The Doctrine concerning

REDEMPTION REPENTANCE and NEW BIRTH

Introduction

In the beginning God created man after His own image, according to His foreordained
plan in Christ that man should be holy and blameless before Him in love (Eph.1:4). However,
since the fall of man, the whole creation has been put in subjection to vanity and is in
bondage to corruption. God now says, ‘Behold, I make all things new’ (Rev.21:5). In order
that the whole creation be redeemed from the bondage of vanity and corruption, it was
necessary that man be first redeemed to enjoy the glorious liberty of the sons of God
(Rom.8:21-23). This was possible only through the sacrifice, death and resurrection of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Today this glorious gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed by His chosen
servants to the whole world for the redemption of mankind so that in Christ man may be
made a new creation (II Cor.5:17).
This booklet deals mainly with initial step of this work of redemption and the initial
experience of becoming a

NEW BIRTH
CONTENTS
CHAPTER

1. THE SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE OF BIRTH

(1) Natural birth; (2) the birth of a nation; (3) the birth of a monarchical
kingdom of Israel; (4) the birth of Israel as a nation in recent times; (5) birht in
the sense of emergence from persecution and tribulation; (6) birth in the sense
of a sinner's descent into ever greater depths of wickedness; (7) the New Birth;
(8) birth in the sense of the formation in the inner man of the divine nature; (9)
birth in the sense of the Rapture of the Church.
CHRIST THE FIRST BEGOTTEN (FIRST BORN)
(1) Of every creature; (2) from the dead; (3) among many brethren.
2. THE NEW BIRTH
The definition of the New Birth; how it is brought about; the effect of the
brazen serpent as a type of the New Birth; twelve aspects of the New Birth.
3. BORN OF WATER AND OF THE SPIRIT
Seven reasons for believing that to be ‘born of water’ is to take Water Baptism,
and that to be ‘born of the Spirit’ is to be baptised in the Holy Spirit; (1) Water
Baptism is a birth in itself; (2) Water Baptism confirms remission of sins (3)
 the Bible shows that the new convert must undergo TWO ‘washings’; (4)
‘water’ does not mean ‘the Word’ in Ephesians 5:26 and Titus 3:5; (5) ‘Seeing’
the Kingdom of God is not the same as ‘entering’ it; (6) to be ‘born of the
Spirit’is to receive the Holy Spirit (be baptised in the Holy Spirit); (7) the
testimony of Church History.
4. BECOMING A NEW CREATURE IN CHRIST : PART - I
The New Birth is not the occasion when the believer becomes a New Creation;
the process of becoming a New Creation is analagous to the process of the re-
creation of the earth. The contribution made to this process by the three
spiritual births: (1) what happens at the New Birth; (2) what happens at Water
Baptism;
(3) what happens at the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.
5. BECOMING A NEW CREATURE IN CHRIST: PART - II
The definition of the experience of becoming a New Creature; characteristics
of a man who has become a New Creature: I. The new things he possesses: (1)
a new heart and a new spirit; (2) a new body; (3) a new mind. II. His new
privileges: (1) he belongs to another kingdom; (2) he is ruled by another law;
(3) the Word of God becomes spiritual food to him; (4) he experiences spiritual
growth; (5) he overcomes the world, sin and the Devil. III. His ambitions and
hopes.
The reader's attention is drawn to the fact that this study deals primarily with
the NEW BIRTH. The references to Water Baptism and to the Baptism in the
Holy Spirit are made only insofar as it is necessary to show how these
experiences contribute to the formation of the New Creature. Most evangelicals
firmly believe and consistently preach that one becomes a NEW CREATURE
at the NEW BIRTH. This view has no scriptural support. On the contrary, the
Scriptures show (as stated above) that one becomes a NEW CREATURE only
after one has experienced (1) the New Birth; (2) Believer's Baptism; (3) the
Baptism in the Holy Spirit. The doctrine of the two latter experiences are by no
means dealt with in full in this study, and the reader should refer for a fuller
exposition of these blessings to the books on the ‘Doctrine concerning Water
Baptism’ and the ‘Doctrine concerning the Baptism of the Holy Spirit’.



CHAPTER 1

THE SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE OF ‘BIRTH’

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily I say unto thee. Except a man be born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nocodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born
when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus
answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he
cannot enter into the kingdom of God’ (Jn.3:3-5).
 These verses have so far been a matter of controversy amongst theologians, and especially
amongst evangelicals. The point at issue is : do the terms ‘born again’, ‘born of water’, ‘born of
the Spirit’ and ‘becoming a new creature’ all refer to one and the same experience in the life of a
Christian, ì¥ÁG ¿†øbjbjŽÙŽÙ -&ì³ì³ëÜÿÿÿÿÿÿ]ÌÌÌÌÌÌÌààààà\ì¥ÁG ¿†øbjbjŽÙŽÙ
-&ì³ì³ëÜÿÿÿÿÿÿ]ÌÌÌÌÌÌÌààààà\ì¥ÁG ¿†øbjbjŽÙŽÙ -&ì³ì³ëÜÿÿÿÿÿÿ
]ÌÌÌÌÌÌÌààààà\ì¥ÁG ¿†øbjbjŽÙŽÙ -&ì³ì³ëÜÿÿÿÿÿÿ]ÌÌÌÌÌÌÌààààà\, the prophet, they desired a
king: this was contrary to the will of God. Though it grieved God, He gave them a king in Saul to
reign over them. But the life of Saul was not right in His sight. God spoke through Hosea thus: ‘O
Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thy help. I will be thy king: where is any other that
may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes? I
gave thee a king in my anger, and took him away in my wrath’ (Hosea 13:9-11). David, who
succeeded Saul, satisfied the heart of God. Therefore God confirmed the Monarchical kingdom in
him, anointing him as the firstborn, or the first approved king of all the kings of Israel. ‘I have
found David, my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him. ... my firstborn, higher than the
kings of the earth’ (Psa.89:20,27).
(4) The birth of Israel as a nation in recent times :
God foresaw that the Jews would become homeless, driven away from Palestine and
scattered among the nations of the world until the appointed time. Subsequently, they would be
gathered together again from all nations into Palestine and be established there once again in the
last days. This event is here termed a birth:
‘Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring
forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought
forth her children’ (Isa.66:8).
This Scripture has a double meaning: it refers also to the Rapture of the sanctified Church,
as we shall see later (Item 9).
(5) Birth in the sense of emergence from tribulation and persecution:
When Sennacherib, King of Assyria, came against King Hezekiah, he sent word to Isaiah
saying: ‘... This day is a day of trouble and of rebuke and of blasphemy: for the children are come
to the birth and there is not strength to bring forth’. Isaiah replied: ‘... Thus shall ye say unto your
master, Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, ... Behold I will send
a blast upon him and he shall hear a rumour and return to his own land; and I will cause him to
fall by the sword in his own land’ (Isa.37:3,6,7).
(6) Birth in the sense of a sinner's descent into deeper and deeper wickedness:
‘Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth
falsehood’ (Psa.7:14).
‘But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when
lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death’
(Jas.1:14,15).
(7) The New Birth : the spiritual experience of a man who becomes a child of God:
‘... But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood (not by a human or natural birth)
nor of the will of the flesh, (not as a result of carnal decision) nor of the will of man, (not by
human effort) but of God (by the operation of the power of God)’ (Jn.1:12,13).
(8) Birth in the sense of the formation of the divine nature in the inner man:
 ‘My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you’
(Gal.4:19).
(9) Birth in the sense of the Rapture of the Church:
‘And she (the present Spirit-Baptized Church) being with child cried, travailing in birth and
pained to be delivered (laboured in fervent prayer), ... And she brought forth a manchild, (the
overcoming Church) who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up
(raptured) unto God, and to his throne’ (Rev.12:2,5).
The above Scriptures provide sufficient proof that words conveying the sense of birth are
used figuratively to refer to (i) the establishment of a nation or of a kingdom; (ii) deliverance
from tribulation; (iii) a sinner's descent to ever deeper levels of wickedness; (iv) the conversion of
a sinner; (v) the bringing to perfection of a child of God; (vi) the Rapture of the Church. So when
studying the subject of the ‘New Birth’, we have to be aware that the word ‘birth’ is used in the
Scriptures to denote experiences of very many different kinds.
CHRIST, THE FIRSTBEGOTTEN
The Scripture unequivocally reveals that Christ is God (not a God, as Jehovah's Witnesses
teach), and that He is the Second Person of the Trinity. He is uncreated and eternal; of Him it is
said: ‘... (His) goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting’ (Micah 5:2). (For further
details on this subject, see ‘The Doctrine concerning God’ Chapter 3).
The question arises: Why, then, is Jesus referred to as ‘the firstbegotten’ (Heb.1:6) and as
‘the firstborn’ (Col.1:15)? The answer is simple. We noted that King David was referred to as
‘the firstborn’ when he was anointed king. We know that David was in fact Jesse's youngest son,
so he was not the ‘firstborn’ in his own family: nor was he the first king of Israel. Why then did
God refer to him as the ‘firstborn’? It was because God wanted to show that He could find no one
of a higher rank than David, and who was worthy of the throne. Similarly, when God the Father
wanted to fulfil His eternal plans by means of ‘diversities of operations’ down through the
centuries, His chosen instrument was always Jesus Christ, the Author of all such operations, and
therefore, as God's instrument, God's ‘Firstborn’. We should note that this does not mean that He
was created afresh on each occasion: it means, simply, that there was no one who was before
God's ’Firstborn’ and that there was no one who was equal to Him.
1. Jesus Christ, the firstborn of every creature
Christ existed with the Father from Eternity as the ‘Word’ (Jn.1:1). He was in His bosom
(Jn.1:18). But He had to emerge from the Father to create all things. His emergence from the
Father in order to create all things is called a birth and it is then, that He received the title ‘the
firstborn of every creature: for by him were all things created’ (Col.1:15,16).
2. Jesus Christ, the firstborn from the dead.
‘And he is the head of the body, the Church; Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the
dead’ (Col.1:18). Christ said ‘I am the resurrection’ (Jn.11:25). Therefore He was not only the
first to be resurrected, but He was the author of the resurrection Himself.
St. Paul explains the Scripture which states: ‘This day have I begotten thee’ (Acts 13:33) as
referring to the day of Christ's physical resurrection.
3. Jesus Christ, the firstborn among many brethren.
Christ identifies Himself as the Elder Brother of the Church which will be conformed to
His image. ‘He is not ashamed to call them brethren’ (Heb.2:11). He is coming as the firstborn to
transfer the sanctified Church to heavenly places (Rom.8:29).
In summary, there are three senses in which Christ is ‘the firstborn’, ‘the firstbegotten’: not
that he was ‘begotten on three sparate occaions, but that He was the author, the One Who was the
instrument of God, in three separate divine operations:
(1) As the Creator of all things;
(2) As the first to be resurrected from the dead;
(3) As the ‘firstborn’ of the Church which will be ‘raptured’.
It is in the light of these facts that the New Birth will be studied in the next chapter.

