Are You Regenerate? # 6
Reader, I invite your particular attention to these marks and evidences of regeneration, while I try to set them before you in order. Forget everything else in this volume, if you will - but do not forget this part of it. I might easily mention other evidences besides those I am about to mention. But I will not do so. I would rather confine myself to the First Epistle of John, because of the peculiar explicitness of its statements about the man that is born of God. He that has an ear, let him hear what this beloved Apostle says about the marks of Regeneration.
1. First of all, John says, "No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in Him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God." "We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning" (1 John 3:9; 5:18).
A Regenerate man does not commit sin as a habit. He no longer sins with his heart and will, and whole inclination, as an unregenerate man does. There was probably a time when he did not think whether his actions were sinful or not, and never felt grieved after doing evil. There was no quarrel between him and sin - they were friends. Now he hates sin, flees from it, fights against it, counts it his greatest plague, groans under the burden of its presence, mourns when he falls under its influence, and longs to be delivered from it altogether. In one word, sin no longer pleases him, nor is even a matter of indifference - it has become the abominable thing which he hates. He cannot prevent it dwelling within him. "If he said he had no sin, there would be no truth in him" (1 John 1:8) - but he can say that he keenly abhors it, and the great desire of his soul is not to commit sin at all. He cannot prevent bad thoughts arising within him, and shortcomings, omissions, and defects appearing, both in his words and actions. He knows, as James says, that "In many things we offend all" (James 3:2). But he can say truly, and as in the sight of God, that these things are a daily grief and sorrow to him, and that his whole nature does not consent unto them, as that of the unregenerate man does. Reader, I place this mark before you. What would the Apostle say about you? Are you born of God? No one born of God makes a practice of sinning; that is, he does not sin in that malignant manner in which the children of the devil do - he does not make a trade of sin, nor live in the constant and allowed practice of it. There is a great difference between regenerate and unregenerate people in the very sins that they commit. All indeed sin - but a child of God cannot sin - that is, though he does sin, yet he cannot sin after such a manner as wicked and unregenerate men do.
2. Secondly, John says, "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God" (1 John 5:1).
A Regenerate man believes that Jesus Christ is the only Saviour by whom his soul can be pardoned and redeemed; that He is the divine person appointed and anointed by God the Father for this very purpose, and that beside Him there is no Saviour at all. In himself he sees nothing but unworthiness - but in Christ he sees ground for the fullest confidence, and trusting in Him, he believes that his sins are all forgiven and his iniquities all put away. He believes that for the sake of Christ's finished work and death upon the Cross, he is reckoned righteous in God's sight, and may look forward to death and judgment without alarm. He may have his doubts and fears. He may sometimes tell you he feels as if he had no faith at all. But ask him whether he is willing to trust in anything instead of Christ, and see what he will say. Ask him whether he will rest his hopes of eternal life on his own goodness, his own amendments, his prayers, his minister, his doings in church and out of church, either in whole or in part, and see what he will reply. Ask him whether he will give up Christ, and place his confidence in any other way of salvation. Depend upon it he would say, that though he does feel weak and bad, he would not give up Christ for all the world. Depend upon it - he would say he found a preciousness in Christ, a suitableness to his own soul in Christ, that he found no where else, and that he must cling to Him.
Reader, I place this mark also before you. What would the Apostle say about you? Are you born of God?
3. Thirdly, John says, "Everyone that does righteousness is born of Him" (1 John 2:29).
The Regenerate man is a holy man. He endeavors to live according to God's will, to do the things that please God, to avoid the things that God hates. His aim and desire is to love God with heart and soul, and mind and strength, and to love his neighbor as himself. His wish is to be continually looking to Christ as his example as well as his Saviour, and to show himself Christ's friend by doing whatever Christ commands. No doubt he is not perfect. None will tell you that sooner than himself. He groans under the burden of indwelling corruption cleaving to him. He finds an evil principle within him constantly warring against grace, and trying to draw him away from God. But he does not consent to it, though he cannot prevent its presence. In spite of all short-comings, the average bent and bias of his ways is holy - his doings holy - his tastes holy - and his habits holy. In spite of all his swerving and turning aside, like a ship going against a contrary wind, the general course of his life is in one direction - toward God and for God. And though he may sometimes feel so low that he questions whether he is a Christian at all, in his calmer moments he will generally be able to say, with old John Newton, "I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world - but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am." [Let none conclude that they have no grace, because they have many imperfections in their obedience. Your grace may be very weak and imperfect, and yet you may be truly born again to God, and be a genuine son and heir of heaven.]
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 7)
A Proliferation of Christian Devotionals and Sermons

Saturday, December 29, 2018
Saturday, December 22, 2018
Are You Regenerate? # 5
Are You Regenerate? # 5
And what is it they need in order to make them fit to enjoy heaven? They need to be regenerated or born again. It is not a little changing and outward amendment they require. It is not merely the putting a restraint on raging passions, and the quieting of unruly affections. All this is not enough. Old age - the lack of opportunity for indulgence - the fear of man, may produce all this. The tiger is still a tiger, even when he is chained; and the serpent is still a serpent, even when he lies motionless and coiled up. The alteration needed is far greater and deeper. They must have a new nature put within them. They must be made new creatures. The fountain-head must be purified. The root must be set right. Each one needs a new heart and a new will. The change required is not that of the snake, when he casts his skin and yet remains a reptile still. It is the change of the caterpillar, when he dies and his crawling life ceases - but from his body rises the butterfly - a new animal, with a new nature. All this, and nothing less, is required.
The plain truth is, the vast proportion of professing Christians in the churches have nothing whatever of Christianity, except the name. The reality of Christianity, the graces, the experience, the faith, the hopes, the life, the conflict, the tastes, the hungering and thirsting after righteousness - all these are things of which they know nothing at all. They need to be converted as truly as any among the heathen to whom Paul preached, and to be turned from idols, and renewed in the spirit of their minds, as really, if not as literally. And one main part of the message which should be continually delivered to the greater portion of every congregation on earth, is this - "You must be born again." I write this down deliberately. I know it will sound dreadful and uncharitable in many ears. But I ask anyone to take the New Testament in his hand and see what it says in Christianity, and compare that with the ways of professing Christians, and then deny the truth of what I have written, if he can.
And now let everyone who reads these pages remember this grand principle of Scriptural religion - "No salvation without Regeneration - no spiritual life without a new birth - no heaven without a new heart."
Think not for a moment that the subject of this tract is a mere matter of controversy - an empty question for learned men to argue about - but not one that concerns you. Away with such an idea forever! It concerns you deeply. It touches your own eternal interests. It is a thing that you must know for yourself, feel for yourself, and experience for yourself, if you would ever be saved. No man, woman will ever enter heaven without having been born again. Make sure to yourselves this great change. It is no notion that I have now preached unto you. Your natures and your lives must be changed, or, believe it, you will be found at the last day under the wrath of God. For God will not change or alter the Word that is gone out of His mouth. He has said it - Christ, who is the truth and Word of God, has pronounced it - that without a new birth, or Regeneration, no man shall inherit the kingdom of God."
And think not for one moment that this regeneration is a change which people may go through after they are dead, though they never went through it while they were alive. Away with such a notion forever! Now or never is the only time to be saved. Now, in this world of toil and labor - of money - getting and business - now you must be prepared for heaven, if you are ever to be prepared at all. Now is the only time to be justified, now the only time to be sanctified, and now the only time to be born again. So sure as the Bible is true, the man who dies without these three things, will only rise again at the last day to be lost forever.
You may be saved, and reach heaven without many things which men reckon of great importance - without riches, without learning, without books, without worldly comforts, without heath, without house, without land, without friends - but without Regeneration you will never be saved at all. Without your natural birth you would never have lived, and moved on earth; without a new birth you will never live and move in heaven. I bless God that the saints in glory will be a multitude that no man can number. I comfort myself with the thought that, after all, there will be "a great multitude" in heaven. But this I know and am persuaded of from God's Word, that of all who reach heaven, there will not be one single individual who has not been born again.
"Are you born again?" I say to everyone whose eye is upon this page. Once more I repeat what I have already said, "No salvation without a new birth."
III. Let me, in the third place, point out the MARKS of being Regenerate, or born again.
It is a most important thing to have clear and distinct views on this part of the subject we are considering. You have seen what regeneration is, and why it is necessary to salvation. The next step is to find out the signs and evidences by which a man may know whether he is born again or not - whether his heart has been changed by the Holy Spirit, or whether his change is yet to come.
