Born of God! a wonderful expression; full of deep and precious meaning for us. It is a word speaking of life, but life of an entirely different order and relationship from any that we may otherwise know. To man spiritually, morally dead, alienated from the life of God, what a message is that which speaks to him of life, a new life, communicated by the Spirit of God, and thereafter to be developed in fulness of understanding, power and blessing. Born of God!-the most precious privileges flow from this, and the most endearing affections. To my child I give of my life-its nature, its affections, its longings and aspirations. Born of God! does it mean I am His child ? Can it mean less ? Have I His life ? has He communicated it to me ? Could it be anything less than this if I am "born of Him ?" Oh, the wonder and the blessedness of the thought! His life in me; His nature given to me- a creature dead in trespasses and sins! Yet God picked me up, dead as I was, and imparted His life, so that I can say, " I am born of Him."
It is in John's writings that this truth is especially dwelt upon, and in which the first plain statement of it is given to us. In accord with this, it is John who so largely speaks of birth-relation, children, not sons;* for position is more distinctly associated with son-ship in Scripture, and it is Paul who treats of this. *In John 1 :12 and 1 John 3:1,2, the A.V. has "sons of God," but, as it is well-known, it should be "children of God."*
God chose to reveal Himself in all the fulness of His character and the blessedness of His purpose in the Son. The Word-the Revealer-who was with God and was God, came forth as the Only-Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. He was the Light shining in the darkness, though un-comprehended by it ; coming to those He had taken up to be His people, but rejected by them. It was surely meet that the coming of this blessed One should be signalized by marked advance in privileges and blessings enjoyed-not only in the revelation of God Himself, as contrasted with the fragmentary revelations of the past, but also in the blessings bestowed and enjoyed by those who received the truth perfectly revealed in the Son.
Thus it is that with the first mention of being "born of God," we are told He gave to those thus born the authority or title to be children of God- the right to take this place (John i:12, 13). This was entirely new; a place which none had known to be theirs before. It is not that new birth had no existence before, but its proper character and meaning had not before been made known. No one could have claimed to be born of God before this time, even though being a subject of the spiritual work so characterized. It was reserved according to the mind and purpose of God for revelation in conjunction with the coming of Him in and by whom alone can be known every privilege and blessing, whether of the earthly or heavenly order. Participation in any of this is alone possible through receiving Him, the Source of life and of every blessing.
It is interesting to note the order of the statements in this passage. It is first speaking of the time then present:to as many as received Him, to those who found in Him the promised Christ of God-to such He gave the title to be children of God, for they believed on His name, and received Him as being what He declared Himself to be:"Who have been born, not of blood nor of flesh's will, nor of man's will, but of God " (J. N. D.). Their reception of the Lord Jesus proved that the work of new birth had been already accomplished in their souls, for as little children they had believed the promises of God, so that they hoped for the promised One, and knew and received Him when He came. We see, then, the difference between the two great periods:His coming ending the one, during which those newborn believed in Him and looked for His coming when they would receive Him; and the commencement of the other, during which those new-born by believing in Him look back to His having come and so receive Him. Souls then were truly born of God before Christ came, but had not the right here mentioned until after He came. Then, they were really "born " to receive Christ; as being new-born they received Him-the coming One according to promise and prophetic testimony. Now that He has come the two coalesce, and we cannot make such a difference in the present time. As acceptance by faith of the promises and new birth came together, so now the reception of Christ and new birth are linked together. The difference is a dispensational one, and gives no ground for making a difference between classes of believers in this present time; such as, for instance, being born of God before receiving Christ.
Let us turn now to John, chapter 3, where the Lord dwells at length upon this subject and its connected truths:"Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." The mere intellectual assent based upon what can be observed by the senses, reception after this order, is not new birth. The Lord refuses to acknowledge such (John 2:23-25), and it was with a belief after this order that Nicodemus came; though, no doubt, with some need felt in his soul, which the mass had not. Hence, the Lord goes to the root of the matter at once. It is not reception of Him after this manner that He is looking for, but for that which is the accompaniment, the work or effect of the Word and the Spirit -such as that which had been wrought in others through faith in the promise, who, as a result, received Him when He came. Here the Lord puts new birth in connection with the seeing of the kingdom of God.
