Mr. R.—So near that we cannot be nearer. But we must claim it. In John we get God’s teaching about election. “This is the Father’s will which hath sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing; but should raise it up again at the last day.” He will do his work, you may depend upon it. Then in the next verse we read: “And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” That is the part I am to take: and when I have done so I shall know the Father’s will concerning me.
Mr. M.—What do you mean by the New Birth?
Mr. R.—I judge it by what I know of the Old Birth. I was born of human parents into the human family; so I belong to Adam’s race by nature and by generation, and I inherit Adam’s sin and curse accordingly. The new birth is from my union by faith with the second Adam; but this is by grace, not nature: and when I receive the Lord Jesus Christ I am born of God—not by generation, but by regeneration. As I am united to the first Adam by nature and generation, so I am united by faith through grace and regeneration to the second Adam, and inherit all His fullness accordingly.
Mr. M.—What is the meaning of being “saved by the Blood?”
Mr. R.—A gentleman asked me that in the inquiry-room; “What do you mean by the shed Blood?” It is the poured-out life of the Son of God forfeited as the atonement for sinners’ sins.
Mr. M.—Is it available now?
Mr. R.—Yes; as much as ever it was.
Mr. M.—You mean it is just as powerful to-day as it was eighteen hundred years ago when He shed it?
Mr. R.—If the blood of Abel cried out for vengeance against his slayer, how much more does the blood of Christ cry out for pardon for all who plead it! “It cleanseth (present tense) from all sin.”
Mr. M.—How do you get faith?