_Eph. 2:10_—“_created in Christ Jesus for good works_”—does not imply that the old soul is annihilated, and a new soul created. The “_old man_” which is “_crucified_”—(_Rom. 6:6_) and “_put away_” (_Eph. 4:22_) is simply the sinful bent of the affections and will. When this direction of the dispositions is changed, and becomes holy, we can call the change a new birth of the old nature, because the same _faculties_ that acted before are acting now, the only difference being that now these faculties are set toward God and purity. Or, regarding the change from another point of view, we may speak of man as having a “new nature,” as “recreated,” as being a “new creature,” because this _direction_ of the affection and will, which ensures a different life from what was led before, is something totally new, and due wholly to the regenerating act of God. In _1 Pet. 1:23_—“_begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible_”—all materialistic inferences from the word “_seed_,” as if it implied the implantation of a physical germ, are prevented by the following explanatory words: “_through the word of God, which liveth and abideth_.” So, too, when we describe regeneration as the communication of a new life to the soul, we should not conceive of this new life as a _substance_ imparted or infused into us. The new life is rather a new direction and activity of our own affections and will. There is, indeed a union of the soul with Christ; Christ dwells in the renewed heart; Christ’s entrance into the soul is the _cause_ and _accompaniment_ of its regeneration. But this entrance of Christ into the soul is not _itself_ regeneration. We must distinguish the effect from the cause; otherwise we shall be in danger of a pantheistic confounding of our own personality and life with the personality and life of Christ. Christ is indeed our life, in the sense of being the cause and supporter of our life, but he is not our life in the sense that, after our union with him, our individuality ceases. The effect of union with Christ is rather that our individuality is enlarged and exalted (_John 10:10_—“_I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly._” See page 799, (_c_)).