REGENERATION

In order to understand how God puts His laws in us and writes them on our hearts, it is necessary for us to begin with regeneration. For in regeneration the Holy Spirit puts God’s uncreated life into our human spirit. Regeneration is a new thing which happens in the human spirit. It is not a matter of behavior, but a matter of life.

The Creation of Man

To know what regeneration is, we must again go back to the story of the creation of man. “Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Gen. 2.7). The “breath of life” here refers to the Spirit—the source of life; for the Lord says elsewhere that “it is the spirit that giveth life” (John 6.63a). This is further confirmed in Job: “The breath of the Almighty giveth me life” (33.4b). The Hebrew for the word “life” in “breath of life” is chay and is in the plural. God so breathed that there was produced a twofold life: the spiritual and the soulical. When the inbreathing of God entered man’s body it became the spirit of man; but when the human spirit reacted with the body the soul was produced. This explains the origin of our spiritual and soulical lives. It also clearly shows us that man is tripartite: being spirit, soul, and body. The New Testament also divides man into three parts: “May your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire” (1 Thess. 5.23b); “even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow...” (Heb. 4.12b).

The body is the site of “world-consciousness”; the soul, of “self-consciousness”; and the spirit, of “God-consciousness.” With its five senses the body gives man various kinds of sensations. Through this physical body man is able to communicate with the outside world. Consequently, it is the place of “world-consciousness.” The soul is comprised of the mind, emotion, will, and so forth; all of these belong to the man himself, being expressions of his personality. Hence it is the place of “self-consciousness.” The spirit has the functions of conscience, intuition, and communion; and by these man comes to know his relationship with God and learns to worship and serve Him. It is therefore the place of “God-consciousness.”

The spirit controls the whole being through the soul. If the spirit desires to act, it communicates its intention to the soul, which in turn will move the body to obey the command of the spirit. According to God’s ordering, the spirit, being the highest part of man, should control the whole being. Nevertheless, the will, being the mainstay of personality, belongs to the soul. This will of man’s soul has a sovereign right to choose the rule of the spirit, the rule of the body, or even the rule of self. In view of such power belonging to the soul—which is also the seat of personality—the Bible calls man “a living soul.”

God’s Purpose in Creating Man

We have repeatedly emphasized that the eternal purpose of God is to give himself to man. He takes pleasure in entering into man and uniting with him so that man may have His life and His nature. After God had created Adam He put him in the garden of Eden. In the midst of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2.9). These two trees were most conspicuous, they could easily attract man’s attention. God gave command to man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Gen. 2.16-17). Turning it around, this statement meant that the fruit of the tree of life could be eaten. Had man eaten the fruit of the tree of life he would have chosen God, because the tree of life pointed to God. Oh how grand and beautiful is the purpose of the Creator towards man!

Just as man was created by God, so his original life was also given by God. Speaking of man’s originally created life, the Bible indicates that it was upright (Eccles. 7.29) and “very good” (Gen. 1.31). But so far as God’s eternal purpose was concerned, man did not yet have God’s own uncreated life. Hence he must needs choose God and God’s life. [Three different words are used in Greek for “life”: (1) Bios—this points to the fleshly life. The Lord Jesus used this word when He said of the poor widow that she had cast in all the living that she had (Luke 21.4). (2) Psuche—this points to man’s animated life, the natural life of man—which is the soul life. Whenever the Bible mentions man’s life as such, this word is used (Matt. 16.26, Luke 9.24). (3) Zoe—this points to the highest life, the spirit life, God’s uncreated life. The Bible uses this word when it speaks of “eternal life” (John 3.16).]