Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1917-02-03

Commentary Sunday 12

that time of such tremendous interest
in the ministry Of the water Baptist;
and 1t may be that the Lord meant
that soch baptism was somehow con-
nected with the kingdom. Certain 1t
is that the Baptist preached the bap-
tism Of repentance for the remission
of SINS and called men to repent be-
cause the kingdom of heaven was at
hand. But in Johns baptism there was
much more than the administration OF
water. Himself taught that 1t was null
and void without real amendment of
life, or repentance. And it is possible
that Jesus meant this repentance and
regeneration combined-the one ex-
pressed by baptismal water; the other.
which clearly is the great essential, Ell
fected by the Spirit. The idea that by
the water the Lord meant the first or
natural birth. is not at all probable:
and, it seems to me, is utterly unten-
able--as there is no place where the
word Is put to such use, unless 1t be
here, and there is no reason evident
for so understanding it here. There Is
another Interpretation that has some
reason for 1t: water may possibly re-
fer to the word. We read Of being born
again, not Of corruptible seed. but Of
incorruptible, by the word Of Good,
which liveth and abideth forever" Il
Peter 1920. And also of a state of
cleansing of those who constitute the
church, with the washing of water
by the word" (Eph. v:26); and this is
evidently 1.-THE washing of regenera.
T ton" (Titus i:5). There is some ground
for such Interpretation. Probably the
! 7 a,,t r,it nix n a n
must have the sign alone, that also
that which it signifies. Certainly the
great essential is being born of God,
as presented in the first chapter, thir-
teenth verse. And that is the same
as being born of the Spirit. "Of his
own will began he us with the word
of ruth" Gas. i:18.--he cannot enter
into the kingdom Of God. This is the
same as seeing" the kingdom. 1t re-
lates to real experience in which we
are in regeneration translated out of
the kingdom of darkness into the king
dom of Gods dear Son.
That whatsoever beiieveth in him-A
faith more than what Nicodemus had
confessed-more than a faith that
gives credence to evidence; but per-
sonal faith-a belief in, or into (as the
proposition means) a Person-should
, not perish,-As every man is doomed
to do, because of the poison of the old
fiery serpent of hell in him work ing
everlasting destruction from the pres
ence of God-but have eternal life. The
life which is of God, life with God, life
in God, life for God--God-life, the di-
vine life in the soul the newness of
life given in regeneration. This is
grounded upon the atonement, and is
conditioned on faith. And here is fur
Their elucidation Of the cry of the Bap-
list, Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin Of the world"
And here is the explanation of the
motive OF it all: For-The great rea-
son of the gospel-God so loved the
world,-The human race-even the
whole world that lieth in that wicked
one-the world of sinners lost-that
he gave his only beeotten Son,-Made
sacrifice of that which is dearest to
Him. That Son was His for ever, If
God the Father is from for ever. He
could not be the only begotten Son
of God without being the eternal Son.
Other sons of God are begotten in
time by regeneration: but there Is only
one Son who was nothing else before
and that One, as John tells us in the
first chapter, was with God, and was
one with God. That Is the Son who
was given. and the gift was prompted
purely by divine love-That whosoever
belicveth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life. The same as
eternal life in the preceding verse
the same in the original. Here we
have in one verse the whole gospel: a
gospel of love-love that sacrifices that
which is dearest and most divine; a
gospel of faith; a gospel that delivers
from death eternal unto life eternal by
saving from that which worketh death
"a gospel of deliverance from sin,
which Is the sting of death.