Every religion makes some contribution to the well-being of society. Every one of them has a point in common: giving man something or bringing man towards some goal. Although the methods they employ may be different and what they offer may vary, all of them have something to offer. Believing in Christ naturally involves receiving something from Him. Now we want to see what Christ offers to man.
That man may receive regeneration
What we are about to see are not the contributions made by Christianity to nations, governments, the world, and society at large. We want to study a more basic, crucial, and practical matter. What Christ gives to man is regeneration. When we believe into Him we receive regeneration. We have to admit that regeneration is a big subject in the Bible. We can only take a general glance at its meaning.
If you read through the Bible carefully, you will discover that it emphasizes life. In numerous passages it alludes to life. On this earth there are many kinds of life with many different expressions. Every life has its own unique expression. You can identify a life by its distinctive expression.
The expressions of different lives
Take for example a bird. You know that it has life because it is living. You can also identify the distinctive expression of this bird. What is this expression? Even a child knows that a bird can fly. The flying of a bird is the distinctive expression of its life. There is such a uniqueness with the bird’s life. When this unique trait is manifested, it expresses itself in flying.
Again look at a fish. Not only does the fish have life, but it expresses the characteristics of its life by swimming in the water.
If we compare the fish with the bird, we can see that though both have life, the expressions of their individual lives are different. A bird can only fly; it cannot swim. A fish, on the other hand, can only do the opposite. It is impossible for a bird to swim, even if you try your best to teach it. In the same manner, there is no way that you can teach a fish to fly in the air. Different lives have different expressions. The characteristics each displays allow us to identify them as different lives.
Since the mode of living is determined by the life it possesses, the question of life has nothing to do with learning and imitation. If the lives are different, there is no way to change one into another by a learning process. The only possibility is to have a change of life. If the life is changed, the expression of it will also change. If the life remains the same, it is impossible to alter the expression.
A change of behavior follows a change of life
Suppose that a person is very interested in the research of small animals. He wants very much to see a bird swim. To him nothing would be more thrilling than to be able to train a little bird to swim. So he starts teaching a little bird to dive under water, breathe in the water, flap its wings, and exercise its claws in the proper manner. Do you think that he will succeed?
Suppose he continues his experiment by changing the diet of the bird or by altering its posture in sleep, etc., in order to adapt it to a life in water. Will he succeed? No! His doctrines may work. But the life of the bird is different. This life can fly comfortably in the air, but it cannot be made to swim in the water.
The kind of life determines the kind of expression. This is a law. You cannot change it. If you try to change the expression without changing the life, you will totally fail. Based on the principle of this law, we have a most vital and basic doctrine in our faith — regeneration.
Regeneration is an exchange of life
Every expression of our living as a human being is based upon the kind of life we possess. A corrupted living is caused by a corrupted life. To change the mode of living, we have to first change the life. If the life is changed, the expression of it will also change. There will be no problem with the latter when the former is taken care of. Otherwise, any endeavor will be as futile as training a bird to swim or coaching a fish to fly. Regeneration is an exchange of life. What Christ offers us is not merely a change of behavior but regeneration based upon a change of life.
One thing we unanimously admit: the human life we possess is corrupt and evil. On the one hand, we blame the wickedness in the world and the demoralizing circumstances around us, but on the other hand, we have to admit that we are basically evil and filthy within ourselves. We realize that everywhere in the world there is a base scramble for power and position, but we also realize that we are fully filled with jealousy and pride. We admit that the heart of man is stubborn and rash. There is not a gentle or loving man. We are not only sinful, but exceedingly wicked. We know that sin is abhorrent, giving no peace to our conscience. We also wish or try to deal with sin and rid ourselves of it. The basic phenomenon of our life is a total involvement with sin.
The expression of living is sin
I have been preaching for more than ten years. I have met many people. But I have not yet known of anyone who claimed to be sinless. In all the places I have traveled through, I have yet to encounter a single individual who can boast of his perfection. Everyone admits to a greater or lesser extent that there are dark spots and flaws in his living. We all have to confess that our way of living is not proper.
Not reformation but regeneration
Based on this realization, man begins to think of ways to change his mode of living. This is the purpose of so many religions.
But can this be changed? It is true that man should be clean, courteous, and law-abiding and should be taught and cultivated in these virtues. But what is the purpose of this education and cultivation? He may improve a little outwardly, but can he be changed inwardly? We know perfectly well that the inward parts are impossible to be changed. We are not setting up a debate with other religions; we are presenting only this characteristic! A very crucial point in our faith is the matter of regeneration, not the matter of reformation.
A corrupt life will not exhibit clean living
Our emphasis rests on this fact: not only is the expression of human living corrupt and sinful, but the life itself is corruption and man himself is sin.
