Human beings are fallen creatures. We are not by nature children of the Triune
God. People who have true faith obtain
the privilege of being children of God in Christ. This privilege is through the sole means of
faith. People have lasting, true, living
and authentic faith because of the sole work of God alone that gave the faith
that…were born, not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:13).
This precious truth of God Himself is concerning the new birth of
Christian believers. Having a new birth
means to be born again (John 3:3, 5, 7, 8).
The action of the Sovereign Spirit of Holiness in salvation is new
birth. Before the regeneration of the
Holy Spirit people are dead in trespasses
and sins. (Ephesians 2:1). The total
work of God in salvation is completely the gracious sovereign work of the
Triune God alone for His people. Unregenerate people need the uncircumcision of
their hearts to believe in and before God.
Without the work of the Holy
Spirit of God there would not be conviction, regeneration, sanctification,
cleansing or acceptable works. The Holy
Spirit brings life to that which He quickens.
The Holy Spirit’s activity is birth and rebirth. This is the operational work of the Holy
Ghost. Nothing can biologically exist separately
from the Holy Spirit. Likewise no man
can become alive separate from the operational work of the Holy Ghost. Within the Gospel of John, the Lord Jesus
Christ speaks to Nicodemus. This
discourse goes as follows:
“Jesus answered and said unto him,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus saith unto him, how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his
mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus
answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of
the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said
unto thee, ye must be born again. The
wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst
not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born
of the Spirit.” (John 3:3-8 KJV).
Jesus’
phrase born again is His
terminology. This is not some television
evangelists’ vocabulary. No, Jesus
created the theological phrase born
again. When Jesus spoke of someone
being born again they would have a second genesis. The experience of being born again is a new start.
It is a fresh beginning in the Christian life. Generation
occurs when something is begun. When
something is begun once again it is called regeneration. Within the Greek language the word geniauo is rendered to occur. The Holy Spirit in
regeneration brings about a permanent change. The Holy Ghost brings about a thorough change.
This change of
regeneration of the Holy Spirit is a
fresh type of being.
When
someone is regenerated it does not mean that someone is changed from a human
person to a divine person. Regeneration does not mean that sinful
human beings loose their nature of being sinful after the action of being born again. Yet indeed, we are exceedingly changed from
spiritually dead persons to spiritually alive individuals after the
regeneration of the Holy Spirit.
Spiritually
unregenerate persons are not capable of seeing or entering the very kingdom of God.
We are not born again through baptismal regeneration. The spiritually unregenerate persons are
spiritually blinded. The spiritually
dead persons cannot see the kingdom of God because it is invisible to their
eyes of depravity. If an unsaved person
could see the kingdom of God, what need would there be for
regeneration? We now turn to the
necessity of regeneration by the Holy Ghost for God’s elect people.
The
Lord Jesus Christ uses the word unless. This word indicates a necessary state. Jesus shows that regeneration is a necessary condition. This means that regeneration is an absolute requirement for a preferred consequence
to occur. Likewise we learn in science
that oxygen is a necessary condition
for fire. Without oxygen
there would be no fire. Likewise without regeneration there would be no new
life unto everlasting life.
People like to use the phrase born again Christian. This terminology is repetitive in its
core. If a human being is not regenerated, then he is not born again, and therefore is not a Christian. This person may be a member of a church and
profess dogma. By definition a Christian is someone who truly professes and possesses the faith
of Christianity. If a person is not born
again, he is far from in Christ, and Christ is far from in him.
Without
regeneration there would be no eternal life.
Regeneration is an essential perquisite to see and enter the kingdom of God.
Without seeing and entering the kingdom of God one will not be saved. Nicodemus expressed his confusion to the Lord
Jesus Christ (John 3:4). Yet Nicodemus’s
response appears to mockery Jesus’ doctrine.
Nicodemus badly misunderstood the Lord Jesus Christ. Nicodemus thought that one can to reenter
their mothers womb. Nicodemus was
unsuccessful in distinguishing among biological and spiritual beginning. Nicodemus did not discriminate among flesh and spirit.
The
Lord Jesus Christ begins His response to Nicodemus with verily, verily. This is also
seen as amen, amen. This demonstrates sturdy importance. Jesus categorically communicated that being born again or regeneration is a necessary prerequisite to see or enter the kingdom of God.
Modern people argue against regeneration. These people who argue against regeneration miss the definite teaching
of my Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus
uses the word cannot in referring to
entering the kingdom of God.
This word cannot is a negative
word. It deals with ability. Regeneration is absolutely necessary for
people to enter the kingdom of God.
Without being born again there
would not be anyone who could enter the kingdom of God.
God does not made exceptions.
Therefore it is not possible to see the kingdom of God unless someone is given rebirth!
“It is the Spirit who gives life;
the flesh profits nothing.” (John 6:23).
