Spirit Begettal in the Churches Today
The beginning of the third millennium and continued extension of the Harvest Period seems a most appropriate time to review the question of whether spirit begettal can occur in the nominal churches. We would like to investigate this subject from two standpoints: first, by direct sanctified reasoning based on the Scriptures and analysis of current conditions; and second, by examining the statements of Pastor Russell bearing on this matter. {1}
WHAT IS MEANT BY SPIRIT BEGETTAL?
We might first inquire, what is spirit begettal and what is required for such to take place in the life of the individual believer? Spirit begettal is the reception of the Spirit of God that transforms the old, human nature into an embryo `new creature’ in Christ. The old human hopes and ambitions pass away, and are replaced by higher aims and desires, centered in Christ and things pertaining to God. {2 Corinthians 5:17,Ro 8:10-11}
Those who are spirit begotten actually have a measure of the spirit and mind of the Heavenly Father. They are energized in spiritual activities involved in carrying out God’s will in their lives and setting priorities that put the Kingdom of God, His righteousness and Christian ideals first. They are being continuously transformed into the image and likeness of Christ and just as continuously are putting down the old human nature with its selfish, worldly and sinful propensities. They have a new mind that takes charge of the old body and quickens it in the service of the Lord, the truth and the brethren.
The begettal of the Spirit, then, is that which begins the new spiritual life, opening the pathway to sanctification and the good works that identify a true Christian, and, if carried out faithfully, will lead to glorification and birth on the Spirit plane But what is it that causes spirit begettal to occur in the first place? What are the conditions necessary for this to take place and produce such a clear-cut change in the life of the believer?
WHEN DOES SPIRIT BEGETTAL BEGIN?
The Pastor consistently set forth the belief, amply borne out in Scripture, that two vital requirements must be met before spirit begettal can take place. These are clearly outlined in Volume Six of Studies in the Scriptures (page 327) and enumerated elsewhere such as R5246, `Broad Unsectarian Questions:’ The first condition — sometimes separated into two — is that the individual drawing nigh to God repent of sin and fully trust in the merit of Christ’s sacrifice on his behalf. The second, that he make a full and unreserved consecration of sacrifice of himself to God, renouncing his own will and dedicating himself completely to the Lord’s service If these basic requirements are met, and God accepts him, spirit begettal will follow and the individual is privileged to symbolize his true baptism into Christ by water immersion. This will be the experience of every believer, regardless of his denominational standing or lack of it, and dependent solely on his meeting these basic Bible requirements. {Acts 2:38, Acts 8:36-38, Acts 16:30-31, Romans 12:1-2}
Spirit begettal as thus described is merely the beginning of the believer’s life as a New Creature in Christ. Such an individual has made a good start and may be likened to a babe in Christ. Henceforth, to grow as a Christian he will need to feed upon the spiritual truths contained in the Word of God, likened both to the `milk of the Word’ {1 Peter 2:2} and `strong meat’ that belongs to them who are mature and `of full age’ in the faith. {Hebrews 5:12-14} However, since spirit begettal occurs at the very start of the new life in Christ, it does not require the advanced knowledge or appreciation of deeper doctrines that more mature Christians are expected to possess. (See R4900.)
KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST ESSENTIAL
In considering the possibility of spirit begettal occurring in the denominational churches today, we need a rudimentary awareness of the degrees of spirituality that may be found there. In that large segment of the Christian world where liberal sentiments prevail and where modernist beliefs have rejected or overridden the Bible, it is hardly to be expected that spirit begettal could take place. But in those churches where the Bible is accepted as the inerrant Word of God and Christ is enthusiastically preached, as is still occurring in most `fundamentalist’ and evangelical groups, it surely would seem to remain a possibility. `The Word of God is quick and powerful… and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart’. {Hebrews 4:12} Wherever the Scriptures are cherished and preached, the Word of the Lord is capable of reaching the heart of the hearer and urging such to follow on to know the Lord. Though the message goes largely unheeded and the masses of nominal believers everywhere remain unconverted in the scriptural sense, we continue to believe the possibility for such remains an option.
Christians today freely admit that there is a wide range of spirituality and personal commitment among individuals in the various denominations. Those whose beliefs have been quickened above mere religious sentiments and have been willing to publicly confess their faith in Christ as redeemer are commonly referred to as `born-again’ Christians. But even this term has evolved in modern fashion to cover a large body of nominal believers, of whom it is doubtful that more than a very few have come to know the Lord in an intimate way.