CHAPTER 2

THE DEFINITION OF THE NEW ‘BIRTH’

A sinner, though he is physically alive, is ‘dead’ (spiritually) in trespasses and sins
(Rph.2:1). He still has a soul, but the God-conscious part of it is absolutely dead towards God;
nevertheless it is alive to the natural things of the world. The foolish rich man spoke to his soul
saying, ‘... Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years ...’ (Lk.12:19). His soul was alive
to earthly matters, but dead to God. Such a man is referred to in the Scriptures as ‘a natural man’.
Paul says, ‘... the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God for they are foolishness
unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned’ (I Cor.2:14). The
soul of a sinner is deprived of the life of God, because his ‘... understanding (is) darkened, being
alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them ...’ (Eph.4:18). At physical
death his soul departs to eternal hell. The soul of the rich man, who during his earthly life had
been ‘clothed in purple and fine linen’ and who had ‘... fared sumptuously every day’, and who
had been totally unconcerned about his prospects for eternity, went to hell, and was ‘in torments’
there, after physical death (Lk.16:23). That is why Jesus said, ‘What shall it profit a man, if he
shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his
soul?’ (Mk.8:36,37).
At conversion two important things happen. Firstly, a man's soul is delivered from spiritual
death and eternal judgment. Secondly, he receives eternal life. ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, He
that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come
into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life’ (Jn.5:24). It is not a psychological
conversion producing certain changes of thought and conduct, but a radical change in the very
soul of the person concerned, through the operation of the Holy Ghost.
How the new birth is brought about
There are two sides to this experience. One is God's side and the other is man's side. God,
on His part reaches a sinner through His Word, the Holy Spirit operating in and through the
Word. When Peter preached the word, his hearers were ‘... pricked (convicted) in their heart’ and
asked Peter and the rest of the Apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’ (Acts 2:37). God
cannot do anything till man accepts God's call through the Gospel, sincerely repents and seeks
His grace and forgiveness. At this stage, through the same Word (Gospel) preached to him, he
understands in his mind, believes in his heart, confesses with his mouth the Lord Jesus Christ,
that God delivered Him (Christ) for his offences and raised Him for his justification
(Rom.10:9,10; 4:25). At that moment, he is forgiven (Jn.5:24), and granted eternal life (Jn.3:16).
 The effect of the brazen serpent as a type of the new birth
To illustrate the truth of the New Birth (regeneration), Jesus referred to the brazen serpent
that was lifted up in the wilderness: ‘And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so
must the Son of man be lifted up; That whosoever, believeth in him should not perish, but have
eternal life’ (Jn.3:14,15).
Israel's sin was that they ‘spoke against God and against Moses’. So the Lord sent fiery
serpents to bite them, and many died. This is a type of sin and of judgment. when they repented,
God commanded Moses to make a brazen serpent and to set it upon a pole and to say: ‘...
everyone that is bitten, when he looketh upon it shall live’. the consequences was that everyone
who looked at the serpent did live (Num.21:8). When Jesus hung on the cross he died for our sins.
‘He was delivered for our offences and was raised for our justification’ (Rom.4:25). at the same
time, He destroyed Satan, ‘that old serpent’, and his works ‘... that through death he might
destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil’ (Heb.2:14). ‘For this purpose the Son
of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil’ (I Jn.3:8).
The sinner does not go to Heaven on the strength of his own goodness, or by virtue of
having a good human pedigree, or because of his own achievements during his earthly life: when
he approaches the Cross, seeking the new birth, he goes there by faiath: his trust is in the good
works of Jesus Christ, who became sin, and also a curse for him: in the Christ who destroyed
Satan on the Cross, who alone can forgive him, justify him and give him eternal life. The only
‘good work’ of our own that can save us is having faith in Jesus Christ. When someone asked
Him: ‘What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?’ Jesus replied: ‘This is the work
of God that ye believe on him whom he hath sent’ (Jn.6:28,29). We need to note carefully what
Jesus has to say about ‘working the works of God’: He makes us understand that we have to stop
trusting in our own good works, which cannot save us, and believe instead in Him Who finished
the only works which can bring us salvation and life eternal.
Twelve aspects of the new birth
1. It is not a natural or a physical birth, but a supernatural birth, from above:
Natural (physical) birth is referred to in the Scripture: ‘That which is born of the flesh is
flesh ...’ (Jn.3:6). Supernatural (spiritual) birth, of which the New Birth is the first which comes
to a sincere seeker after God, is referred to in the phrase: ‘born of God’ (I Jn.3:9), and also in the
verse: ‘(Those who received him) were born, not of blood, nor of the will of man, but of God’
(Jn.1:13).
2. We are ‘born again’ (regenerated) by the Word of God:
‘(We are) born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God,
which liveth and abideth forever’ (I Pet.1:23).
‘Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should ba kind of firstfruits of
his creatures’ (Jas.1:18).
3. At the New Birth, our sins are forgiven, and we are cleansed by the Blood of Jesus:
‘But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and
the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness’ (I Jn.1:7-9).
4. At the New Birth, we are redeemed (bought back):
‘Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and
gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious
blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot’
(I Pet.1:18,19).
5. At the New Birth, we are saved from spiritual death and judgment, and granted eternal
life:
‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me,
hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life’
(Jn.5:24).
6. At the New Birth, we are crucified with Christ, and thus delivered from the dominion of
sin, by which we have been enslaved:
‘Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be
destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin’ (Rom.6:6).
The Bible speaks of three occasions in our spiritual life when we are identified with Christ:
(i) we are crucified with Christ at the New Birth (Rom.6:6) (ii) we are buried with Christ — at
Believer's Baptism by immersion in water (Rom.6:4); (iii) we are raised with Christ — at the
Baptism in the Holy Ghost (Rom.6:4; Col.2:12; Eph.1:19,20). As has been mentioned earlier,
these three experiences are separate events in the life of a believer, though they may, as
frequently happened in the first century, all occur within the space of a single day.
(7) At the New Birth we are justified:
‘... (we are) now justified by his blood ...’ (Rom.5:9).
8. At the New Birth we receive eternal life, which is also referred to as ‘the Spirit of
Christ’:
‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life’ (Jn.3:16).
‘(We declare unto you) that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which
we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the
word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto
you that eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us)’ (I Jn.1:1,2).
‘And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we
may know him that is true’ and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the
true God and eternal life’ (I Jn.5:20).
‘But ye are not in the flesh, but in teh Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his (Rom.8:9).
The ‘Spirit of Christ’ is not the ‘Holy Spirit’ (See separate study on the Doctrine
concerning the Holy Spirit).
9. At the New Birth, we are reconciled to the Father:
‘And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet
now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and
unblameable and unreprovable in his sight’ (Col.1:21,22).
‘Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ’
(Rom.5:1).
 10. At the New Birth, we become children of God — by being born in the family of God:
‘But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to
them that believe on his name’ (Jn.1:12).
11. At the New Birth, we see the Kingdom of God (more fully explained in chapter 3) :
‘Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God’ (Jn.3:3).
12. At the New Birth, we are only new-born babes, or spiritual infants:
The ‘New Birth’ is only the first of three spiritual steps necessary before we can become
‘New Creatures in Christ’, when ‘old things are passed away’ and ‘all things become new’. (See
chapters 3 and 4).

