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I. Regeneration
А. Born of the Spirit
B. Born again
C. The way to be regenerated
II. The need of regeneration
А. Because we are corrupted
B. Because we lack God's life
III. Regeneration versus the natural concept
А. Receiving the life and nature of God
B. Not outward decoration
C. Living as sons of God
IV. The constant receiving of the Spirit
In the next five lessons we will see some major aspects of the Spirit's work in the believers. The Spirit's work is mainly within the believers; it is for the dispensing of God into man. Regeneration is the reality and initiation of the divine dispensing. As the Spirit, God dispenses His life and nature into our being. Only by being the Spirit is God able to regenerate us.
[According to the Bible, to be regenerated is to be born of the Spirit (John 3:3-6). Before regeneration our spirit was dead. "And you, being dead in your offenses and sins" (Eph. 2:1). But at the time we believed, God's Spirit came into us and mingled with our spirit (1 Cor. 6:17; Rom. 8:16). Thus, our spirit obtained God's life and was made alive. Whereas our parents gave us our natural birth, God's Spirit has given us our spiritual birth.]
[Regeneration also means to be born again or born anew. Originally we were born of our parents, but now we are born once more, this time of God. The Bible calls this experience being born again. When we were born of our parents, we obtained human life. When we were born of God, we obtained God's divine life.]
[How can God's Spirit enter into man's spirit? When man hears the Gospel or reads the word of the Scripture, God's Spirit works in him and causes him to feel that he has sinned and is corrupted; hence, he is reproved for sin and righteousness and judgment (John 16:8). When man sees himself as a sinner, recognizes his corruption, and is willing to repent, then God's Spirit causes him to see that the Lord Jesus is his Savior, and that He died on the cross to shed His blood for the remission of sin. At this moment, he automatically believes in the Lord and receives Him as his Savior. Once he receives the Lord as his Savior, God's Spirit enters into his spirit and puts God's life in it, causing him to be regenerated.]
[We need to be regenerated because of two conditions. From the negative side, we need to be regenerated because our life has been corrupted and has become evil, and cannot be improved from evil to good. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jer. 17:9). "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil" (Jer. 13:23). "For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, nothing good dwells" (Rom. 7:18).]
[From the positive side, however, we need to be regenerated because we do not have the life of God. Of all God's creation, man has the highest development of life. No plant or animal has a higher life than man. Yet man, the highest created life, needs to receive another life for his completion. He needs the uncreated, eternal life of God. When Adam was created, he obtained only created life; he did not at that time obtain God's uncreated life. Likewise, when we were born of our parents, we obtained only the natural, created human life. That birth gave us an entrance into the human kingdom. But for us to enter the kingdom of God, we must have another birth from another source. We must be born of God. By our first birth we were born into the kingdom of darkness, but by our second birth we are transferred into the kingdom of the Son of His love (Col. 1:13).
God's purpose is that we may obtain His own uncreated life and be transformed by this life into His image to be like Him. Even if our human life had not been corrupted by the fall of man in Genesis 3, we would still need to be regenerated. In Genesis 1 and 2, Adam was without sin, yet he was void of God's life. Thus, God placed him before the tree of life that he might receive the life of God and be regenerated. God's purpose in creating man is not merely to obtain a sinless man, but even more to have a God-man, one who has God's own life and nature.]
[It is the greatest wonder in the entire universe that human beings could be begotten of God, and sinners could be made children of God! Through such an amazing divine birth we have received the divine life, which is the eternal life (1 John 1:2), as the divine seed sown into our being.]
[Suppose a dog could be born of its master and receive its master's life and nature. Such an event would surely catch the attention of the news media. Would it not be a great miracle for the life and nature of a human being to be imparted to a dog and to make that dog a man-dog? Such a dog would not simply be washed, decorated, and beautified. It would actually have the life and nature of a human being. As astounding as it may seem, through regeneration we have received the life and nature of God.]
[This understanding of regeneration shatters the natural concept. Using the illustration of a dog receiving a human life, we see that the natural concept is merely that a dog can be cleansed and beautified. In principle, many Christians are occupied with cleansing people and beautifying them, instead of helping them receive the divine life and nature through regeneration. God's way is not merely to wash us, beautify us, and decorate us outwardly. His intention in His economy is to regenerate us, to cause us to be sons of God born of Him. This matter is unspeakably great.
There is no doubt that God's salvation includes cleansing by the redeeming blood of Christ. In a very real sense, we, the saved ones, have been cleansed by God. Being cleansed, however, is not the highlight of God's salvation. The highlight is that God has regenerated us, that He has actually imparted His life and nature into us to make us His sons. Now we are not God's sons-in-law — we are the sons of God in life. Certainly there is no greater wonder in the whole universe than that sinful men by being regenerated can become sons of God. Many today are seeking wonders and miracles. But they do not realize that there is no greater miracle than regeneration. By regeneration fallen people become sons of God. In His salvation God has made us, fallen sinners, His divine sons.]
[Not many Christians realize that they are sons of God and that God wants them to live the life of a son of God. After they are saved, most Christians try to improve themselves or to do something to please God. In their efforts to improve the natural man or to do something to please God, the vast majority of the Lord's people are missing the mark of God's economy. God's salvation is for His economy, and His economy is not a matter of ethics. Rather, by His salvation according to His economy, God has regenerated us by the divine life that we may be His sons and live as sons of God. God's goal is not simply that we improve our behavior and thereby do good instead of evil. It is not God's purpose merely to have a number of good people. God's desire is that we live as sons of God. God wants us not simply to be cleansed. He wants us to live as sons of God. If we would do this, we need to receive the Spirit of God. We have been born of the Spirit to receive the Spirit.]
[Galatians 3:5 says, "He therefore Who is supplying to you the Spirit and doing works of power among you, is it by the works of law or by the hearing of faith?" This verse indicates that God continues to supply us the Spirit. We may use electricity as an illustration. After electricity has been installed in a building, electricity is supplied continually to the building. Likewise, after God regenerated us by His Spirit to make us His sons, He has been continually supplying to us the Spirit. Nothing is more crucial than the constant receiving of the Spirit.]
Instead of trying to behave religiously we should pray, ["Lord Jesus, I open myself to You. I thank You that I have been born of God, born of the all-inclusive Spirit. Lord, this Spirit is still transmitting something of You into my being. I thank You, Lord, for this marvelous transmission."] Then we will be the sons of God living by and enjoying the divine dispensing of the Triune God. Hallelujah for regeneration!
Regeneration is the initiation of the divine dispensing. When God's Spirit enters into a person, his spirit is made alive; he is born of the Spirit. This is to be born again. It is a spiritual birth in addition to our natural birth. Man needs regeneration not only because he has been corrupted but even the more because he lacks God's life. Regeneration is entirely different from the natural concept of outwardly decorating people. Regeneration causes people to receive the very life and nature of God and makes them sons of God. The believers should continue to live by this life which is transmitted by the Spirit.
