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In relation to leading new believers, we have the following publications: Messages for Building Up New Believers by Watchman Nee and Crucial Truths in the Holy Scriptures. After serious consideration before the Lord, I feel to give some practical material for teaching new believers.
Lesson 1 is “Knowing That We Are Saved.” In leading new believers, we need to lay a firm and solid foundation in the matter of salvation. Otherwise, we cannot expect them to grow, to walk the way of the Lord, to consecrate, or to serve the Lord. A person must be clear concerning his salvation, having a firm and solid foundation, in order to grow, walk, consecrate, and serve the Lord properly. Hence, the foundation is very important.
There is no need for me to speak much. I will merely point out the main items. However, when this lesson is presented to new believers, it should involve three or four sessions.
Ephesians 1:4 says that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. First Peter 1:2 says that the believers were all chosen by God. In helping people to know that they are saved, we must begin with God’s choosing before the foundation of the world. We should say to the brothers and sisters, “Your salvation is based on God’s choosing you from the beginning. You must not think that your salvation is a coincidence or that you took the initiative to believe in the Lord. No! The beginning, the initiation, rests with God, and it started even before time began. In eternity past God chose you. Before God’s hand did anything for you, He already had a plan in His heart. In His heart He chose you long before His hand saved you. Because God chose you, you were born in an age in which the gospel is easily heard, and you live in a region where it is easy to contact the gospel. His sovereign authority coordinated the time, space, and environment in such a way that you were brought to a situation where you could only respond by believing in the Lord; you had to turn to Him. Believing in the Lord is the same as being a man. It is altogether of Him, not of you. You did not initiate it; He directed it. It did not begin with you; it began with Him before time began. It was He who chose you in Christ before the foundation of the world.”
God predestinated everyone He chose. Ephesians 1:5 says that God predestinated us. Romans 8:29 says that those whom He foreknew, He also predestinated. This predestination is what we call “marking out beforehand.” When we select an object, after we have picked it out, we may put a mark on it; this is to “mark out” the object. In Greek, predestination has the meaning of “marking out.” In his translation of Ephesians 1:5, Darby uses the phrase having marked...out. God not only chose the believers in eternity past; He also marked them out. This is very clear. Once someone is chosen, he is destined; being chosen comes first, then being destined. In eternity God chose us and then marked us out, that is, predestinated us. Therefore, salvation was our destiny.
We should speak in this way concerning selection and predestination only after a person is saved. If, while preaching the gospel, we say that all those who are saved are predestinated by God, having no way to escape, and that anyone not predestinated by God cannot be saved, people may then say, “Fine, I am not predestinated, so forget it.”
D. L. Moody encouraged his seminary students to preach the gospel. A student, who heard Moody’s teaching on predestination in class, was impressed and did not dare to preach the gospel, because he had a problem. He said to Moody, “I dare not preach the gospel now.” Moody asked him why, and he said, “When I am preaching, I look at a person and consider whether he is predestinated; I look at another and consider whether he is chosen. If God has not chosen and predestinated these ones, and they are eventually persuaded by me to believe in the Lord, will I not be making a big mistake?” Moody then replied, “Brother, just do your best to persuade him. As long as you can persuade someone to believe in the Lord, he has been chosen and predestinated by God.” Then Moody went on to say, “At the entrance of heaven, the words whoever will may come are written on the outside; this means that whoever believes can be saved. But once a person passes through the entrance and looks back, he will see written on the inside, ‘You have been predestinated.’ Outside of the entrance is whoever, but inside of the gate is predestinated.” Thus, when leading those who have passed through the entrance and have been baptized, we should say, “You have been predestinated by God. You believed in the Lord and were saved because God picked you out and marked you out a long time ago.”
Hebrews 3:1 speaks of the “holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling.” Every believer is called by God from the heavens.
Romans 8:30 says, “Those whom He [i.e., God] predestinated, these He also called.” Once He selected, He predestinated; once He predestinated, He called. If God had not called us, how could we have turned to the Lord? If God had not called us, how could we have heard the gospel? The gospel is the voice of God calling us. Thus, there is a hymn that says, “The Lord is calling you today.” Today God is calling with the voice of the gospel.
Romans 1:7 speaks of the “called saints.” Some Bible versions render this phrase as called to be saints; this is an incorrect translation. The proper translation is “called saints.” All believers are called saints. We can be saved and sanctified, thus becoming saints because God has called us.
Ephesians 1:18 says, “That you may know what is the hope of His calling.” God’s calling is a calling of grace, in which is the greatest hope. The first step in God’s saving, after His choosing and predestination, is His calling us.
Ephesians 4:1 says, “Walk worthily of the calling with which you were called.” Therefore, God’s calling is a great thing, not a small matter. We need to let all the new believers know that they were saved unto the Lord because they received God’s calling.
