Born of the Spirit

The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.  John 3:8

Within the evangelical church, regeneration, or the new birth, has always been understood to be the work of the Holy Spirit.  Although there are differences among evangelicals as to the extent of the Holy Spirit’s work in this process, there remains a consensus that it is indeed his work, and that apart from him regeneration would be impossible.  

However, there is at the same time an ever increasing ignorance as to what his work consists in.  Believers are aware that it is the Spirit of God who brings about the new birth, but are quite unaware as to how he actually does this.  This lack of understanding regarding the true work of the Spirit in regeneration has no doubt led to a decline of the true “born again” experience within the church and has opened the door for various other religious experiences to take its place.  It should be noted that not every religious or spiritual experience whereby men become Christians or believers is of necessity the new birth spoken of in Scripture.  This may be a shock to some, but in truth, it has always been the case.  Men may, and do, embrace Christianity for many reasons, and not necessarily because they have been born of God.

Now it is not my desire to undermine the fact that individuals come to Christ in a variety of ways and through a variety of circumstances.  This cannot nor should be disputed.  But it is my desire to show from Scripture that work of the Holy Spirit which is essential to and present within all true conversion experiences, that there are certain elements of spiritual experience that all true believers will have in common- although perhaps to differing degrees- and that there is but one intent within the mind of the Spirit of God when He undertakes the regeneration of sinful men.

So what is the work of the Spirit in regeneration? The above text is taken from a passage of Scripture in which Jesus expounds upon the new birth.  This verse is part of his answer to Nicodemus’ question, “How can a man be born (again) when he is old?”   In the text, Jesus speaks metaphorically, comparing the work of the Spirit to the blowing of the wind.  The “wind,” or the “Spirit,” for so it may actually be translated inasmuch as the Greek word pneuma means “wind” or “spirit,” bloweth, or again the Greek, “breatheth” where it listeth.  This speaks of the sovereign aspect of the new birth.  The Spirit breathes or blows where He wishes and upon whom He wishes.  And thou hearest the sound thereof speaks of the perceptible effects brought about by the blowing of the wind, or by the “working of the Spirit.”  But canst not tell whence it cometh and wither it goeth speaks of that aspect of the Spirit’s work which in many ways is a mystery- we may not know exactly when and where it begins, nor may we know the conclusion of the matter.  So is every one that is born of the Spirit confirms that there is a unified experience- that they which are born again will have passed through the same process.

To elaborate further upon this text, consider the illustration of a man attempting to build a fire from the remains of one which has been allowed to burn completely out.  He first carefully rakes through the ashes to find some warm coals to work with, gathering as many as he can find into a pile.  He then crouches close to the black coals, and begins to blow steadily upon them until their edges begin to faintly glow.  With each breath the field of orange upon each glowing ember increases, until at length his heap bursts into flames. With his fire now revived, he quickly adds new pieces of wood- small followed by large- until it rages once more.   

The Holy Spirit’s work in regeneration is similar to this illustration for it is He who bloweth upon the coals of the sinner’s conscience causing it to glow with conviction until at last it is inflamed with guilt and a sense of impending judgment.

Now as I stated earlier, the evangelical church today is ignorant as a whole to the work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration.  The modern church does NOT embrace a new birth which requires a preliminary work of conviction of sin, and shudders at the thought that the Spirit of God would press a sinner to the point where he is filled with guilt and sense of judgment.  Rather than embrace such an idea, the church today in many ways works against these efforts of the Spirit, being it seems bent on proclaiming a Christianity which is entirely concerned with making its adherents feel good about themselves, while never confronting, nor demanding a repentance from sin.

But this is NOT how the Holy Spirit of God makes converts!  For He does not care about filling church buildings with masses of professing believers to whom in many ways Christ is not real.  But He is concerned with births, that souls should be truly born of God, and not merely professing an evangelical faith which they have not experienced.  He is not content with making new converts, but rather seeks to make new creations in Christ.    

For observe what Jesus said regarding the ministry of the Holy Spirit.  For it is clearly stated what his ministry and work among the lost is to be.  It is not at the first one of encouragement but rather of reproof.  Not a ministry of comfort, but rather discomfort. Not a building of self-esteem, but a tearing down of self-approval.  It is no proclamation of heaven, but a forewarning of hell.