¿က Ѐ 橢 橢 ꗬꗬ
ꗬ ꗬ ꗬሀꗬ Љ☞ 돬 돬
]ÌÌÌÌÌÌÌààààà\ļôàԅӾɬɬɬɬɬɬɬɬ̴̲$ਃ Ǵ௷h͘ƭÌɬɬɬɬɬ͘1 and 2 seen what it is to be ‘born again’; now, in this
chapter, we shall see that to be ‘born of water and of the Spirit’ is to receive two more spiritual
experiences, that is, two more spiritual ‘births’, which are separate from and subsequent to, the
New Birth. We shall see that the Scriptures show that to be ‘born of water’ is to be baptised by
immersion in water, and that to be ‘born of the Spirit’ is to receive the Holy Spirit at the Baptism
of the Holy Spirit.
Seven reasons for believing that to be ‘born of water’ is to take water baptism, and that to
be ‘born of the Spirit’ is to be baptised in the Holy Spirit
1. Water baptism is a birth:
The spiritual significance of birth is a cessation from the old life or experience and the
commencement of another new life or experience. At the New Birth one ceases to be the slave of
sin (Rom.6:6) and, being justified by faith, receives eternal life. Similarly, at water baptism there
is a death (or cessation from the old life) and a birth (a commencement of a new experience). Paul
teaches that we are ‘buried with him by baptism into death’: in other words, we share the death of
Christ. By sharing His death in baptism, one dies to the nature of sin. (This is not the dominion
of sin from which one is delivered at New Birth. But this is the sinful nature of disobedience and
rebellion, commonly called the Adamic Nature, inherent in us all from the time of our birth).
Thus dead to the nature of sin as a result of sharing Christ's death through Water Baptism, one is
introduced to a higher experience still, when one begins to live the life of an ‘overcomer’. Neither
the dominion of sin nor the sinful nature have power over one any longer. When explaining the
truth of the life of an overcomer, Paul asks: ‘How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer
therein?’ The answer is that we now have the power not to live in sin, but are able to overcome
sin through the grace bestowed upon us at Water Baptism. Ceasing to live under the influence of
the sinful nature and embarking upon the life of an overcomer, is to be ‘born of water’. In other
words, it is at Water Baptism that we experience the second spiritual birth.
There is still another experience to come, and that is when we are ‘risen with Christ’ to
‘walk in newness of life’; this comes at the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. This is the third spiritual
birth, when we are ‘born of the Spirit’. This is dealt with separately, later on in the chapter.
2. Water Baptism confirms the remission of sins:
The initial experience of being ‘born again’ remains incomplete without Water Baptism.
John the Baptist preached ‘the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins’ (Mk.1:4). Jesus
approved his teaching both by word and deed. Peter also affirmed it in his first message on the
day of Pentecost when he said: ‘Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus
Christ for the remission of sins’ (Acts 2:38). One can see here how Water Baptism is a ‘must’ for
the confirmation of the remission of sins; and that to be ‘born again’ (come to repentance) and to
be ‘born of water’ (take Water Baptism) are by no means the same experience.
3. The Bible shows that the new convert must undergo two ‘washings’:
The Bible shows that there are two spiritual ‘washings’ for the sinner who seeks God's
forgiveness and eternal life: (1) his soul must be washed in the precious Blood of Jesus Christ (I
Jn.1:7,9; Rev.1:5); (2) his body must be washed in pure water by Water Baptism when the body
is totally immersed in water. The Scriptures which support this second ‘washing‘ are (a)
Ephesians 5:26, where we read of Christ's purpose to ‘sanctify and cleanse (the Church) with
washing of water by the word‘; (b) Titus 3:5, where we read: ‘... according to his mercy he saved
us, by the washing of regeneration...’. In both these Scriptures, Paul's word for ‘washing’ is the
Greek word ‘loutron’, which means ‘a bathing’ or ‘a washing’, and also ‘a bath’ or ‘water for
washing’. It is in the latter sense that the word ‘loutron’ is also used for ‘laver’: this was the
vessel of water in the Outer Court of the Old Testament Tabernacle, at which the priests had to
wash their bodies before they were allowed to enter the Holy Place. The Old Testament ritual
washing, which took place at the laver, was a type of New Testament Water Baptism. It was
clearly to Water Baptism that Paul was referring, when he said (as recorded in Heb.10:22). ‘Let
us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water’. Paul augments his teaching on Water
Baptism with an account of his own experience. He tells in the Book of Acts of how he was in
Damascus, following his first supernatural visitation from the Lord Jesus on his way there. God
sent Ananias to tell him: ‘And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptised, and wash away thy
sins...’ (Acts 22:16). It is abundantly clear from these Scriptures that to be ‘born again’ and to be
‘born of water’ cannot possibly be one and the same experience; on the contrary, they show that
the new birth is simply a preliminary step to taking water baptism, when three new, important
things happen: (i) remission of sins is confirmed; (ii) we become dead to the sinful nature, and so
become able to begin leading the life of an overcomer and (iii) our sinful bodies are washed.
4. ‘Water’ does not mean ‘the word’ in Ephesians 5:26 and Titus 3:5:
Some teach that to be ‘born of water’ means to receive the cleansing power of the Word of
God when one is ‘born again’. This cannot be correct, for the following reasons:
(1) When Cornelius and those who were with him simultaneously experienced both the
new birth and the baptism in the Holy Ghost, Peter said: ‘Can any man forbid water, that these
should not be baptised? That Peter was referring to Water Baptism when he spoke of ‘water’ is
beyond doubt, for his next action was to baptise Cornelius and his friends in water;
(2) The apostle John speaks in I John 5:8 of ‘three witnesses’: ‘And there are three that
bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one’. He
also speaks of three heavenly witnesses: ‘For there are three that bear record in heaven, the
Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one’ (I Jn.5:7). We can see that John is
distinguishing clearly between ‘the word’ (the Lord Jesus Christ), who is a heavenly witness, and
the ‘water’, which is an earthly witness. Some translators and revisers of the word of God have
attempted to discredit this latter verse, but its place in the sacred text is very ably defended by
John Wesley, who says of it: ‘Though it is wanting in many copies, yet it is found in more, and
those copies of the greatest authority. It is cited by a whole train of ancient writers from the time
of John to that of constantine’.
5. ‘Seeing’ the kingdom of God is not the same as ‘Entering it’ :
 Jesus made two statements about the Kingdom of God when speaking to Nicodemus: (1)
‘... Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God’; (2) ‘...Except a man be born
of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God’ (Jn.3:3,5). Did Jesus make a
mistake when He used the words ‘see’ and ‘enter’? Certainly not. Furthermore, when speaking of
the kingdom of God on other occasions, Jesus spoke of those who were ‘least’, ‘great’ and ‘the
greatest’ in the kingdom (Matt.5:19; 18:4).
The Kingdom of God which is above is the only kingdom where a perfect government of
the highest order exists. We read in the Holy Scriptures of the appointed places reserved for each
child of God, according to his/her spiritual attainments. According to John the Apostle, there are
atleast three separate places in the eternal Kingdom of God: the New Earth, the New Heaven and
the New Jerusalem, each differing in glory from the other (Rev.21:1,2). The Apostle Paul also
speaks of ‘the third heaven’ to which he was taken (II Cor.12:2), thereby implying the existence
of a ‘first’ and a ‘second’ heaven. In eternity, these three havens will be the New Jerusalem, the
New Earth and the New Heaven. This further implies that there must be at least three groups of
people of different degrees of spiritual attainment, who are destined by god to inherit these
places. People of lower spiritual attainment will be on the New Earth; from there they will be able
to see the New Jerusalem, but they will not be able to enter this heavenly region; this is because
they will lack the necessary high standard of spiritual achievement.
The Mosaic Tabernacle gives us a good illustration of God's provision, in this respect, for
His people in eternity. When God commanded Moses to construct the Tabernacle, He gave Him
strict instruction that every detail of it should be ‘according to the pattern shown (him) on the
mount’ (Heb.8:5). Paul tells us that the Mosaic Tabernacle was no more than ‘the pattern of
things in the heavens’, ‘the figures of the true’ (Heb.9:23,24).
The Mosaic Tabernacle had three areas, namely, the Outer Court, the Holy Place and the
Most Holy Place. These are the images of the three areas of heaven which will come into being in
eternity, namely, the New Earth, the New Heaven and the New Jerusalem. These three areas
together constitute heaven as a whole; but only the New Jerusalem is the Kingdom of God, for
that is where He dwells.
No-one who was not a Jew had access to any part of the Tabernacle. Similarly, no sinner
will have access to any part of Heaven: ‘For without (outside) are dogs, and sorcerers, and
whoremongers, and murderers, and idolators, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie’
(Rev.22:15).
Only circumcised Jews could enter the Outer Court of the earthly Tabernacle, and only the
priests could enter the Holy Place.
The Spiritual parallel for New Testament simes to becoming a circumcised Jew is to
become a ‘born again’ Christian. We know that this is so, because Paul likened the conversion of
a sinner to circumcision: the ‘putting off the body of the sins of the flesh’ (Col.2:11). In eternity,
those who have been only ‘born again’ will be on the New Earth; from there they will see the
New Jerusalem, but they will not be able to enter it. This latter privilege is reserved for those who
have gone further in their spiritual lives than lust the ‘new birth’. They will have been ‘washed’,
‘clothed’ and ‘anointed’, in a way that had its parallel for the Old Testament priests.
In order to enter the Holy Place, the priests of the Tabernacle were required to be ‘washed‘
‘clothed’ and ‘anointed’. The ‘washing’ took place at the laver in the Outer Court (see page 69 of
this study); the ‘clothing’ consisted of putting on priestly garments; the anointing’ was done with
oil specially prepared for the purpose.
The equivalent in the New Testament of the ‘washing’ and the ‘clothing’ is Water Baptism;
our bodies are ‘washed with pure water’ (Heb.10:22) and we put on Christ’ (Gal.3:27). The
equivalent of the anointing is the Baptism in the Holy Ghost (Acts 10:38;1:5; 2:4), and this is
separate from and subsequent to, the New Birth and Water Baptism.
All who are born again, baptised in water, baptised in the Holy Spirit and sanctified, will in
eternity have as their appointed dwelling, the New Jerusalem (Of which the Mosaic counter-part
was the Holy of Holies (Heb.10:19). But will in addition have access to every part of Heaven
(‘He that overcoeth shall inherit all things’ (Rev.21:7).
In the earthly Tabernacle, only the High Priest had access to the Most Holy Place, once a
year (Heb.9:7). But because Christ, our heavenly High Priest, has entered the Most Holy Place of
the heavenlies (Heb.6:19,20), those who are His own will have the privilege of joining Him there
in eternity.
It may be asked : If the ‘born again’ only are to go to the eternal equivalent of the Outer
Court (the New Earth), and the sanctified Church is to go to the Most Holy Place (the New
Jerusalem), who is destined to go to the eternal equivalent of the Holy Place (the New Heaven)?
The short answer is that this region is set aside for the saints of the Old Testament, for the
‘General Martyrs’, (that is, the martyrs from every dispensation) and for the Tribulation Martyrs.
This subject will be dealt with more fully in later chapters.
6. To be born of the Spirit is to receive the Holy Spirit (be baptised in the Holy Spirit):
The initial function of the Holy Spirit in the life of a sinner is to bring him to a conviction
of sin, through the word of God: ‘And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin ...’
(Jn.16:8). If the sinner then repents, he is ‘born again ... by the word of God’ (I Pet.1:23). Many
Christians assume that to be “born again” is to be ‘born of the Spirit’, but the Scriptures show that
to be ‘born of the Spirit’ is to receive the Holy Spirit, and this occurs at the Baptism of the Holy
Spirit. This is something which is separate from, and subsequent to, the New Birth. ‘Repent, and
be baptised ... and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost’ (Acts 2:38): three events which
were referred to by Jesus Himself in John 3:3 and 5, and which Peter echoes and endorses in Acts
2:38.
We have already seen that we share Christ's death at Water Baptism, and are buried with
Him. Following this, we have another experience to come, called’ (being) risen with Christ’
(Col.3:1; Rom.6:5). The resurrection of Christ is regarded by God as a birth, for He refers to His
Son, in this context, as the ‘firstborn from the dead’ (Col.1:18) (see page 59, item no.3). When do
we rise with Him from the dead? It is at the Baptism in the Holy Ghost. It was the Holy Ghost
(the Holy Spirit) who raised Christ from the grave (Rom.8:11; Eph.1:19-20; Col.2:12). When we
receive the same Holy Spirit, who raised Christ from the grave we are also risen with Him
spiritually or born from the dead. We are ‘born of the Spirit’ to ‘walk in newness of life’
(Rom.6:4). By the baptism of the Holy Ghost we cease to be earthly-minded, and we begin to
‘seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God’ (Col.3:1).
Death to the carnal earthly life and the supernatural inflow of heavenly life, by the Baptism of
the Holy Ghost, is called a birth. That is why we must be ‘born of the Spirit’, as well as being
born again’. For further details, please refer to the study called ‘The Doctrine concerning the
Baptism of the Holy Spirit’.
The testimony of church history
Hooker has pointed out that for fifteen centuries, no one ever doubted that the phrase ‘born
of water’ referred to Water Baptism (see Eccl.Vol.V.LIX). Tertullian, a church leader who lived
in A.D.196, was a zealous opponent of infant baptism and he writes in his tract on baptism of
believer's baptism, as the occasion when one is born of water’. The Encyclopaedia of Religion
and Ethics asserts that ‘the influence of John 3:5, as Hofling points out, played an important part
in developing the custom of infant baptism.
This text laid hold of the imagination in the second century, before any explanation of the
necessity of rebirth had been thought out ...’ Had not the Apostolic church interpreted ‘born of
water’ to mean water baptism the subapostolic church would not have cited this as a plea for
advocating infant baptism. The mistake take the subapostolic church made was this; its
interpretation was correct but its application was wrong. When the Church lost the saving grace,
it lost sight of the inevitable fact that the new birth should precede water-baptism’.



CHAPTER 4

BECOMING A NEW CREATURE IN CHRIST :