After God calls us, there is repentance and belief. Once we believe, God sprinkles us with the blood shed on the cross by His Son. Without the sprinkling of the blood, God has no way to do the subsequent steps of the work of salvation in us. This is because we were filthy and sinful.
First Peter 1:2 refers to the “sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” The sprinkling of the blood of the Lord Jesus upon us is its application. We were evil, filthy, and full of transgressions, God’s condemnation was upon us, and there was no way for the record of our sins to be annulled. But when the redeeming blood of the Lord Jesus was sprinkled upon us, it solved all these problems. The blood not only covered our sins; it also purged them away. The sprinkling of the blood upon us enables God to continue with many works of grace within us.
As soon as the blood is sprinkled upon us, we are redeemed. The blood is for redemption.
Ephesians 1:7 says, “In whom we have redemption through His blood.” The emphasis in redemption is on being redeemed, not on being saved. Although there is the connotation of being saved, being saved does not come first; redemption does. After we sinned, we came under the condemnation of God’s righteous law. We needed to pay the price of the righteous requirement of God’s law in order to be freed from the law. We were bound by the law and were under the condemnation of the righteous requirement of the law. However, the Lord Jesus shed His blood on the cross, satisfying the righteous requirement of the law and paying that price for us. Hence, as soon as the blood was sprinkled upon us, we were delivered from the law and freed from the condemnation of the law. This is redemption from the law through the blood of the Lord Jesus.
The price of redemption is the precious blood of the Lord Jesus. First Peter 1:19 says that we were redeemed “with precious blood, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot, the blood of Christ.” To be redeemed is to be bought. We were redeemed by the Lord’s precious blood as the ransom. This is our being purchased by God. Therefore, Acts 20:28 says that God obtained the believers through His own blood. Because the blood has been sprinkled upon us, we are redeemed and freed from the law unto God.
Surely a redeemed person’s sins have been forgiven. Acts 10:43, 1 John 2:12, and Colossians 2:13 show that as soon as we believe in the Lord and are redeemed, God forgives us of all our sins, and the record of our sins is completely settled before God. All the sins that we committed before God are forgiven and dealt with once and for all, and we are no longer condemned. Since we have been sprinkled by the blood and have thus been redeemed, our sins, regardless of how great, how numerous, how deep, and how serious, are forgiven by God.
We are not only forgiven; we are also washed. Being forgiven means that the liability for sins is gone. Being washed means that the record of sins is gone. For example, any debt I owe is recorded in an account book. If you relieve me of my debt, I will no longer be responsible to repay it. However, my account book will still have a record of the debt I owed you. If we could use a chemical solution to completely remove this record from the account book, there would no longer be any trace of the record. God not only forgives us, but He also washes us, washing away the traces of our sins. This is clearly shown in Revelation 1:5 and 1 Corinthians 6:11. He used His blood to wash away our sins. God has washed us in Christ because we believed in the Lord.
The emphasis of being sanctified is not on becoming holy and pure. The word sanctified in the original text, whether in the Old or New Testament, means being separated. To be sanctified is to be separated. A person who has been called by God, sprinkled with the blood, redeemed, forgiven, and washed has spontaneously been separated unto God. Previously, he was among the worldly people, but now he has been separated unto God. Formerly, he was with sinners and in a crowd of sinners. Now he has been separated unto God. This separation unto God is to be sanctified.
First Corinthians 6:11; 1:2; and Romans 1:7 show that once a person is saved, God separates him unto Himself; he belongs to God and is thereby sanctified.
When we eat, the food on the table is sanctified through our prayer (1 Tim. 4:5). Formerly, the food was common and was intended for worldly people, but our prayer separates the food unto God for His use, thereby making it holy. This is what sanctification means. Likewise, we were once the descendants of Adam, the people of the world; we were in a crowd of sinners and were for the world and sin. One day, however, God called us, sprinkled us with His blood, and separated us unto the name of the Lord. Once separated in this way, we became sanctified.
Some people think that a person is first justified and then sanctified. According to experience, we need to be justified before we can have a sanctified living. Thus, it can be said that sanctification follows justification. However, as a matter of fact and position, we are sanctified and then justified. When 1 Corinthians 6:11 speaks of being sanctified and justified, the sequence is that we are washed, sanctified, and justified.
Unless a person is sprinkled with the blood, redeemed, forgiven, washed, and sanctified by God, God has no way to justify him. In order to be justified by God, a person must be sprinkled with the blood of the Son of God, redeemed by God, forgiven by God, washed by God, and sanctified by God unto God. Such a person is no longer condemned by God or by God’s law. Hence, God can justify him. This is not by a person’s works but by Christ and His redemption. This is presented in 1 Corinthians 6:11 and Romans 5:1.
