Even though we are studying these Doctrines separately they do not constitute separate spiritual experiences. Now let us study Regeneration.
1. The Meaning of Regeneration.
From the Divine side the change of heart is called “regeneration” or “the new birth”; from the human side it is called “conversion”. in regeneration the soul is passive; but in conversion it is active. Thiessen p. 367.
Definition of Regeneration:
It is the communication of Divine Life to the soul.
Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Truly, truly, [Verily, verily; Amen, Amen] - An expression of strong affirmation, denoting the certainty and the importance of what he was about to say. Jesus proceeds to state one of the fundamental and indispensable doctrines of His religion. Barnes
Unless a man is born again, :VWS Be born again (γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν)
See on Luk_1:3. Literally, from the top (Mat_27:51). Expositors are divided on the rendering of ἄνωθεν, some translating, from above, and others, again or anew.
Be Born Again or, as it were, begin life anew in relation to God; his manner of thinking, feeling, and acting, with reference to spiritual things, undergoing a fundamental and permanent revolution. JFB Commentary
Barnes Notes: It is evident, however, that Nicodemus understood, it not as referring to a birth “from above,” for if he had he would not have asked the question in Joh_3:4. It is probable that in the language which he used there was not the same ambiguity that there is in the Greek. The ancient versions all understood it as meaning “again,” or the “second time.” Our natural birth introduces us to light, is the commencement of life, throws us amid the works of God, and is the beginning of our existence; but it also introduces us to a world of sin. We early go astray. All men transgress. The imagination of the thoughts of the heart is evil from the youth up. We are conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity, and there is none that doeth good, no, not one. The carnal mind is enmity against God, and by nature we are dead in trespasses and sins, Gen_8:21; Psa_14:2-3; Psa_51:5; Rom_1:29-32; Rom_3:10-20; Rom_8:7.
All sin exposes men to misery here and hereafter. To escape from sin, to be happy in the world to come, it is necessary that man should be changed in his principles, his feelings, and his manner of life. This change, or the beginning of this new life, is called the “new birth,” or “regeneration.” It is so called because in many respects it has a striking analogy to the natural birth. It is the beginning of spiritual life
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| Nicodemus came to Jeus by Night. |
The Question is: Have you had this spiritual transformation? Have you become a Brand New Person in your soul? This is the Work of the Spirit of God which takes place when you are Born Again.
Only by this dramatic Change are you fit for heaven and the Kingdom of God.
John 10:10 Jesus said, “But I came so that my sheep will have life and so that they will have everything they need.”GW . I have come so that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. MKJV
Joh 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, He who hears My Word and believes on Him who sent Me has everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but has passed from death to life.
Has everlasting life - The state of man by nature is represented as death in sin, Eph_2:1. The Christian Life is the opposite of this, or is “Life.” The “dead” regard not anything. They are unaffected by the cares, pleasures, amusements of the world. They hear neither the voice of merriment nor the tread of the living over their graves. So with sinners. They are unmoved with the, things of Christ. They hear not the voice of God; they see not His loveliness; they care not for His threatenings.
But Christianity is “life.” The Christian lives with God, and feels and acts as if there was a God.
The Christian Life, and its blessings here and hereafter, are one and the same. The happiness of heaven is living for God - being sensible of His presence, and glory, and power - and rejoicing in that. There shall be no more “death” there, Rev_21:4. This “life,” or this Christian Life, whether on earth or in heaven, is the same - the same joys extended and expanded forever. Hence, when a man is converted, it is said that he “has” everlasting life; not merely shall have but is already in possession of that life or happiness which shall be everlasting. It is life begun, expanded, ripening for the skies. He has already entered on his inheritance - that inheritance which is everlasting.
Shall not come into condemnation - He was by nature under condemnation. See Joh_3:18 Jesus Said, "He who believes on Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God."
