When you were young you likely had that one relative that pretended to pull off his thumb only to regenerate it by some magical power. Well, what does Scripture mean when it speaks of regeneration? Let's explore this idea together as it relates to the Ordo Salutis (Order of Salvation).
In previous articles we’ve examined foreknowledge, predestination or election, the atonement and calling. Now we discuss the doctrine of regeneration. The word regeneration comes from combining two words--again and birth. It could also be stated as a renewed genesis. Thus regeneration. The word regeneration is only used twice in the New Testament although the concept appears in other words. It’s used in Matthew 19:28 where Jesus speaks of the new world or the regeneration. And Titus 3:5 speaks of regeneration in regards to our salvation.
the Lord saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration, and renewal of the Holy Spirit.
So based on Titus, salvation is by the mercy of God, not because of our good works…and part of that mercy is regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit. There’s a 2nd birth or a being born again, another genesis, a renewal from God’s Spirit that is brought to us in God’s mercy. And mercy is having pity on someone in their poor or terrible condition.
But Scripture also uses another phrase to convey the idea of regeneration--born again. When you begin to examine the idea of being born again, it presupposes a death in us. If I am made alive or born again, then there must have been a death prior to this new life or living again. That’s exactly what Scripture shows us. We have this horrible condition of death that manifests itself in many ways and we need God to make us alive again. We need to be born again, we need a new birth, a regeneration. This is something God does to us as we’ll see in a bit.
Now prior to the new birth, Scripture says that we are dead in our sins.
Ephesians 2:4-5 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he love us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.
As I stated earlier, being made alive, being born again, being regenerated presupposes death in us. And if you read a few verses prior to Ephesians 2:4-5 you’ll see that the Apostle Paul describes what spiritual deadness looks like.
Ephesians 2:1-3. And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
Do you see how bad it is to be spiritually dead? Do you see why we need the mercy of God to come to us in the new birth? Everyone, according to Paul, is born physically alive but also spiritually dead. That deadness manifests itself in wicked deeds done in our body that were thought out in our mind. We followed Satan and because of that we were under the wrath of God. That’s what deadness looks like-- following Satan, living out our evil desires and thoughts like everyone else. And dead people cannot change their condition.
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 2:14 that the natural person, that is, the person born physically alive and spiritually dead, cannot accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
Did you catch that? The way we are born into this world, dead in our sins, it means we have no ability to understand God’s truth in a way that leads to acceptance and belief of it. We deem them foolish while in this natural state, which includes spiritual deadness. In this dead condition we have no ability, much less a desire, to come to God in repentance and faith in the gospel. It’s foolish to us. In order to believe and accept these things they have to be spiritually understood. But since we are spiritually dead then we can’t. It’s not possible. That means God must be merciful to us and grant us a new birth. If we are made alive again, if we are born again, if we are regenerated, spiritually brought to life, then the things that God has been telling us in His Word, concerning Christ, will suddenly make sense and we’ll receive them.
That’s why the outer call of the gospel often falls on deaf ears. It’s because people are dead in their sin. They need God to make them alive so that when He calls them inwardly to salvation, they are instantly brought to spiritual life and thus they believe. These things all happen instantly in time, but logically they flow in the order I just mentioned. God calls people inwardly. Then He grants new life and then that person believes and puts their faith in Christ and is saved. In fact, 1 John 5:1 actually teaches us this.
“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.”
The language is very clear and is used exactly the same way in other parts of the letter of 1st John. In 1st John, the Apostle John states that the new birth that comes from God brings about certain results. It brings about righteous deeds (1 John 2:29). We already saw that spiritual deadness brings about wicked deeds. 1 John 3:9 tells us that the new birth leads to a refraining of habitual sin. 1 John 4:7 tells us that the new birth brings about love for other Christians. 1 John 5:4 tells us that the new birth grants us victory over the world. In none of these cases do the results bring about the new birth. Rather, the new birth brings about the changes and desired results in a person. And in 1 John 5:1, the result of the new birth is belief or faith in Christ’s saving work. The new birth happens first, then faith in Christ as Savior happens. It has to happen this way because in our natural and spiritually dead state, Christ being our Savior is foolish. We need to be made spiritually alive in order to believe and accept this. And that can only happen by the mercy of God. He sees us in our dead state. He sees that we’ll never believe. And He has pity on those whom He’s predestined to be conformed to Jesus’ likeness--those who He loved before the foundation of the world. It's these people that He makes alive so they can call upon the crucified, buried and risen Savior so that they can be saved
Additionally, 1 Peter 1:23 tells us that the new birth is brought about by the Word of God. It's what the Spirit of God uses to breathe merciful fresh life into us. This is why the Word of God must be shared with others who are dead in their sins. It’s the means of how brings about the new birth at a timing He chooses for His elect.
That, my friends, is the crux of the matter when it comes to regeneration.
Check out this Youtube Series on my channel - The Crux.
You can also view them on my Instragram account.
No comments:
Post a Comment