Once a person is justified, he is reconciled to God. In the past we were God’s enemies because of sin, but now by the blood we are forgiven, washed, separated unto God, in harmony with God, and justified by God. Consequently, we are reconciled to God. This reconciliation includes acceptance. As soon as we are reconciled to God, God accepts our very person.
Colossians 1:20-22 shows that we, God’s enemies, have been reconciled to God by the blood that the Lord Jesus shed on the cross. Romans 5:9-11 says that since we have been justified because of the Lord Jesus, we are also reconciled to God because of Him, or through Him. Now we no longer have any problems before God and are accepted by Him. Since all enmity between God and us has been removed, we have been completely reconciled to God and are in harmony with Him; we are acceptable and pleasing to God.
We are now thoroughly cleansed outwardly and have no more problems with God. However, this is not enough, because our life within is still natural and of the old creation. Thus, we need another life; we need regeneration.
God’s salvation has two aspects: inward and outward. The outward aspect can be compared to putting on clothes, and the inward aspect, to eating. For a person to exist, he needs to put on clothes in order to look proper, and he needs to eat in order to survive. He needs to take care of both these inward and outward aspects. Likewise, God’s salvation also takes care of both our inward and outward needs.
In Luke 15 there are two aspects to what the prodigal son obtained from the father when he returned home. The first thing the father did was outward; he gave his son a robe, a ring, and sandals to wear. When the son returned, he was like a beggar, exceedingly ragged and filthy in his appearance. There was no way for him to enter into the father’s house in such a condition because the father’s house was grand and beautiful, and his beggar-like appearance did not match the father’s house. Thus, while he was still outside the house, the father changed his clothes and put a robe, ring, and sandals on him. He now looked proper, matching the condition of the father’s house; consequently, he could enter the father’s house. This, however, is merely outward redemption, not inward salvation. Therefore, after he entered the father’s house, the father said, “Bring the fattened calf; slaughter it, and let us eat and be merry” (v. 23).
This parable is a type of salvation. It shows that the Lord Jesus in His redemption has become our outward robe of righteousness in order that we may be redeemed and accepted by God. It also shows that He is like a slaughtered calf, giving us His life so that we can take Him in as our life supply, satisfying us within and making us merry.
Hence, everything that God does in the first ten items is outside of us. He chose us, predestinated us, called us, sprinkled us with His blood, redeemed us, forgave us, washed us, sanctified us, justified us, reconciled us to Himself, and accepted us; all these items are outward. These items are very precious, and there is no doubt that we are saved persons. We have no more problems before God, before the law, and before His righteousness. We have the basis, the proof, and the assurance that we are saved. However, God’s salvation does not stop here. God’s salvation must go one step further so that we can receive His life within, so that we can be regenerated.
Regeneration means to be born of God. This is to be begotten of God, to have God Himself enter into us as life, and to be born of Him.
We need to realize that if man had not fallen, he would have only needed to receive life within him; this is the story of the garden of Eden in Genesis 2. There, man did not have the problem of needing clothing; he had no need of being redeemed outwardly. It was not until the fall of man in Genesis 3 that clothing became a necessity. As soon as man fell, he felt ashamed and sewed fig leaves together to make a loincloth to cover his body. Eventually, God made a coat of lamb’s skin to clothe him. The coat of skin refers to Christ being our righteousness so that we may be accepted by God outwardly. This is the outward aspect of redemption, which is due to man’s fall. If man had not fallen, the story between man and God would only have an inward aspect related to life. However, we are all under the effects of the fall. Like prodigal sons, we have returned to God’s presence; hence, we must first be dealt with outwardly. We must be justified and accepted by God in Christ. Only then can God come into us to enliven us, causing us to be regenerated to have God’s life.
First Peter 1:3 says that God “has regenerated us unto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” First Peter 1:23 says that we have been regenerated through the living word of God. First John 5:1 says that we have been begotten of God. Furthermore, John 1:12-13 says that we, who have received the Lord, were all begotten of God. There are also two additional verses concerning regeneration. John 3:3 says, “Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God,” and verse 5 says, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
Regeneration is having God enter into us as life — having the life of God in addition to our human life. This is the second life, the second birth; hence, it is called regeneration. In man’s first birth he is born of his parents, thereby receiving Adam’s life. In his second birth he is born of the Spirit and of God, thereby obtaining God’s life. Regeneration is to be born of God.
Once we are regenerated, we pass out of death into life; we are made alive. The Bible shows that formerly we were not only sinners; we were also dead. Therefore, it is not enough for our sins to be washed away by the blood of His Son. We also need to be regenerated by His life so that we can pass out of death into life and be made alive.