Now these signs and evidences are laid down plainly for us in Scripture. God has not left us in ignorance on this point. He foresaw how some would torture themselves with doubts and questionings, and would never believe it was well with their souls. He foresaw how others would take it for granted that they were regenerate who had no right to do so at all. He has therefore mercifully provided us with a test and gauge of our spiritual condition, in the First Epistle of John. There He has written for our learning, what the regenerate man is, and what the regenerate man does - his ways, his habits, his manner of life, his faith, his experience. Everyone who wishes to possess the key to a right understanding of this subject should thoroughly study this First Epistle of John.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 6)
And what is it they need in order to make them fit to enjoy heaven? They need to be regenerated or born again. It is not a little changing and outward amendment they require. It is not merely the putting a restraint on raging passions, and the quieting of unruly affections. All this is not enough. Old age - the lack of opportunity for indulgence - the fear of man, may produce all this. The tiger is still a tiger, even when he is chained; and the serpent is still a serpent, even when he lies motionless and coiled up. The alteration needed is far greater and deeper. They must have a new nature put within them. They must be made new creatures. The fountain-head must be purified. The root must be set right. Each one needs a new heart and a new will. The change required is not that of the snake, when he casts his skin and yet remains a reptile still. It is the change of the caterpillar, when he dies and his crawling life ceases - but from his body rises the butterfly - a new animal, with a new nature. All this, and nothing less, is required.
The plain truth is, the vast proportion of professing Christians in the churches have nothing whatever of Christianity, except the name. The reality of Christianity, the graces, the experience, the faith, the hopes, the life, the conflict, the tastes, the hungering and thirsting after righteousness - all these are things of which they know nothing at all. They need to be converted as truly as any among the heathen to whom Paul preached, and to be turned from idols, and renewed in the spirit of their minds, as really, if not as literally. And one main part of the message which should be continually delivered to the greater portion of every congregation on earth, is this - "You must be born again." I write this down deliberately. I know it will sound dreadful and uncharitable in many ears. But I ask anyone to take the New Testament in his hand and see what it says in Christianity, and compare that with the ways of professing Christians, and then deny the truth of what I have written, if he can.
And now let everyone who reads these pages remember this grand principle of Scriptural religion - "No salvation without Regeneration - no spiritual life without a new birth - no heaven without a new heart."
Think not for a moment that the subject of this tract is a mere matter of controversy - an empty question for learned men to argue about - but not one that concerns you. Away with such an idea forever! It concerns you deeply. It touches your own eternal interests. It is a thing that you must know for yourself, feel for yourself, and experience for yourself, if you would ever be saved. No man, woman will ever enter heaven without having been born again. Make sure to yourselves this great change. It is no notion that I have now preached unto you. Your natures and your lives must be changed, or, believe it, you will be found at the last day under the wrath of God. For God will not change or alter the Word that is gone out of His mouth. He has said it - Christ, who is the truth and Word of God, has pronounced it - that without a new birth, or Regeneration, no man shall inherit the kingdom of God."
And think not for one moment that this regeneration is a change which people may go through after they are dead, though they never went through it while they were alive. Away with such a notion forever! Now or never is the only time to be saved. Now, in this world of toil and labor - of money - getting and business - now you must be prepared for heaven, if you are ever to be prepared at all. Now is the only time to be justified, now the only time to be sanctified, and now the only time to be born again. So sure as the Bible is true, the man who dies without these three things, will only rise again at the last day to be lost forever.
You may be saved, and reach heaven without many things which men reckon of great importance - without riches, without learning, without books, without worldly comforts, without heath, without house, without land, without friends - but without Regeneration you will never be saved at all. Without your natural birth you would never have lived, and moved on earth; without a new birth you will never live and move in heaven. I bless God that the saints in glory will be a multitude that no man can number. I comfort myself with the thought that, after all, there will be "a great multitude" in heaven. But this I know and am persuaded of from God's Word, that of all who reach heaven, there will not be one single individual who has not been born again.
"Are you born again?" I say to everyone whose eye is upon this page. Once more I repeat what I have already said, "No salvation without a new birth."
III. Let me, in the third place, point out the MARKS of being Regenerate, or born again.
It is a most important thing to have clear and distinct views on this part of the subject we are considering. You have seen what regeneration is, and why it is necessary to salvation. The next step is to find out the signs and evidences by which a man may know whether he is born again or not - whether his heart has been changed by the Holy Spirit, or whether his change is yet to come.
Now these signs and evidences are laid down plainly for us in Scripture. God has not left us in ignorance on this point. He foresaw how some would torture themselves with doubts and questionings, and would never believe it was well with their souls. He foresaw how others would take it for granted that they were regenerate who had no right to do so at all. He has therefore mercifully provided us with a test and gauge of our spiritual condition, in the First Epistle of John. There He has written for our learning, what the regenerate man is, and what the regenerate man does - his ways, his habits, his manner of life, his faith, his experience. Everyone who wishes to possess the key to a right understanding of this subject should thoroughly study this First Epistle of John.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 6)
Are You Regenerate? # 4
Are You Regenerate? # 4
Surely you must be aware that the vast majority of people in the world see nothing, feel nothing, and know nothing in religion as they ought. How and why is this, is not the present question. I only put it to your conscience - is that not the fact?
Tell them of the sinfulness of many things which they are doing continually - and what is generally the reply? "They see no harm."
Tell them of the awful peril in which their souls are - of the shortness of time - the nearness of eternity - the uncertainty of life - the reality of judgment. "They feel no danger."
Tell them of their need of a Saviour - mighty, loving, and divine, and of the impossibility of being saved from hell, except by faith in Him. It all falls flat and dead on their ears. "They see no such great barrier between themselves and heaven."
Tell them of holiness, and the high standard of living which the Bible requires. They cannot comprehend the need of such strictness. "They see no use in being so very good."
There are thousands and tens of thousands of such people on every side of us. They will hear these things all their lives. They will even attend the ministry of the most striking preachers, and listen to the most powerful appeals to their consciences. And yet, when you come to visit them on their deathbeds, they are like men and women who never heard these things at all. They know nothing of the leading doctrines of the Gospel by experience. They can render no reason whatever of their own hope.
And why is all this? What is the explanation - what is the cause of such a state of things? It all comes from this - that man naturally has no sense of spiritual things. In vain the sun of righteousness shines before him - the eyes of his soul are blind, and cannot see. In vain the music of Christ's invitations sounds around him - the ears of his soul are deaf and cannot hear it. In vain the wrath of God against sin is set forth - the perceptions of his soul are stopped up - like the sleeping traveler, he does not perceive the coming storm. In vain the bread and water of life are offered to him - his soul is neither hungry for the one, nor thirsty for the other. In vain he is advised to flee to the Great Physician - his soul is unconscious of its disease - why should he go? In vain you put a price into his hand to buy wisdom - the mind of his soul wanders; he is like the lunatic who calls straws a crown, and dust diamonds - he says, "I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing." Ah, reader, there is nothing so sad as the utter corruption of our nature! There is nothing so painful as the anatomy of a dead soul!
Now what does such a man need? He needs to be born again, and made a new creature. He needs a complete putting off the old man, and a complete putting on the new. We do not live our natural life until we are born into the world; and we do not live our spiritual life until we are born of the Spirit.
But, reader, you must furthermore be aware that the vast majority of people are utterly unfit to enjoy heaven in their present state. I lay it before you as a great fact. Is it not so?
Look at the masses of men and women gathered together in our cities and towns, and observe them well. They are all dying creatures - all immortal beings - all going to the judgment seat of Christ - all certain to live forever in heaven or hell. But where is the slightest evidence that most of them are in the least degree fit and ready for heaven?
Look at the greater part of those who are called Christians, in every part throughout the land. Take any parish you please in town or country. Take that which you know best. What are the tastes and pleasures of the majority of people who live there? What do they like best, when they have a choice? What do they enjoy most, when they have their own way? Observe the manner in which they spend their Sundays. Mark how little delight they seem to feel in the Bible and prayer. Take notice of the low and earthly notions of pleasure and happiness, which everywhere prevail, among young and old, among rich and poor. Mark well these things, and then think quietly over this question - What would these people do in heaven?"