People do not like to hear these kinds of words. But we can only speak the truth. Man is basically wrong in his life. He is corrupt in nature, and he sins as a result of this corruption. Many people admit their bad behavior but will not admit their corrupt self. Some admit the latter but do not realize that it is corrupt to the core. Man, being so corrupt, cannot naturally exhibit any clean living.
One time when I was in Kaifeng, I talked to a person who admitted that he was wrong in one thing. After a while he confessed that he was wrong in another. I told him frankly that the problem was not whether he did one thing rightly or wrongly; the person was the problem. When the person is wrong, surely the things he does will be wrong. If you are a fish, surely you cannot fly. I cannot blame you for being unable to fly, because you are but a fish. When the man is not proper, the expression of living will not be proper either. This is entirely a matter of life. It is not merely a matter of an outward mode of behavior. The human corruption is within him.
Useless to have outward corrections
Since man is corrupt within, there is no use in correcting him outwardly. I have a friend who came home from Nanking. When the train passed through Wushih, he bought a few dolls for his little daughter. All of the dolls were made of clay. They were painted and cutely decorated with bright colors. His daughter was about seven years old. When she got the toys she was overwhelmed with joy. Immediately she assumed the role of a mother, cuddling the dolls and putting them to sleep. When it was time to eat, she fed them with food. With her hands she shoveled the rice into the dolls’ mouths, saying, “How come you don’t eat?” Alas, the faces of the dolls were smeared with grease and rice! The little girl, acting like her mother, began to wipe the faces with water and towels. Unfortunately, a black spot appeared when one part was wiped. The more she wiped, the bigger the black spot became. After a while, the nose, eyes, and ears were all gone. She began to cry. There was nothing that could be done! Her father said to her, “Throw them away. I will buy you new ones. Clay dolls cannot be washed.”
The only way — an exchange of life
I was there when that story happened. I believe that trying to improve our human behavior is just like cleaning the faces of those dolls. We think that if we rid ourselves of our proud attitude and all our lies and behave in a more refined way, we will be a better person. This is our human concept. God says that the outward corruption of man is caused by an inward corruption. The only solution is a basic change of life. The recognition of the hopelessness and wickedness of man and the realization of the need for an exchange are the basic foundation in our Christian faith.
Man’s heart is filled with evil
One day I was walking down a street in Shanghai with a friend of mine who has a very active mentality. He said to me, “It is a pity that we cannot see through another’s heart. Would not it be interesting if I could tell at a glance what this person or that person was thinking? What a pity that we cannot see through the heart.”
I said, “This is far from being a pity. I am relieved at not being able to see through another’s heart. Do not try to guess what others think, because all of man’s thoughts are evil. There is nothing other than stealing, deceiving, and treachery in our minds. There is no good thought. All the thoughts have to be kept secret. It is fortunate that the heart is concealed from our sight by a few bones and some skin. If we could see it clearly, we would loathe it immediately.”
The need of regeneration
Therefore, the salvation of man cannot start from the outside. It has to start from the inside. For this reason there is the need of regeneration. Regeneration simply means to cast off the dirty, corrupted life that we have and exchange it for a new life. This is analogous to changing a fish’s life for a bird’s life. There will be no need to teach the fish to fly anymore; it will fly naturally. At the present we will not mention the way to regeneration. We just want to know what regeneration is. Giving up a life of sin and replacing it by a holy life is our salvation.
Corrupted from within
A few years ago I was in Amoy. One day I was preaching in the villages with another co-worker by the name of Wang. By the time we completed our visits, it was close to midnight. We were both very thirsty. All the shops along the way were closed, and there was nowhere that we could find water. Approaching the end of a little town, we saw a small grocery store with its door still open. With much joy we bought two big pears. The ones we picked were the biggest and cleanest. There was no hole or any bad spot outside. We took them with us and ate them on our way. After a while we tasted something strange. As we examined the pears under a lamp, we found that they were bad inside. The only thing we could do was pick out the worms and eat the rest.
I told Brother Wang, “The skin of these pears looked so shiny; there was no hole anywhere. Do you know how those worms got inside the pears? Let me tell you. When the pear tree was still blossoming, the worms had already laid eggs in the pear flowers. When the flowers wilted and the pears were formed, the eggs hatched and grew inside them. Outwardly, these pears looked nice, but inside they were filled with worms.” This is just what we have been talking about. The evil of man is not merely in his conduct. The basic problem is that he is corrupted in his life. The salvation of Christianity is not a change of our outward behavior, but an exchange of our inward life.
Burning inside
I know a lady who is very good-tempered. She never gets angry. There is always a smile on her face. One day while her niece was visiting in her house, an extremely unreasonable person rebuked her for a length of time. Many unbearable words were hurled at her, but she did not answer a word; there was still a smile on her face. After the person was gone, the niece admiringly said, “Auntie, that was quite a demonstration of patience to be able to hold your temper. If I were you I would have lost my temper. At least I would have said something back to him.” The aunt said, “No. Do not think that I was not angry. I was burning inside! But I have cultivated forbearance and suppressed my feeling.”