PART – I
The new birth is not the occasion when the believer becomes a new creation
It is commonly believed that to be ‘born again’ (Jn.3:3) and to become a ‘New Creature’ (II
Cor.5:17) are one and the same experiences. But although these experiences do have some
similarities, the word of God does not support this view. The New Birth is only an initial spiritual
experience (see chapters 2 and 3). This chapter will show the successive stages by which a
believer in fact becomes a new creature.
The analogy with the re-recreation of the earth
As most Bible scholars agree, the first chapter of Genesis gives an account only of the re-
creation of the earth, and not of its original creation: this is because it is evident that a cataclysmic
upheaval took place before the earth became desolate: ‘without form and void’, covered with
water and filled with darkness. We know that God, Who is a God of order, and not of confusion,
would not have created a formless, desolate world. How, then, did this come about? The answer
is that we see from Isaiah 14 and from Ezekiel 28 that before the creation of man, the angels had
access to this earth. This was before the character of the angels was fixed; they had the capacity
both to be faithful servants of God and to rebel against Him. Some of them (Lucifer, the anointed
Cherub and others) elected to rebel against God, under the leadership of Satan; swift judgment
followed their insubordination and this led to the earth becoming ‘without form and void’.
Then in Genesis 1:2-31, we read how God re-created the earth which He had made, stage
by stage over a period of six days, so that on the seventh day, He could say it: ‘Old things are
passed away; behold, all things are become new’.
Ourì¥ÁG ¿†øbjbjŽÙŽÙ -&ì³ì³ëÜÿÿÿÿÿÿ]ÌÌÌÌÌÌÌààààà\ì¥ÁG ¿†øbjbjŽÙŽÙ -&ì³ì³ë
Üÿÿÿÿÿÿ]ÌÌÌÌÌÌÌààààà\periences in the life of a child of God, which together cause him to become
a New Creature: (i) the New Birth; (ii) Believer's Baptism; (iii) the Baptism in the Holy Ghost.
Each of these three steps contributes something towards the formation of the new creature in
Christ. In the early church, all three of these experiences were received and enjoyed on the same
day (Acts 2:38,41; 10:44-48). Those who were ‘born again’ did not postpone either taking Water
Baptism or seeking the Baptism in the Holy Ghost until a later date. So we see that a man who
becomes ‘born again’ can become a ‘New Creature’ that same day, provided that on that very
day, he also takes the correct Water Baptism, and seeks and receives the Baptism in the Holy
Ghost, just as in the days of the apostles.
Let us consider briefly how the New Birth, Water Baptism and the Baptism in the Holy
Ghost together bring about the experience of becoming a ‘New Creature’.
(1) What happens at the New Birth?
At the New Birth, we receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life; we are redeemed,
cleansed, justified; we are reconciled to God, and are saved from death and judgment. We enjoy
peace with God, and are filled with the joy of salvation. However, although we now have much to
thank God for , we are at this stage no more than infants, spiritually; our soul has been quickened
by the Holy Ghost, and it continues to live because it has received the gift of eternal life;
nevertheless, the formation in it of the ‘image of God’ (the divine nature and character) has not
yet begun.
(2) What happens at Water Baptism?
In the sixth chapter of Romans, Paul askes a question: ‘What shall we say then (now that
we are born again, and our sins are washed away)? Shall we continue in sin?’ he answers this
question with another: ‘How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?’ This question
causes the believer to wonder when it was that he died to sin. Paul's answer is as follows: ‘Know
ye not, that so many of us as were baptised into Jesus Christ were baptised into his death?’ So we
see that if we take the correct Water Baptism, we are baptised into the death of Jesus (Rom.6:1-
4). We share the death of Christ. This baptismal death enables us to be dead to sin: ‘For he that is
dead is freed from sin’ (Rom.6:7). ‘For in that he died, he died unto sin once...’ (Rom.6:10).
The definition of ‘sin’ and ‘sins’
Someone may ask: ‘What is this sin’ of which Paul speaks? Did we not repent for our sins,
and were they not washed away in the blood of Jesus? Did not Jesus cleanse us from all our
iniquities? It is most definitely true that the blood of Jesus washed away our sins: there still
remains to be dealt with, however, the ‘sin’ referred to by Paul in Romans chapter 6. For we are
sinners in two senses: (a) we have all committed ‘sins’; (b) we all have a ‘sinful nature’, which is
referred to in the word of God as ‘sin’. Let us consider these two aspects of the matter.
(a) Sins : When we read in the word of God of ‘sins’, in the plural, God is referring to the
individual acts of sin committed by us in our pagan days after we had come to sufficient
understanding and maturity to recognize the difference between good and evil, between right and
wrong. God tells us that at this stage of our lives, we were ‘dead in (our) trespasses and sins’
(Eph.2:1), and that ‘he that covereth (does not confess) his sins shall not prosper’ (Prov.28:13).
We were sinners, aliens, enemies of God by the sins which we had committed: ‘... you ... were ...
alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works (sins committed)’ (Col.1:21). It was to take
away these sins that Jesus died on the Cross:
‘... Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures’ (I Cor.15:3);
‘... when he had by himself purged our sins, (Christ) sat down on the right hand of the
Majesty on high’ (Heb.1:3);
‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness’ (I Jn.1:9).
(b) Sin: When we read in the word of God of sin, in the singular, God is speaking of the
inherent nature of sin (the sinful nature), found in man from the time of his birth. David speaks of
this when he says: ‘Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me’
(Psa.51:5). Paul tells us that in our pagan days, we ... (fulfilled) the desires of the flesh and of the
mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others’ (Eph.2:3).
This inherent nature of sin began to have a hold on us from the time that we first wilfully
surrendered ourselves to the dominion of sin: ‘Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves
servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey...’. ‘...Ye were the servants of sin...’; ‘...Ye
have yielded your members to uncleanness and to iniquity...’ (Rom.6:16,1719,20).
The difference between the nature of sin and the dominion of sin
Let us not confuse the nature of sin with the dominion of sin. Sin is an evil, foreign power
that entered the world because of the disobedience of Adam, and it claims absolute obedience
from its captives: ‘... by one man (Adam) sin entered the world...’ (Rom.5:12). ‘...By one man's
disobedience many were made sinners (were born with the nature of sin, with the sinful nature)’
(Rom.5:19).
The nature of sin (the sinful nature or the Adamic nature) is our inherently defiled,
rebellious, disbedient nature, over which sin had dominion up to the time of our conversion to
Christ.
At the New Birth, God delivers us from the dominion of sin. Our souls are cleansed by His
precious Blood. The total surrender of our bodies to God, with the firm decision not to sin again
through His grace, is reckoned as crucifying (destroying) the old ‘body of sin’: ‘(We know this),
that our old man (our whole being) is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed,
that henceforth we should not serve sin’ (Rom.6:6).
Now, although we are thus delivered from the dominion of sin and from Satan, the author
of sin, we are still faced with our own inherently sinful nature, which is the after-effect of the
dominion of sin, and which wars against our soul and against the law of God. St. Paul calls it ‘the
law which wages war’ (against our efforts and desires to live a better life) (Rom.7:22,23). ‘For I
delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring
(waging war) against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which
is in my members (inherent in my body, my nature)’ (Rom.7:22,23). At baptism we die to that
sinful nature. This sinful nature, which grows in us prior to conversion because of our
disobedience, loses its power when we share the death of Jesus Christ, who was ‘obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross’ (Phil.2:8). Paul says that because of His sacrifice, which was
made in fulfilment of the complete will of God, we are sanctified ‘by the ... will of God’. By the
‘will of God’, Paul means Jesus’ decision to do the whole will of God, for He said: ‘... Lo, I come
to do thy will, O God’. ‘... We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all’ (Heb.10:9,10). Peter says: ‘... even baptism doth now save us (not the putting away of the
filth of the flesh, not the external cleansing of the physical body but the answer of a good
conscience toward God), by the resurrection of Jesus Christ’
(I Pet.3:21). Now that we have, by Water Baptism, been saved from the rebellious nature, we
have a ‘good conscience’, so that we can now do the will of God.
Dying to the nature of sin, and embarking upon a victorious, sanctified life, doing the will
of God, is called a birth: we are born of water.
(3) What happens at the baptism in the Holy Ghost?
We have seen that at the New Birth, we are delivered from the dominion of sin, and that at
Water Baptism, we are freed from the inherent sinful nature. There is still one more deliverance
needed before we can become ‘a new creature in Christ’, and that is deliverance from self.
Self is natural, carnal and earthly. At the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, we die to self, to our
natural, carnal, earthly affections, and by the operation of the power of the Holy Ghost, we
become one with the Triune God, and partakers of His divine nature (Jn.14:20). The natural,
carnal life is brought under control by the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom.8:5,6). National
distinctions are eliminated (I Cor.12:13), earthly affections are mortified (Col.3:5; Rom.8:13),
and ‘our affections are set on things above, not on things on the earth’ (Col.3:1,2). This is the
point at which we become totally a New Creature: old things are passed away; all things are
become new. It is not as if the tadpole has become a frog; it is as if the cat has become a canary!
Now that we are delivered from the dominion of sin, and from the nature of sin, and from
the self-centred life, our new-born soul, referred to in Scripture as ‘the inner man’, not only has
eternal life, but is also filled with the Holy Ghost. It is the Holy Ghost who now sets about His
task of forming within the ‘inner man’ the divine nature. And so we read: ‘... ye have put off the
old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the
image of him that created him’ (Col.3:9,10).
This is how the New Birth, Water Baptism and the Baptism in the Holy Ghost together
make us fully the new creature in Christ of whom Paul speaks in II Corinthians 5:17.



CHAPTER 4

BECOMING A NEW CREATURE IN CHRIST :

PART – II
The definition of the experience of becoming a new creature
‘For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then
were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto
themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no
man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know
we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed
away; behold, all things are become new’ (II Cor.5:14-17).
When a believer becomes a New Creature, he has nothing to do with the old life: ‘Old
things are passed away; behold all things are become new’. He has a ‘new and a living way’ to
journey along, a new vision to follow, a new foundation to build upon; he has a new structure to
raise, a new goal to press forward to, a new purpose to achieve; he has a new task to perform, a
new responsibility to shoulder according to God's will and plan, and a new kingdom to serve and
fight for; he has a new Gospel to proclaim, a new race to run, a new relationship with the Father,
the Son and the Holy Ghost, and also with the family of God; he has new values to live by, new
laws to abide by, a new language to speak, and a new outlook at aim at. Old things are indeed
passed away; all things are indeed become new. Now if these tremendous supernatural changes
were attainable by the New Birth (initial salvation) alone. Water baptism and the Baptism in the
Holy Ghost too would be entirely superfluous.
We need to know what are the various characteristics of the New Creature. It must be
remembered that the phrase ‘born of God’, as used by the apostles in the scriptures, does not refer
only to the experience of the New Birth, but also to Water Baptism and the Baptism in the Holy
Ghost. St. Paul says: ‘... reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God
through Jesus Christ our Lord’ (Rom.6:11). As we have clearly seen in earlier parts of this study,
we are dead and buried in water baptism, and risen when we receive the Holy Ghost. These two
latter experiences are also necessary for a believer to become ‘a new creature’. Old things are
passed away (they are crucified, dead, buried); behold, all things are become new (the believer is
now ‘risen with Christ’) (II Cor.5:17).
The characteristic of a man who has become a new creature
I. The new things he possess:
(1) A new heart and a new spirit. He receives a new heart, a heart after God's pattern,
where God's Spirit can abide without embarrassment. It is no more the old heart, ‘deceitful above
all things, and desperately wicked’, nor the ‘stoney heart, hardened by the deceitfulness of sin,
but a ‘heart of flesh’ (a broken and a contrite heart) where the Spirit of God is able to abide and
write His divine laws.
‘A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take
away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my
spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do
them’ (Eze.36:26,27).
(2) A new body: The old body, called ‘the body of sin’ is, in the spiritual sense, crucified,
dead and buried (Rom.6:6). The present body is spiritually ‘risen with Christ’, quickened by the
Holy Ghost, who raised Christ from the dead (Col.2:11,12).
This new body serves many purposes. Firstly, it has become the temple of the Holy Ghost
(I Cor.6:19,20). Secondly, it is intendedby God that we should, through our new bodies, live for
Christ, in order that the life of Christ might be made manifest in us (II Cor.4:10). Thirdly, it is to
be used for the service of God (Rom.6:20,22; 12:1,2). Fourthly, it is to be transformed ‘that it
might be fashioned like unto his glorious body’ at His coming (Phil.3:21).
(3) A new mind : In the place of the old ‘reprobate mind’ (Rom.1:28), which is a corrupt
mind
(II Cor.11:3), blinded by ‘the god of this world’
(II Cor.4:4), the believer receives a new mind called the ‘mind of Christ’. Through this new mind,
the believer understands the mind of God (I Cor.2:16), because God writes His law (will and
plan) in his mind: ‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the
Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them’ (Heb.10:16).
Furthermore, this mind becomes renewed day by day by the word of God and by the operation of
the Holy Spirit, so that the believer ‘may prove what is that good and acceptable, and perfect will
of God’ (Rom.12:2).
II His new privileges:
(1) He belongs to another kingdom, which is spiritual and heavenly. He has nothing to do
with those who walk ‘according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power
of the air ... fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind ...’ (Eph.2:2,3), but he is ‘raised up
and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ’ (Eph.2:6). He is ‘risen with Christ’. He
‘seeks those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God’. His affections
are set ‘on things above, not on things on the earth’ (Col.3:1,2). He is ‘a stranger and a pilgrim’ as
far as this world is concerned, but he is a ‘fellow-citizen with the saints and of the household of
God’ (Eph.2:19).
(2) He is ruled by another law : the man who has become a new creature in Christ is
governed, led and preserved by the highest law of God. This is the Law of the Spirit of life in
Christ Jesus (Rom.8:2). This law has much greater force than ‘the law of sin and death’, and has
superseded it, setting him free from its claim. Guided by this law, he is free from condemnation
(Rom.8:1), from his former carnal mind (Rom.8:7), and from the deeds of his flesh (Rom.8:13).
(3) The Word of God becomes spiritual food to him: He feeds on the Word of God, which
is called ‘the sincere milk of the word’ (This phrase comes from I Peter 2:2). The believer now
feeds upon ‘strong meat’ (solid food), so that he may become skilful in the Word of God
(Heb.5:12); he is nourished by the Scriptures, whereby his (spiritual) ‘senses (are) exercised to
discern both good and evil’ (Heb.5:14).
(4) He experiences spiritual growth : The
believer already bears the image of God; now his hope is to grow spiritually day by day, so that
he may be conformed to the image of Christ.
He grows in to Him in all things; that is, he grows in His holiness, and in His wisdom; in
His power, His righteousness and His humility; in His obedience, His patience and His faith, until
he
becomes ‘a perfect man, (with) the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ’ (Eph.4:13).
(5) He overcomes the world, sin and the devil.
The world — ‘For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory
that overcometh the world, even our faith’ (I Jn.5:4). Jesus died not only to deliver us from sin,
but also to deliver us from ‘this present evil world’ (Gal.1:4). Peter says that to partake of His
divine nature, one has to escape (overcome) ‘the corruption that is in the world through lust’ (II
Pet.1:4).
Sin — ‘Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin (or, in other words, he overcomes
sin); for his seed (or the word of God which is spirit and life) remaineth in him: and he cannot sin
because he is born of God’ (I Jn.3:9). The word of God directs his path; the Holy Ghost corrects
him, warns him through the word, strengthening him against all temptations. John speaks here of
‘wilful sinning’. ‘Wilful sinning’ is quite different from the faults which are due to ignorance or
immaturity, and to which new christians are prone.
The devil — ‘... he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth
him not’ (I Jn.5:18).
The believer overcomes Satan in many ways. Firstly, as seen above, by preserving his holy
life. Secondly, through Christ who is in him, because ‘greater is he who is in (him), than he that is
in the world’ (I Jn.4:4). Thirdly, by resisting him with determined faith: he is mindful of our
Lord's commands and promises regarding the evil one: ’... whom (the devil) resist steadfast in the
faith’ (I Pet.5:9); ‘... Resist the devil, and he will flee from you’ (Jas.4:7). Fourthly, by ‘the Blood
of the Lamb’ (Rev.12:11), in the knowledge that Christ overcame him at Calvary (Heb.2:14;
Col.2:15; I Jn.3:8); and finally by ‘the word of their testimony’ (Rev.12:11), whereby they
confess their stand with Christ, who Himself overcame Satan.
III His ambitions and hopes:
(1) To serve christ ‘... acceptably with reverance and godly fear’ (Heb.12:28).
(2) Continually to count ‘... all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ
Jesus, ...’ until he totally wins Christ (Phil.3:8).
(3) To be found in Him ‘... holy, and unblameable, and reprovable in his sight’ at His
coming (Col.1:22), to be ‘like him’ and to ‘see him as he is ’ (I Jn.3:2).
 (4) To inherit all things (Rev.21:7), and to reign with Christ (II Tim.2:12) as a joint-heir
with Him (Rom.8:17).

