he Spirit. In
either case the teaching belongs to "another gospel," the recompense of
whose preaching is not a beatitude but an anathema.[1]

The contrast between the two lives and the way {104} in which the
partnership--the _choinonia_--with the new is effected, is told in that
deep saying of Peter: "Whereby he hath granted us his precious and
exceeding great promises; that through these ye may become
partakers--_choinonia_--of the divine nature, having escaped from the
corruption which is in the world by lust" (2 Pet. 1: 4, R. V.). Here
are the two streams of life contrasted:

1. The corruption in the world through lust.

2. The Divine nature which is in the world through the incarnation.

Here is the Adam-life into which we are brought by natural birth; and
over against it the Christ-life into which we are brought by spiritual
birth. From the one we escape, of the other we partake. The source
and issue of the one are briefly summarized: "Lust when it hath
conceived bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is finished bringeth
forth death." The Jordan is a fitting symbol of our natural life,
rising in a lofty elevation and from pure springs, but plunging
steadily down till it pours itself into that Dead Sea from which there
is no outlet: To be taken out of this stream and to be brought into the
life which flows from the heart of God is man's only hope of salvation.
And the method of effecting this transition is plainly stated, "through
these," or by means of the precious and exceeding great promises. As
in grafting, the old and degenerate stock must first be cut off and
then the new inserted, so {105} in regeneration we are separated from
the flesh and incorporated by the Spirit. And what the scion is in
grafting, the word or promise of God is in regeneration. It is the
medium through which the Holy Spirit is conveyed, the germ cell in
which the Divine life is enfolded. Hence the emphasis which is put in
Scripture upon the appropriation of divine truth. We are told that "of
his own will begat he us _with the word of truth_" (James 1: 18).
"Having been begotten again, not of corruptible seed but of
incorruptible, _through the word of God_, which liveth and abideth" (1
Peter 1: 23, R. V.).

Very deep and significant, therefore, is the saying of Jesus in respect
to the regenerating power of his words, in the sixth chapter of the
Gospel of John; He emphasizes the contrariety between the two natures,
the human