But is passed from death unto life - Has “passed over” from a state of spiritual death to the life of the Christian. The word translated “is passed” would be better expressed by “has passed.” It implies that he has done it voluntarily; that none compelled him; and that the passage is made unto “everlasting” life. Because Christ is the author of this life in the soul, he is called the “Life” Joh_1:4; and as he has “always” existed, and is the Source of “all life,” he is called the “eternal life,” 1Jo_5:20. Barnes Notes
1Jn 5:11 And this is the record, that God has given to us everlasting life, and this life is in His Son.
1Jn 5:12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
PNT Commentary: The closing testimony of the Bible—for there is nothing after these words—is that he that hath the Son hath the life: the life which is fellowship with God, which sin forfeited, is given back to him in union with Jesus. It can by no other means be restored than by union with the Divine life which has been given to man ‘bodily’ in Christ: the disbeliever or unbeliever, who rejects the witness of God concerning His Son, is in this testimony said to abide in death, or rather to be without the life.
He that hath not the Son hath not the life. There are many terrors threatened elsewhere against the despiser of God and the rejecter of Christ; but here in the final witness, the sad issue of all is stated in its awful negation, ‘the life he has not.’
2. The Necessity of REGENERATION.
It is necessary because of the Corruptness of Human nature.
Jer 13:23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard its spots? Then you also may do good, who are accustomed to doing evil.
Rom 3:10 as it is written: "There is none righteous, no not one;
Rom 3:11 there is none that understands, there is none that seeks after God."
Rom 3:12 "They are all gone out of the way, they have together become unprofitable, there is none that does good, no, not one."
Rom 3:13 "Their throat is an open grave, with their tongues they have used deceit, the poison of asps is under their lips;
Rom 3:14 whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness;"
Rom 3:15 "their feet are swift to shed blood;
Rom 3:16 destruction and misery are in their way,
Rom 3:17 and the way of peace they did not know."
Rom 3:18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes."
Gal 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are clearly revealed, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lustfulness,
Gal 5:20 idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, fightings, jealousies, angers, rivalries, divisions, heresies,
Gal 5:21 envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and things like these; of which I tell you before, as I also said before, that they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
By Nature all men are :
a. Dead to God. Eph 2:1 And He has made you alive, who were once dead in trespasses and sins,
Eph 2:2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience;
b. Children of Wrath. Eph 2:3 among whom we also had our way of life in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the thoughts, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
c. Sons of Disobedience. Eph 2:2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience;
d. Cursed with Adam’s Sin Nature Rom 5:12 Therefore, even as through one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed on all men inasmuch as all sinned:
1Co 15:47 The first man was out of earth, earthy; the second Man was the Lord from Heaven.
1Co 15:48 Such the earthy man, such also the earthy ones. And such the heavenly Man, such also the heavenly ones.
1Co 15:49 And according as we bore the image of the earthy man, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.
1Co 15:50 And I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption.
Adapted from Willmington p.733
3. The Means of Regeneration
There are three factors that are vital for the sinner to experience Regeneration.
a. The Word of God.Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it,
Eph 5:26 that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word,
Eph 5:27 that He might present it to Himself as the glorious church, without spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Eph 5:28 So men ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
Tit 3:5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
Tit 3:6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; by the former is meant, not the ordinance of water baptism; for that is never expressed by washing, nor is it the cause or means of regeneration; the cause being the Spirit of God, and the means the word of God: and besides, persons ought to be regenerated before they are baptized; and they may be baptized, and yet not regenerated, as Simon Magus; nor is it a saving ordinance, or a point of salvation; nor can it be opposed to works of righteousness, as this washing is; for that itself is a work of righteousness; see Mat_3:15 and if persons were saved by that, they would be saved by a work of righteousness, contrary to the text itself: but regenerating grace is meant, or a being born of water, and of the Spirit; that is, of the grace of the Spirit, comparable to water for its purity and cleansing J.Gill
b.The Man of God. There is a need for a man of God to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ
Rom 10:13 For everyone, "whoever shall call on the name of the Lord will be saved."
Rom 10:14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without preaching?
Rom 10:15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things!"