REDEMPTION
REPENTANCE
NEW BIRTH
INTRODUCTION

In the beginning God created man after His own image, according to His
foreordained plan in Christ that man should be holy and blameless before Him in love
(Eph.1:4). However, since the fall of man, the whole creation has been put in subjection
to vanity and is in bondage to corruption. God now says, ‘Behold, I make all things new’
(Rev.21:5). In order that the whole creation be redeemed from the bondage of vanity and
corruption, it was necessary that man be first redeemed to enjoy the glorious liberty of the
sons of God (Rom.8:21-23). This was possible only through the sacrifice, death and
resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Today this glorious gospel of Jesus Christ is
proclaimed by His chosen servants to the whole world for the redemption of mankind so
that in Christ man may be made a new creation (II Cor.5:17).
This booklet deals mainly with the initial step of this work of redemption and the
initial experience of becoming a new creation, viz., Repentance and New Birth. The work
of redemption reaches its consu- mmation in the life of a believer (who continues to grow
spiritually to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ) at the second coming of
Jesus when he (purchased possession) is redeemed for the praise of God's glory
(Eph.1:14) and puts on a glorious body like the resurrected glorious body of Jesus.
 

DOCTRINE CONCERNING REDEMPTION

1 Sin 1
2 Christ, the Only Redeemer 6
3 Man's Excuses Weighed in God's
Balance
22

DOCTRINE CONCERNING REPENTANCE

1 The Significance of Repentance 33
2 The Way Repentance is Effected 37
3 How to recognise True Repentance 42
4 The Blessings which follow True
Repentance
45

DOCTRINE CONCERNING NEW BIRTH

1 The Spiritual Significance of ‘Birth’ 54
2 The Definition of the New Birth 60
3 Born of Water and Born of the Spirit 67
4 Becoming A New Creature in Christ:
Part - I
77
5 Becoming A New Creature in Christ:
Part - II 85

ꗬ ꗬ ꗬ ꗬ ꗬ

THE DOCTRINE CONCERNING REDEMPTION

CHAPTER 1 SIN

The definition of sin; its nature; its power.

CHAPTER 2 CHRIST, THE ONLY REDEEMER

The uniqueness of Christ's offering as the Son of God; the uniqueness of His
spotless life on earth; the uniqueness of His death on the Cross; the uniqueness
of His blood; the uniqueness of His resurrection.

DOCTRINE CONCERNING NEW BIRTH

Excuse No.1 : the excuse of the youth.
Excuse No.2 : the excuse of the free thinker.
Excuse No.3 : the excuse of the materialist.
Excuse No.4 : the excuse of a moralist.



“He let His Father's throne above

(So free, so infinite HIs grace)
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam's helpless race:
‘Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For, O my God, it found out me!
Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature's night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee”
 CHAPTER 1
SIN
“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not
redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by
tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish
and without spot; Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world; but was
manifest in these last times for you” (I Pet.1:18-20).
Sin is older than man. It was conceived in the mind of Satan, the fallen angel, before man
was created. “For the devil sinneth from the beginning”
(I Jn.3:8). “He (Satan) was a murderer from the
beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he
speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it”(Jn.8:44). We have already seen how
Satan
introduced sin to Adam and Eve, our first parents, through his subtility and deceit, and enslaved
them. Ever since, sin has had its deadly hold on everyone of Adam's race. (See the ‘Doctrine
concerning Man’).
THE NATURE OF SIN
The inestimable preciousness of the redemption which is fully and freely ours today
through the precious blood of Jesus Christ, cannot be fully
comprehended until we see from the word of God how far sin has penetrated human lives. Many
have their own conception of sin. Weighing it in the scale of their own understanding, they
explain it away.
Let us study briefly the essence of sin.
(1) It is ‘the transgression of the Law’ or, in other words, disobeying any part of the
revealed will of God: ‘Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law’: for sin is the
transgression of the law’ (I Jn.3:4).
(2) It is anything that is not approved as right in His sight: ‘All unrighteousness is sin’ (I
Jn.5:17).
(3) It is the omission of what we know to be good, or the failure to play our part in the trust

committed to us: Therefore to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is
sin’ (Jam.4:17).
(4) All sinful, corrupt use of the imagination is sin: ‘And God saw that the wickedness of
man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil
continually’ (Gen.6:5).
(5) The indwelling sinful nature, or evil desires, is sin: ‘For from within, out of the heart of
men,
p r o c e e d e v i l t h o u g h t s ,
a d u l t e r i e s ,
f o r n i c a t i o n s , m u r d e r s ,
thefts, covetousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from
within, and defile the man’ (Mk.7:21-23).
‘The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?’
(Jer.17:9).
THE POWER OF SIN
Having seen the dimensions of the nature os sin, let us now investigate its power.
(1) Sin is a tyrant, reigning from within man, claiming absolute obedience.
‘Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the
servant of sin’ (Jn.8:34).
‘Now, if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me’
(Rom.7:20).
‘I am carnal, sold under sin’ (Rom.7:14). ‘Sin hath reigned unto death’ (Rom.5:21).
(2) Sin brings us under the iron rule of Satan.
Satan is called ‘the prince of the power of the air’, and also ‘the power of darkness’. ‘He
that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning ... ’ (I Jn.3:8).
‘(We should give) thanks unto the Father ... who hath delivered us from the power of
darkness ...’ (Col.1:12,13).
‘ ... The prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of
disobedience’ (Eph.2:2).
(3) Sin claims a heavy toll of our body and soul
Sin brings physical and spiritual sickness and physical and spiritual death.
‘Behold thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee’ (Jn.5:14).
(Physical sickness).
‘... The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto
the head, there is no soundness in it; but wounds and bruises and putrifying sores ...’ (Isa.1:5,6).
(Spiritual sickness).
‘I said, Lord, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee’ (Psa.41:4).
(Spiritual sickness).
‘So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the Lord, even against the
word of the Lord ...’ (I Chron.10:3) (Physical death).
‘For the wages of sin is death’ (Rom.6:23).
‘And you hathe he quickened, who were dead in tresspasses and sin’ (Eph.2:1) (Spiritual
death).
(4) Sin separates us from God and His life and deprives us of His kingdom.
‘Ye henceforth walk not as the Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having their
understanding darkened being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them
because of the blindness of their heart’ (Eph.4:17,18).
‘For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man who is an
idolator, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God’ (Eph.5:5).
‘But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his
face from you, that he will not hear’ (Isa.59:2).
(5) Sin leads its captives to hell.
‘Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their
glory, and their multitude and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it’ (Isa.5:14).
‘Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming ... (Isa.14:9).
‘Wickedness burneth as fire’ (Isa.9:18).
‘Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, as fire, shall devour you.
And the people shall be as the burning of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire’
(Isa.33:11,12).
(6) Sin stains the soul, leaving the conscience in torment and condemnation.
‘Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin’ (Psa.51:2).
‘Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they
shall be as white as snow; though they be red like
crimson, they shall be as wool’ (Isa.1:18).
‘My sin is ever before me’ (Psa.51:3). (Guilty conscience).
‘Deliver me from blood guiltiness’ (Psa.51:14) (Guilty conscience).
(7) Sin robs us of peace, joy, and other divine
virtues.
‘ R e s t o r e u n t o m e t h e
j o y t o s a l v a t i o n ’ ( P s a .
5 1 : 1 2 ) .
‘Make me to hear joy and gladness’ (Psa.51:8).
‘The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning. The crown is fallen
from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned’ (Lam. 5:15,16).
(8) Sin, if unchecked, will grow vigourously and multiply rapidly.
‘... My God ... our iniquities are increased over our head, and our tresspass is grown up
unto heaven’ (Ezra 9:6).
‘Now the works (fruits) of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife,
seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like ...’ (Gal.5:19-21).
(9) Sin can make a whole nation rebellious
‘... I send thee to the children of Israel, to a re b e l l i o u s
n a t i o n t h a t h a t h
r e b e l l e d a g a i n s t m e :
t h e y a n d their fathers have transgressed against me’ (Eze.2:3).