It is not put simply as a matter of seeing it in the future, but it is as much a matter of seeing it now. In a very real and important sense the kingdom of God was then present. " If by the finger of God I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God is come upon you" (Luke n :20; Matt. 12 :28, J. N. D.) It may be well to note that such expressions are not used of the "kingdom of heaven"; of it, it was said to be "at hand." The kingdom of God is the rule of God manifested in any circumstances according to His wisdom and purpose. Therefore, this kingdom was come into their midst when the Son of God was present working in power among them. " Behold," He says, " the kingdom of God is in the midst of you " (Luke 17:21, J. N. D.). It becomes evident, therefore, that unless the work of new birth was accomplished in the individual, he would not "see" in the blessed person of Jesus, the King of God's kingdom present and working in power among them.
This again makes clear that at the time of His coming none would receive Him except where new birth had been accomplished through the word of promise being believed. This gave them eyes to see in the lowly Man of Nazareth the manifestation of the kingdom of God. Thus did Nathanael express the faith that was in him. Nicodemus had not his eyes open to this. He only saw in Him a teacher sent from God. Hence the Lord's word to him concerning his need. For it might have been said to him, as to others at a later day, "Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me:for he wrote of Me." And the Psalms and the Prophets too spoke of Him. He might know of them as a master in Israel, yet be far from believing.
Astonished Nicodemus may question the Lord's words, but He has no others for him, and after His emphatic style restates the truth in an amplified form:" Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."
To be born anew, then, is to be born of water and the Spirit. In the Lord's words here, which amplify His first statement, we find the means employed for one to be born anew. Entering is more than seeing, though those that " see" undoubtedly "enter" also.
Recalling what we have said about seeing the kingdom, we can understand the application of it to the godly Jew who, being born again through faith's reception of the promises, saw in Christ the promised One come among them. It had been a vision afar off which filled their eyes; but when He came, faith could say, "Mine eyes have seen Thy Salvation." He had now come, and with His coming was the opening of the kingdom of God; it was no longer a question of something to reach after and wait for, but of entrance into the thing itself as revealed in Him. Therefore, seeing and entering (whether at the time of His presence here, or as now absent) coalesce, as also receiving Him and being born of God do. , By reason of the completed word of God it is given us now to enter more abundantly than it was even possible to do when the Lord was here.
This entrance then can alone be through birth, effected by the "water and the Spirit." Water is a figure of the word of God, and in some cases is used of the Spirit exercising His power in blessing. In fact the Word and Spirit are always linked together. In the first page of God's Book the Spirit is brooding over the waste, and the Word is spoken, bringing light and life into the scene.
At a later day we read of the man who was a preacher of righteousness, and of the Spirit's striving. That the Spirit and the preaching were united, Peter assures us (i Pet. 3:18-20; i:23-25). The Spirit wrought with the Word, written or spoken by prophets or evangelists, effecting then as now new birth in those who received the testimony. Whether it is the earth that is to be born anew that man may dwell upon it, or man himself being born anew that he may dwell with God, the Spirit and the Word effect the work.
The Lord's use of water in John 13 clearly figures the Word in its cleansing power, and it is referred to in the same connection in Ephesians 5. We cannot, with the word of God before us, doubt the conjoint action of the Spirit and the Word, which "liveth and abideth." Hence, to be born of God (whether John, Peter, or James i:18 speaks of it), means life conceived in the individual by the action of the Spirit and the Word, as the seed of God received in the heart by faith.
The practice of righteousness signifies being begotten of God (i Jno. 3:9), the Spirit being intimately connected with it. If the Spirit was not the life and characteristic of being born anew, it could not be said '' whoever is born of God does not practice sin" (i Jno. 3:9; 5:18) ; nor "Everyone that loves"-the love which keeps His commandments, love in the truth-"has been born of God and knows God " (i John 4:7). If these things are true of us as born of God, they were true of those of whom John 1:13 affirms that they had been born of God before Christ came, who received Him when He came. God has wrought in one way from the beginning, imparting the same life, establishing the same relationships in His family blessings. But it is quite evident that Old Testament saints did not know nor could enjoy them in fulness, as they had not been made known. This revelation was reserved, according to God's purpose and wisdom, as an accompaniment of the coming of Him who was the ordained Head of the family of God, who could say, "Behold I and the children whom God has given Me." He was the only One who could authoritatively give to the children the knowledge of their place and relationship to God as His children.
May this precious knowledge produce in us ways that accord with it. John Bloore.