Ye Must Be Born Again
There is a story about a minister who constantly preached on
the text. Ye must he born again. Someone is supposed to have asked him, "Why
do you always preach on that text? Why not preach on some other subject. To this
the minister replied, I preach on Ye must he born again because ye must be
born again.
This reply is a very good reason for preaching on the text, Ye
must he born again. But it is not so obviously a good reason for preaching
on this text to the exclusion of everything else in the Bible. Some preachers have
hobbies that they ride. Their pet topic may indeed be a very important topic; but
it is unwise to preach even an important message to the exclusion of all else. If
a preacher always preaches. Ye must he born again, he should be told kindly
to preach on another subject. If (and unfortunately this is more likely to be the
case), he never preaches, Ye must he born again, he should be told kindly
and a little firmly that the text is worth preaching on.
Regeneration is a very important topic. The Bible paints the
true picture of human nature when it teaches that man is dead in sin. The carnal
mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be. All have sinned; there is none righteous, no not one; there is none that
seeketh after God. But blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causest to approach
unto thee. Unless therefore God causes a man to turn from his sin, unless he renews
his will, unless he regenerates his nature, the sinner cannot repent and cannot
exercise faith in Christ. Surely ye must be born again. Regeneration is indispensable
to salvation. It is the indispensable first event. And as this is the uniform teaching
of the Bible, it certainly must be preached.
Yet, for all of this, one may wonder whether it is the best message
for an evangelistic service. Should regeneration be explained to the unregenerate?
Or should it more particularly be explained to those who are already Christians?
Since regeneration is the work of the Holy Spirit, and since
therefore a sinner cannot regenerate himself, it would not seem that this topic
is the most important topic for evangelistic services. No doubt, under certain circumstances,
regeneration should be explained to the unsaved. But more frequently it is necessary
to explain regeneration to those who are regenerated. This is necessary to warn
them against taking credit for their own salvation. They must understand that being
born again is not something that they have done, but something that God did to them.
Now, if regeneration is not so pressing a subject for evangelistic
endeavor, what is? The sermons in the book of Acts, the sermons that the apostles
themselves preached, set us an example. In these sermons the recurring topic is
the death and resurrection of Christ! Regeneration is touched on lightly, if at
all.
There is a good reason for this. A well known verse says, If
thou shalt confess with thy mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in thy heart that
God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Apparently it is not necessary
to understand regeneration to be saved; even though it is absolutely necessary to
be regenerated to be saved.
However, though it is not necessary to understand
regeneration to be saved, it is not wise to remain in ignorance of the nature of
regeneration. The evangelist himself ought to understand regeneration and not confuse
his audience by telling them, as I have heard evangelists do, that they must first
repent, then have faith in Christ, anil later on be born again.
But have I just happened to hear the wrong evangelists and am
I mistaken in thinking that the vicarious death and the bodily resurrection of Christ
have faded out of contemporary evangelism?
— G.H.C.
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