If God only cleanses us outwardly without regenerating us inwardly, His salvation would be like the work of a mortician. A mortician may clean a dead person outwardly, but the person is still dead even though he is clean. This is not the ultimate goal of God’s salvation. In His salvation God not only wants to cleanse us, to take away our sins; He also wants to regenerate us, to make us alive. Because we were dead in our sins, we needed God’s forgiveness and God’s regeneration in order that we may be made alive (Eph. 2:5). As soon as we are regenerated, we pass out of death into life; we are made alive.
John 5:24 says that he who believes “has passed out of death into life.” Ephesians 2:5 says that God “made us alive together with Christ.” Originally, we were dead in our offenses and sins, but now God has made us alive together with Christ. Colossians 2:13 says that God made us alive, “having forgiven us all our offenses.”
Being made alive is a crucial point in God’s salvation. If we do not have life and are not made alive, we can never walk, grow, or serve God. We can walk, grow, act, and serve God on the basis of having the life of God and being regenerated and made alive.
Those who have been made alive still need to be resurrected. To be resurrected is to rise up, to transcend. In John 11 Lazarus was not only made alive in the tomb, but he rose up and left the tomb. Ephesians 2:5 says that God “made us alive together with Christ,” and verse 6 says that God “raised us up together with Him,” Christ. In the original text, to be resurrected is to be raised. A believer who does not walk or serve the Lord has merely been made alive; he has not been raised. In John 5:8 the Lord Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “Rise, take up your mat and walk.” This is resurrection. We are saved not only to the extent of being made alive but also to the extent of being resurrected. This is similar to the lame man at the door of the temple who was healed in Acts 3:8 he was “walking and leaping and praising God.” After receiving the Lord’s healing, he did not sit in one place, saying, “Hallelujah, praise God, I am made alive; I am made alive.” He did not do this. He walked, leaped, and praised God. This is resurrection. God’s salvation is to save us to the extent that we are not only made alive but are resurrected, raised up, and able to act and live.
The moment we believe in the Lord and are saved, we ascend to the heavens and become heavenly people. We are transcendent. Ephesians 2:6 says, “Raised us up together with Him and seated us together with Him in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.” We have not only been raised up; we have also ascended. This is God’s salvation, and we should say, “Hallelujah!” We may not have any feeling when we hear this, but we need to rejoice and say, “We are all in the heavens! We have not only been raised up; today we are all in the heavens!”
Ephesians 2:6 not only says that we have ascended but that we are sitting in the heavenlies. We were formerly lying in a tomb, but we have been made alive, raised up, ascended, and seated in another place — in the heavenlies; this is salvation. If we do not know of our being seated in the heavenlies, we cannot walk properly on earth. In order to walk the path on earth, we need to be seated in the heavenlies. This is to be saved; this is God’s salvation. Someone may ask, “How can we go to the heavenlies to be seated there?” This is not superstition, nor is it foolish talk. Consider a lamp in a building that is unconnected to a power plant. However, if the electricity in the power plant is connected to the lamp, the lamp becomes connected to the power plant. Likewise, we have ascended and are sitting in the heavenlies because the Lord who is sitting in the heavenlies has been connected to us. It is not that we have ascended and are now sitting in the heavenlies; rather, we have ascended and are sitting in the heavenlies in Christ.
Once we are in the heavenlies, we are renewed inside and out. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away; they have become new. We are altogether new from inside to outside. In the heavenlies everything is new. These points can be seen in Titus 3:5 and 2 Corinthians 5:17.
When we are saved, our eyes are opened to see. Acts 26:18 says that God opens our eyes. The Lord’s gospel and His life have illuminated our eyes. In the past we were blind, but now we are saved, and our eyes have been opened and illuminated so that we can see. Seeing does not only require life within, but it also requires a position. Although I may be living, I can still be in darkness if I am in a basement. But, praise God, today we have ascended, and we are in God’s light. We not only have life inwardly; we are also in the light outwardly. We are altogether an illuminated person in God’s salvation.
At this point we are completely free; nothing can bind us, and nothing can control us. Formerly, we had sin, death, Satan, the world, the old creation, and the law. We were blind; everything was controlling and binding us. Before we were saved, we were not free; we were slaves of sin and under the authority of Satan. But now that we have been saved in the many aspects mentioned above, we have indeed been set free! This is the freedom spoken of in Galatians 5:1 and 13 and in John 8:36.
This does not mean that we are saved only when we reach this point; rather, it means that being saved includes so much and is so rich. This is what it means to be saved in 2 Timothy 1:9, Titus 3:5, and Romans 5:9-10. In these verses salvation does not merely refer to being forgiven outwardly; it also refers to being regenerated inwardly, and includes the rich content of being in ascension, being seated in the heavens, being renewed, having our sight recovered, and being set free.