The flesh has no power to prompt
spiritual rebirth. The impotent power of
man does not enhance the Spirit’s work.
The flesh does not yield anything of the Holy Spirit. There is not even a little bit of something
within man that yields to the Spirit.
Indeed, Jesus proclaimed “You must
be born again.” Jesus clarifies what He means: He emphatically declares a person needs to be
born again! It is an absolute necessity!
Within the epistle of Ephesians
there exists a sound teaching of regeneration. The apostle Paul communicates the regenerating action of the Holy Ghost:
“…And you that he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins.
Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience: Among whom
also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of
wrath, even as others. But God, who is
rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead
in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and
hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in
Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of
his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye
saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God…” (Ephesians 2:1-8 KJV).
Prior
to regeneration we have spiritually impotence.
The apostle Paul is describing a prior state of the Ephesian Christian
believers. All true Christian believers have once shared this past condition of
spiritual inability. The entirety of
mankind is referred to in depravity as being “...the others” (Ephesians 2:3)
apart from the spiritual work of regeneration of the Holy Ghost.
Prior to their regeneration
state, they were in spiritual impotent:
“You were dead in trespasses and sins.” The death of which
the apostle Paul speaks of is obviously not a biological death. Instead, the apostle Paul means that the
Ephesian’s were spiritually dead. If the
Ephesian’s were spiritually dead, how could they respond to God? Can a biologically dead person be alive? The answer is inevitable: They could not respond to God without the
work of regeneration!
Being dead in trespasses and in
sins is depicted as someone walking a
specific course. The spiritual dead
people follow the “course of this world.”
(Ephesians 2:1-2). The course of
the world is contrasted with the course of heaven. This means there are two distinct
courses. The course of this world
involves sin and rebel against God Himself.
The course of heaven involves maturity in Christ, growing in grace and
knowledge of Christ.
Christians and non-Christians
both live in this world. Yet the course
of the regenerated person is directed from heaven. The regenerated person has his sight on
heaven and his ears attentive to God.
The unregenerate person is of the course of this world. The eyes are blind and the ears are deaf. The senses are mute to God. The unregenerate person is as a blind, deaf
and mute person sailing on open sea without navigation support. The unregenerate person is as a blind, deaf
and mute person who sets his course in a graveyard.
The course of God is the way of
heaven. The course of this sinful world
is the external from God (Romans 3:12).
This means that God’s way is not this world’s way. The world’s way is not God’s way. Instead of following God and His way, the worldly
person follows in accordance with “…the prince of the power of the air, the
spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.” (Ephesians 2:2).
The master of the spiritually
dead person is “the prince of the power of the air.” The prince of the power of the air is
Satan. He is the supreme architect of
everything sinful. The apostle Paul
identities him as “the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.” Satan himself is a most wicked spirit. He is corruption itself. He is a wretched fallen angel. He exercises power and influence over his
imprisoned unregenerate depraved multitude.
The apostle Paul puts forth a
principle of life. Regenerate persons
walk after the Holy Ghost. Unregenerate
persons walk after the spirit of this world.
Augustine contrasted and compared a person to a horse. The person rode as a horse by either God the
Spirit or by Satan himself.
The apostle Paul shifts from the
outside course of the influence of Satan to the internal condition of the
person who is not born again. The word flesh refers to the physical body. The body is not evil. God created our bodies. God the Son became a
human being Himself. Yet in this
instance the flesh is a reference to
the depraved nature of man. Man’s
character is completely fallen.
Before being regenerated people wholly by the flesh and in the flesh and through
the flesh. Man is bound by the flesh
through sin. If someone is dead in sin,
they are unregenerate and in need of being born again! The conduct of man is after the lusts of the
flesh. This refers to sinful or depraved
desires and needs of man.
Paul declares of depraved unregenerate
persons: “And were by nature children of
wrath, just as the others.” (Ephesians
2:3). Paul refers to our nature.
This nature that the
apostle Paul refers to is the position we came into this world. Natural birth is biological birth. The action of regeneration is a spiritual
paranormal birth. Mankind was not
initially made as children of wrath. Yet when Adam and Eve fell into sin, the
word natural indicates the position
of innate wretchedness of mankind.
Every conceived person is born
into original sin. The Psalmist David proclaimed: “I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin
my mother conceived me.” (Psalm
51:5). Human beings are spiritually
dead. Birth is in trespasses and
sinfulness. This inbuilt condition is called in theology original sin. This sinfulness of originality does not refer
to Adam and Eve. Instead, it refers to
consequences of the first sin. The
communication of sin is applied to the human race.
Therefore people are by nature children of wrath. This is extraordinary different situation
from what the contemporaries of our day who would like to believe. Modern liberals would like us to believe that
people are naturally a child of
God. Such is far from the case. If people are naturally the children of God,
what shall we say of the testimony of the totality of Holy Scripture? Why does the liberal like the Sermon on the
Mount but refuses to acknowledge the plethora of testimony against a person
being the natural child of God? The reason is simple: Unfortunately and sadly, it is because it
suits their own subjectivity in sinfulness!
