Classification is one of the most
difficult of all tasks. Even in the realm of religion there are enough lights
and shades to make it injudicious to draw too fine a line between men and men.
If the religious world were composed of squares of solid black and solid white
classification would be easy; but unfortunately it is not.
It is a grave error for us
evangelicals to assume that the children of God are all in our communion and
that all who are not associated with us are ipso facto enemies of the Lord. The
Pharisees made that mistake and crucified Christ as a consequence.
With all this in mind, and
leaning over backwards to be fair and charitable, there is yet one distinction
which we dare make, which indeed we must make if we are to think the thoughts
of God after Him and bring our beliefs into harmony with the Holy Scriptures.
That distinction is the one which exists between two classes of human beings,
the once-born and the twice-born.
That such a distinction does, in
fact, exist was taught by our Lord with great plainness of speech, in contexts
which preclude the possibility that He was merely speaking figuratively. "Except
a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God," (John 3:3). He said, and the whole
chapter where these words are found confirms that He was speaking precisely,
setting forth meanings as blunt and downright as it is possible for language to
convey.
"Ye must be born again," (John 3:5-7) said
Christ. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of
the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:6). This clear line of demarcation runs through the entire
New Testament, quite literally dividing one human being from another and making
a distinction as sharp as that which exists between different genera of the animal
kingdom.
Just who belongs to one class and
who to the other it is not always possible to judge, though the two kinds of
life ordinarily separate from each other. Those who are twice-born crystallize
around the Person of Christ and cluster together in companies, while the
once-born are held together only by the ties of nature, aided by the ties of
race or by common political and social interests.
Our Lord warned His disciples
that they would be persecuted. "In the world ye shall have tribulation," (John 16:33) He
said, and "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and
persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my
sake” (Matthew 5:10-11).
These are only two of many
passages of the New Testament warning of persecution or recording the fact of
harassment and attack suffered by the followers of the Lord. This same idea
runs through the entire Bible from the once-born Cain who slew the twice-born Abel
to the Book of the Revelation where the end of human history comes in a burst
of blood and fire.
That hostility exists between the
once-born and the twice-born is known to every student of the Bible; the reason
for it was stated by Christ when He said, "If ye were of the world, the world
would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you
out of the world, therefore the world hateth you" (John 15:19). The rule was laid down by
the apostle Paul when he wrote, "But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted
him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now" (Galatians 4:29).
Difference of moral standards
between the once-born and the twice-born, and their opposite ways of life, may
be contributing causes of this hostility; but the real cause lies deeper. There
are two spirits abroad in the earth: the spirit that works in the children of
disobedience and the Spirit of God. These two can never be reconciled in time
or in eternity.
The spirit that dwells in the once-born is forever opposed to
the Spirit that inhabits the heart of the twice-born. This hostility began
somewhere in the remote past before the creation of man and continues to this
day. The modern effort to bring peace between these two spirits is not only
futile but contrary to the moral laws of the universe.
To teach that the spirit of the
once-born is at enmity with the Spirit of the twice-born is to bring down upon
one’s head every kind of violent abuse. No language is too bitter to hurl
against the conceited bigot who would dare to draw such a line of distinction between
men. Such malignant ideas are at odds with the brotherhood of man, says the once-born,
and are held only by the apostles of disunity and hate. This mighty rage against
the twice-born only serves to confirm the truth they teach. But this no one seems
to notice.
What we need to restore power to
the Christian testimony is not soft talk about brotherhood but an honest
recognition that two human races occupy the earth simultaneously: a fallen race
that sprang from the loins of Adam and a regenerate race that is born of the
Spirit through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.
To accept this truth requires a tough
mindedness and a spiritual maturity that modern Christians simply do not
possess. To face up to it hardly contributes to that “peace of mind” after
which our religious weaklings bleat so plaintively.
For myself, I long ago decided
that I would rather know the truth than be happy in ignorance. If I cannot have
both truth and happiness, give me truth. We’ll have a long time to be happy in
heaven.
** Written by Aiden Wilson Tozer (A.W. Tozer) **
*** From the Book - "Man: The Dwelling Place of God" ***
THE TRUTH MEDIA
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