This life can be received on the condition of faith in Christ or by coming to Him (John 14:6). To the Jew the regeneration thus prophesied was inseparably connected with the reign of the Messiah. God Himself is the Source and Bestower of His life, so that believers are said to be partakers of the Divine nature (II Peter 1:4), created in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:10), born of God (John 1:13), born again (John 3:3, 7), a new creation (II Corinthians 5:17). It appears from Acts 8:18, 19 that Simon never did enter experientially into the truth of the Gospel. This promised regeneration, so lovingly offered by Yahweh, is to be the token of a new covenant between God and His people (Jeremiah 31:31; Ezekiel 11:19-21; 18:31,32; 37:23,24). 2:56). (2) A building and its contents can be sanctified. The Meaning of Grace: But God . The mother said nothing but felt keenly disappointed with the pastors remarks. 10:10, 14; 1 Pet. Regeneration is the act of God by which a spiritually dead person becomes spiritually alive. This life is Gods own life, the imparting of His own nature. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the masters use, and prepared unto every good work. Abraham had nothing, or did nothing, that would stand boasting before God. Request R.C. he is a debtor to do the whole law (Galatians 5:3). In the Red Sea, God was delivering Israel while destroying His enemies in the waters. Whereunto He called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ (II Thessalonians 2:14). All born again persons have God as their Father; therefore they are one in Christ, sharing a mutual love. The word miracle is used in the New Testament to refer to a work of supernatural origin and character such as could not be produced by natural agents and means. Get Your Bible Minute in Your Inbox Every Morning. The body is not the entire man, but it is the vehicle of the human spirit and the temple of the Holy Spirit. Let us examine three erroneous views and then attempt a correct biblical interpretation. Two words in this verse stem from a common root; they are the verb sanctified (Greek hagiaso) and the noun saints (Greek hagios). We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren (I John 3:14). Beware of the false theory which wrongly uses this verse to teach that a Christian by an act of his own will can die to self. The "Spirit of God," the "Spirit of Christ" has been given from above to be the source of all new life (Romans 8); by Him we are proved to be the "sons" of God (Galatians 4:6); we have been adopted into the family of God (huiothesia, Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:5). Dr. Chafer said, Even if Sanctification were limited to the field of human experience, there would never be an experience that could be proven to be its perfect example, nor would any human statement of that experience exactly describe the full measure of the divine reality. Man in his original state was the perfect work of God. The result has been its continued neglect or mistreatment. Regeneration is, therefore, one of the saving benefits of redemption purchased by Christ and applied to the elect by the Holy Spirit. Through His incoming He sets apart that believing one. Since we are exhorted to pursue it, then it must be the will of God for His children to do so. They believe that a person must believe, repent, confess, and He had set Himself apart for the purpose for which the Father had set Him apart. Some of us do not behave at all times as a believer should, but our behaviour does not alter our position in the Body. The preparatory work has been going on for some time according to Divine plan, but now that work becomes effective in the life of the individual person. . Scripture teaches that regeneration Regeneration is part of what God does for us at the moment of salvation, along with sealing (Ephesians 1:14), adoption (Galatians 4:5), reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:1820), etc. I understand this verse to mean that the Holy Spirit is the agent and power by which we are declared righteous. The Apostle Paul said that through the indwelling Holy Spirit ye are sealed unto the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30). Therefore, he could say, And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth (John 17:19). Christian psychology thus traces to its deep-lying retreat the divine elaboration of the regenerated life. This is the God-ward aspect of justification, but like all the blessings of salvation, the sinner cannot receive it until he accepts it, and this he does when he acknowledges his guilt and puts personal faith in what God has done for him in Christ. Now the students did not learn this from the Bible. Little wonder that men will love and serve the Lord Jesus by life and by death! It is not possible to love God if we do not love our fellow-man. But regeneration, according to Jesus, is more than life, it is also purity. God could not set apart an unclean sinner for His possession and purpose, therefore, He purchased and purified the sinner by the Blood of His Son. The Cross And Separation From The World (1 Peter 4:1-6), 7. Man is unable to impart Divine life, therefore he has no part in the New Birth. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:12, 14). Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness (II Peter 3:11). a "supernatural work of the Holy Spirit" by which the divine nature and divine life are given (John 3:3-8; Notice it does not say that some of them were baptized into the Body, but that all were. Every Christian is tempted, but temptation does not necessarily lead to sin. How does one pursue Sanctification? A solemn word of warning is in order here. Little wonder that one theologian suggested that the holy and righteous God faced the greatest riddle ever when He set out to justify the ungodly. The flood washed away the iniquity of the world "in the days of Noah," when "eight souls were saved through water: which also after a true likeness (the Revised Version margin "in the antitype") doth now save you, even baptism, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the interrogation (the Revised Version margin "inquiry," "appeal") of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection (-life) of Jesus Christ" (1Peter 3:20,21). Regeneration (theology) - Wikipedia No effort on mans part can bring him into Gods order, for it is not by works of righteousness which we have done (Titus 3:5), Not of works, lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:9). Psychological: W. James, Varieties of Religious Experience, 189-258; G. Stanley Hall, Adolescence, II, 281-362; G. A. Coe, The Spiritual Life, New York, 1900; E. D. Starbuck, Psychology of Religion, New York, 1911; G. B. Cutten, Psychological Phenomena of Christianity, London, 1909; H. E. Warner, The Psychology of the Christian Life, New York, 1910; H. W. Clark, The Philosophy of Christian Experience, London, 1906; Harold Begbie, Broken Earthenware, or Twice-Born Men, London, 1909; M. Scott Fletcher, The Psychology of the New Testament, London, 1912. Here is the believers heritage in Christ. Had death triumphed over Him, our justification would have been forever impossible. WebRegeneration is a Biblico-dogmatic term closely connected with the ideas of justification, Divine sonship, and the deification of the soul through grace. . Inasmuch as our Lord said, Ye must be born again, you better believe it! Westminster Confession of Faith 13.1 summarizes the nature of regeneration in the following way: They who are once effectually called and regenerated, have a new heart and a new spirit created in them. If a person professes to be a Christian but has not been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, he or she is not a true believer. For one thing, growth takes time. Paul wrote, . The renewing and cleansing here spoken of is in reality nothing else than what Deuteronomy 30:6 had promised, a circumcision of the heart in contradistinction to the flesh, the token of the former (Abrahamic) covenant (of circumcision, Jeremiah 4:4). The Bible warns against this false view where it says, If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (I John 1:8). In the new birth, the Spirit implants in the souls of Gods people new wills, affections, and desires. If a man is not guilty of a charge made against him, he should be justified. Perfect (or ultimate) Sanctification is that aspect of Sanctification related to the final perfection of the children of God. Only He who gave life at the beginning can give the (spiritual) life necessary to do God's will. . Water is also used in the Bible as an emblem of the Word of God, and in such uses it is associated with cleansing or washing, not drinking. In summing up our study of the doctrine of Regeneration, we may conclude that the regenerated person has been given the power to obey God and to grow in grace. And I am convinced that my own conversion and call to the ministry were of Gods choosing and not mine. Satan knows well the power of true Sanctification in the believers life; therefore, it is to the advancement of his kingdom if he can perpetuate confusion in our minds and conflict among the brethren. . He is not inferring that faith is righteousness, but rather that faith is the means through which righteousness is reckoned. Neither the universe nor anything in it is self-originated. (2) It is the will of God that all men be made partakers of this new life (1Timothy 2:4) and, as it is clearly stated that some fall short of it (John 5:40), it is plain that the fault thereof lies with man. Quench not the Spirit (I Thessalonians 5:15), and Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God (Ephesians 4:30), and your life will be blessed. It is used of the renewal of the world in Stoical philosophy. If we had it now we would not be waiting for it. With the waters of the flood, God washed away the wicked while delivering Noah and his family. But I am insisting that there is a Positional Sanctification which was purchased by Christs atoning Blood and posited to the believer at conversion. But the Law condemned them because they could not keep it. We were brought there by Christ Who said, I am the Door; by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture (John 10:9). For by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified (Hebrews 10:14). This is incorrect and therefore misleading. Christ brings "many sons unto glory" and is "author of their salvation" (2:10). Even so, when we were regenerated, there was posited to us the holiness of Jesus Christ, Gods gift of Sanctification. Since only the righteous can enter, the believer has access because he has been justified--declared righteous. Jesus said, A body Thou hast prepared Me (Hebrews 10:5). If you have not experienced the new birth, trust Christ now, and the Holy Spirit will give you new life. Through the Washing of Regeneration | Desiring God Beloved, let us not neglect our privilege--in and out. Shame on believers to have access to so much and possess so little! But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. only found in Matthew 19:28 and Titus 3:5 . For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:10, 23). This new order is the Church, the Body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22, 23), not an organization, but a spiritual organism. Here the Apostle is drawing a contrast between children and adults, exhorting them, not to sinless perfection, but to show forth the kind of understanding that would be expected of mature adults. Furthermore, it is important that we do not overlook the fact that this access is both a present and a permanent possession. The former is a judicial act of God, which frees man from the law of sin and absolves him from the state of enmity against God; the latter an enduement with the Spirit, which is an earnest of his inheritance (Ephesians 1:14). The Apostle Paul testified, But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway (I Corinthians 9:27). To the Ephesians he writes: "And you did he make alive, when ye were dead through your trespasses and sins" (2:1), and later on: "God, being rich in mercy, . made us alive together with Christ" (2:4,5). If in His word to Nicodemus our Lord was referring to baptism by water, then it follows that all who have died and were not baptized are lost. Mans nature is depraved, so much so that God Himself makes no attempt to improve it to make it fit for His holy presence. Practical holiness will manifest itself as we set ourselves apart to search the Scriptures. This is fellowship with Christ (Romans 8:10; 1Corinthians 6:17; 2Corinthians 5:17; Colossians 3:3). 2:14). When great numbers of Samaritans heard Philip and believed and were baptized, Simon also accepted the facts and came forward to be baptized. Hitchcock's Bible Names. . (I Timothy 3:16). And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Genesis 6:5). It is not by the Word of God alone that a man is regenerated, but by the Word and the Holy Spirit, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost (Titus 3:5).
