“Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach
me thy paths.” (Psalm 25:4)
In this study, we will look at
the biblical teaching regarding what the Bible
calls regeneration. What
does this mean? As in previous studies, we
will look at definitions, scriptures, lexical
evidence, commentary evidence and confessional
support for the purpose to glorify God in how
we live. Glorify God always!
Regeneration
“An act of God whereby a soul,
previously dead to him, experiences a
spiritual resurrection into a new sphere of
life, in which he is alive to God….”; an inner
work of the Spirit in which new spiritual life
is implanted so that a person’s whole nature
is changed and he or she can respond to God in
faith. Also called new birth, rebirth,
spiritual birth, being born again or
quickening.” *
Regeneration
“The act of God whereby He renews
the spiritual condition of a sinner. It is a
spiritual change brought about by the work of
the Holy Spirit so that the person then
possesses new life, eternal life. Regeneration
is a change in our moral and spiritual nature
where justification is a change in our
relationship with God. Also, sanctification is
the work of God in us to make us more like
Jesus. Regeneration is the beginning of that
change. It means to be born again.” **
From Scripture:
“And
the LORD thy God will circumcise thine
heart, and the heart of thy seed, to
love the LORD thy God with all thine heart,
and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.’
(Deuteronomy 30:6)
“A new
heart also will I give you, and a new
spirit will I put within you: and I will
take away the stony heart out of your flesh,
and I will give you and heart of flesh.”
(Ezekiel 36:26)
“And I
will give them and heart to know me,
that I am the LORD: and they shall be my
people, and I will be their God: for they
shall return unto me with their whole heart.”
(Jeremiah 24:7)
“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.”(John
3:3)
“Forasmuch
as
ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle
of Christ ministered by us, written not
with ink, but with the Spirit of the living
God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy
tables of the heart.” (2Corinthians 3:3)
“And you
hath he quickened, who were dead in
trespasses and sins.” (Ephesians 2:1)
“Not by
works of righteousness which we have done, but
according to his mercy he saved us, by the
washing of regeneration, and renewing of
the Holy Ghost.” (Titus 3:5)
“For
this is the covenant that I will make with the
house of Israel after those days, saith the
Lord; I will put my laws into their mind,
and write them in their hearts: and I
will be to them a God, and they shall be to me
a people.” (Hebrews 8:10)
“This
is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, saith the Lord, I will
put my laws into their hearts, and in their
minds will I write them.” (Hebrews
10:16)
In regeneration, a spiritual
new birth takes place. In the Scriptural
words and phrases below are various
descriptions of the new birth seen in the
passages above:
“Born
again” or (born from above) John 3:3;
“And
you hath he quickened” (made alive) Ephesians
2:1;
“The
washing of regeneration”Titus
3:5;
“I will
put into their hearts; written not with ink
but with the Spirit of the living God” 2
Corinthians;
“I will
give them a heart to know me” Jeremiah 24:7;
“God
will circumcise thine heart, a new spirit will
I put within you” Deuteronomy 30:6;
God is
the One who regenerates the sinner. John 3:3
informs us that a man must be born again. The
other passages listed above describe how a man
is born again by the action of God. The Holy
Spirit gives life. The verb tenses in the
above passages that have been underlined are
action verbs on God’s part. For example, “I
will,” “And you hath he quickened,” “God
will.”
Some descriptions of what
happens in regeneration:
·Spiritually
reborn
·New
birth resulting in a new nature
·Heart
of stone changed to heart of flesh
·Circumcision
of
the heart
·Rebirth
of the old nature, to a new spiritual nature
·The
reborn are restored to a relationship with God
·Renewed
to life, characterized by faith in Christ
·The act
of God causing an inward resurrection from sin
to a new life inChrist
Regeneration from Vine's
Expository Dictionary of New Testament
Words:
Regeneration
[1,
G3824, palingenesia]
“new
birth” (palin,
“again,” genesis, “birth”), is used of
“spiritual regeneration,” Titus 3:5, involving
the communication of a new life, the two
operating powers to produce which are “the
word of truth,” James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23, and
the Holy Spirit, John 3:5-John 3:6; the loutron,
“the laver, the washing,” is explained in
Ephesians 5:26,”having cleansed it by the
washing (loutron)
of water with the word.”
The new
birth and “regeneration” do not represent
successive stages in spiritual experience;
they refer to the same event but view it in
different aspects. The new birth stresses the
communication of spiritual life in contrast to
antecedent spiritual death; “regeneration”
stresses the inception of a new state of
things in contrast with the old; hence the
connection of the use of the word with its
application to Israel, in Matthew 19:28. Some
regard the kai in Titus 3:5 as epexegetic,
“even;” but, as Scripture marks two distinct
yet associated operating powers, there is not
sufficient ground for this interpretation. See
under EVEN.