You and I, it may be said, know little about heaven. Our notions of heaven may be very dim and indistinct. But at all events, I suppose we are agreed in thinking that heaven is a very holy place - that God is there - and Christ is there - and saints and angels are there - that sin is not there in any shape - and that nothing is said, thought, or done, which God does not like. Only let this be granted, and then I think there can be no doubt the great majority of professing Christians are as little fit for heaven as a bird swimming beneath the sea, or a fish for living upon dry land.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 5)
Surely you must be aware that the vast majority of people in the world see nothing, feel nothing, and know nothing in religion as they ought. How and why is this, is not the present question. I only put it to your conscience - is that not the fact?
Tell them of the sinfulness of many things which they are doing continually - and what is generally the reply? "They see no harm."
Tell them of the awful peril in which their souls are - of the shortness of time - the nearness of eternity - the uncertainty of life - the reality of judgment. "They feel no danger."
Tell them of their need of a Saviour - mighty, loving, and divine, and of the impossibility of being saved from hell, except by faith in Him. It all falls flat and dead on their ears. "They see no such great barrier between themselves and heaven."
Tell them of holiness, and the high standard of living which the Bible requires. They cannot comprehend the need of such strictness. "They see no use in being so very good."
There are thousands and tens of thousands of such people on every side of us. They will hear these things all their lives. They will even attend the ministry of the most striking preachers, and listen to the most powerful appeals to their consciences. And yet, when you come to visit them on their deathbeds, they are like men and women who never heard these things at all. They know nothing of the leading doctrines of the Gospel by experience. They can render no reason whatever of their own hope.
And why is all this? What is the explanation - what is the cause of such a state of things? It all comes from this - that man naturally has no sense of spiritual things. In vain the sun of righteousness shines before him - the eyes of his soul are blind, and cannot see. In vain the music of Christ's invitations sounds around him - the ears of his soul are deaf and cannot hear it. In vain the wrath of God against sin is set forth - the perceptions of his soul are stopped up - like the sleeping traveler, he does not perceive the coming storm. In vain the bread and water of life are offered to him - his soul is neither hungry for the one, nor thirsty for the other. In vain he is advised to flee to the Great Physician - his soul is unconscious of its disease - why should he go? In vain you put a price into his hand to buy wisdom - the mind of his soul wanders; he is like the lunatic who calls straws a crown, and dust diamonds - he says, "I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing." Ah, reader, there is nothing so sad as the utter corruption of our nature! There is nothing so painful as the anatomy of a dead soul!
Now what does such a man need? He needs to be born again, and made a new creature. He needs a complete putting off the old man, and a complete putting on the new. We do not live our natural life until we are born into the world; and we do not live our spiritual life until we are born of the Spirit.
But, reader, you must furthermore be aware that the vast majority of people are utterly unfit to enjoy heaven in their present state. I lay it before you as a great fact. Is it not so?
Look at the masses of men and women gathered together in our cities and towns, and observe them well. They are all dying creatures - all immortal beings - all going to the judgment seat of Christ - all certain to live forever in heaven or hell. But where is the slightest evidence that most of them are in the least degree fit and ready for heaven?
Look at the greater part of those who are called Christians, in every part throughout the land. Take any parish you please in town or country. Take that which you know best. What are the tastes and pleasures of the majority of people who live there? What do they like best, when they have a choice? What do they enjoy most, when they have their own way? Observe the manner in which they spend their Sundays. Mark how little delight they seem to feel in the Bible and prayer. Take notice of the low and earthly notions of pleasure and happiness, which everywhere prevail, among young and old, among rich and poor. Mark well these things, and then think quietly over this question - What would these people do in heaven?"
You and I, it may be said, know little about heaven. Our notions of heaven may be very dim and indistinct. But at all events, I suppose we are agreed in thinking that heaven is a very holy place - that God is there - and Christ is there - and saints and angels are there - that sin is not there in any shape - and that nothing is said, thought, or done, which God does not like. Only let this be granted, and then I think there can be no doubt the great majority of professing Christians are as little fit for heaven as a bird swimming beneath the sea, or a fish for living upon dry land.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 5)
Are You Regenerate? # 3
Are You Regenerate? # 3
To me indeed there seems to be much confusion of ideas, and indistinctness of apprehension in men's minds on this simple point - what regeneration really is - and all arising from not simply adhering to the Word of God. That a man is admitted into a state of great privilege when he is made a member of a pure church of Christ, I do not for an instant deny. That he is in a far better and more advantageous position for his soul, than if he did not belong to the Church, I make no question. That a wide door is set open before his soul, which is not set before the poor heathen, I can most clearly see. But I do not see that the Bible ever calls this regeneration! And I cannot find a single text in Scripture which warrants the assumption that it is so. It is very important in theology to distinguish things that differ. Church privileges are one thing. Regeneration is another. I, for one, dare not confound them.
I am quite aware that great and good men have clung to that low view of regeneration, to which I have adverted. But when a doctrine of the everlasting gospel is at stake, I can call no man master. The words of the old philosopher are never to be forgotten - "I love Plato, I love Socrates - but I love truth better than either." I say unhesitatingly, that those who hold the view that there are two regenerations, can bring forward no plain text in proof of it. I firmly believe that no honest reader of the Bible only, would ever find this view there for himself; and that goes very far to make me suspect it is an idea of man's invention. The only regeneration that I can see in Scripture is, not a change of state - but a change of heart. That is the view, I once more assert, which the Church Catechism takes when it speaks of the "death unto sin, and new birth unto righteousness," and on that view I take my stand.
Reader, regeneration, or new birth, is the distinguishing mark of every true Christian. Now just consider what I say. Are you regenerate, or are you not?
II. Let me show you, in the second place, the necessity there is for our being regenerated, or born again. That there is such a necessity is most plain from our Lord Jesus Christ's words in the third chapter of John's Gospel. Nothing can be more clear and positive than His language to Nichodemus - "Unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." "Marvel not that I said unto you, you must be born again." (John 3:7).
The reason of this necessity is the exceeding sinfulness and corruption of our natural hearts. The words of Paul to the Corinthians are literally accurate - "The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him." (1 Cor. 2:14). Just as rivers flow downward, and sparks fly upward, and stones fall to the ground, so does a man's heart naturally incline to what is evil. We love our soul's enemies - we dislike our soul's friends. We call good evil, and we call evil good. We take pleasure in ungodliness, we take no pleasure in Christ. We not only commit sin - but we also love sin. We not only need to be cleansed from the guilt of sin - but we also need to be delivered from its power. The natural tone, bias, and current, of our minds, must be completely altered. The image of God, which sin has blotted out, must be restored. The disorder and confusion which reigns within us must be put down. The first things must no longer be last, and the last first. The Spirit must let in the light on our hearts, put everything in its right place, and create all things new.
It ought always to be remembered that there are two distinct things which the Lord Jesus Christ does for every sinner whom He undertakes to save. He washes him from his sins in His own blood, and gives him a free pardon - this is his justification. He puts the Holy Spirit into his heart, and makes him an entire new man - this is his regeneration.
The two things are both absolutely necessary to salvation. The change of heart is as necessary as the pardon; and the pardon is as necessary as the change. Without the pardon we have no right or title to heaven. Without the change we would not be fit and ready to enjoy heaven, even if we got there.
The two things are never separate. They are never found apart. Every justified man is also a regenerate man, and every regenerate man is also a justified man. When the Lord Jesus Christ gives a man remission of sins, He also gives him repentance. When He grants peace with God, He also grants power to become a son of God. There are two great standing maxims of the glorious gospel, which ought never to be forgotten. One is, "he who believes not shall be damned." (Mark 16:16). The other is, "If any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His." (Romans 8:9).
Reader, the man who denies the universal necessity of regeneration, can know very little of the heart's corruption. He is blind indeed who fancies that pardon is all we need in order to get to heaven, and does not see that pardon without a change of heart would be a useless gift. Blessed be God that both are freely offered to us in Christ's gospel, and that Jesus is able and willing to give the one as well as the other.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 4)
To me indeed there seems to be much confusion of ideas, and indistinctness of apprehension in men's minds on this simple point - what regeneration really is - and all arising from not simply adhering to the Word of God. That a man is admitted into a state of great privilege when he is made a member of a pure church of Christ, I do not for an instant deny. That he is in a far better and more advantageous position for his soul, than if he did not belong to the Church, I make no question. That a wide door is set open before his soul, which is not set before the poor heathen, I can most clearly see. But I do not see that the Bible ever calls this regeneration! And I cannot find a single text in Scripture which warrants the assumption that it is so. It is very important in theology to distinguish things that differ. Church privileges are one thing. Regeneration is another. I, for one, dare not confound them.