CHAPTER 2
CHRIST, THE ONLY REDEEMER
‘For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him,
which is the head of all principality and power’ (Col.2:9,10).
‘... Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and
finisher of our faith’ (heb.12:1,2).
‘But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness,
and sanctification and redemption’ (I Cor.1:30).
‘For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified’ (Heb.10:14).
The above are just a few of the many promises in the word of God regarding man's
salvation and sanctification. God's plan is for man to become perfect, just as Adam was perfect
before His Fall. Full provision for this is to be found in Christ, the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world (Rev.13:8). In this chapter, we shall study the five unique aspects of
Jesus Christ whereby man's salvation is complete and secure in Him and Him alone.
1. THE UNIQUENESS OF CHRIST'S OFFERING
AS THE SON OF GOD
Christ, the second Person of the Triune God, was willing to come down to the earth as ‘the
last Adam’ (I Cor.15:45), to take the place of the first Adam, to rectify his faults and to restore to
the human race all the blessings which they had forfeited by the fall of Adam. Christ was equal
with God, sharing all the divine attrinutes of God the Father. He was willing to lay aside His
divine powers and glory in order to come down and take the sinful form of the fallen man; the
Most Perfect, willing to become a substitute for the most imperfect and the vile, the Just for the
unjust: ‘For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet peradventure for a good man some
would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us’ (Rom.5:7,8).
Apart from Christ's decision to offer Himself totally for the redemption of man, God
rejoiced to accept Him as the perfect and only substitute for Adam (Rom.3:24,25).
2. THE UNIQUENESS OF CHRIST'S SPOTLESS
LIFE ON EARTH
When Christ laid aside His eternal glory and power and came down to dwell as an ordinary
man, He was found to be spotlessly pure, totally undefiled and in every way perfect, from the
time of His conception to the day of His death on the Cross.
If Satan could have found the slightest taint of sin in Christ as a human being, He would no
longer have been eligible as the Saviour of mankind. Praise God, His life as a man, lived within
the limitations imposed upon every man, was without reproach. Here are some of His claims in
this respect:
‘I do always those things which please him’ (Jn.8:29).
And He asked: ‘Which of you convinceth me of sin?’ (Jn.8:46).
It is worth mentioning the testimonies of those who knew Jesus when He was on earth.
Friend and foe alike bore witness to His sinlessness.
Peter confirms that ‘He did no sin’ (I Pet.2:22). John testifies that ‘In him was no sin’ (I
Jn.3:5). Judas cried: ‘I have betrayed the innocent blood’ (Matt.27:4).
The Roman centurion said of Him: ‘Certainly this was a righteous man’ (Lk.23:47).
Pilot's wife sent word to Pilot with the warning: ‘Have nothing to do with this just man’
(Matt.27:19). Pilot himself confessed to the public: ‘I find no fault in him’ (Jn.18:38). One dying
thief told the other: ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’ (Matt.3:17).
The angel told Mary: ‘... that Holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son
of God’ (Lk.1:35).
Even an evil spirit cried out: ‘... I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God’
(Mk.1:24).
Jesus was the object of searching scrutiny for thirty-three and a half years by people from
all walks of life. He emerges triumphant, His purity unsullied, His claims vindicated, His enemies
silenced for ever by His victorious shout: ‘I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am
alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death’ (Rev.1:18).
3. THE UNIQUENESS OF CHRIST'S DEATH ON THE CROSS
Christ's death on the Cross brought a unique solution to the age-old problems of sin and
death.
Christ not only faced the problems of life on this earth with tremendous courage; He also
willingly embraced cruel and ignominious death on the Cross. Had He failed to do so, He would
have achieved nothing whatever for mankind. His indisputable divinity and His absolute holiness,
would not, of themselves, have brought us the slightest benefit. Let us record what Jesus
accomplished through His death.
(i) Through death He destroyed both Satan and his works.
‘Forasmuch than as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise
took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that
is, the devil’ (Heb.2:14).
‘... For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the
devil’ (I Jn.3:8).
(ii) T h r o u g h d e a t h , H e
t o o k o u r s i n s u p o n
H i m s e l f as a sin-offering.
‘Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world’ (Jn.1:29).
‘For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to
God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit’ (I Pet.3:18).
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the
chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep
have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the
iniquity of us all’ (Isa.53:5,6).
(iii) T h r o u g h d e a t h , H e
d e s t r o y e d s i n a n d i t s
p o w e r .
‘For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own
Son in the likeness of sinful fesh, and (by a sacrifice) for sin, condemned sin in the flesh’
(Rom.8:3).
(iv) Through death, He took away our sicknesses and diseases.
‘... And he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities and bare
our sicknesses’ (Matt.8:16,17).
‘By whose stripes ye were healed’ (I Pet.2:24).
(v) Through death, He has delivered us from the present evil world.
‘Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world,
according to the will of God and our Father’ (Gal.1:4).
(vi) Through death, He has delivered us from the curse of the law.
This was so that we might receive the adoption of sons:
‘Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is
written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree’ (Gal.3:13).
‘But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman,
made under the law to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption
of sons’ (Gal.4:4,5).
(vii) Through death, there is deliverance to every captive of Satan.
‘... That through death he might (bring to naught) him that had the power of death, that is,
the devil; And (might) deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to
bondage’ (Heb.2:14,15).
(viii) Through death, He has perfected us forever.
‘For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified’ (Heb.10:14).
(ix) Through death, He has opened a new and living way into the Most Holy Place.
‘Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a
new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh’
(Heb.10:19,20).
4. THE UNIQUENESS OF HIS BLOOD
‘And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that
speaketh better things than that of Abel’ (Heb.12:24).
Through His blood which is shed, Jesus has provided us with inexpressibly marvellous
blessings:
(i) Our soul is atoned for.
‘It is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul’ (Lev.17:11).
(ii) Our sins are remitted by His shed blood.
‘For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of
sins’ (Matt.26:28).
‘... Without the shedding of blood is no remission’ (Heb.9:22).
(iii) We are cleansed from our sins by His
precious blood.
‘... The blood of Jesus Christ his Son, cleaseth us from all sin’ (I Jn.1:7).
(iv) Our redemption and forgiveness of sin are in the blood of Jesus Christ.
 ‘In whom (Jesus Christ) we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches of his grace’ (Eph.1:7).
Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and
gold, ... but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot’ (I
Pet.1:18,19).
(v) Our reconciliation and peace with God are through the shed blood of Christ.
‘And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto
himself; ...’ (Col.1:20).
(vi) We are bought by His precious blood.
‘... the Church of God, ... he hath purchased with his own blood’ (Acts 20:28).
(vii) The purification of our conscience is through His blood.
‘... The blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God,
(shall) purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?’ (Heb.9:14).
(viii) We find access to His holy presence through the blood of Jesus Christ.
‘(We have) therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus’
(Heb.10:19).
(ix) We are free from the final judgment because we are justified by His blood.
‘Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath
(judgment) through him’ (Rom.5:9).
(x) We overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb.
‘They overcame him (the devil) by the blood of the Lamb ...’ (Rev.12:11).
5. THE UNIQUENESS OF CHRIST'S
RESURRECTION
Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead how say some among you that there
is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:
and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are
found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he
raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: and
if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which have fallen
asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most
miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that sleep.
For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all
die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive’
(I Cor.15:12-22).
A Christian's faith rests on the fact of Christ's resurrection. The doctrines of Christ make
tremendous claims, and have the power supernaturally to transform the life of even the most
depraved sinner who believes them, and also to bestow upon him eternal life.
Nevertheless, all these doctrines hinge on the resurrection of Christ. Had not Christ risen
from the dead, He could have achieved no more for us by His sacrifice at Calvary than did the
scores of Christian martyrs by their deaths; in which case, the doctrines of Christ would amount
to nothing more than empty illusion and mocking fables.
 ‘Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here but is risen’: these words of the
angel, proclaiming His resurrection, have been quoted from a million pulpits, and they never fail
to bring new hope and courage to the hearts of the hearers. Hallelujah!
The importance of the resurrection of Christ, with special reference to our redemption
(i) The resurrectioin of Jesus Christ was the cardinal point of the teaching of the Apostles.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the backbone of the doctrines of the Body of Christ, the
principal stone in the foundation of the Church. It was the life and power of the witness of the
disciples of Christ in the first century.

Peter insisted that the new apostle, who was to take the place of Judas, should be ‘of
(those) men which (had) companied (the apostles) all the time the Lord went in and out (among
them), beginning from the baptism of John, unto the same day that he was taken up’ so that he
might be a ‘witness with (them) of his resurrection’ (Acts 1:21,22).

Peter boldly challenged the Jews who had crucified Jesus, proving the resurrection of
Christ from the Old Testament Scriptures, in which they believed. He said: Men and brethren let
me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his
sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn
with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ
to sit on his throne: He, seeing this before, spoke of the resurrection of Christ that his soul was
not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all
are witnesses’ (Acts 2:29-32).

Of the other Apostles it is written ‘And with great power gave the apostles witness of the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus ...’ (Acts 4:33).

Paul the apostle suffered greatly at the hands of his enemies ‘because he preached unto
them Jesus and the resurrection’ (Acts 17:18).
St. Paul constantly exhorted the churches firmly to stand on the teachings of the
resurrection of
Jesus Christ: ‘And if Christ be not risen then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins’ (I Cor.15:14,17).
To Timothy he writes: ‘Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from
the dead, according to my gospel’ (II Tim.2:8).
(ii) The resurrection of Jesus Christ provides the sole authority for the Christian faith.
Jesus' resurrection from the dead vindicates the Christian faith as nothing else could, and
proves to His followers the validity of Christ's teachings and promises. St. Paul went to
considerable trouble to see to it that the members of the Church fully understood this crucial fact:
‘And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain ... ’ (I Cor.15:17).
(iii) The resurrection of Jesus Christ confirms t h e t o t a l
c a n c e l l a t i o n o f s i n f o r
t h o s e w h o t r u s t i n
H i m .
‘And if Christ be not raised ... ye are yet in your sins’ (I Cor.15:17).
‘Now, if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him ... Likewise
reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto god through Jesus christ our
Lord ... For sin shall not have dominion over you... ’ (Rom.6:8,11,14).
‘Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus sent him to bless you, in turning away
every one of you from his iniquities’ (Acts 3:26).
(iv) The resurrection of Jesus Christ confirms our victory over spiritual death caused by sin
in the inner man.
‘For if by one man's offence death reigned by one much more they which receive
abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ’
(Rom.5:17).
‘... As sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto
eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord’ (Rom.5:21).
‘For the wages of sin is death: but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord’ (Rom.6:23).
‘... That like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we
(also should) walk in newness of life’ (Rom.6:4).
(v) The resurrection of Jesus Christ confirms the truth or the physical resurrection of the
dead.
‘But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept. For
since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead (I Cor.15:20,21).
‘For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again even so them also which sleep in Jesus
will God bring with him’ (I Thess.4:14).
‘(We know) that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall
present us with you’ (II Cor.4:14).
(vi)The resurrection of Jesus Christ confirms our justification before the throne of God.
‘(Christ) was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification’
(Rom.4:25).
(vii) The resurrection of Jesus Christ establishes our status as adopted sons of God, and as
heirs with Him.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ establishes our status as adopted sons of God, and as heirs
with Christ:
‘Even when we were dead in sins, (God) hath quickened us together with Christ ... and hath
raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus’ (Eph.2:5,6).
‘(His purpose was to) reconcile both (Jews and Gentiles), in one body by the cross, having
slain the enmity thereby: and came (after His resurrection) and preached peace to you which were
afar off, (Gentiles) and to them that were nigh (Jews). For through him we both have access by
one Spirit unto the Father’ (Eph.2:16-28).
‘And if children then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer
with him, that we may be also glorified together’ (Rom.8:17).
(viii) The resurrection of Jesus Christ raises us up to at higher spiritual plane.
By our communion with the risen Saviour we bring forth fruit unto God. We begin to walk
in newness of life; complete transformation to His likeness is achieved and a victorious life is
assured.
 ‘Ye ... are become dead to the law ... that ye should be married to another, even to him who
is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God’ (Rom.7:4).
‘When he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And every man
that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure’ (I Jn.3:2,3).
‘Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is
even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from
the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril
or sword? ... Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us’
(Rom.8:34-37).
(ix) The resurrection of Jesus Christ, confirms the fact that He is able to complete His work
in us, and to present us faultless before His throne.
‘Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the
presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty,
dominion and power both now and ever. Amen’ (Jude 24,25).
‘But this man, (Jesus Christ) because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.
Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he
ever liveth to make intercession for them’ (Heb.7:24,25).
(x) The resurrection of Jesus Christ proves that He is God.
‘And declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness, by the
resurrection from the dead ...’ (Rom.1:4).
‘But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;
and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead’ (Acts 3:14,15).
The following claims of Christ were confirmed by His resurrection.
‘Before Abraham was I am’ (Jn.8:58).
‘All men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father’ (Jn.5:23).
‘... Everyone which seeth Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life; and I will
raise him up at the last day’ (Jn.6:40).
‘And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with
thee before the world was’ (Jn.17:5)
‘... I lay down my life, that I might take it again’ (Jn.10:17).
(xi) The resurrection of Jesus Christ guarantees our salvation.
‘That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation’ (Rom.10:9,10).
(xii) The resurrection and ascension of Christ confirms Him as Head of the Church, and as
supreme authority over all principalities and powers.
Jesus' lordship and kingship is confirmed and upheld by God the Father by the resurrection
of Jesus. His supreme authority extends not only to the whole of this world, but also to heaven,
and to the world to come.
‘(God) raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named,
not only in this world, but also in that which is to come’ (Eph.1:20,21).
‘By him were all things crreated, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and
invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things created
byhim; and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist: And he is the head
of the body, the Church ...’ (Col.1:16-18).
‘ ... God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name:
That at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and
things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the
glory of god the Father’ (Phil.2:9-11).
(xiii) The resurrection of Jesus Christ establishes the reality of Eternal Heaven, and of the
certainty of the fulfilment of promises relating to Eternal Life.
‘Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God believe also in me. In my Father's house
are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you’
(Jn.14:1,2).
‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant
mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
To and inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for
you’ (I Pet.1:3,4).
(xiv) The resurrection of JesusChrist confirms the truth His Second Coming.
‘And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself;
that where I am, there ye may be also’ (Jn.14:3).
‘(The angels) also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same
Jesus, which is taken, up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him
go into heaven’ (Acts 1:11).