In Jesus’ time He experienced
people like this. It greatly distressed
Jesus to hear people profess this type of view.
The Lord Jesus Christ was compelled to due battle in opposition to the
Pharisees. He debated the Pharisees and
won. The passage that illustrates this
is John 8:41-47:
“Ye do the deeds of your
father. Then said they to him, we be not
born of fornication; we have one Father; even God. Jesus said unto them, if God were your
Father, ye would love me: for I preceeded forth and came from God; neither came
I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye
not understand my speech? Even because
ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your
father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and
abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his
own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe
me? He that is of God heareth God’s
words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.”
First,
let us understand that God the Father is the Father of all men. It is so in this sense: He is the Creator of all men. In the biblical standpoint, regenerated
people obey God their Father through His Son, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, in the
power and provision of the Holy Ghost.
Obviously the Pharisees did not obey God as their Father. Therefore God was not their Father. Sadly, instead, Satan was their father. Jesus said:
“You are of your father the
devil.” (John 8:44). When we observe this language we see that
Paul in Ephesians and Jesus in the Gospel of John describe man in his natural
non-born again state.
The
apostle Paul in Ephesians two speaks of unregenerate state of man. This is prior to his doxology of rejoicing in
God’s mercy. Our destinies depend upon
God’s mercy through my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. There is a word in Sacred Scripture which
speaks to the transitional actuality of being unregenerate to being
regenerate. This word that I speak of is
the word but. This word is a small conjunction which
changes the disposition of the passage.
The word but used by the
apostle Paul shows us the shift between the natural, and the heavenly, and
between the unregenerate, and the born again (Ephesians 2:4-10)!
The
work of regeneration is indeed a sovereign action of the Holy Ghost of
God. The plan of regeneration is with
God the Holy Spirit. The plan of
regeneration is not with human beings.
The apostle Paul sprays upon the action of God in regeneration. The apostle Paul purposefully gives man no
credit in the heavenly work of God’s sovereign action of being born again. Once more Paul declares:
“…But God, who is rich in
mercy…” (Ephesians 2:4).
We must conclude that the apostle
Paul avoids saying:
“But man from something good
within him chose God…”
Instead, we read in Holy Writ
that God Himself is the way Who initiates regeneration so His people can enter
His beloved kingdom. Non-Calvinists
believe that faith precedes regeneration.
Such is untrue from Holy Scripture.
We must understand that God Himself is the Beloved Initiator. God the
Father sent His Son, God the Son, Jesus Christ, into the world, to atone for
the sins of His people. People think
once God accomplished this; the rest is up to the sinner. But how can a sinner believe who is entirely depraved (Romans 3)? No person has the authority or power to
elevate himself from spiritual deadness.
There is a necessity for
divine help! Once we are regenerated by
God the Holy Spirit’s work in us, we can exercise our faith from our will. After regeneration we truly believe because of God the Holy Spirit’s work, not our
work in belief. Once we respond to
Christ it looks like this: We believe because
we are saved. We do not believe to
get saved. Our belief after
regeneration is exercised by the freedom of our will that we have in Christ
from sin. As the apostle Paul declared
“it is not of ourselves…”
From this investigation the
questions arise: Concerning God’s grace,
do people cooperate with it? Or does the
cooperation of God’s grace happen after regeneration? Is grace operative? Or is grace cooperative? Is grace effectual? Or is grace dependent? Let us examine these theological words for
our comprehension and growth in knowledge.
Monergistic work is done by one
person. Synergistic work involves
cooperation between two parties. This
distinction is vital for our comprehension.
The debate between the Church of Rome and Luther hang on this crucial
element. Regarding regeneration, is it
monergistic or synergistic? If
regeneration precedes belief, then the answer is the monergistic work of God
Himself. Surely it is true that after
regeneration true Christians
cooperate with God’s beloved grace
within their Christian lives. After regeneration Christians exercise trust and
hope from the expression of their wills.
Let us understand this precious truth:
That indeed regeneration is the sovereign work of God alone.
Once again the initiative is with God Himself. The initiative is not with man in any sense
whatsoever.
Regenerating grace is not
cooperative. This is because it simply
is not within God’s plan. It is
impossible for a spiritually dead person to believe. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, He
had to call him forth otherwise Lazarus would have remained dead. The point is, just as Jesus raised a
biologically dead person from the dead, the Holy Spirit quickens the souls of
His elect to believe in regeneration!
