life each had within.
This illustration shows that the expression of man’s living is not based on the environment but on the life within. When a person meets a gambler and begins to gamble after staying with the gambler for some time, it may seem that this person began to gamble because he was affected and influenced by the gambler. Actually, this person began to gamble because of the sinful life within him. Both the gambler and the one who was influenced to gamble have a sinful life within them; thus, the gambler was able to influence the other person. This can be compared to a situation where there are two cats in a home. When one cat catches a mouse, the other cat will salivate. Since the two cats have the same kind of life, the second cat has the same tendency to catch mice as the first. One person is easily influenced by another to do things such as gambling or dancing because the life within both persons loves gambling and dancing. Since the life is the same, the tastes, the preferences, and the expressions also are the same. This proves that every kind of life produces a living of its own kind. We have improper and dishonest expressions simply because the life within us is improper and dishonest.
The fallen human life is not only evil, improper, and dishonest but also frail and mortal. Our human life is frail in every respect, whether physically, psychologically, or morally. A person who is physically strong may lose his life when he is hit by a car, a person who is psychologically healthy can easily become angry or irrational when he is irritated, and people with a relatively high moral standard can stumble and fall when they encounter certain temptations. It is difficult for man to overcome all temptation.
If we consider our past experience, we will realize that it was often difficult for us to prevail when we encountered temptation. Many young students have been brought up well in their family life, but when they graduate from high school and enter into university, their parents may repeatedly remind them not to pick up bad habits. However, even though they solemnly promise and determine to keep their parents’ word, not long after the school term begins, they are tempted by their schoolmates and are soon stumbled. They stumble not because they have no determination but because the life of fallen man is frail and unable to endure the slightest test or withstand temptation.
The life of fallen man is not only frail but also gradually decaying, with death as its final end. No matter how long the human life is, it cannot escape from death. Thus, the human life is frail and mortal.
Although the actual condition of the fallen human life is evil and also frail and mortal, God desires to bring salvation to man. We need to see that God’s salvation is not according to man’s natural concept. All the virtuous men and philosophers from ancient times to modern times, and from the East to the West, including the Chinese Confucianists and philosophers, have focused on correcting man’s behavior. They have all given some moral teachings for man to practice so that he may change his outward behavior. However, the way of God’s salvation is altogether contrary to man’s ideas. God’s intention is not merely to correct man’s outward behavior. Rather, God desires to change the life of man within. God’s salvation does not begin from man’s outward condition; rather, it begins by God’s working on man’s inner being. God does not directly change man’s outward behavior but enters into man to change his inner life. We all need to see God’s way. In fact, it is impossible to change man’s behavior (Jer. 13:23). Moreover, even if man’s outward behavior could be changed, man would still have the same evil life within.
One day a man walked across the street and saw a peddler selling clay dolls. The clay dolls looked white, clean, and beautiful on the outside, so he bought one for his daughter. His daughter liked the clay doll very much and not only caressed its face but also kissed it often. After some time, the clay doll’s white and clean face became blurry and dirty due to the daughter’s continual caressing and kissing. The little girl recalled that every time her face became dirty, her mother washed her face in a basin of water. Thus, she took a basin of water and scrubbed the doll’s face in the same way. However, she found that the more she washed it, the darker the doll’s face became. Eventually, neither the nose nor the eyes of the doll could be identified, and the doll’s face became nothing but a piece of clay. She broke into tears, and her father rushed in to comfort her. He asked her why she was crying. After he discovered that the clay doll no longer looked nice, he said to her gently, “Silly girl, this clay doll is not washable. The more you wash it, the dirtier it becomes, but if you do not wash it, it remains clean.”
We need to consider what our situation is. Are we dirty outwardly or are we dirty inwardly, and are our outward good deeds more or less than our filthiness within? Many people do not sense how dirty they are until they try to improve themselves. Many misbehave and do indecent things without realizing how dirty they are. However, when they decide to improve their behavior, they begin to realize that the filthiness within them is incurable (17:9). A loose person may not sense the extent of his looseness, but when he desires to restrain his looseness, he discovers that it is impossible to do so.
