TWICE-BORN MEN by Allen Walker

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Nov 4, 1930

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 57, No. 43.

TWICE-BORN MEN

By Allen Walker

The cardinal doctrine of “the new birth” set forth in a group of short articles by

ALLEN WALKER

The great teacher, Nicodemus, sought Jesus by night.

The doctrine, “Ye must be born again,” is the greatest in the New Testament. Should a man accept every other teaching except this one, he would still be a lost man. The rebirth of the soul is not only the most wonderful experience, but it is also the most important that can come into the life. There are many experiences a person may never have and yet be saved, but he may go through every other experience except that of the new birth, and he will certainly be lost. Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3. Jesus never taught a truth that He emphasized more strongly than this. In Matthew 18:3 He said, “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” There is no Scriptural fact more positively stated.

REASONS FOR ASSERTIONS

When the Bible states a thing as a fact, there is always a reason. That reason may not always be discoverable, but it is there just the same. When Jesus said that it is impossible to be saved without being “born again,” there is some very important reason. Why is it so utterly impossible for a man to enter the kingdom of God without the new birth? The necessity of it rests upon the fact of the depravity of human nature. There is no doctrine of the Bible that annihilates the modernistic teaching of “the inherent goodness of man” so completely as the necessity of the new birth. Regeneration proves that man by nature is sinful and depraved, and the importance of the new birth is based upon this unescapable fact.

The Scriptures teach that human nature at its very best is “corrupt.” Away back in the days of Noah “all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.” Genesis 6:12. If that was true then, how much more so to-day? The most scrupulous Jew—one who could boast that he was “circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews” (Philippians 3:5)—had finally to admit, “I know that in me . . . dwelleth no good thing” (Romans 7:18). His verdict was that “the old man” (that is, the unrenewed man) “is corrupt.” Ephesians 4:22. With the advantage of ancestry, of education, of the best environment, as well as culture, discipline, and training, man is still “corrupt” and not a proper subject for the kingdom of God! Only the miracle of the new birth can make him fit for the kingdom.

GOOD AND EVIL FRUITS

A tree produces fruits that correspond to its nature. This principle acts the same in human beings. Illustrating this fact, Jesus declared, “Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” Matthew 7:17-19. This teaching seals the final doom of the unregenerate man. The fire of destruction awaits him, for “he cannot see the kingdom of God.” This teaching of Jesus with reference to the good tree and the good fruit and the corrupt tree and the evil fruit shows that so long as human nature is unregenerate it is degenerate, and the fruit will be evil. In Romans 1:29-31, Galatians 5:19-21, 2 Timothy 3:1-3 we find that depraved man is guilty of the following: fornication; wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, envy, murder, deceit, backbiting, hating God, witchcraft, uncleanness, adultery, idolatry, hatred, variance, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, drunkenness, revelings; they are despiteful, proud, boastful, unmerciful, lovers of their own selves, blasphemers, unthankful, fierce, traitors, heady, high-minded, and so forth. These evil things are the fruit of the corrupt tree of degenerate humanity. This gives to us some idea of God’s estimate of human nature. In the article next week we shall see how very powerless man is to change this nature or to regulate its fruit.