It is sadly true that some non-Calvinists may believe that
faith comes before being born again. In
our sensationalistic and depraved society we see people saying: “Will you chose Christ today?” “Or will you choose to be born again?” This type of language is totally
misrepresenting of Sacred Scripture in this sense: “How can a dead corpse choose to be
alive?” It cannot. Therefore the question must be: “What will Christ do with you today?” “Or will the Holy Spirit in His excellent
sovereignty choose to regenerate you today?”
This type of criticism against faith
preceding regeneration may fall on people who refuse to acknowledge that
God alone is in control of their salvation in regeneration. The teaching that says regeneration precedes
belief was taught by these famous men of Christianity: Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Edwards, Whitefield,
Sproul and White.
“…even when we were dead in
trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been
saved).” (Ephesians 2:5)
The
apostle Paul speaks here of the time of regeneration. The time of regeneration occurs as we are
dead in sin. God alone takes the
initiative. Man is incapable of taking the
initiative because of his wretchedness.
Once more: How can a dead man
choose if he is in fact dead? How can a
dead man cooperate with grace if he does not have that ability to do such a thing?
The spiritually dead person is unable to choose God. Without the wonderful action of regeneration
there is no opportunity of belief.
Let
us rewind back to what Jesus was communicating to Nicodemus. Without being spiritually born, he cannot
enter into Christ’s kingdom! If we think
that belief comes before regeneration, then we oppose significant Christian
leaders of the past, and most importantly, the Incarnate Lord Jesus Christ
Himself.
If we understand regeneration,
let us now comprehend that being born again is gracious. Paul’s exposition of the action of being born again by God Himself is a powerful
pronunciation on the beloved grace of
God. We must explicitly and
straightforwardly acknowledge that our salvation is the grounds of grace
alone. If our salvation rests on God’s
alone, then we take no credit for ourselves in our salvation, because our
salvation is from God alone. For the
Calvinist we can truly say that all glory in salvation goes to God alone!
There are two important Latin
terms that should be noted. Sola Scriptura which means Scripture alone. Sola fide which means faith alone.
The Orthodox Protestants of the Reformation persisted the church is
subject to the infallible authority
of the Christian Bible alone. The
Reformers, as I do, persisted that justification is by faith alone. Salvation is by grace alone and through faith alone.
The Church of Rome believed the
Bible had authority. But the Church of
Rome denied that the Bible had single authority. The Church of Rome believed that
justification involved faith. But the
Church of Rome denied that justification was by faith alone. The third fight of
the Protestant Reformation was grace
alone (sola gratia). Augustine
believed in grace alone long before
Luther. If someone believes in grace alone, they rest on God’s beloved
grace alone! It must be understood that
there is no merit of any kind that is entangled within it. Human achievement is not supernatural
salvation. Rather, salvation of the
human soul is God’s supernatural achievement!
Salvation is the utter gracious gift of God!
The Christian Bible gives us
inferences in regards to certain subjects.
The problem is this: The
Christian Bible’s teaching is clear but the confusion lies with the lack of understanding
people have about what the Holy Scripture actually teach! The apostle Paul has
made the regeneration and faith issue as clear as glass. If regeneration comes before faith, and
salvation is by grace alone, we must conclude the reality of sovereign election
by God.
The apostle Paul teaches that the
grace we receive produces faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). Faith is what we exercise by ourselves from
our regenerated will. Yet this faith is
not of ourselves. Faith is a
beloved gift from God Himself. Once
again: Salvation is never a human
achievement. Rather, salvation is a
supernatural work by the Triune Lord.
So, then, God’s people have faith and repentance because of God’s work
in regeneration.
All boasting is excluded from the
gift of faith in salvation. Man-made
viewpoints are all excluded if we adhere to sound doctrine. If we take credit
for our salvation in anyway, we sadly grieve God the Holy Spirit. The action of salvation belongs wholly to the
Beloved Lord alone.
If regeneration is by grace
alone, then regeneration is effectual. Regeneration by God accomplishes its
preferred goals from the operational work of the Holy Ghost. Therefore we must conclude that regeneration
is effective! The Holy Ghost
accomplishes this task for the pre-converted elect sinner. This is also known as effectual calling. The calling that takes place is what occurs
internally. The unsaved experience what
is commonly known as the outward call
of the gospel of grace. If the calls
heard in the heart and grasped, salvation will occur. This is the evidence of the Holy Ghost.
An inward call of regeneration
always happens in belief (Romans 8:30).
Everyone who is effectually called will have belief. All Christians are all debtors to the Holy
Ghost for our salvation! May God alone
be glorified forevermore!
*Reference For Above Sermon-Paper:
RC Sproul. The
Mystery of the Holy Spirit. (Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, 1990), pp.
91-111. This entire chapter was directly based on Dr. Sproul’s work on
the subject of regeneration. It is my
hope that God will especially bless this work of mine in the subject of the
fruit of regeneration in repentance so that it may be used by God as a means to
bring His pre-converted elect to Himself in the purpose of God in salvation.