I am quite aware that great and good men have clung to that low view of regeneration, to which I have adverted. But when a doctrine of the everlasting gospel is at stake, I can call no man master. The words of the old philosopher are never to be forgotten - "I love Plato, I love Socrates - but I love truth better than either." I say unhesitatingly, that those who hold the view that there are two regenerations, can bring forward no plain text in proof of it. I firmly believe that no honest reader of the Bible only, would ever find this view there for himself; and that goes very far to make me suspect it is an idea of man's invention. The only regeneration that I can see in Scripture is, not a change of state - but a change of heart. That is the view, I once more assert, which the Church Catechism takes when it speaks of the "death unto sin, and new birth unto righteousness," and on that view I take my stand.
Reader, regeneration, or new birth, is the distinguishing mark of every true Christian. Now just consider what I say. Are you regenerate, or are you not?
II. Let me show you, in the second place, the necessity there is for our being regenerated, or born again. That there is such a necessity is most plain from our Lord Jesus Christ's words in the third chapter of John's Gospel. Nothing can be more clear and positive than His language to Nichodemus - "Unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." "Marvel not that I said unto you, you must be born again." (John 3:7).
The reason of this necessity is the exceeding sinfulness and corruption of our natural hearts. The words of Paul to the Corinthians are literally accurate - "The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him." (1 Cor. 2:14). Just as rivers flow downward, and sparks fly upward, and stones fall to the ground, so does a man's heart naturally incline to what is evil. We love our soul's enemies - we dislike our soul's friends. We call good evil, and we call evil good. We take pleasure in ungodliness, we take no pleasure in Christ. We not only commit sin - but we also love sin. We not only need to be cleansed from the guilt of sin - but we also need to be delivered from its power. The natural tone, bias, and current, of our minds, must be completely altered. The image of God, which sin has blotted out, must be restored. The disorder and confusion which reigns within us must be put down. The first things must no longer be last, and the last first. The Spirit must let in the light on our hearts, put everything in its right place, and create all things new.
It ought always to be remembered that there are two distinct things which the Lord Jesus Christ does for every sinner whom He undertakes to save. He washes him from his sins in His own blood, and gives him a free pardon - this is his justification. He puts the Holy Spirit into his heart, and makes him an entire new man - this is his regeneration.
The two things are both absolutely necessary to salvation. The change of heart is as necessary as the pardon; and the pardon is as necessary as the change. Without the pardon we have no right or title to heaven. Without the change we would not be fit and ready to enjoy heaven, even if we got there.
The two things are never separate. They are never found apart. Every justified man is also a regenerate man, and every regenerate man is also a justified man. When the Lord Jesus Christ gives a man remission of sins, He also gives him repentance. When He grants peace with God, He also grants power to become a son of God. There are two great standing maxims of the glorious gospel, which ought never to be forgotten. One is, "he who believes not shall be damned." (Mark 16:16). The other is, "If any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His." (Romans 8:9).
Reader, the man who denies the universal necessity of regeneration, can know very little of the heart's corruption. He is blind indeed who fancies that pardon is all we need in order to get to heaven, and does not see that pardon without a change of heart would be a useless gift. Blessed be God that both are freely offered to us in Christ's gospel, and that Jesus is able and willing to give the one as well as the other.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 4)
Saturday, December 15, 2018
Are You Regenerate? # 2
Are You Regenerate? # 2
This change of heart in a true Christian is so complete, that no word could be chosen more fitting to express it than that word, "Regeneration," or "new birth." Doubtless it is no outward, bodily alteration - but undoubtedly it is an entire alteration of the inner man. It adds no new faculties to a man's mind - but it certainly gives an entirely new bent and bias to all his opinions so now, his views of sin, the world, the Bible, and Christ so new, that he is to all intents and purposes a new man. The change seems to bring a new being into existence. It may well be called being born again.
This change is not always given to believers at the same time in their lives. A vast multitude of people it is be feared, go down to the grave without having been born again at all.
This change of heart does not always begin in the same way. With some, like the Apostle Paul, and the jailor at Philippi, it is a sudden and violent change, attended with much distress of mind. With others, like Lydia of Thyatira, it is more gentle and gradual - their winter becomes spring almost without their knowing how. With some the change is brought about by the Spirit working through afflictions or providential visitations. With others, and probably the greater number of true Christians, the Word of God, preached or written, is the means of effecting it.
This change is one which can only be known and discerned by its effects. Its beginnings are a hidden and secret thing. We cannot see them. Our Lord Jesus Christ tells us this most plainly - "The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound thereof - but cannot tell whence it comes or where it goes; so is everyone that is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8). Would you know if you are Regenerate? You must try the question, by examining what you know of the effects of Regeneration. Those effects are always the same. The ways by which true Christians are led, in passing through their great change, are certainly various. But the state of the heart and soul into which they are brought at last, is always the same. Ask them what they think of sin, Christ, holiness, the world, the Bible, and prayer, and you will find them all of one mind.
This change is one which no man can give to himself, nor yet to another. "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:6). But man has no power to work the change. No minister on earth can convey grace to any one of his congregation at his discretion. He may preach as truly and faithfully as Paul - but God must give the increase. He may baptize with water in the name of the Trinity - but unless the Holy Spirit accompanies and blesses the ordinance, there is no death to sin, and no new birth unto righteousness. Jesus alone, the great Head of the Church, can baptize with the Holy Spirit. Blessed and happy are they who have the inward baptism, as well as the outward.
The Scripture teaches that no more than a child can beget itself, or a dead man quicken himself, or a nonentity create itself; no more can any carnal man regenerate himself, or work true saving grace in his own soul.
There are two kinds of baptism, and both necessary - the one interior, which is cleansing of the heart, the drawing of the Father, the operation of the Holy Spirit - and this baptism is in man when he believes and trusts that Christ is the only method of his salvation.
It is on all parts gladly confessed, that there may be in divers cases, life by virtue of inward baptism, where outward is not found.
I lay before you the foregoing account of Regeneration. I say it is that change of heart which is the distinguishing mark of a true Christian man - the invariable companion of a justifying faith in Christ - the inseparable consequence of vital union with him, and the root and beginning of inward sanctification. I ask you to ponder it well before you go any further. It is of the utmost importance that your views should be clear upon this point - what Regeneration really is.
I know well that many will not allow that Regeneration is what I have described it to be. They will think the statement I have made, by way of definition, much too strong. Some hold that Regeneration only means admission into a state of ecclesiastical privileges - being made a member of the Church - but does not mean a change of heart. Some tell us that a Regenerate man has a certain power within him which enables him to repent and believe if he thinks fit - but that he still needs a further change in order to make him a true Christian. Some say there is a difference between Regeneration and being born again. Others say there is a difference between being born again and conversion.
To all this I have one simple reply - and that is, I can find no such Regeneration spoken of anywhere in the Bible. A Regeneration which only means admission into a state of ecclesiastical privileges may be ancient and primitive, for anything I know. But something more than this is needed. A few plain texts of Scripture are needed; and these texts have yet to be found.
Such a notion of Regeneration is utterly inconsistent with that which John gives us in his first epistle. It renders it necessary to invent the awkward theory that there are two Regenerations, and is thus eminently calculated to confuse the minds of unlearned people, and introduce false doctrine. It is a notion which seems not to answer to the solemnity with which our Lord introduces the subject to Nicodemus. When He said, "Verily, verily, unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God," did He only mean, unless a man be admitted to a state of ecclesiastical privilege? Surely He meant more than this. Such a Regeneration a man might have, like Simon Magus, and yet never be saved. Such a Regeneration He might never have, like the penitent thief, and yet see the kingdom of God. Surely He must have meant a change of heart. As to the notion that there is any distinction between being Regenerate and being born again, it is one which will not bear examination. It is the general opinion of all who know Greek, that the two expressions mean one and the same thing.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 3)
This change of heart in a true Christian is so complete, that no word could be chosen more fitting to express it than that word, "Regeneration," or "new birth." Doubtless it is no outward, bodily alteration - but undoubtedly it is an entire alteration of the inner man. It adds no new faculties to a man's mind - but it certainly gives an entirely new bent and bias to all his opinions so now, his views of sin, the world, the Bible, and Christ so new, that he is to all intents and purposes a new man. The change seems to bring a new being into existence. It may well be called being born again.