Late in his ministry (1914), Pastor Russell estimated that there might have been one million of the `Great Company’ class who lived during the Gospel Age and that a considerable number of such consecrated believers yet remained `in Babylon’ — in the confused mix of Christendom. (See R5411.) If we equate the majority of those spirit begotten in Christendom with the `Great Company’ class, as seems implied by the Pastor, then his estimates of numbers compares very favorably with a very recent study put out on the `Status of Global Evangelization’ (1996) by a very conservative Christian group. {2} It divided the Christian world into three major segments: a a large group that may have heard the Gospel preached to some slight extent, but not with sufficient relevance to make a positive decision for Christ 1.5 billion, b another group that heard the Gospel message clearly but failed to respond 1.1 billion, and c a tiny segment that had actually made a personal commitment of faith in Christ 3 million — a surprisingly small number.
We would restrict the possibility of spirit begettal to this minority segment and probably to but a portion of these. Thus, when we speak of the possibility of spirit begettal in the churches today, we are confining ourselves to a relative handful within these groups, whether Catholic or Protestant, and, of course, are excluding non-Christians altogether.
OTHER EVIDENCES
In addition to the two basic requirements for spirit begettal as reflected in the immersion service questions, are there other evidences to demonstrate that such has occurred in the life of the believer? Regardless of whether the individual happens to be a member of a church or not, are there additional criteria that might be used in evaluating whether someone has begun a new life in Christ? We think there are.
Bible Students, though not a part of the organized religious systems all about them, do have some contact with family, friends, coworkers or acquaintances who are such members. It may not be a rare occurrence to find some among these who exhibit a strong love for the Lord Jesus and a faith firmly rooted in the Bible as the Word of God. These demonstrate many of the fruits and graces of the Spirit that we ourselves seek to develop, and show a disposition to wait upon the Lord and to seek His will in prayer. They believe they are in a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus, are claiming God’s promises and are seeking to grow in the knowledge of God. They also are struggling to put down the selfish and sinful tendencies of the flesh in favor of living a holy life to glorify God. They are often called upon to stand for their beliefs and, in school, at work, or wherever, may have to suffer the consequences of social ostracism and prejudice. In not a few foreign lands today, some of these faithful Christians are being severely persecuted for confessing their faith to others, even to the point of torture and loss of life itself.
We submit that such characteristics may be evidences of spirit begettal in the lives of these believers and hold great potential for being rewarded on the spirit plane of life. Such dedication and devotion to God do not seem that much different from our own, even though they may lack the deeper appreciation of certain truths that have been revealed to us in our wider understanding of the Divine Plan of the Ages. Sometimes we are amazed at the amount of fruitage these believers develop with the lesser degree of truth to which they have been exposed. It also raises the question whether we as Bible Students, individually and collectively, have been faithful in our witness, in sharing the precious truths we hold so dear.
In the final analysis, we will be abundantly satisfied with how the Lord views the matter and how He determines to reward `them that diligently seek Him:’ and show a willingness to conform their lives to His will. {Hebrews 11:6, Romans 12:2}
WHAT DID THE PASTOR TEACH?
Pastor Russell made several direct statements in the Towers about spirit begettal in the churches and pointed out how this actually had a strong bearing on his own ministry. Let us take a closer look at some of his clearest expressions in this regard. All of those cited were made late in his ministry.
In the February 1, 1911 journal, the Pastor addressed issues of Christian unity and the identity of the true church. He expressed the thought that the spirit begotten in the various churches at that time would be only a small minority of the total membership.
0. `We perceive that the great masses, Catholic and Protestant, are not, and never were, the church of Christ; they deceive themselves. They have been children of this world, not spirit-begotten new creatures in Christ; they have not been living stones in the temple, not branches of the true Vine, not members of the `little flock: They have been worldly people with religious sentiments… who misunderstand that great teaching of the Bible — that only the sanctified are in Christ Jesus, called to be saints’ (R4754).
