_THE CO-OPERATION OF THE DIVINE PERSONS IN EFFECTING THE NEW BIRTH.--THE
LAVER OF REGENERATION._
"But when the kindness of God our Saviour, and His love toward man,
appeared, not by works done in righteousness, which we did
ourselves, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the
washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which He
poured out upon us richly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that,
being justified by His grace, we might be made heirs according to
the hope of eternal life."--TITUS iii. 4-7.
For the second time in this short letter we have one of those statements
of doctrine which are not common among the practical instructions which
form the main portion of the Pastoral Epistles. The other doctrinal
statement was noticed in a previous discourse on chap. ii. 11-14. It is
worth while to compare the two. Though similar, they are not identical
in import, and they are introduced for quite different purposes. In the
earlier passage, in order to show why different classes of Christians
should be taught to exhibit the virtues which specially befit them, the
Apostle states the purpose of Christ's work of redemption, a purpose
which all Christians are bound to help in realizing, stimulated by what
has been done for them in the past and by the hope which lies before
them in the future. In the passage which we have now to consider, St.
Paul contrasts with the manifold wickedness of unbelievers the
undeserved mercies of God towards them, in order to show what gratitude
those who have been brought out of their unbelief ought to feel for this
unearned blessing, a gratitude which they ought to exhibit in gentle
forbearance and goodwill towards those who are still in the darkness of
unbelief as well as to others.
The passage before us forms the main part of the Second Lesson for the
evening of Christmas Day in both the old and the new lectionaries. Its
appropriateness in setting forth so explicitly the Divine bounty in the
work of regeneration is manifest. But it would have been equally
appropriate as a lesson for Trinity Sunday, for the part which each
Person of the Blessed Trinity takes in the work of regeneration is
plainly indicated. The passage is in this respect strikingly parallel to
what St. Peter had written in the opening of his Epistle: "According to
the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit,
unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. i.
2). The goodness and love of God the Father towards mankind is the
source of man's redemption. From all eternity He saw man's fall; and
from all eternity He devised the means of man's recovery. He appointed
His Son to be our representative; and He accepted Him on our behalf. In
this way the Father is "our Saviour," by giving and accepting One Who
could save us. The Father "saved us ... through Jesus Christ our
Saviour." Thus the Father and the Son co-operate to effect man's
salvation, and each in a very real and proper sense is called "our
Saviour." But it is not in man's own power to accept the salvation thus
wrought for him and offered to him. For power to do this he needs Divine
assistance; which, however, is abundantly granted to him. By means of
the outward laver of baptism the inward regeneration and renewal by the
Spirit is granted to him through the merits of Christ; and then the work
of his salvation on the Divine side is complete. Through the infinite
mercy of the Blessed Trinity, and not through his own merits, the
baptized Christian is in a state of salvation, and is become an heir of
eternal life. It remains to be seen whether the Christian, thus richly
endowed, will continue in this blessed state, and go on, by the daily
renewal of the Holy Spirit, from grace to grace; or will through his own
weakness and wilfulness, fall away. But, so far as God's share in the
transaction is concerned, his salvation is secured; so that, as the
Church of England affirms in the note added to the service for the
Public Baptism of Infants: "It is certain by God's Word, that children
which are baptized, dying before they commit actual sin, are undoubtedly
saved." And the several parts which the Persons of the Blessed Trinity
take in the work of salvation are clearly indicated in one of the
prayers before the baptismal act, as in the present passage by St. Paul.
Prayer is offered to the "heavenly Father," that He will "give His Holy
Spirit to this Infant, that he may be born again, and be made an heir of
everlasting salvation; through our Lord Jesus Christ." Thus, as at the
baptism of the Christ, so also at that of every Christian, the presence
and co-operation of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is indicated.
It is the Apostle's object in this condensed doctrinal statement to
emphasize the fact that it was "not by works in righteousness which _we
ourselves_ did," but by the work of the Blessed Trinity, that we were
placed in a state of salvation. He does not stop to make the
qualifications, which, however true and necessary, do not alter this
fact. In the case of adults, who are converted to Christianity,--and it
is of such that he is thinking,--it is necessary that they should be
duly prepared for baptism by repentance and faith. And in the case of
all (whether adults, or infants, who live to become responsible for
their actions), it is necessary that they should appropriate and use the
graces bestowed upon them; in other words, that they should grow in
holiness. All this is true; but it does not affect the position. For
although man's co-operation is indispensable--for God saves no man
against his will--yet without God's assistance man cannot either repent
or believe before baptism, nor can he continue in holiness after
baptism. This passage expressly denies that we effect our own salvation,
or that God effected it in return for our merits. But it gives no
encouragement to the belief that we have nothing to do with "working out
our own salvation," but have merely to sit still and accept what has
been done for us.
That "the washing of regeneration," or (as the margin of the R.V. more
exactly has it) "the _laver_ of regeneration,"[81] signifies the
Christian rite of baptism, ought to be regarded as beyond dispute. This
is certainly one of those cases to which Hooker's famous canon of
interpretation most thoroughly applies, that "where a literal
construction will stand, the farthest from the letter is commonly the
worst" (_Eccl. Pol._, v. lix. 2). This Hooker holds to be "a most
infallible rule in expositions of sacred Scripture"; and although some
persons may think that assertion somewhat too strong, of the soundness
of the rule no reasonable student of Scripture can doubt. And it is
worth our while to notice that it is in connexion with this very subject
of baptismal regeneration that Hooker lays down this rule. He is
answering those who perversely interpreted our Lord's words to
Nicodemus, "Except a man be born of water and the Spirit" (John iii. 5),
as meaning no more than "Except a man be born of the Spirit," "water"
being (as they imagined) only a metaphor, of which "the Spirit" is the
interpretation. On which Hooker remarks: "When the letter of the law
hath two things plainly and expressly specified, Water, and the Spirit;
Water as a duty required on our parts, the Spirit as a gift which God
bestoweth; there is danger in presuming so to interpret it, as if the
clause which concerneth ourselves were more than needeth. We may by such
rare expositions attain perhaps in the end to be thought witty, but with
ill advice." All which may be fitly applied to the passage before us, in
which it is quite arbitrary and against all probability to contend that
"the bath of regeneration" is a mere metaphor for regeneration without
any bath, or for the Holy Spirit, or for the unmeasured bounty with
which the Holy Spirit is poured upon the believer.
This might be tenable, if there had been no such rite as baptism by
water enjoined by Christ and practised by the Apostles as the necessary
and universal method of admission to the Christian Church. In Eph. v. 26
(the only other passage in the New Testament in which the word for
"laver" or "bath" or "washing" occurs) the reference to baptism by water
is indisputable, for the water is expressly mentioned. "Christ also
loved the Church, and gave Himself up for it; that He might sanctify
it, having _cleansed it by the washing of water_ with the word." And in
the passage in the First Epistle to the Corinthians which, like the one
before us, contrasts the appalling wickedness of unbelievers with the
spiritual condition of Christians, the reference to baptism is scarcely
less clear. "And such were some of you: but _ye were washed_ (lit. 'ye
washed away'[82] your sins), but ye were sanctified, but ye were
justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our
God" (1 Cor. vi. 11). In which passage, as here, the three Persons of
the Trinity are named in connexion with the baptismal act.
And in speaking to the Jews at Jerusalem of his own admission to the
Church, St. Paul uses the same forms of the same word as he uses to the
Corinthians of their admission. The exhortation of Ananias to him, as he
lay at Damascus, was "And now why tarriest thou? Arise, and _be
baptized_, and _wash away thy sins_" (=apolousai tas hamartias sou=),
"calling on His Name" (Acts xxii. 16): words which are very parallel to
the exhortation of St. Peter on the day of Pentecost: "Repent ye, and
_be baptized, every one of you_ in the Name of Jesus Christ _unto the
remission of your sins_; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost" (Acts ii. 38; comp. Heb. x. 23). In these passages we have a
sacred rite described in which the human and the Divine elements are
clearly marked. On man's side there is the washing with water; and on
God's side there is the washing away of sin and pouring out of the
Spirit. The body is purified, the soul is purified, and the soul is
hallowed. The man is washed, is justified, is sanctified. He is
regenerated: he is "a new creature." "The old things," his old
principles, motives, and aims, then and there "passed away" (aorist
tense, =parêlthen=): "behold, they are become new" (2 Cor. v. 17). Can
any one, with these passages before him, reasonably doubt, that, when
the Apostle speaks of "the washing of regeneration" he means the
Christian rite of baptism, in which, and by means of which, the
regeneration takes place?
We are fully justified by his language here in asserting that it is _by
means of_ the baptismal washing that the regeneration takes place; for
he asserts that God "saved us _through_ the washing of regeneration."
The laver or bath of regeneration is the instrument or means by which
God saved us. Such is the natural, and almost the necessary meaning of
the Greek construction (=dia= with the genitive). Nor is this an
audacious erection of a comprehensive and momentous doctrine upon the
narrow basis of a single preposition. Even if this passage stood alone,
it would still be our duty to find a reasonable meaning for the
Apostle's Greek: and it may be seriously doubted whether any more
reasonable meaning than that which is here put forward can be found. But
the passage does not stand alone, as has just been shown. And there are
numerous analogies which throw light upon the question, proving to us
that there is nothing exceptional in God (Who of course does not need
any means or instruments) being willing to use them, doubtless because
it is better for us that He should use them.
In illustration of the Greek construction we may compare that used by
St. Peter of the event which he takes (and the Church of England in her
baptismal service has followed him) as a type of Christian baptism.
"When the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the
ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved
_through water_: which also after a true likeness doth now save you,
even baptism." St. Peter says that Noah and his family "were saved _by
means of water_" (=di' hydatos=), just as St. Paul says that God "saved
us _by means of the laver_ of regeneration" (=dia loutrou
palingenesias=). In each case the water is the _instrument_ of
salvation. And the analogy does not end with the identity of the
instrument; that is the mere external resemblance between the flood and
baptism. The main part of the likeness lies in this, that in both cases
one of the same instrument both destroys and saves. The Flood destroyed
the disobedient by drowning them, and saved Noah and his family by
floating them into a new home. Baptism destroys the old corrupt element
in man's nature by washing it away, and saves the regenerated soul by
bringing it into a new life. And the other event which from the earliest
days has been taken as a figure of baptism is of the same kind. At the
crossing of the Red Sea, the water which destroyed the Egyptians saved
the Israelites. In all these cases God was not tied to use water, or any
other instrument. He could have saved Noah and the Israelites, and
destroyed the disobedient and the Egyptians, just as He could have
healed Naaman and the man born blind, without employing any means
whatever. But for our edification He condescends to employ means, such
as we can perceive and understand.
In what way is the employment of perceptible means a help to us? In two
at least. It serves the double purpose of being both a _test_ of faith
and an _aid_ to faith.
1. The acceptance of Divinely appointed means is necessarily a test of
faith. Human intellect is apt to assume that Omnipotence is above using
instruments. "Is it likely," we ask, "that the Almighty would employ
these means? Are they not altogether beneath the dignity of the Divine
Nature? Man needs tools and materials: but God needs neither. It is not
credible that He has ordained these things as conditions of His own
operation." All which is the old cry of the captain of the host of
Syria. "Behold, I thought, he will surely come out to me, and stand and
call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place,
and recover the leper." That is, why need he enjoin any instrument at
all? But if he must, he might have enjoined something more suitable.
"Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the
waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean?" In precisely
the same spirit we ask still, "How can water wash away sin? How can
bread and wine be Christ's body and blood? How can the laying on of a
man's hand confer the gift of the Holy Spirit? Do not all such
assumptions savour of magic rather than of Divine Providence?" Therefore
humbly to accept the means which God has revealed as the appointed
channels of His spiritual blessings is a real test of the recipient's
faith. He is thus enabled to perceive for himself whether he does
sincerely believe or not; whether he has the indispensable qualification
for receiving the promised blessing.
2. The employment of visible means is a real aid to faith. It is easier
to believe that an effect will be produced, when one can perceive
something which might contribute to produce the effect. It is easier to
believe when one sees means than when none are visible; and it is still
easier to believe when the means seem to be appropriate. The man who was
born blind would more readily believe that Christ would give him sight,
when he perceived that Christ was using spittle and clay for the
purpose; for at that time these things were supposed to be good for the
eyes. And what element in nature is more frequently the instrument both
of life and of death than water? What could more aptly signify
purification from defilement? What act could more simply express a death
to sin and a rising again to righteousness than a plunge beneath the
surface of the water and a re-issuing from it? As St. Paul says in the
Epistle to the Romans: "We were buried therefore with Him through
baptism" (=dia tou baptismatos=) "into death; that like as Christ was
raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might
walk in newness of life" (vi. 4). And again to the Colossians: "Having
been buried with Him in baptism, wherein ye were also raised with Him
through faith in the working of God, Who raised Him from the dead" (ii.
12). Faith in the inward gift, promised by God to those who believe and
are baptized, becomes more easy, when the outward means of conferring
the gift, not only are readily perceived, but are recognized as
suitable. In this way our faith is aided by God's employment of means.
Is the "renewing of the Holy Ghost" the same thing as the "washing of
regeneration"? In this passage the two expressions refer to the same
fact, but in their respective meanings they are not co-extensive. The
Greek construction is ambiguous like the English; and we cannot be sure
whether St. Paul means that God saved us by means of the washing and by
means of the renewing, or that God saved us by means of a laver, which
is both a laver of regeneration and a laver of renewal. The latter is
more probable: but in either case the reference is to one and the same
event in the Christian's life. The laver and the renewing refer to
baptism; and the regeneration and the renewing refer to baptism; viz.,
to the new birth which is then effected. But, nevertheless, the two
expressions are not co-extensive in meaning. The laver and the
regeneration refer to one fact, and to one fact only; a fact which takes
place once for all and can never be repeated. A man cannot have the new
birth a second time, any more than he can be born a second time: and
hence no one may be baptized twice. But the renewing of the Holy Spirit
may take place daily. It precedes baptism in the case of adults; for it
is only through a renewal which is the work of the Spirit that they can
prepare themselves by repentance and faith for baptism. It takes place
at baptism, as the Apostle clearly indicates here. And it continues
after baptism; for it is by repeated quickening of the inward life
through the action of the Spirit that the Christian grows in grace day
by day. In the case of the adult, who unworthily receives baptism
without repentance and faith, there is no spiritual renewal. Not that
the sacred rite remains without effect: but the renewing of the Spirit
is suspended until the baptized person repents and believes. Meanwhile
the mysterious gift bestowed in baptism becomes a curse rather than a
blessing; or at least a curse as well as a blessing. It may perhaps
increase the possibilities of repentance: it certainly intensifies the
guilt of all his sins. Such a person has thrust himself into a society
without being qualified for membership. He has incurred the
responsibilities of membership: if he desires the privileges, he must
obtain the qualifications.[83]
It is God's gracious purpose that all should have the privileges in
full. In baptism He washed us from our sins, He gave us a new birth, He
poured out His Holy Spirit upon us richly, through Jesus Christ; "_in
order that_, being justified by His grace, we might be made heirs
according to hope of eternal life."
FOOTNOTES:
[81] =loutron palingenesias=. Comp. Eph. v. 26.
[82] Middle Voice, =apelousasthe=, on which see Professor Evans in the
_Speaker's Commentary_ iii., p. 282. And it is worth noticing that in
both passages the principal verbs are in the tense which in Greek
commonly indicates some one particular occasion, "Ye were washed, were
sanctified, were justified," are all in the aorist. So also here: "He
saved us," and "He poured out upon us" are both in the aorist. And in
both cases the natural reference is to the particular occasion of
baptism in which we "were washed, sanctified, and justified," because
God "saved us by the laver of regeneration and renewing of the Holy
Spirit which He poured out upon us richly."
[83] See Waterland, _Regeneration Stated and Explained_: Works, Vol. vi.
pp. 359--362. The whole tract may be commended for clearness and
moderation.