This change is not always given to believers at the same time in their lives. A vast multitude of people it is be feared, go down to the grave without having been born again at all.
This change of heart does not always begin in the same way. With some, like the Apostle Paul, and the jailor at Philippi, it is a sudden and violent change, attended with much distress of mind. With others, like Lydia of Thyatira, it is more gentle and gradual - their winter becomes spring almost without their knowing how. With some the change is brought about by the Spirit working through afflictions or providential visitations. With others, and probably the greater number of true Christians, the Word of God, preached or written, is the means of effecting it.
This change is one which can only be known and discerned by its effects. Its beginnings are a hidden and secret thing. We cannot see them. Our Lord Jesus Christ tells us this most plainly - "The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound thereof - but cannot tell whence it comes or where it goes; so is everyone that is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8). Would you know if you are Regenerate? You must try the question, by examining what you know of the effects of Regeneration. Those effects are always the same. The ways by which true Christians are led, in passing through their great change, are certainly various. But the state of the heart and soul into which they are brought at last, is always the same. Ask them what they think of sin, Christ, holiness, the world, the Bible, and prayer, and you will find them all of one mind.
This change is one which no man can give to himself, nor yet to another. "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:6). But man has no power to work the change. No minister on earth can convey grace to any one of his congregation at his discretion. He may preach as truly and faithfully as Paul - but God must give the increase. He may baptize with water in the name of the Trinity - but unless the Holy Spirit accompanies and blesses the ordinance, there is no death to sin, and no new birth unto righteousness. Jesus alone, the great Head of the Church, can baptize with the Holy Spirit. Blessed and happy are they who have the inward baptism, as well as the outward.
The Scripture teaches that no more than a child can beget itself, or a dead man quicken himself, or a nonentity create itself; no more can any carnal man regenerate himself, or work true saving grace in his own soul.
There are two kinds of baptism, and both necessary - the one interior, which is cleansing of the heart, the drawing of the Father, the operation of the Holy Spirit - and this baptism is in man when he believes and trusts that Christ is the only method of his salvation.
It is on all parts gladly confessed, that there may be in divers cases, life by virtue of inward baptism, where outward is not found.
I lay before you the foregoing account of Regeneration. I say it is that change of heart which is the distinguishing mark of a true Christian man - the invariable companion of a justifying faith in Christ - the inseparable consequence of vital union with him, and the root and beginning of inward sanctification. I ask you to ponder it well before you go any further. It is of the utmost importance that your views should be clear upon this point - what Regeneration really is.
I know well that many will not allow that Regeneration is what I have described it to be. They will think the statement I have made, by way of definition, much too strong. Some hold that Regeneration only means admission into a state of ecclesiastical privileges - being made a member of the Church - but does not mean a change of heart. Some tell us that a Regenerate man has a certain power within him which enables him to repent and believe if he thinks fit - but that he still needs a further change in order to make him a true Christian. Some say there is a difference between Regeneration and being born again. Others say there is a difference between being born again and conversion.
To all this I have one simple reply - and that is, I can find no such Regeneration spoken of anywhere in the Bible. A Regeneration which only means admission into a state of ecclesiastical privileges may be ancient and primitive, for anything I know. But something more than this is needed. A few plain texts of Scripture are needed; and these texts have yet to be found.
Such a notion of Regeneration is utterly inconsistent with that which John gives us in his first epistle. It renders it necessary to invent the awkward theory that there are two Regenerations, and is thus eminently calculated to confuse the minds of unlearned people, and introduce false doctrine. It is a notion which seems not to answer to the solemnity with which our Lord introduces the subject to Nicodemus. When He said, "Verily, verily, unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God," did He only mean, unless a man be admitted to a state of ecclesiastical privilege? Surely He meant more than this. Such a Regeneration a man might have, like Simon Magus, and yet never be saved. Such a Regeneration He might never have, like the penitent thief, and yet see the kingdom of God. Surely He must have meant a change of heart. As to the notion that there is any distinction between being Regenerate and being born again, it is one which will not bear examination. It is the general opinion of all who know Greek, that the two expressions mean one and the same thing.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 3)
Saturday, December 8, 2018
Are You Regenerate? # 1
Are You Regenerate? # 1
I wish to speak to you about regeneration, or being born again. The subject is a most important one at any time. Those words of our Lord Jesus Christ to Nicodemus are very solemn, "Unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3). The world has gone through many changes since those words were spoken. Eighteen hundred years have passed away. Empires and kingdoms have risen and fallen. Great men and wise men have lived, labored, written, and died. But there stands the rule of the Lord Jesus unaltered and unchanged. And there it will stand, until heaven and earth shall pass away - "Unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
But the subject is one which is doubly important in the present day. Things have happened which have drawn special attention to it. Men's minds are full of it, and men's eyes are fixed on it. Surely it is a time when every true Christian should examine himself upon the subject, and make sure that his views are sound. When the truth is assailed, those who love truth should grasp it more firmly than ever. Oh, for a greater spirit of decision throughout the land! Oh, for a more hearty determination to be always on the Lord's side!
Now I propose to attempt three things -
1. Firstly, to explain what regeneration, or being born again, means.
2. Secondly, to show the necessity of regeneration.
3. Thirdly, to point out the marks and evidences of regeneration.
If the Lord God shall enable me to make these three points clear to you, I believe I shall have done your soul a great service.
I. Let me then, first of all, explain what regeneration, or being born again, means.
Regeneration means, that change of heart and nature which a man goes through when he becomes a true Christian.
I think there can be no question that there is an immense difference among those who profess and call themselves Christians. Beyond all dispute, there are always two classes in the outward Church - the class of those who are Christians in name and form only, and the class of those who are Christians in deed and in truth. All were not Israel who were called Israel, and all are not Christians who are called Christians. "In the visible Church," says an article of the Church of England, "the evil be ever mingled with the good." Some, as the Thirty-nine Articles say, are "wicked and void of a lively faith." Others, as another article says, "are made like the image of God only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, and walk piously in good works." Some worship God as a mere form - and some in spirit and in truth. Some give their hearts to God - and some give them to the world. Some believe the Bible, and live as if they believed it - others do not. Some feel their sins, and mourn over them - others do not. Some love Christ, trust in Him, and serve Him - others do not. In short, as Scripture says, some walk in the narrow way - some in the broad way; some are good fish of the gospel net - some are the bad fish; some are the wheat in Christ's field - some are the tares.
I think no man with his eyes open can fail to see all this, both in the Bible, and in the world around him. Whatever he may think about the subject I am writing of, he cannot possibly deny that this difference exists.
Now what is the explanation of the difference? I answer unhesitatingly - Regeneration, or being born again. I answer, that true Christians are what they are, because they are regenerate; and formal Christians are what they are, because they are not regenerate. The heart of the true Christian has been changed. The heart of the Christian in name only, has not been changed. The change of heart makes the whole difference.
This change of heart is spoken of continually in the Bible, under various emblems and figures: Ezek. 11:19; 36:26) "A taking away of the stony heart" - a new heart, and putting within us a new spirit."
The apostle John sometimes calls it, being "born of God," sometimes, being "born of the Spirit." (John 1:13; 3:3-6).
The apostle Peter calls it "repenting and being converted" (Acts 3:19). The Epistle to the Romans speaks of it as "being alive from the dead." (Rom. 6:13).
2 Corinthians - "being a new creature - old things have passed away, and all things become new" (5:17).
Ephesians speaks of it as a resurrection together with Christ (2:1); as "a putting off the old man, which is corrupt - being renewed in the spirit of our minds - and putting on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness" (4:22, 24).
Colossians calls it a "putting off the old man with his deeds, and putting on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him" (3:9, 10).
Titus calls it, "the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit" (3:5).
1 Peter speaks of it as "a being called out of darkness into God's marvelous light" (2:9). 2 Peter - "being made partakers of the divine nature" (1:4).
1 John calls it a "passing from death to life" (3:14).
All these expressions come to the same thing in the end. They are all the same truths only viewed from different sides. And all have one and the same meaning. They describe a great radical change of heart and nature - a thorough alteration and transformation of the whole inner man - a participation in the resurrection life of Christ - or, to borrow the words of the Church of England Catechism, "a death unto sin and a new birth unto righteousness."