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| Ray Comfort Preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ |
1Co 4:15 For though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for I have begotten you in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
Three agencies are named here as factors in conversion: Christ, as the proper Agent (through His Spirit); the Gospel, as the instrumental means; and the preacher who brings the message (in this case the apostle himself). Every spiritual father will feel something of the jealousy here expressed, in relation to others who after him have dealings with his converts; and all the more, since any insensibility to or forgetfulness of what they owe to their spiritual father argues either decline in their spiritual life, or some unwholesome influences operating upon them.
c. The Spirit of God.
Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Cp. also Titus 3:5
The Holy Spirit uses Mothers to bring a living soul into the world, He likewise seeks out human Instruments (soul-winners) to usher sinners into the Kingdom of God. Willmington p.733
Note: the Conversion of Saul of Tarsus
Read : Acts &:57-58,
Acts 8:1-3
Acts 22:5; 19
Acts 26:10-11
Gal 1:13
Acts 9:1-19
Act 26:12 In which pursuit also traveling to Damascus with authority and power of decision from the chief priests,
Act 26:13 at midday, along the highway, O king, I and those with me saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun; shining around me.
Act 26:14 And all of us falling to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew dialect, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.
Act 26:15 And I said, Who are you, lord? And He said, I am Jesus whom you persecute.
Act 26:16 But rise and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of what you saw, and in what I shall appear to you;
Act 26:17 delivering you from the people and the nations, to whom I now send you
Act 26:18 in order to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the authority of Satan to God, so that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.
Act 26:19 After this, king Agrippa, I did not disobey the heavenly vision.
Act 26:20 But to those first in Damascus, and Jerusalem, and to all the country of Judea, and to the nations, I made known the command to repent and to turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance
4. The Fruits of Regeneration.
The Born Anew person will love the following:
a. Other Christians. 1Jn 3:14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brothers. He who does not love his brother abides in death.
b. Jesus 1Jn 5:1 Every one who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God; and every one who loves the Father loves also Him who is the Father's Child.
1Jn 5:2 The fact that we love God Himself, and obey His commands, is a proof that we love God's children.
1Jn 5:3 Love for God means obedience to His commands; and His commands are not irksome.
c. A life separated unto God. 1Jn 2:15 Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If any one loves the world, there is no love in his heart for the Father.
1Jn 2:16 For the things in the world--the cravings of the earthly nature, the cravings of the eyes, the show and pride of life--they all come, not from the Father, but from the world.
1Jn 2:17 And the world, with its cravings, is passing away, but he who does God's will continues for ever.
1Jn 5:3 Love for God means obedience to His commands; and His commands are not irksome.
1Jn 5:4 For every child of God overcomes the world; and the victorious principle which has overcome the world is our faith.
d. His Enemies.
Mat 5:43 "You have heard that it was said, 'THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR and hate thine enemy.'
Mat 5:44 But I command you all, love your enemies, and pray for your persecutors;
Mat 5:45 that so you may become true sons of your Father in Heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the wicked as well as the good, and sends rain upon those who do right and those who do wrong.
e. The Word of God. A hunger for God Word is one of the First signs of New Spiritual Life.
Psa 119:24 Your testimonies also are my delight and my advisers.
Psa 119:40 Behold, I have longed after Your Commandments; in Your righteousness give me life.
Psa 119:41 VAU: Let Your mercies come to me, O Jehovah, even according to Your salvation, according to Your Word.
Psa 119:47 And I will delight myself in Your Commandments, which I have loved.
Psa 119:48 And I will lift up my hands to Your Commandments which I have loved; and I will think on Your Precepts.
1Pe 2:2 desire the sincere milk of the Word, as newborn babes, so that you may grow by it;
f. The souls of Men. 2Co 5:14 For the love of Christ constrains us, judging this, that if one died for all, then all died;
2Co 5:15 and He died for all, that the living ones may live no more to themselves, but to Him who died for them and having been raised.
g. Prayer and Praise. Eph 5:19 speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
Eph 5:20 always giving thanks for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
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