CHAPTER 3
MAN'S EXCUSES WEIGHED IN GOD'S
BALANCE
Although God has finished the work of man's total salvation in and through Christ, man
also has his part to play. He has to accept and appropriate this free salvlation with true
repentance, and with the full surrender of his life into God's hands. Alas, few respond to God's
call to repentance, or to acknowledge their sins with real conviction.
From the time of Adam, it has been man's inclination to justify himself. His self-defence
has been flimsy indeed. When God asked Adam: ‘Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I
commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?’ Adam excused himself with more than a hint of
defiance, blaming first Eve, and then God Himself for his predicament: ‘The woman whom thou
gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.’ Eve resorted to exactly the same
ploy: she blamed the serpent.
This sinful attempt at self-justification was also made by Cain. When God asked him where
was Abel, the brother whom he had newly slain, his reply was a casual insolent, lying evasion; ‘I
know not’, he said, ‘Am I my brother's keeper?’
In the same way, people all over the world today evade the issue which confronts them.
Instead of facing up to their need for salvation through the blood of Jesus they beguile and
deceive their minds with humanistic speculation, perverting the truth and lulling themselves into
a state of false security.
It cannot be said too often that salvation is to be found in Christ, and in Christ alone:
‘Neither is there salvation in any other (than Christ) : for there is none other name under heaven
given among men, whereby we must be saved’ (Acts 4:12).
Excuse No.1
The Youth says: ‘Leave me alone, I am young. There is much to enjoy and many years to
live in this world. When I am old and about to breathe my last, I'm sure I shall find an opportunity
to repent for my sins’.
God says: ‘... (We must) use this world as not abusing it : for the fashion of this world
passeth away’ (I Cor.7:31).
‘Now she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth’ (I Tim.5:6).
‘Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth,
and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all
these things God will bring thee into judgment’ (Eccl.11:9).
The above scriptures clearly show that whether we are young or old, God is against our
enjoying the pleasures of this world, and that He will hold us responsible for indulging ourselves
in this way, and for neglecting the Gospel of our salvation.
A further consideration is that we cannot determine the span of our lives. Death may come
to us at any time and we must be prepared to meet it. When the foolish rich man said within his
heart: ‘... Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink and be
merry’ God said to him, ‘thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee’ (Lk.12:19,20). So
his earthly treasures were of no use to him. God's Word warns those who put off their salvation
that death may overtake them unexpectedly. ‘He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck
shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy’ (Prov.29:1). ‘Behold, now is the accepted
time: behold, now is the day of salvation’ (II Cor.6:2).
Excuse No.2
The Free thinker, says: ‘My opinion is that conversion is nothing more than a
psychological phenomenon, experienced by converts to most religions’.
God says: ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved and thy house’ (Acts
16:31).
It is possible for real conviction to be caused by faith in a particular religion, leading to a
so-called conversion on a psychological basis. He may be converted from one religion to another.
But the biblical account of ‘conversion’ is absolutely different from psychological ‘conversion’.
A Christian's conversion is neither external nor purely mental, but constitutes a change of
character of the most radical kind. It
replaces the new convert's former predelection for sin with a burning desire for righteousness,
through the power of the Holy Spirit. This conversion is the natural consequence of true
repentance and the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ. Any ‘conversion’ which is apart from
Jesus Christ will necessarily be superficial, spurious and highly dangerous. ‘I am the way, the
truth and the life ...’ says Jesus.
Excuse No.3
The Materialist says: ‘Of what use is it to begin a Christian life of repentance and true
conversion, knowing that everything will go wrong? People who lie, cheat, rob and live
immorally seem to succeed in the world, without God's help’.
God says: ‘Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that
leadeth to destruction and many there be who go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow
is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it’ (Matt.7:13,14).
Christianity is not a superficial religion of convenience, pertaining exclusively to life on
this earth, and setting its adherants free to enjoy the pleasures of this world; a truly converted
Christian comes into the sweet consciousness of possessing eternal life, which no physical death
can mar or take away; he knows that he is on his way to an eternal Kingdom of peace and joy,
where there await him pleasures which can never be experienced in this present sin-sick world.
Furthermore, the true Christian knows that he will not have to face the judgment of God, to
which every sinner who has passed through this life will one day have to come, when he will
have to give an account of his life.
‘He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned
already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God’ (Jn.3:18).
‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me,
hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but it passed from death unto life’
(Jn.5:24).
‘Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear
his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they
that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation’ (Jn.5:28,29).
Finally a true follower of Christ is an optimist; he thrives on trials; he enters into every trial
with caution but with the determination that he will learn more about the devices of Satan; he
depends upon Christ and upon the Holy Spirit for more faith, courage and strength to overcome
his every difficulty.
He knows that victory lies in courageously facing them, and that if he does so he will
receive eternal rewards. The Apostle Paul says: ‘Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
shall tribulation or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril , or sword? ... Nay, in
all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us’ (Rom.8:35-39).
Excuse No.4
The Moralist says: ‘I don't lie, steal, fight, smoke, drink, gamble or blaspheme. I've never
stooped to adultery or other similar crimes. I love everyone. I do no harm to anybody. I am
religious, and I have done all I could to help the poor and needy. I say my prayers, read my Bible
and go to Church when possible. Therefore I believe that salvation is for sinners, not for people
like me’.
God says: ‘(I) looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any
that did understand, that did seek God. Everyone of them is gone back they are altogether become
filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one (Psa.53:2,3).
‘Therefore by the deeds of the law (by our good works, by our outwardly moral lives) there
shall no flesh be justified in his sight’ (Rom.3:20).
‘If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us ... If we say
that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not is us’ (I Jn.1:8,10). God has
ascertained that everyone, however sinless he may appear in his own eyes or in the eyes of others,
has sinned. God has proclaimed this fact to us, in order that ‘every mouth may be stopped, and all
the world may become guilty before God’ (Rom.3:19).
The reason for such a conclusion is obvious. God looks on man's heart and mind, his
desires and thoughts ‘... for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward
appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart’ (I Sam.16:7). In the sight of God, anger is murder;
a lustful look or desire is adultery (Matt.5:22,28). Man is inherently sinful. David said: ‘Behold I
was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me’ (Psa.51:5). So everyone in the
world needs to be saved from the very nature of sin, and this is possible only through Jesus. Our
salvation, our justification and our cleansing are the result, not of our goodness or our wothiness,
but of what Christ our Saviour, by His sacrifice at Calvary, has done for us: ‘For all have sinned,
and come short of the glory of God; (but we are) being justified freely (at no cost to ourselves) by
his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus’ (Rom.3:23,24).
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith (in Christ) without (any reference to)
the deeds of the law’ (Rom.3:28). We are under obligation to obey the Law of God; nevertheless,
our sins are purged only by the blood of Jesus Christ, and we are justified only by His grace.



REPENTANCE
DOCTRINE CONCERNING REPENTANCE

CHAPTER 1 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF

REPENTANCE

The two fold meaning of ‘repentance’; genuine repentance demanded by

God; preached by Old Testament ministers, by Christ and the Apostles.

CHAPTER 2 THE WAY REPENTANCE

IS EFFECTED
(1)Through visions; (2) through anointed preaching; (3) through correction by
His ministers; (4) through chastisement; (5) by the Holy Spirit, (6) by Jesus
Christ. Counterfeit repentance — examples: Ahab, Herod.

CHAPTER 3 HOW TO RECOGNISE TRUE

REPENTANCE

(1)Through visions; (2) through anointed preaching ; (3) through correction

by His ministers; (4) through chastisement; (5) by the Holy Spirit, (6) by Jesus
Christ. Counterfeit repentance — examples : Ahab, Herod.

CHAPTER 4 THE BLESSINGS WHICH FOLLOW

 TRUE REPENTANCE
(1) Judgment revoked; (2) sins forgiven ; (3) receiving of the Holy Spirit; (4)
joy in heaven; (5) eternal life granted; (6) continual repentance — a salient
characteristic of true men of God.