Our problem is not whether trouble does or does not explode out from us. Rather, it is whether there is trouble inside or not. Alas! It is all too true that we have all kinds of problems inside! The Bible shows us that we are naturally sinful. There is nothing strange about a man going after sin. His inward and outward parts feel compatible with each other when he sins. This is a most natural consequence to him. Our human life is bound to be manipulated by the flesh, the world, and sin.
The seed of sin within man
Some people look nice outwardly. They have a high sense of morality, and a decent standard of behavior. It seems as if they possess a better life. But the outward niceties are merely works of repression. They are like a horse held tightly by its reins. Given a chance, it will plunge into trouble. Let me say an honest word: every man can become a bandit, and every gentleman can become a dishonorable criminal. Just let the hands go, and every vileness can break forth. There is the seed of sin within man. It is not a strange thing for man to sin.
No one needs to make up his mind to lose his temper. He only has to make up his mind not to do so. Never has a person written in his diary, “From this day on, I am determined to lose my temper once a day. If I neglect to do so, I will punish myself!” Only patience requires deliberation. Committing evil is very natural. There is no conscious effort required. A deliberate work is needed only in doing good.
Sin is an inherent nature
I sleep in that little room right outside the door. If there is a bright light in this hall, I will not be able to sleep there. If I want to sleep, all I need to do is close the door, and the light will be shut out from me. Darkness is the inherent feature of that room; light is the foreign element. All I can do is drive away the foreign element. I cannot drive away the inherent darkness. You can close your door to sinless aspirations. But you can never close your door to sinful temptations. Because the life we have is corrupted, the expression of it in our living is likewise evil.
The salvation of God is to regenerate us so that we will have an exchange of life. The new life is the life of God Himself. Regeneration is receiving God’s life. It means that henceforth our whole being is taken away, and God is living in us. We do not live our own life anymore. God becomes our living. I never exhort people to do good. It will not work even if I exhort day and night. It is impossible for man to live God’s life. Only the coming in of God’s life can result in God-like living. To receive God’s life is regeneration, and only regeneration will result in a change of outward behavior.
A regenerated man
We still need to look at the Scripture to understand the matter of regeneration. First Corinthians 2:14: “But a soulish man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and he is not able to know them because they are discerned spiritually.” An unregenerated person is a soulish person. Not only is he unable to understand the things of God, but he regards them as foolishness. He cannot comprehend even if he wants to, for he lacks that faculty of comprehension. Without regeneration he does not have that other life, and as a result he does not have that power of understanding.
Read Romans 8:5-8 again: “For those who are according to the flesh mind the things of the flesh; but those who are according to the spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace. Because the mind set on the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, for neither can it be. And those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
These verses show us clearly that there are some people who mind the flesh and live according to the flesh. They are under the control of the flesh and are against God. Therefore, they can never submit to the laws of God. They cannot even if they wanted to. Much less can they please God. A regenerated person, however, follows the Holy Spirit and enjoys life and peace. The difference between the two kinds of persons lies in whether or not the life has been exchanged.
Born of the spirit
John 3:3: “Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” If a man only possesses his natural life, that is, the life that he originally owns as a man, he cannot see the kingdom of God! What is the kingdom of God? Romans 14:17 says, “For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” The kingdom of God is about these spiritual things: righteousness, peace, and joy. And all these are in the Holy Spirit. Without regeneration, these things are incomprehensible and impossible to see. If a man wants to see these things, he has to be regenerated.
The separating line — life
John 3:6: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Christ Jesus gave us a clear separating line. What is born of the Spirit is absolutely different from what is born of the flesh. He would never come to improve the flesh of man. That which is born of the flesh is still flesh. No matter how much you reform, it is still flesh. There is no other way but to be born of the Spirit. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Regeneration is not a reckoning of “everything in the past as dead yesterday and of everything in the future as born today.” There is no such thing! Without an exchange of life, even if you are born over and over again, you are still the flesh. There is still no regeneration. There is a wide chasm between the two lives which cannot be crossed over. Only that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
I only wish to ask you a few questions. Are you reforming your life, or have you received God’s life? Are you in the process of improving yourself, or are you ready to accept the life of God? The true faith of Jesus Christ gives the life of God to man. This is the life that Christ offers to man. If you receive it, you are a regenerated person, and you will be able to live the life of God on earth.
Blessed are those who have lost hope in their own life. A divine life has been prepared. If you are satisfied with your own life, Christ can do nothing. He never helps you improve your own life. God wants you to be born again and to exchange your life. This is the salvation of Christ.