THAT men need something cannot be denied. No atheist, however bold, and no “new theologian,” however daring, has ventured to assert that men are just as they should be, and that there is no need of a change of any kind whatever.
The question to be faced is not, Is a change needed? but, What kind of change is needed?
Some will tell us that the only kind of change which a man needs is that of environment. By this they mean that if a man’s circumstances and conditions of life are changed, the man himself is made better. That this is false is shown by the fact that there is sin, in its gross as well as in its more refined forms, as much among the millionaires of Mayfair and Fifth Avenue as amongst the dwellers in the sordid slums of the East End. And, above all, that our first parents, amid the most ideal environment, fell.
Take a bad egg and place it beneath an excellent hen. She may sit upon it diligently for twenty-one days, but she will neither hatch a chicken from the bad egg nor turn it into a good one. So the greatest care and the best of surroundings will prove to be inadequate remedies for what is wrong with men.
Some assure us that what men need is not so much a change of environment, but a change in himself, and that he should bring his mind to the point of determination to reform his ways, abandon his vices, and make a fresh start. But will a fresh start meet the case?
Look at that crab tree. Its fruit is acrid, bitter, worthless. But it has shed it all, and is now losing its last leaves. Soon it stands bare and unrecognizable as a worthless crab tree. In the spring it makes a fresh start. The leaves begin to shoot, the blossoms appear, and it looks as if a real change for the better has been made. But wait! The blossoms drop and the fruit appears. It is as bitter and worthless as ever. The “fresh start” has only resulted in a fresh crop of the same acrid and nauseous crabs.
It is the same when men “turn over a new leaf.” The change in their ways seems to give ground for hope of better things. But the man himself remains the same. The abandonment of his evil habits has no more wrought a change in him than the gathering of its fruit changes the nature of the crab tree.
Now the Bible is not silent as to this important question. Like a skillful physician it goes to the root of the trouble, and diagnoses the disease with accuracy and certainty. It shows us that man is a fallen creature, fallen to such an extent that he is “as water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again” (2 Sam. 14:1414For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him. (2 Samuel 14:14)); that in the very springs of his being he is false, his heart being “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” (Jer. 17:99The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9).)
In such a case, what men need is no mere external change, no “fresh start” of the crab tree kind, but a new start with a new nature, a new principle of being, implanted in him. And this is what we read of in John 3:77Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. (John 3:7), where the Lord Jesus says to Nicodemus, “Ye must be born again.”
In the previous chapter we are told that the Saviour, knowing men with such a perfect knowledge, would by no means place reliance upon them. “He knew what was in man,” and therefore “did not commit Himself unto them.”
But now He has before Him a fair specimen of the human race, religious, respected, learned, influential. Is he not to be trusted? Is he, in the very springs of his being, corrupt like all the rest? Yes, indeed; for to him, as to all others, the new birth was an absolute necessity. “The flesh,” that fallen, corrupt nature which every man knows he has within him, can produce nothing but its own kind. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh.” Change its environment; try new methods of training and education; legislate, cultivate, teach, influence, refine: do what you will, “flesh” remains “flesh.” A new principle of being, a new nature, is needed.
Thank God, this very thing, impossible to men, is possible with God. He can do even this. And in ten thousands of cases He has done it. The human race consists of two families: those that have only been born once, and those that have been born again.
What about you, my reader? GOSPEL TIDINGS carries its message far and wide. It is read in the lodging-houses of London, Sheffield, and other big cities. It is read in the barrack rooms of India and of Egypt. It finds its way into the mansions of the noble. And to all its readers it brings this question:
HAVE YOU BEEN BORN AGAIN?
Does anyone ask: “How can I tell?” The answer is easy. If you have fled for refuge to Christ; if you have sought cleansing from your sins in His precious blood; if, by faith, you have accepted Him as your Saviour: then assuredly you have been born again.
But this is not the only thing that sinful, fallen men need. They need to be put into right relations with God. For if men can make light of sin, God cannot. Sin matters to Him, and must be punished. So what guilty men need is an atonement that will satisfy God, and enable Him to forgive and justify the believing sinner.
Thank God, this too has been provided. At Calvary, the Son of God offered Himself a sacrifice for us. He bore the holy judgment of God due to sin. He was made sin for us (see 2 Cor. 5:2121For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)), and sin’s full penalty was executed upon Him.
On the ground of His finished, atoning work, God offers pardon to “whosoever will.” Men that could never save themselves can be freely saved through Christ. The way to obtain this infinite boon is simplicity itself. “Whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins.” (Acts 10:4343To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. (Acts 10:43).)
You have only to abandon all hope of making yourself what you ought to be, and trust yourself entirely to Christ, making the atoning merits of His blood your only plea, and God says you are saved.
H. P. B.