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 2)
I wish to speak to you about regeneration, or being born again. The subject is a most important one at any time. Those words of our Lord Jesus Christ to Nicodemus are very solemn, "Unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3). The world has gone through many changes since those words were spoken. Eighteen hundred years have passed away. Empires and kingdoms have risen and fallen. Great men and wise men have lived, labored, written, and died. But there stands the rule of the Lord Jesus unaltered and unchanged. And there it will stand, until heaven and earth shall pass away - "Unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
But the subject is one which is doubly important in the present day. Things have happened which have drawn special attention to it. Men's minds are full of it, and men's eyes are fixed on it. Surely it is a time when every true Christian should examine himself upon the subject, and make sure that his views are sound. When the truth is assailed, those who love truth should grasp it more firmly than ever. Oh, for a greater spirit of decision throughout the land! Oh, for a more hearty determination to be always on the Lord's side!
Now I propose to attempt three things -
1. Firstly, to explain what regeneration, or being born again, means.
2. Secondly, to show the necessity of regeneration.
3. Thirdly, to point out the marks and evidences of regeneration.
If the Lord God shall enable me to make these three points clear to you, I believe I shall have done your soul a great service.
I. Let me then, first of all, explain what regeneration, or being born again, means.
Regeneration means, that change of heart and nature which a man goes through when he becomes a true Christian.
I think there can be no question that there is an immense difference among those who profess and call themselves Christians. Beyond all dispute, there are always two classes in the outward Church - the class of those who are Christians in name and form only, and the class of those who are Christians in deed and in truth. All were not Israel who were called Israel, and all are not Christians who are called Christians. "In the visible Church," says an article of the Church of England, "the evil be ever mingled with the good." Some, as the Thirty-nine Articles say, are "wicked and void of a lively faith." Others, as another article says, "are made like the image of God only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, and walk piously in good works." Some worship God as a mere form - and some in spirit and in truth. Some give their hearts to God - and some give them to the world. Some believe the Bible, and live as if they believed it - others do not. Some feel their sins, and mourn over them - others do not. Some love Christ, trust in Him, and serve Him - others do not. In short, as Scripture says, some walk in the narrow way - some in the broad way; some are good fish of the gospel net - some are the bad fish; some are the wheat in Christ's field - some are the tares.
I think no man with his eyes open can fail to see all this, both in the Bible, and in the world around him. Whatever he may think about the subject I am writing of, he cannot possibly deny that this difference exists.
Now what is the explanation of the difference? I answer unhesitatingly - Regeneration, or being born again. I answer, that true Christians are what they are, because they are regenerate; and formal Christians are what they are, because they are not regenerate. The heart of the true Christian has been changed. The heart of the Christian in name only, has not been changed. The change of heart makes the whole difference.
This change of heart is spoken of continually in the Bible, under various emblems and figures: Ezek. 11:19; 36:26) "A taking away of the stony heart" - a new heart, and putting within us a new spirit."
The apostle John sometimes calls it, being "born of God," sometimes, being "born of the Spirit." (John 1:13; 3:3-6).
The apostle Peter calls it "repenting and being converted" (Acts 3:19). The Epistle to the Romans speaks of it as "being alive from the dead." (Rom. 6:13).
2 Corinthians - "being a new creature - old things have passed away, and all things become new" (5:17).
Ephesians speaks of it as a resurrection together with Christ (2:1); as "a putting off the old man, which is corrupt - being renewed in the spirit of our minds - and putting on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness" (4:22, 24).
Colossians calls it a "putting off the old man with his deeds, and putting on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him" (3:9, 10).
Titus calls it, "the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit" (3:5).
1 Peter speaks of it as "a being called out of darkness into God's marvelous light" (2:9). 2 Peter - "being made partakers of the divine nature" (1:4).
1 John calls it a "passing from death to life" (3:14).
All these expressions come to the same thing in the end. They are all the same truths only viewed from different sides. And all have one and the same meaning. They describe a great radical change of heart and nature - a thorough alteration and transformation of the whole inner man - a participation in the resurrection life of Christ - or, to borrow the words of the Church of England Catechism, "a death unto sin and a new birth unto righteousness."
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 2)
Saturday, December 1, 2018
Hold Fast # 6
Hold Fast # 6
Six thousand years ago, sin entered into the world by the devil's daring falsehood - "You shall not surely die!" (Gen. 3:4). At the end of six thousand years, the great enemy of mankind is still using his old weapon, and trying to persuade men that they may live and die in sin, and yet at some distant period may be finally saved. Let us not be ignorant of his devices. Let us walk steadily in the old paths. Let us hold fast the old truth, and believing that, as the happiness of the saved is eternal, so also is the misery of the lost.
(i) Let us hold it fast in the interest of the whole system of revealed religion. What was the use of God's Son becoming incarnate, agonizing in Gethsemane, and dying on the Cross to make atonement - if men can be finally saved without believing on Him? Where is the slightest proof in Scripture, that saving faith in Christ's blood can ever begin after death? Where is the need of the Holy Spirit, if sinners are at last to enter heaven without conversion and renewal of heart? Where can we find the smallest evidence that any one can be born again after death, and have a new heart - if he dies in an unregenerate state? If a man may escape eternal punishment at last, without faith in Christ or sanctification of the Spirit, sin is no longer an infinite evil, and there was no need for Christ to die on Calvary!
(2) Let us hold fast the doctrine of future eternal punishment, for the sake of holiness and morality. I can imagine nothing so pleasant to men, as the fallacious theory that we may live in sin - and yet escape eternal perdition; that although "we are slaves to many wicked desires and evil pleasures" while we are here in this world, we shall somehow or other, all get to heaven hereafter! Only tell the young man who is "wasting his substance in riotous living", that there is a heaven at last, even for those who live and die in sin, and he is never likely to turn from evil. What does it signify how he lives, if there is no "judgment to come?" Why should he repent and take up the cross - if he can get to heaven at last without trouble?
(3) Finally, let us hold it fast for the sake of the common hopes of all God's saints. Let us distinctly understand that every blow struck at the eternity of punishment, is an equally heavy blow at the eternity of reward. It is impossible to separate the two things. No clever theological definition can divide them.They stand or fall together. The same language is used, the same figures of speech are employed, when the Bible speaks about either condition. Every attack on the duration of hell is also an attack on the duration of heaven. It is a deep and true saying, "With the sinner's fear - our hope departs."
I turn from this section, with a strong sense of its painfulness. I feel keenly, with Robert M'Cheyne, that "it is a difficult subject to handle lovingly." But I turn from it with an equally strong conviction, that if we believe the Bible, we must never give up anything which it contains. From hard, austere, and unmerciful theology, Good Lord, deliver us! If men are not saved, it is not because God does not love them, and it not willing to save them - but because they will not come to Christ (John 5:40). But we must not be wise above that which is written. No morbid liberality, so called, must induce us to reject anything which God has revealed about the next world. Men sometimes talk exclusively about God's mercy and love and compassion, as if He had no other attributes, and leave out of sight entirely His holiness and His purity, His justice and His unchangeablenes, and His hatred of sin. Let us beware of falling into this delusion. It is a growing evil in these latter days.
Low and inadequate views of the unutterable and filthiness of sin, and of the unutterable purity of the eternal God, are fertile sources of error about man's future state. Let us think of the mighty Being with Whom we have to do, as He Himself declared His character to Moses, saying, "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, patience and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgressions, and sin." But let us not forget the solemn clause which concludes the sentence - "And who will by no means clear the guilty" (Exodus 34:6-7). Unrepented sin is an eternal evil, and can never cease to be sin, and He with whom we have to do is an eternal God!
~J. C. Ryle~
(The End)
Six thousand years ago, sin entered into the world by the devil's daring falsehood - "You shall not surely die!" (Gen. 3:4). At the end of six thousand years, the great enemy of mankind is still using his old weapon, and trying to persuade men that they may live and die in sin, and yet at some distant period may be finally saved. Let us not be ignorant of his devices. Let us walk steadily in the old paths. Let us hold fast the old truth, and believing that, as the happiness of the saved is eternal, so also is the misery of the lost.
(i) Let us hold it fast in the interest of the whole system of revealed religion. What was the use of God's Son becoming incarnate, agonizing in Gethsemane, and dying on the Cross to make atonement - if men can be finally saved without believing on Him? Where is the slightest proof in Scripture, that saving faith in Christ's blood can ever begin after death? Where is the need of the Holy Spirit, if sinners are at last to enter heaven without conversion and renewal of heart? Where can we find the smallest evidence that any one can be born again after death, and have a new heart - if he dies in an unregenerate state? If a man may escape eternal punishment at last, without faith in Christ or sanctification of the Spirit, sin is no longer an infinite evil, and there was no need for Christ to die on Calvary!