“And the times of this ignorance God winked at: But now commandeth all
men everywhere to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he
will judge the world by that man (Jesus) whom he hath ordained; whereof he
hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead”
(Acts 17:30,31)

ꗬ ꗬ ꗬ ꗬ ꗬ

CHAPTER 1
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF REPENTANCE
THE word repent appears in the Bible in different forms, but it has only two specific
meanings in both the Old and the New Testaments. Firstly it conveys the essence of the words,
‘sigh’, ‘groan’, ‘lament’, in most cases referring to God, and having no reference to sin.
‘... it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart’
(Gen.6:6).
‘... for it repented the Lord because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed
them and vexed them’ (Judg.2:18).
‘... The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of
Melchisedec’ (Heb.7:21).
Secondly, it conveys the meaning such as ‘change one's mind for the better’, ‘to have a
change of mind’, and ‘turning to God with true penitence’. In every case it denotes an expression
of sorrow for sin.
‘Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’ (Matt.3:2).
‘Repent ye therefore, and be converted that your sins may be blotted out’ (Acts 3:19).
‘Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine
heart may be forgiven thee’ (Acts 8:22).
‘Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and
repent, and make supplication unto thee ... then hear thou their prayer ... and forgive thy people
that have sinned against thee ...’ (I Kings 8:47 - 50).
‘... Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your
ruin’ (Ezek.18:30).
Genuine repentance
The following facts are given in the Word of God with regard to genuine repentance.
 1. God demands genuine repentance.
The kind of repentance which God demands from man is not a sentimental kind of sorrow
or regret for sin, but a total change of mind and an intention to change for the better, a turning to
God for His gracious forgiveness and mercy, and a departing from sin, showing proof of hatred
for sin:
‘Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me, with all your heart, and with
fasting and weeping, and with mourning: and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn
unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and
repenteth him of the evil’ (Joel 2:12,13).
‘... Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your
abominations’ (Ezek.14:6).
‘Woe unto thee Chorazin! Woe unto thee bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done
in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in
sackcloth and ashes’ (Lk.10:13).
2. The Old Testament servants of God preached genuine repentance.
The one reason why god raised up prophets in the Old Testament was to prophesy against
sin, and to command transgressors to turn to God, repenting for their sins:
SAMUEL
‘And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the Lord with
all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you and prepare your
hearts unto the Lord, and serve Him only: and he will
deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines’
(I Sam.7:3).
ISAIAH
‘Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return
unto the Lord; and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon’
(Isa.55:7).
HOSEA
‘O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with
you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto him, Take away all iniquity and receive us graciously:
so will we render the calves of our lips’ (Hos.14:1,2).
JOHN THE BAPTIST
‘In those days came John the Baptist, preaching ... Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is
at hand’ (Matt.3:1,2).
3. Jesus and his apostles preached genuine repentance.
God was willing to send his only begotten Son to take away the sins of the world and to
forgive transgressors freely and fully. He could not, however, do this for people until they
repented. Jesus himself had to preach repentance, pleading with them to return to God. The
following Scriptures reveal that Jesus and His apostles insisted genuine repentance:
JESUS
‘From that time Jesus began to preach and to say Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand’ (Matt.4:17).
‘ ... except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish’ (Lk.13:3).
PETER
‘Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus
Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost’ (Acts 2:38).
‘Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of thine
heart may be forgiven thee’ (Acts 8:22).
PAUL
‘And the times of this ignorance God winked at: but now commandeth all men everywhere
to repent’ (Acts 17:30).
‘Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering: not
knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?’ (Rom.2:4).



CHAPTER 2
THE WAY REPENTANCE IS EFFECTED
Genuine repentance follows real conviction caused by the action of the Holy Ghost on the
conscience of the one repenting. God has many ways of dealing with man. According to His
infinite wisdom, His methods vary from man to man. It is worth considering some of the ways
whereby God brings conviction to the hearts of men, leading them to repentance.
1. Through visions:
Isaiah: When Isaiah saw the vision of ‘the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up’,
it was then that he cried saying, ‘Woe is me ! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean
lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the
Lord of hosts’ (Isa.6:1,5).
Paul: When Saul was ‘... yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples
of the Lord ...’, the risen christ appeared to him, saying, ‘Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?’
This brought deep conviction to him that he was destroying the work of God. This conviction was
followed by true repentance, and he readily surrendered himself to Christ saying: ‘Lord, what wilt
thou have me to do?’ (Acts 9:1,4,6). Thus Saul, who was the enemy of Jesus Christ, became Paul,
an Apostle of Jesus Christ.
Job: Job said: ‘I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.
Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes’ (Job 42:5,6).
2. Through anointed preaching:
Johah : The wickedness of Ninevah had gone upto heaven. God's time had come for
executing judgment in that city. Nevertheless, our compassionate God desired to give Nineveh
another chance to repent and to turn to God; so He sent His prophet Johah saying : ‘... go unto
Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee’ (Jonah 3:2). When Jonah
preached the word, it brought conviction to their hearts.they ‘... believed god, and proclaimed a
fast, and put on sack cloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them’. the king
commanded, ‘... let man and beast be covered with sackcloth and cry mightily unto God: yea, let
them turn everyone from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if
God will turn and repent (change His mind) and turn away from His fierce anger, that we perish
not?’ (Jonah 3:5,8,9).
Peter: When Peter, inspired by the Holy Ghost, preached to the multitude at Jerusalem on
the day of Pentecost, they were ‘pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the
apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be
baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost ... Then they that gladly received his word were baptized (Acts
2:38,41).
3, Through corrections made by His servants:
‘And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach,
patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them
repentance to the acknowledging of the truth’ (II Tim.2:24,25).
4. Through chastisement from the Lord:
‘As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore, and repent’ (Rev.3:19).
‘Before I was afflicted I went astray; but now have I kept thy word’ (Psa.119:67).
5. Through the direct operation of the Holy Ghost:
‘When he (the Holy Ghost) is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness,
and of judgment’ (Jn.16:8)
6. Through the direct operation of Jesus Christ:
‘... him (Jesus Christ) did God exalt with his right hand to be a Prince and Saviour, for to
give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins’ (Acts 5:30,31).
‘Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus sent him (Christ) to bless you, in
turning away everyone of from his iniquities’ (Acts 3:26).
COUNTERFEIT REPENTANCE
Sometimes we come across people whose repentance seems to be absolutely genuien; their
tears and sorrowful countenances move our hearts; yet we find that their lives are still miserabl;
they are still in bondage, their prayers remain unanswered and Satan increases his hold on them
day by day. the explanation is simple. The Bible tells us that the repentance of different people
reached certain different levels, and in many cases did not meet the requirements of God.
Although in many cases, God readily forgave them, they quickly turned away from Him, and
returned to their former sinful lives.
AHAB
Ahab was a tender-hearted, soft-natured man. The slightest distress could move him to
tears; but he had sold himself to his wicked wife and to iniquity. God's testimony about him was
‘... there was none like Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord,
whom Jezebel his wife stirred up’ (I Kgs.21:25). When Elijah brought him word saying: ‘Behold
I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away they posterity, ... for the provocation wherewith
thou hast provoked me to anger and made Israel to sin ...’, he readily repented
(I Kgs.21:21,22). ‘And it came to pass when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and
put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went softly’ (I Kgs.21:27). God
did forgive him. But his penitence did not last long. Within a short time, when God sent His word
to Ahab through Micaiah, another prophet, Ahab hated him and commanded the governor of the
city saying: ‘Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction until I come in
peace’ (I Kgs.22:27). The result was that shortly afterwards, Ahab was shot dead by the Syrian
army.
His repentance was caused by the fear of death and of the judgment pronounced against
him. It was a sentimental reaction: a rending of his garments and not of his heart. His tears were
expressive of natural feelings of grief but not of sorrow for sin.
Superficial tears, new year resolutions and occasional vows are no substitute for genuine
repentance. Not that these things are wrong, but God desires penitence at the deepest level.
HEROD
Herod, though a king, was willing to humble himself and go and hear the simple Gospel
message of repentance preached by John the Baptist, even though he must have been aware that
John was despised by the Scribes and the Pharisees. The Gospel of Mark reveals that he had the
following virtues:
‘... Herod feared John ... observed him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and
heard him gladly’ (Mk.6:20).
These outward demonstrations were purely emotional, sentimental responses and
superficial in their nature. He never repented for his sin of living with Herodias, his brother's
wife. On the contrary, when John the Baptist convicted Herod of his sin, he was angry and put
him in prison, and later heheaded him: ‘For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John,
and bound him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife: for he had married her’
(Mk.6:17). ‘And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be
brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison’ (Mk.6:27).



CHAPTER 3
HOW TO RECOGNISE TRUE REPENTANCE?
1. True repentance comes from a broken and contrite heart.
‘And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is
gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil’ (Joel
2:13).
‘The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart: and saveth such as be of a contrite
spirit’ (Psa.34:18).
2. True repentance is evident when the sinner turns away from sin.
The truly penitent sinner puts his life right and now abhors sin. He turns to God, seeking
His mercy and pardon, and pleads with Him to remove the guilt and the dominion of sin from his
life:
‘... yea, let them turn everyone from his evil way and from the violence that is in their
hands’ (Jonah 3:8).
‘Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts’ (Isa.55:7).
 ‘... I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes’ (Job 42:6).
‘O Israel, return unto God, for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and
turn to the Lord: say unto him, Take away all iniquity and receive us graciously; so will we
render the calves of our lips’ (Hos.14:1,2).
3. True repentance is accompanied by confession of sin.
‘I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess
my transgression unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin’ (Psa.32:5).
‘And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem and were all
baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins’ (Mk.1:5).
‘If we confess our sins, he is faaithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness’ (I Jn.1:9).
4. True repentance leads the new-born believer to Water Baptism.
‘Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized everyone of you ... for the remission of
sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost’ (Acts 2:38).
5. True repentance results in turning from idols to the living God.
‘... Ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God’ (I Thess.1:9).
6. True repentance is followed by good works which are acceptable to God.
John the Baptist insisted on ‘fruits meet for repentance’: in other words, ‘good works
worthy of repentance’ (Matt.3:8).
So when they repented for their sins, they asked John the Baptist, ‘... What shall we do
then? He answered and saith unto them, he that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath
none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise’ (Lk.3:10,11).
While witnessing to King Agrippa, St. Paul added that he was commissioned by God to
preach to the Gentiles ‘... that they should repent and turn to God and do works meet for
repentance’ (Acts 26:20).
7. True repentance is authenticated by restitution
‘... Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold Lord, the half of my goods I give to
the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold’
(Lk.19:8).



CHAPTER 4
THE BLESSINGS THAT FOLLOW TRUE
REPENTANCE
1. True repentance enables God to change His mind and to revoke His judgment against the
sinner.
 ‘And rend your hearts, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is
gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him (changes his mind)
of the evil’ (Joel 2:13,14).
‘Who can tell if God will turn and repent and turn away from his fierce anger (judgment),
that we perish not? And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God
repented (changed His mind) of the evil that he would do unto them; and he did it not’ (Jonah
3:9,10).
2. True repentance results in forgiveness of sins, remission of sins, and the cancellation of
sins.
‘Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him turn
unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him: and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon’
(Isa.55:7).
‘And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all
nations, beginning at Jerusalem’ (Lk.24:47).
‘Repent ye therefore, and be converted that your sins may be blotted out ...’ (Acts 3:19).
3. True repentance is the first step towards receiving Christ and the gift of the Holy Ghost.
‘And Peter said unto them, Repent ye and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus
Christ unto the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost’ (Acts 2:38).
‘Repent ye therefore and turn again that your sins may be blotted out, that so there may
come seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord; and that he may send Christ who hath
been appointed for you, even Jesus' (Acts 3:19,20 — RV)
4. The true repentance of one sinner brings joy to the angels of God in heaven.
‘I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth more
than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. Likewise, I say unto you, there
is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth’ (Lk.15:7,10).
5. True repentance leads to the gift of eternal life.
‘When they heard these things, (how the Gentiles were saved, baptized, and filled with the
Holy Ghost), they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles
granted repentance unto life(eternal life)’ (Acts 11:18).
6. Continual repentance is a salient characteristic of true men of God.
Growing saints of every century have manifested the divine virtues of humility, a
willingness to be corrected and a passion for God. Another characteristic of true saints is a
continual willingness to repent. When they are convicted of grieving God, they at once repent.
God is pleased with such repentance: not only does He forgive them their transgressions, but in
addition, He honours them with richer blessings and deeper experiences of Himself. This has
always been the case. Continual conviction and spontaneous repentance are therefore the most
important characteristics of those who are preparing themselves for the coming of the Lord. This
is brought about only by ‘the goodness of God’ (Rom.2:4). God tells us: ‘As many as I love, I
rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore and repent’ (Rev.3:19).