As it is written:

And when he (the Holy Spirit) is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. John 16:8-11

Now the word reprove is a strong word.  It means “to convict or convince,” “to expose” with the idea of “putting to shame the one who is convicted.”  Thus, the work of the Holy Spirit among the unregenerate is to reprove and convince to the point of shame, with regard to sin, righteousness, and judgment. It is the Spirit of God who takes men to task regarding their sin, exposing them within their own consciences as the guilty transgressors that they are in truth.  It is He who reproves them regarding righteousness, convincing them of what is right in the sight of God and of how infinitely short of his standard they fall.  And lastly, it is the Holy Spirit who delivers the death sentence of Divine judgment at the bar of the sinner’s conscience, silencing any hopes he may have of gaining acceptance with God upon his own merit.

Sadly, what I have just described is so foreign a concept to the evangelical church today, that it seems obvious that it must be an equally foreign experience as well.

But this work of the Spirit, this work of conviction and reproof, is essential to all true conversion experiences.  To say that men can be saved without this work, that they are saved by the standard “sinner’s prayer,” by mere acceptance of the evangelical faith, and by trying to live according to the standards of the church, is certainly contrary to Spirit of God and the words of Jesus Christ.  Certainly, all they which have been truly born again are personally familiar with the work of the Spirit which I have described.  As I stated earlier, perhaps individuals have experienced these things to differing degrees and at different times.  One may have experienced this work of conviction very deeply prior to his initial repentance.  Another may have come to Christ sincerely, but without much light, and thus experienced many of these things after his initial profession of faith.  But one thing is sure, it is impossible to genuinely receive Christ and to truly abide in him and yet be ignorant of this work of the Spirit.

Now what is the intent of the Spirit of God in his work of conviction?  Simply, it is to destroy the sinner’s sense of righteousness.  As long as men feel that within themselves there exists some goodness, some piety, some commendable morality, they cannot truly believe in Christ.  For if they imagine themselves to be good- even to the slightest degree- they will consider that God in some way owes them something, that they somehow deserve the favour and blessing of God.  Therefore, if they do come to agree that perhaps there may be some sins upon their record, it seems to them only proper that God should forgive these relatively minor flaws- for after all they are for the most part good.  Thus, they think of the death of Jesus Christ upon the cross as a means whereby “the good” can be made better- in the same way that an already wonderful hot fudge sundae is made perfect by the maraschino cherry on top!

But men can only truly believe and appreciate Jesus Christ when this notion of personal goodness is eradicated.  For when men are convinced that they are indeed thoroughly sinful, when they are convinced that God is thoroughly just, when they know that they deserve hell and agree with God that they belong there, when they come to shame and regret how they have lived; it is then and only then that the Holy Spirit will point them to Christ to be justified by faith, and it is then that Jesus Christ is revealed as the Hope of the hopeless and Saviour of the sinful. 

And they which have come this way think of the death of Christ according to what it is in truth: a sacrifice made for undeserving, ungodly, and depraved men, to whom God owes nothing save the fires of eternal judgment, yet to whom He extends mercy – not because He sees good within them- but rather because of his own excellent goodness, clemency, and grace.

Where then is sense of entitlement, sense of importance, sense of worthiness?  It is abolished in that proper self-loathing which only the precious Holy Spirit can work.  And from this self-loathing springs an eternal well of love, passion and devotion for him who “gave his back to the smiters, and cheeks to them that plucked off the hair, who hid not his face from shame and spitting” that He might redeem sinful men.

O how precious is the work of the Holy Spirit!  Abasing the proud, crushing the self-righteous, bringing low the haughty, yet in turn cleansing the penitent, saving the “crushed in spirit,” comforting those who tremble at his word!

Keep the modern “gospel” of self-esteem, proclaiming how special, and valuable, and wonderful we all are!  Keep the converts of it as well, those believers who live in sin yet proclaim themselves the favoured children of God!

But give me “Christ and him crucified,” give me the Holy Spirit, and give me those upon whom He has breathed, the broken, the humble, and the sincere- those new creations in Jesus Christ- those born of the Spirit.