(2) Let us hold fast the doctrine of future eternal punishment, for the sake of holiness and morality. I can imagine nothing so pleasant to men, as the fallacious theory that we may live in sin - and yet escape eternal perdition; that although "we are slaves to many wicked desires and evil pleasures" while we are here in this world, we shall somehow or other, all get to heaven hereafter! Only tell the young man who is "wasting his substance in riotous living", that there is a heaven at last, even for those who live and die in sin, and he is never likely to turn from evil. What does it signify how he lives, if there is no "judgment to come?" Why should he repent and take up the cross - if he can get to heaven at last without trouble?
(3) Finally, let us hold it fast for the sake of the common hopes of all God's saints. Let us distinctly understand that every blow struck at the eternity of punishment, is an equally heavy blow at the eternity of reward. It is impossible to separate the two things. No clever theological definition can divide them.They stand or fall together. The same language is used, the same figures of speech are employed, when the Bible speaks about either condition. Every attack on the duration of hell is also an attack on the duration of heaven. It is a deep and true saying, "With the sinner's fear - our hope departs."
I turn from this section, with a strong sense of its painfulness. I feel keenly, with Robert M'Cheyne, that "it is a difficult subject to handle lovingly." But I turn from it with an equally strong conviction, that if we believe the Bible, we must never give up anything which it contains. From hard, austere, and unmerciful theology, Good Lord, deliver us! If men are not saved, it is not because God does not love them, and it not willing to save them - but because they will not come to Christ (John 5:40). But we must not be wise above that which is written. No morbid liberality, so called, must induce us to reject anything which God has revealed about the next world. Men sometimes talk exclusively about God's mercy and love and compassion, as if He had no other attributes, and leave out of sight entirely His holiness and His purity, His justice and His unchangeablenes, and His hatred of sin. Let us beware of falling into this delusion. It is a growing evil in these latter days.
Low and inadequate views of the unutterable and filthiness of sin, and of the unutterable purity of the eternal God, are fertile sources of error about man's future state. Let us think of the mighty Being with Whom we have to do, as He Himself declared His character to Moses, saying, "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, patience and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgressions, and sin." But let us not forget the solemn clause which concludes the sentence - "And who will by no means clear the guilty" (Exodus 34:6-7). Unrepented sin is an eternal evil, and can never cease to be sin, and He with whom we have to do is an eternal God!
~J. C. Ryle~
(The End)
Hold Fast # 5
Hold Fast # 5
IV. In the next place, let me charge you to hold fast for great foundation-principles of Scripture: that forgiveness of sins is only given to man through the atoning death of Jesus Christ on the Cross.
This is a deep and solemn subject; but there is such an immense amount of strange doctrine floating in the air about it, that I dare not pass it over. It seems to me to lie so near the roots of the Gospel, that it is my duty not to be silent.
So far as I can understand, the theory of many appears to be - that it is the incarnation, rather than the sacrifice; the human nature that Christ took on Him rather than the death He died - which is intended to be the chief ground of hope for our souls. It seems to be held that the blood which cleanses from all sin is not so much the life-blood which Christ shed when He died, as the blood of human nature of which He became a partaker when He was born into the world, and by partaking ennobled all Adam's race, and made salvation possible for fallen man.
As to the old doctrine that the blood which flowed on Calvary was the ransom paid for our souls and the price of redemption from the punishment due to our sins, it seems to be thrown aside by many like an obsolete dogma, unworthy of these latter days. Some even sneer at it as blood theology and tell us that Christ's death was only the death of a great martyr, and a grand example of perfect submission to God's will - but not a propitiation for sin.
Now I know not what some of you may think of the theory I have tried to delineate; but I must say plainly that I cannot for a moment admit that it is true, and will bear the test of calm examination. The subject is one about which I dare not call any one master.
I cannot reconcile the theory with scores of plain texts in the New Testament in which the forgiveness of sins, salvation, justification, reconciliation, redemption, deliverance from wrath to come, and peace with God - appear to be inseparably connected with the sufferings and death of Christ, and not with His life. Romans 5:10 means only Christ's life of intercession; and it is like Hebrews 7:25, which also refers to Christ's intercession. Revelation 5:9: "You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood".
I can not dwell longer on this solemn subject. If time permitted, I might remind you how the story of the Cross, and the blood has always been found the most effective weapon in the mission field all over the globe. If others are content to turn away from the old paths of redemption by blood and substitution, and to rest on a vague hope that, somehow or other, they will be saved by Christ's incarnation, I am not their judge. Give me rather for my faith the standing-place of the noble army of martyrs and the goodly company of reformers, namely, the blood and passion of Christ. I dare not launch forth into a world unknown on any other plank but this!
V. Let me charge you, in the next place, to hold fast sound and Scriptural views of the work of the Holy Spirit. Faith in the Holy Spirit, we must always remember, is as truly a part of Christianity as faith in Christ. Every child who repeats the Church Catechism is taught to say, "I learn to believe in God the Holy Spirit, who sanctifies me and all the elect people of God." Furthermore, the work of the Holy Spirit, though mysterious, will always be known by the fruits He produces in the character and conduct of those in whom He dwells. It is like light which can be seen, and fire which can be felt, and wind which causes noticeable results. Where there are no fruits of the Spirit, there is no presence of the Spirit. Those fruits, I need not tell you, are always the same, conviction of sin, true repentance, lively faith in Christ, and holiness of heart and life.
Now I believe this kind of truth about the work of the Holy Spirit needs strongly to be pressed on congregations in the present day. I am afraid there are myriads of professing Christians throughout the land, who really know nothing about the Holy Spirit. They seem to think that as baptized members of a great ecclesiastical corporation, that they possess all the privileges of members. But of the work of the Spirit on their own individual hearts, of conversion, repentance, and faith - they know nothing at all. They are spiritually asleep and dead - and unless they awake are in great danger. To arouse such people to a sense of their unsatisfactory condition, to stir them to see that if the Holy Spirit indwells them, they ought to know something of Him by inward experience, and never rest until they feel this. This is work which I am convinced every clergyman ought to keep continually in view, and I entreat you to do so this day. Not only preach Christ - but take care that you also preach the Holy Spirit.
While we are thankful for the increase of public religion, we must never forget that, unless it is accompanied by private religion, it is of no real solid value, and may even produce most mischievous effects. Incessant running after sensational preachers, incessant attendance at hot, crowded meetings protracted to late hours; incessant craving after fresh excitement and highly-spiced pulpit novelties - all this kind of thing is calculated to produce a very unhealthy style of Christianity; and, in many cases, I am afraid, the end is utter ruin of soul. For, unhappily, those who make public religion everything, are often led away by mere temporary emotions, after some grand display of ecclesiastical oratory, into professing far more than they really feel. After this, they can only be kept up to the mark, which they imagine they have reached, by a constant succession of religious excitements. By and by, as with opium-eaters there comes a time when their dose loses its power, and a feeling of exhaustion and discontent begins to creep over their minds. Too often, I fear, the conclusion of the whole matter is a relapse into utter deadness and unbelief, and a complete return to the world. And all results from having nothing but a public religion! Oh that people would remember that it was not the wind, or the fire, or the earthquake, which showed Elijah the presence of God - but the still small voice" (1 Kings 19:12).
I desire to lift up a warning voice on this subject. I want to see no decrease of public religion, remember; but I do want to promote an increase of that religion which is private between each man and his God, and that religion which is most beautifully exhibited at home. I want to see more attention paid to those passive graces which are the truest evidence of the work of the Spirit. To be religious among the religious, and spiritual among the spiritual, all this is comparatively easy. But to adorn the Gospel, and be Christlike, in the midst of a large family circle of unconverted, and uncongenial relatives, to be always patient, gentle, loving, kind, unselfish, good-tempered; this is the grandest fruit of the Holy Spirit. We need more of this kind of religion. Now, private religion is the root of all vital Christianity. Without it we may make a brave show in the meeting or on the platform, and sing loud, and shed many tears,k and have a name to live, and the praise of man. But without it we are dead before God.
VI. Let me charge you, in the last place, to hold fast the teaching of Scripture about the state of man after death. This is a very solemn and painful topic, and flesh and blood naturally shrink from its contemplation. But so many strange doctrines are floating in the air about the whole subject, that I dare not refuse to consider it. The language of the Bible about "judgment to come" and the future punishment of those who die impenitent, appear to me so distinct, that I do not see how it can be explained away. Those who object to the doctrine of future punishment, talk loudly about love and charity, and say that it does not harmonize with the merciful and compassionate character of God. But what says the Scripture? Who ever spoke such loving and merciful words as our Lord Jesus Christ? Yet His lips which three times over describe the consequence of impenitence and sin, as "the worm that never dies, and the fire that is not quenched." He is the Person who speaks in one sentence of the wicked going away into everlasting punishment, and the righteous into life eternal" (Mar. 9:43-48; Matt. 25:46).
Who does not remember the apostle Paul's words about charity? Yet he is the very apostle who says the "wicked shall be punished with everlasting destruction" (2 Thess. 1:9). Who does not know the spirit of love which runs all through John's Gospel and Epistles? Yet the beloved apostle is the very writer in the New Testament who dwells most strongly, in the book of Revelation, on the reality and eternity of future woe! What shall we say to these things? Shall we be wise above that which is written? Shall we admit the dangerous principle that words in Scripture do not mean what they appear to mean? If so, where are we to stop? Is it not far better to lay our hands on our mouths and say, "Whatever God has written must be true!" "Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments" (Rev. 16:7).
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 6)
IV. In the next place, let me charge you to hold fast for great foundation-principles of Scripture: that forgiveness of sins is only given to man through the atoning death of Jesus Christ on the Cross.
This is a deep and solemn subject; but there is such an immense amount of strange doctrine floating in the air about it, that I dare not pass it over. It seems to me to lie so near the roots of the Gospel, that it is my duty not to be silent.
So far as I can understand, the theory of many appears to be - that it is the incarnation, rather than the sacrifice; the human nature that Christ took on Him rather than the death He died - which is intended to be the chief ground of hope for our souls. It seems to be held that the blood which cleanses from all sin is not so much the life-blood which Christ shed when He died, as the blood of human nature of which He became a partaker when He was born into the world, and by partaking ennobled all Adam's race, and made salvation possible for fallen man.
As to the old doctrine that the blood which flowed on Calvary was the ransom paid for our souls and the price of redemption from the punishment due to our sins, it seems to be thrown aside by many like an obsolete dogma, unworthy of these latter days. Some even sneer at it as blood theology and tell us that Christ's death was only the death of a great martyr, and a grand example of perfect submission to God's will - but not a propitiation for sin.
Now I know not what some of you may think of the theory I have tried to delineate; but I must say plainly that I cannot for a moment admit that it is true, and will bear the test of calm examination. The subject is one about which I dare not call any one master.
I cannot reconcile the theory with scores of plain texts in the New Testament in which the forgiveness of sins, salvation, justification, reconciliation, redemption, deliverance from wrath to come, and peace with God - appear to be inseparably connected with the sufferings and death of Christ, and not with His life. Romans 5:10 means only Christ's life of intercession; and it is like Hebrews 7:25, which also refers to Christ's intercession. Revelation 5:9: "You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood".
I can not dwell longer on this solemn subject. If time permitted, I might remind you how the story of the Cross, and the blood has always been found the most effective weapon in the mission field all over the globe. If others are content to turn away from the old paths of redemption by blood and substitution, and to rest on a vague hope that, somehow or other, they will be saved by Christ's incarnation, I am not their judge. Give me rather for my faith the standing-place of the noble army of martyrs and the goodly company of reformers, namely, the blood and passion of Christ. I dare not launch forth into a world unknown on any other plank but this!
V. Let me charge you, in the next place, to hold fast sound and Scriptural views of the work of the Holy Spirit. Faith in the Holy Spirit, we must always remember, is as truly a part of Christianity as faith in Christ. Every child who repeats the Church Catechism is taught to say, "I learn to believe in God the Holy Spirit, who sanctifies me and all the elect people of God." Furthermore, the work of the Holy Spirit, though mysterious, will always be known by the fruits He produces in the character and conduct of those in whom He dwells. It is like light which can be seen, and fire which can be felt, and wind which causes noticeable results. Where there are no fruits of the Spirit, there is no presence of the Spirit. Those fruits, I need not tell you, are always the same, conviction of sin, true repentance, lively faith in Christ, and holiness of heart and life.
Now I believe this kind of truth about the work of the Holy Spirit needs strongly to be pressed on congregations in the present day. I am afraid there are myriads of professing Christians throughout the land, who really know nothing about the Holy Spirit. They seem to think that as baptized members of a great ecclesiastical corporation, that they possess all the privileges of members. But of the work of the Spirit on their own individual hearts, of conversion, repentance, and faith - they know nothing at all. They are spiritually asleep and dead - and unless they awake are in great danger. To arouse such people to a sense of their unsatisfactory condition, to stir them to see that if the Holy Spirit indwells them, they ought to know something of Him by inward experience, and never rest until they feel this. This is work which I am convinced every clergyman ought to keep continually in view, and I entreat you to do so this day. Not only preach Christ - but take care that you also preach the Holy Spirit.
While we are thankful for the increase of public religion, we must never forget that, unless it is accompanied by private religion, it is of no real solid value, and may even produce most mischievous effects. Incessant running after sensational preachers, incessant attendance at hot, crowded meetings protracted to late hours; incessant craving after fresh excitement and highly-spiced pulpit novelties - all this kind of thing is calculated to produce a very unhealthy style of Christianity; and, in many cases, I am afraid, the end is utter ruin of soul. For, unhappily, those who make public religion everything, are often led away by mere temporary emotions, after some grand display of ecclesiastical oratory, into professing far more than they really feel. After this, they can only be kept up to the mark, which they imagine they have reached, by a constant succession of religious excitements. By and by, as with opium-eaters there comes a time when their dose loses its power, and a feeling of exhaustion and discontent begins to creep over their minds. Too often, I fear, the conclusion of the whole matter is a relapse into utter deadness and unbelief, and a complete return to the world. And all results from having nothing but a public religion! Oh that people would remember that it was not the wind, or the fire, or the earthquake, which showed Elijah the presence of God - but the still small voice" (1 Kings 19:12).
I desire to lift up a warning voice on this subject. I want to see no decrease of public religion, remember; but I do want to promote an increase of that religion which is private between each man and his God, and that religion which is most beautifully exhibited at home. I want to see more attention paid to those passive graces which are the truest evidence of the work of the Spirit. To be religious among the religious, and spiritual among the spiritual, all this is comparatively easy. But to adorn the Gospel, and be Christlike, in the midst of a large family circle of unconverted, and uncongenial relatives, to be always patient, gentle, loving, kind, unselfish, good-tempered; this is the grandest fruit of the Holy Spirit. We need more of this kind of religion. Now, private religion is the root of all vital Christianity. Without it we may make a brave show in the meeting or on the platform, and sing loud, and shed many tears,k and have a name to live, and the praise of man. But without it we are dead before God.
VI. Let me charge you, in the last place, to hold fast the teaching of Scripture about the state of man after death. This is a very solemn and painful topic, and flesh and blood naturally shrink from its contemplation. But so many strange doctrines are floating in the air about the whole subject, that I dare not refuse to consider it. The language of the Bible about "judgment to come" and the future punishment of those who die impenitent, appear to me so distinct, that I do not see how it can be explained away. Those who object to the doctrine of future punishment, talk loudly about love and charity, and say that it does not harmonize with the merciful and compassionate character of God. But what says the Scripture? Who ever spoke such loving and merciful words as our Lord Jesus Christ? Yet His lips which three times over describe the consequence of impenitence and sin, as "the worm that never dies, and the fire that is not quenched." He is the Person who speaks in one sentence of the wicked going away into everlasting punishment, and the righteous into life eternal" (Mar. 9:43-48; Matt. 25:46).
Who does not remember the apostle Paul's words about charity? Yet he is the very apostle who says the "wicked shall be punished with everlasting destruction" (2 Thess. 1:9). Who does not know the spirit of love which runs all through John's Gospel and Epistles? Yet the beloved apostle is the very writer in the New Testament who dwells most strongly, in the book of Revelation, on the reality and eternity of future woe! What shall we say to these things? Shall we be wise above that which is written? Shall we admit the dangerous principle that words in Scripture do not mean what they appear to mean? If so, where are we to stop? Is it not far better to lay our hands on our mouths and say, "Whatever God has written must be true!" "Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments" (Rev. 16:7).
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 6)
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