(Acts 3:1-10; 14:8-18.)
BY way of introduction, let us consider the following
passages of Scripture : Eom. 8:6-8; 7 : 14-25 ; 2 Cor.
5 : 1-4. These passages teach :
(1) That man, in his earthly state, is dually minded
— partly carnal, and partly spiritual.
(2) That the carnal mind is subject to the laws of
the flesh, and can not be subject to the law of God.
(3) That the spiritual mind is subject to the law
of God.
(4) That man, while in the flesh, can not be alto-
gether spiritually minded.
The carnal mind is not subject to the law of God.
It can not be. It would do no good to preach the gospel
to a horse. Were it possible for a man to be altogether
carnally minded, or totally depraved, he would be a
mere brute, incapable of regeneration.
The spiritual mind can hear, understand and obey
the gospel (Acts 2 : 37, 38 ; 16 : 31 ; Eom. 10 : 16) . Those
who are obedient from the heart unto the form of doc-
trine (baptism, which symbolizes the death, burial and
resurrection of Christ — Eom. 6:17) receive the Holy
Spirit as a gift (Acts 2:38; 1 Cor. 6:19). As they
grow in grace and knowledge (2 Pet. 3:18), by con-
tinuing stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine, the breaking
of bread, and in prayers (Acts 2:42), they become
partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:2-4). In other
words, they become more and more spiritually
minded (Rom. 8:6); they are spiritually alive; at
peace with, reconciled to, God (Rom. 5:1; 1 John 5:
12; Col. 1:21-23).
There is but one way of ascertaining whether or
not those who have been baptized have really been
''born again" (John 3:3; Matt. 7:20; Gal. 5:19-24).
Their works will indicate whether or not they can be
called ' ' Christians. ' ' Genuine repentance must result
in reformation and restitution (Acts 26:20). Hence,
only the penitent believer is eligible for baptism (Acts
2:38). There are many people in the churches of
Christ who have never crucified the lusts of the flesh,
never repented in the full meaning of the term, and
consequently continue to do the works of the flesh.
Jesus Christ possessed the Spirit without measure
(John 3:34). Only those who obey the gospel and
become partakers of the divine nature by faithful con-
tinuance in Christian worship, can truly understand
and appreciate the teachings of Christ. Only those
who are spiritually minded can grasp the spiritual
significance of His utterances. They alone can worship
God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).
The common error of humanity is that of putting
a literal, or material, construction upon spiritual
teachings. This was the error made by the Jews dur-
ing the personal ministry of Christ; it was the error
made by the apostles before they received the Spirit
on Pentecost ; it was the error of the people in receiving
the gospel during the apostolic period; it has been the
principal error of theology during all ages ; and it is
to-day the underlying cause of many false systems of
religion. It is the purpose of this discourse to expose
the principal errors that have arisen out of the mis-
conceptions of the carnal mind of humanity in general.
1. Concerning the new birth (John 3:1-17). Nico-
demus recognized Jesus as a divine teacher. When
Jesus explained to him the necessity of being "born
again" he obtained a material conception, and asked
how such a thing could be possible. And even when
Jesus explained that one must be "born of water and
of the Spirit" in order to enter the kingdom, he asked,
"How can these things be?" He was thinking of
earthly things when Jesus was speaking of heavenly
things.
Many to-day have an absolutely material idea of
the new birth. Many regard baptism as a formal ordi-
nance, when it is absolutely spiritual — obedience "from
the heart 99 to the form of doctrine — the institution
that symbolizes the death, burial and resurrection of
Christ (Eom. 6: 17). It is an ordinance in which the
sinner shows to the world that he believes that the
working of that same power which raised the body of
Jesus from the tomb, will raise his soul from the grave
of sin, a new creature in Jesus Christ (Col. 2: 12; Rom.
6:3-6). It is not the washing away of the filth of the
flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards
God (1 Pet. 3:21).
Regeneration is a spiritual process, affecting only
the spiritual man. It includes a change of mind from
the contemplation of worldly to that of spiritual mat-
ters; a change of life, a complete turning from the
paths of sin to serve the living God; and a change
of relationship consummated in the ordinance of bap-
tism, which is called the " washing of regeneration"
(Tit. 3:5), which brings the penitent believer into
Christ (Gal. 3:27), into a state of reconciliation with
God (Rom. 6:7-11).
To be in the old covenant required a birth of the
flesh (Gen. 17:9-13). The old covenant included those
who were born in Abraham 's house or bought with
Abraham's money. This included those infants and
heathen servants who had to be taught to "know the
Lord." But, in the new covenant, we are told that
they shall all know Him, from the least to the greatest
of them (Heb. 8). In fact, they must know Him before
they can enter the covenant. In other words, they must
believe in Christ before they can become Christians
(Mark 16 : 16; John 3 : 16; Acts 16 : 31). They must be
old enough to believe before they can be proper subjects
for baptism. To be in the new covenant requires a
birth of the Spirit, or spiritual regeneration (1 Pet.
1:22, 23), a purification of the soul, which is brought
about by obeying the truth through the Spirit.
The sprinkling of water upon the unknowing babe,
therefore, becomes a ceremony that has no spiritual sig-
nificance whatever. Infant sprinkling is nothing more
than "water regeneration," a thing never taught in
the New Testament. It is practiced because certain
systems of theology have made the new birth a material,
rather than a spiritual, process. The infant needs no
regeneration because it has no knowledge of law (Rom.
5 : 13 ; 1 John 3:4); and is therefore already fit mate-
rial for the kingdom of God (Matt. 18: 1-5; 19: 13-15).
