20 The Fundamentals demnation to them which are in Christ Jesus; for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8 :1 , 2). Believers are “not under the law, but under grace” (Rom. 6 :14) and can re joicingly say, judicially, of course, “As He is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4 :17). Fifth, Regeneration. The unchristian man is spiritually dead (Rom. 5 :12), and must be “born again,” or “he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3 :3 ) . Richard Watson defined regeneration as “That mighty change in man wrought by the Holy Spirit, by which the do minion which sin has over him in his natural state, and which he deplores and struggles against in his present state, is broken and abolished; so that with full choice of will and the energy of right affections, he serves God freely, and runs in the way of His commandments.” He who receives Jesus as Saviour and Lord, is made a “partaker of the Divine nature” (John 1:12, 13; 2 Peter 1 :4 ) : “He is a new creature [creation]: old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). THE METHOD The following is the method: The words of the Gospel “are spirit, and they are life” (John 6 :63 ). If the repent ing sinner receives them into his heart and life to believe and obey them (James 1:21) ; the Holy Spirit operating through them accomplishes the new birth (James 1 :18), and he will be “born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever” (1 Peter 1:23). Saved, “By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:4-7. See also John 1:12, 13; Gal. 6 :15 ; Eph. 2:1-3; Col. 2:13, etc.)
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker