SOMEONE has drawn a picture of a wagon with a horse hitched to the front and another horse hitched to the back, both pulling as hard as they can. Of course, they cannot get anywhere. In a tug of war you do not go very far—just back and forth. There is a tug of war in the Christian’s life, and the only one who can stop it is the Holy Spirit.
Everyone is born with sin in his heart. When a baby is very, very tiny, you cannot see the sin, and the baby does not do anything wrong. But the sin is there, hidden in his heart, and before he gets much bigger it will show forth. We think some people are very bad; others seem to be very good. But God does not see that goodness. He says that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags in His sight (Isaiah 64:6).
One day there came to Jesus a man who seemed to be very good. He was respectable, for he was a teacher. Probably he was one of the best men in Jerusalem. He came to the Lord Jesus at night, and wished to talk with Him. The very first thing that Jesus said to him was “Verily, verily I say unto thee. Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). All Nicodemus’ goodness was not enough. Jesus said he must be born again. Why is this? Why must a person who has never done any thing which seems terrible, be born again? What did Jesus mean?
The answer is this: Everyone is born with an old nature. This old nature is sometimes called “the flesh.” That does not mean the flesh of the body, but is the name used for what we are before we believe in the Lord Jesus. This old nature may be educated, and trained so that it does not murder or steal or even lie, but that does not make it good. God says there is nothing good about it. It cannot please Him.
Because of this, He wants us to have a new nature that can please Him. That is what He means by being born again. The first time you were born you became alive. But even though your body was alive your soul was dead. When Adam and Eve sinned their souls died, just as God has said—“For in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17). God wants you to be alive, and so He tells you to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. When you do. He gives you a new life. He does not patch up the old one.
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