2. Concerning the bread of life (John 6). There
was a time when Jesus was very popular. When He
fed the hungry people with loaves and fishes, and
healed their physical bodies, they followed Him by the
thousands. But when He tried to turn their minds
from temporal to spiritual matters, they murmured
against Him. When He talked to them of "the bread
of life/' that nourished the spiritual man, they, being
carnally minded, turned back and walked with Him
no longer.
When churches to-day so conduct their services as
to attract the careless multitude ; when they administer
to hungry stomachs and diseased bodies — the people
flock to them by the hundreds. But when they begin to
talk about spiritual matters, to require a certain amount
of individual service, and to preach a high standard of
Christian living, these multitudes depart about as mys-
teriously as they came. We believe in charity, but
people must be made to understand that the church is
here to administer to the spiritual, rather than to the
physical, man.
3. Concerning spiritual works (John 14:12). Here
the Master has reference to the superiority of spiritual
works over miracles of a material and temporal nature.
This has long been the proof -text of "Christian Sci-
ence," falsely so called. "Greater works than these
shall they do" has meaning far above any literal inter-
pretation. Are not works performed for the benefit
of the spiritual man infinitely greater than those per-
formed to benefit the physical man? While in the
flesh, Jesus could not give salvation, immortality or
eternal life (Luke 24:46, 47; Heb. 9:22, 26). But
when, by His death, burial and resurrection, He had
perfected the scheme of redemption (Eph. 1:3-10; Col.
1:19-23), the apostles offered these exceeding great
and precious promises to the world on the conditions
of the gospel (2 Pet. 1:4; Acts 2:38, 39; Rom. 2:7).
These spiritual works, such as regeneration, salvation,
resurrection, glorification, immortality, and so on, are
far greater than miracles of a material nature. And
the preaching of the gospel for the obedience of faith,
bringing about these spiritual works, is infinitely
greater than supernatural signs (Luke 16:31).
4. Concerning the kingdom (John 18: 36). This was
the greatest error of the Jews. They expected Him to
establish a temporal kingdom and deliver them from
Roman rule. Even the apostles retained this idea until
on Pentecost (Matt. 6:10; 10:7; 18:1-4; Luke 22:
29, 30; Acts 1:6). Consequently, when He talked to
the Jews about a spiritual kingdom, they turned away
from Him. They charged Him with blasphemy and
brought Him before Pilate for trial. It was on that
occasion that He said, "My kingdom is not of this
world" (John 28: 36, 37). His disappointment of their
carnal desires was the principal theme of their mockery
at the crucifixion (Matt. 27:29-44).
But the kingdom of heaven is a spiritual kingdom.
It came with power on Pentecost, and to stand forever
(Mark 9:1; Dan. 2:44; Acts 2:1-4). Ultimately, it
will encircle the globe (Matt. 24:14; 1 Cor. 15:24-26;
Rev. 11:15).
Many systems of theology give a material concep-
tion of the kingdom, instead of a spiritual conception.
The Catholic and Protestant world in general regard
the church as a visible organization under ecclesiastical
officers, instead of a spiritual institution of which
Christ is the head (Eph. 1:22, 23), and all who are
in Christ constitute the body (Gal. 3:27, 28; 1 Cor.
12:27; Eph. 5:23-32; 1 Pet. 2:5-9). Those who are
in Christ, or in the church, which is His body, con-
stitute the citizenship of this kingdom (Heb. 12:
22, 23), written in heaven, over which He is the
absolute monarch (Matt. 28:18). The law of this
kingdom is the will of God as revealed in the teachings
of Christ and His apostles (John 14:6-11; 2 John
9-11). It is the spiritual body of Christ (Eph. 4:4).
5. Concerning salvation (John 3:17; 12:47; Acts
4:12). A great many religious teachers and their
followers have the impression that reformation is the
chief end of Christianity. Many modern systems base
their claim to existence upon their power to reform
individual character. The trend of modern religious
thought is to dwell upon the ethical side of Chris-
tianity, and to overlook the spiritual. There is a great
distinction between reformation and salvation. Ref-
ormation merely reduces the practice of sin; but
salvation goes to the extent of removing the guilt of
sin. Jesus not only came to reform, but to save. No
matter how great may be a man's moral reformation,
the guilt of past sins must be upon his soul until
removed by the blood of Christ (Col. 1:14; 1 John
1:7). That system which overlooks the salvation of
the soul from sin, which is obtained only by means
of the blood of Christ, and can be appropriated to the
individual soul only by obedience to the gospel (Mark
16:16; Acts 2:38), is absolutely a false system (1
Pet. 1:22, 23). We must look beyond the purification
of the physical man, to the purification of the spiritual
man.
The lame man at the Beautiful Gate asked Peter
and John for material substance, and received what
he least expected, a spiritual blessing (Acts 3:1-10).
Paul condemned the philosophers on Mars' Hill
for their material conception of God, and urged upon
them the conception of His spiritual being (Acts 17:
22-31).
While in Lystra, on his first missionary journey,
Paul healed a cripple. The people, seeing the miracle,
tried to worship Paul and Barnabas as gods "come
down to earth in the likeness of men" (Acts 14: 8-18).
This brought forth a stinging rebuke from the apostle,
which might be made to all who are so carnally minded
that they can not get a spiritual conception of spiritual
matters. In his language, we urge all to whom we
speak "to turn from such vanities unto the living
God." Let us study the word of God so that we may
have in each of us the mind that was in Christ (Phil.
2:5).
