Deeper Life #314

Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

—2 Corinthians 5:16

TO APPLY OUR TERMS OF salvation to the early disciples seems entirely misleading and unwarranted by Scripture. Yet, the disciples’ experience with their Lord throws a luminous interpretation on the spiritual experience of many today.

A problem arises today from the fact that the average evangelist regards conversion and regeneration as the same thing. In numbers of cases, conversion and regeneration actually do happen at the same time. But there are many cases in which conversion is a long process that takes place before the point of regeneration, which is the moment when a sinner’s need for Christ is consciously realized or entered into.

The men and the women who are fascinated by the Lord Jesus, and who consecrate their lives to Him, but who know nothing experimentally about being born from above, are converted. But they are not yet regenerated—born again. They yet need a disappointing revelation of themselves, as the disciples received during Jesus’ arrest and trial.

Prayer Thought: O Lord, search my heart and reveal where I stand in relation to You.

SUGGESTED READING: 2 Corinthians 5:11–16