Nonetheless, he was very clear in stating that there were some of the true `wheat’ in the various churches, as noted in the same article:
“Every one who turns his back upon sin; who accepts of Jesus as his Redeemer and Savior, and who approaches the Father in full consecration through Jesus, and who receives the begetting of the holy Spirit of God — all such are brethren of Jesus and sons of God, whether they join the Roman Catholic, the Congregational, the Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian or other human systems’Such a reformed, consecrated believer is equally a child of God in whatever denomination he may be, or if he be outside of all denominational walls or creeds. The various creeds of Christendom have been so many stumbling blocks and hindrances to honest souls who sought their God and the light of his Word. True, they may have assisted in some particulars, as well as they may have done injury in other respects The Scriptures declare that the Lord knoweth them that are his! So then, without attempting a personal identification of the branches of the Vine, we may surely know that they are very few The nominal membership of the various sects contain comparatively few of these saintly ones, who alone have divine recognition as being `the church of the first-borns whose names are written in heaven’ — fruit-bearing branches in the true Vine, living stones in the temple of God imbued with the holy Spirit, active members in the Spirit-begotten body of Christ” (R4754).
In the March 15, 1915 Watch Tower, a direct question was posed about the possibility of spirit begotten ones existing outside of the Bible Student fellowship. `Is there any one at the present time outside of present truth who has the holy Spirit?’
“There are various degrees of the Spirit of holiness which may be possessed by the child of God at various times… We are not to think that all who are begotten of the holy Spirit are exactly on the same plane, in either their spiritual appetites or their development or their knowledge of God’s plan we were children of God before we received full knowledge, so we believe it is possible for others to be children of God without having the full knowledge… So we have reason to believe that the numbers of God’s people begotten of the holy Spirit and still in Babylon are considerable… [emphasis ours].’The Bible speaks of the great company class as the `great multitude: as though the foolish virgin class were larger than the wise virgin class. And the Scriptures indicate that the great company class will not all have fled from Babylon before its [final] overthrow. `Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues:… Some will come out, and others will not. These foolish virgins will see that their lack of love and zeal has lost them a place in the bride class. But they are virgins, nevertheless, and will have a place, or portion, as the companions of the bride. ‘ (R5656, `Many Christians Not Yet Enlightened’)
Here the Pastor is referring to spirit begotten ones in the denominations as members of the `Great Company’ class and describes them as `considerable’ in number. A thoughtful follow-through of the Pastor’s remarks provides yet further enlightenment. If the assumption is correct that some of the spirit begotten ones will remain within the nominal systems until the promised overthrow, and if that final destruction is yet future (as Bro. Russell said it was at the time of his writing), then another fact becomes clear:
Spirit begettal must have been an ongoing occurrence within the churches throughout the Harvest Period, since most of those referred to by the Pastor in his day would have passed on long before now and as a class would have been replaced.
A final quotation is taken from the June 15, 1914 article, `The Voice From Heaven:’ Again the Pastor cited conditions then prevalent regarding the distribution of God’s people in the churches and emphasized his efforts to reach them. He wrote:
`As the people of natural Israel were led captive into literal Babylon, so the people of spiritual Israel, among whom were some of the Lord’s true saints, were led captive into Mystic Babylon Looking out upon the so- called Christian world today, we see that there could not be a better word used to picture existing conditions than the word confusion. Yet there are true people of God still in this Babylonian system [emphasis ours]. But the time of separation is here …
`It is because we believe that there are children of God attempting to live on the husks and skimmed milk of human tradition — brethren in Christ starving for the pure food offered in the Word of God — that we are trying to reach and help them Some [held captive in the systems] are hearing now about the sins of Babylon — that these sins are about to be punished, and that they should come out and be on God’s side, if they would have divine favor. It is the desire to further sound out this present message that has led us to the production of the Photo-Drama of Creation — that those who would not read might see. To whatever extent it helps each of God’s children, still bound, to recognize his own responsibility, it represents the voice of God, telling them their present duty as Christians:’ (R5478-5479) (See also D267-8, T572.)
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
Spirit begettal, in our view, remains a strong possibility in or out of the churches today, despite widespread religious apathy and alarming encroachments of modernist beliefs that deny man’s very need of a Redeemer. God is still calling His own, His Word of truth still sanctifies the believers, and His influence continues to beckon such to a closer walk with Him. Hence, wherever the Bible is cherished and Christ is preached, the desire for full consecration may be impressed on the heart of the believer. Scripturally, this leads to spirit begettal as a babe in Christ and is followed by evidences of spirituality and a life directed by the Lord. Such individuals are probably few in number compared to the masses of nominal Christians and some, not heeding the call to come out, may remain captives in denominational churches until the final destruction of these systems.
— Charles Redeker
{1} Though this article fairly represents Brother Russell’s view, some brethren do not understand spirit begettal in the systems to be the case today. — Editor
{2} Mapping International; data base utilized by the Southern Baptist Convention Foreign Mission Report.