The Doctrine of the holy spirit—i - Chambers, Oswald
1. The beyond that is within
Verily, verily, i say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of god. ( john 3:3)
This title 5 will serve as a comment on our lords words to Nicodemus. The power to see is within; what is seen is without, otherwise it is hallucination. When the holy spirit comes in there is a new power of perception and their eyes were opened, and they knew him. . . . Then opened he their under- standing, that they might understand the scriptures (Luke 24:31, 45). The holy spirit regenerates my personal spirit, that is, i receive a quickening life which puts the beyond within, and immediately the beyond has come within it rises up to the above, and i enter the domain where Jesus lives. Nicodemus saith unto him, how can a man be born when he is old?
Nicodemuss question was not captious, it was a sensible, profound question arising out of the tremendously sweeping statement Jesus had madeexcept a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of god. The phrase born again was not new to Nicodemus, for the rabbis spoke of a convert from heathenism as being born again; but the application Jesus made of it was absolutely amazing. Marvel not that i said unto thee, ye must be not developed, not educated, but born again fundamentally made all over again, before you can see the kingdom of god and enter into it. Remember, Jesus is not talking to one whom men would call a sinner, there is no mention of sin; he is talking to a religious man, to the teacher of Israel; it is to him Jesus says, ye must be born again. If you define sin as external wrongdoing, you miss out this class of men, men like the rich young ruler (master, all these have i observed from my youth); men like Saul of tarsus (touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless)men who do not need saving from external wrongdoing, they are not guilty of any.
Talk about broken earthenware, about going to the slums to save men and women, and every ones sympathy is with you; but Nicodemus was not broken earthenware, he was not an outcast of society; he was a cultured pharisee, an honoured member of the sanhedrin, and here stands a young Nazarene carpenter and says to him, quietly and calmly, ye must be born again. No wonder Nicodemus was absolutely be wil- dered i can understand how by education, religious and otherwise, i can make myself a little better; how by careful training i can keep out of sight the ugly things in my disposition; but what you say about being made all over again, i cannot understand at all. Jesus Christs salvation deals not only with the outcast and downtrodden, it deals with clean-living, upright, sterling men and women, and immediately you present the gospel as Jesus presents it, it is this class you clash with. Jesus Christ came to do what no man can do for himself, viz. , alter his disposition. How can a man be born when he is old? By receiving the gift of the holy spirit and allowing him to do in him what Jesus did for him. The mighty sovereign power of god can re-make a man from within and readjust him to god. The holy spirit is god himself working to make the redemption efficacious in human lives. No wonder men leap for joy when they get saved in the new testament way! Marvel not that i said unto thee, ye must be born again. Our lord is talking about a momentous practical experience, viz. , being born from above (rv mg) while we live in the below. The conception of new birth in the new testament is not of something that
Springs out of us, what modern psychology calls a subliminal up rush, but of something that comes into us. Just as our lord came into the world from the outside, so he must come into us from the outside. The washing of regeneration comes consciously to our personal lives in and through the words of the new testament. . . Being born again . . . By the word of god (1 peter 1:23). There is no authentic impulse of the holy spirit that is not wedded to the words of the bible. To recognise this is the only way to be safe from dangerous delusions. To-day our beliefs are being rationalised, men are denying the supernatural element, that the spirit of god comes in and does something which transcends human reason. A christian is an impossible being unless a man can be made all over again. Everything hangs on this one central statement of jesus ye must be born again. We have lost sight of it, and we have got to get back to it.
2. The within that is above
If thou knewest the gift of god, and who it is that saith to thee, give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. ( john 4:10)
The idea of receiving anything as a gift from god is staggeringly original; we imagine we have to earn things by prayer and obedience. We cannot earn or win anything from god, we must receive it as a gift, like a pauper, or do without it. In this verse our lord is describing the essential nature of the gift he would have given thee living water a living, amazing reality. There is nothing profounder in the whole of the new testament than this interview, it is full of the great meaning of the gospel of god; we do not sufficiently grasp its profundity. In it we see almighty god incarnate stooping down to lift up a sinful woman, as a symbol of the way his salvation is at work among men.
Our lord did not use means to attract the woman, she happened to be thereand he must needs go through Samaria. Watch the method of his procedure, it is amazing. Our lord does not begin by telling the woman she is a sinner, he begins by asking her to give him something give me to drink. There is no condescension in grace, a sinner is never afraid of Jesus; the pharisees hated him, that is why he said to them verily i say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of god before you (Matthew 21:31). The woman was surprised at his request not because of his personality, but because of his nationality, it was a perplexity on the surface of things. How is it that thou, being a jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Thou, being a jew, . . . A woman of Samaria both titles were absurdly insufficient. In the sight of god the woman is representative of the whole worldjesus christ is almighty god incarnate.
If thou knewest the gift of god, . . . He would have given thee living water. The gift of god is the son of god; the gift from the gift of god is the holy spirit. Jesus did not talk about the gift of god to the master of israel; to him he talked about the need to be born again; he talked about the gift of god to a poor, ignorant, sinful woman. To her he did not say, ye must be born again; he spoke of a gift which would regenerate her, i. E. , become in her a well of water springing up into everlasting life. Our lord gave the exposition of his salvation, not to Nicodemus, a man of sterling character, but to a sinful woman, and she understood without knowing that she did. She was plainly confused, and yet she trusted him and asked for the gift, sir, give me this water. . . . Instantly reproof followed on her request ( john 4:1618). That is always the method of the holy spirit; we usurp the place of the holy spirit when we try to convict a man of sin first.
Our lord never talked in stages of experience, that is, he does not talk to our heads, he instructs us in our relationship to himself. Here, he is leading a woman into the grace of god, the overflowing favour of god, it is so overflowing that we trample it under foot; it seems so humble and gentle that we ignore it. Jesus is dealing with the grace of god towards sin- ners, and the characteristic of the grace of god is that it wells up into everlasting life, a fountain of living water not merely a clean heart, but a full one, being kept clean.