A competent and cultivated lady once came to see me. She looked very grieved and told me that she had an extremely difficult problem. At first, I was worried and thought that, based on her countenance, her problem was unsolvable. When she told me the details, I realized her problem was that she was unable to control her temper. She said, “I have always hoped that I would be able to refrain from losing my temper in the presence of my husband so that we could have a happy and satisfying marriage and a pleasant family. However, the more I try not to lose my temper, the more I lose my temper. When I do not try to control my temper, I do not lose my temper as often, but when I try to suppress it and determine not to lose my temper in front of my husband, it seems that something within me involuntarily causes me to lose my temper. This problem has damaged the sweetness between us as a couple and has affected the pleasant atmosphere in our home. My losing my temper is against my will, and although I have tried my best to improve, I am becoming more helpless in this matter. Please tell me what to do.” I responded calmly, “Your problem is not unusual. We all lose our temper because the life within us is a temper-losing life. If we were able to refrain from losing our temper, it would be a great miracle, because the life within us is against this.” She replied, “What then should I do? I have tried different methods, but none have worked. As a preacher, you must have a good way to cultivate yourself and restrain yourself from losing your temper.” Then I told her that all the methods of self-cultivation do not work. The more we try to cultivate ourselves, the more we will lose our temper. This can be compared to a little child walking with two cups in his hands. When left alone, he may not break the cups, but if his mother calls out to him and tells him not to break the cups, he may become nervous and drop the two cups.
I told this lady that losing or not losing our temper is not a matter of self-cultivation but a matter of life. She was puzzled by my words and wondered how man could have his life changed. I told her that our concept is to correct our behavior, but God’s approach and the way of God’s salvation is to change our life. Then I said to her, “Suppose you owned two apple trees, and one produced small and sour fruit, but the other produced large and sweet fruit. How would you make the tree that produces small fruit produce large fruit?” She responded quickly, “Simply cut off some branches from the apple tree with large and sweet fruit. Then break off some branches from the tree with small and sour fruit and graft in their place the branches from the tree with large fruit. The two will then be grafted together and will grow together. After some time of growth, the tree that formerly produced small fruit will produce large and sweet fruit.”
After her response, I asked her to consider whether this is an improvement of behavior or a grafting of two lives to become one. To improve our behavior is similar to getting rid of all the sour fruit on a tree that produces small and sour fruit, with the expectation that in the next season the produce from the same tree will be large and sweet fruit. We may try to improve our behavior by trying to rid ourselves of the “sour fruit” of telling lies, stealing, and despising others, but the fruit that will be produced later will remain the same. No matter how hard man tries to improve himself, the fruit borne by him will not be better than before, because the life within him remains the same. Grafting, however, is not merely to improve the behavior of one branch but to impart and join to one branch the life of another tree. With this example, the lady understood that grafting is not an improvement in behavior but two lives becoming one life. For grafting to take place, both trees have to be cut so that the branches of one may be grafted into the other. The fruit produced from such a grafting is different from the original. This is the way of God’s salvation (Rom. 11:17), that is, to graft sinners, the branches of a wild olive tree, into Christ, God’s cultivated olive tree, so that they may partake of Christ’s riches and thus bear “sweet fruit” to express the riches of God in Christ.
In John 3:3 the Lord Jesus said, “Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” To be born anew is to be born again, and to be born again is to have a change in life. Through the new birth the fallen and corrupted human life is terminated, and we receive a good life, the life of God. God desires to enter into man to become his life. Jesus Christ is the Savior of man because He can become man’s life (Col. 3:4). Christianity today has overlooked the matter of Jesus Christ coming to be life to man (John 10:10). They speak mainly of Jesus Christ being the Savior, but they do not emphasize that, even more, Christ is life to man. If He could not come into man as life, He would not be man’s Savior. Jesus Christ is able to save man because He is able to enter into man to be his life. If a man receives Jesus Christ as life, He will enter into him to become his new life.
In response to this, some may ask, “How do I receive the Lord Jesus as my life?” The answer to this question is simple: just as two trees need to be cut in order for the branches of one to be grafted into another, a person who wants to receive Jesus as his life needs to be “cut” by humbling himself and admitting that his life is corrupt, imperfect, and improper. On His side, Jesus too was “cut” when He died on the cross to bear man’s sins, to terminate man’s sinful life, and to release God’s divine life from within Him (1 Pet. 2:24; Rom. 6:6; John 19:34). A person who wants to receive Jesus needs not only to humble himself before Jesus Christ but also to confess his sins and receive Jesus Christ as his Savior and life. Then the resurrected Christ, who is the Spirit and is also life (2 Cor. 3:17; John 11:25), will enter into him.
If anyone is willing to empty his heart and humble himself, confess his corruption and sins, and open his heart and spirit to receive the Lord Jesus as his Savior, Christ, who is the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45), will enter into him, touch his deepest part, and become his life. Thus, he will experience a wonderful and great change inwardly. This is the way of God’s salvation.