In
Matthew 19:28 the word is used, in the Lord's
discourse, in the wider sense, of the
“restoration of all things” (Acts 3:21, RV),
when, as a result of the second advent of
Christ, Jehovah “sets His King upon His holy
hill of Zion” (Psalms 2:6), and Israel, now in
apostasy, is restored to its destined status,
in the recognition and under the benign
sovereignty of its Messiah. Thereby will be
accomplished the deliverance of the world from
the power and deception of Satan and from the
despotic and anti-Christian rulers of the
nations. This restitution will not in the
coming millennial age be universally a return
to the pristine condition of Edenic innocence
previous to the Fall, but it will fulfill the
establishment of God's covenant with Abraham
concerning his descendants, a veritable
rebirth of the nation, involving the peace and
prosperity of the Gentiles. That the worldwide
subjection to the authority of Christ will not
mean the entire banishment of evil is clear
from Revelation 20:7-Revelation 20:8. Only in
the new heavens and earth, “wherein dwelleth
righteousness,” will sin and evil be entirely
absent. (1)
An excellent informative
article on Regeneration
by J.I.Packer:
Regeneration
is
the spiritual change wrought in the heart of
man by the Holy Spirit in which his/her
inherently sinful nature is changed so that
he/she can respond to God in Faith, and live
in accordance with His Will (Matt. 19:28; John
3:3,5,7; Titus 3:5). It extends to the whole
nature of man, altering his governing
disposition, illuminating his mind, freeing
his will, and renewing his nature.
Regeneration,
or
new birth, is an inner re-creating of fallen
human nature by the gracious sovereign action
of the Holy Spirit (John 3:5-8). The Bible
conceives salvation as the redemptive renewal
of man on the basis of a restored relationship
with God in Christ, and presents it as
involving “a radical and complete
transformation wrought in the soul (Rom. 12:2;
Eph. 4:23) by God the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5;
Eph. 4:24), by virtue of which we become 'new
men' (Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10), no longer
conformed to this world (Rom. 12:2; Eph. 4:22;
Col. 3:9), but in knowledge and holiness of
the truth created after the image of God (Eph.
4:24; Col. 3:10; Rom. 12:2)” (B. B. Warfield,
Biblical and Theological Studies, 351).
Regeneration is the “birth” by which this work
of new creation is begun, as sanctification is
the “growth” whereby it continues (I Pet. 2:2;
II Pet. 3:18). Regeneration in Christ changes
the disposition from lawless, Godless
self-seeking (Rom. 3:9-18; 8:7) which
dominates man in Adam into one of trust and
love, of repentance for past rebelliousness
and unbelief, and loving compliance with God's
law henceforth. It enlightens the blinded mind
to discern spiritual realities (I Cor.
2:14-15; II Cor. 4:6; Col. 3:10), and
liberates and energizes the enslaved will for
free obedience to God (Rom. 6:14, 17-22; Phil.
2:13).
The use
of the figure of new birth to describe this
change emphasizes two facts about it. The
first is its decisiveness. The regenerate man
has forever ceased to be the man he was; his
old life is over and a new life has begun; he
is a new creature in Christ, buried with him
out of reach of condemnation and raised with
him into a new life of righteousness (see Rom.
6:3-11; II Cor. 5:17; Col. 3:9-11). The second
fact emphasized is the monergism of
regeneration. Infants do not induce, or
cooperate in, their own procreation and birth;
no more can those who are "dead in trespasses
and sins" prompt the quickening operation of
God's Spirit within them (see Eph. 2:1-10).
Spiritual vivification is a free, and to man
mysterious, exercise of divine power (John
3:8), not explicable in terms of the
combination or cultivation of existing human
resources (John 3:6), not caused or induced by
any human efforts (John 1:12-13) or merits
(Titus 3:3-7), and not, therefore, to be
equated with, or attributed to, any of the
experiences, decisions, and acts to which it
gives rise and by which it may be known to
have taken place.
Biblical Presentation
The
noun “regeneration” (palingenesia)
occurs only twice. In Matt. 19:28 it denotes
the eschatological “restoration of all things”
(Acts 3:21) under the Messiah for which Israel
was waiting. This echo of Jewish usage points
to the larger scheme of cosmic renewal within
which that of individuals finds its place. In
Titus 3:5, the word refers to the renewing of
the individual. Elsewhere, the thought of
regeneration is differently expressed.
In OT
prophecies regeneration is depicted as the
work of God renovating, circumcising, and
softening Israelite hearts, writing his laws
upon them, and thereby causing their owners to
know, love, and obey him as never before
(Deut. 30:6; Jer. 31:31-34; 32:39-40; Ezek.
11:19-20; 36:25-27). It is a sovereign work of
purification from sin's defilement (Ezek.
36:25; cf. Ps. 51:10), wrought by the personal
energy of God's creative out breathing the
personal energy of God's creative out
breathing (“spirit”: Ezek. 36:27; 39:29).
Jeremiah declares that such renovation on a
national scale will introduce and signal God's
new messianic administration of his covenant
with his people (Jer. 31:31; 32:40).
In the
NT the thought of regeneration is more fully
individualized, and in John's Gospel and First
Epistle the figure of new birth, “from above”
(anothen:
John 3:3, 7, Moffatt), “of water and the
Spirit” (i.e., through a purificatory
operation of God's Spirit: see Ezek. 36:25-27;
John 3:5; cf. 3:8), or simply “of God” (John
1:13, nine times in I John), is integral to
the presentation of personal salvation. The
verb gennao
(which means both “beget” and “bear”) is used
in these passages in the aorist or perfect
tense to denote the once-for-all divine work
whereby the sinner, who before was only
“flesh,” and as such, whether he knew it or
not, utterly incompetent in spiritual matters
(John 3:3-7), is made “spirit” (John 3:6),
i.e., is enabled and caused to receive and
respond to the saving revelation of God in
Christ. In the Gospel, Christ assures
Nicodemus that there are no spiritual
activities, no seeing or entering God's
kingdom, because no faith in himself, without
regeneration (John 3:1ff.); and John declares
in the prologue that only the regenerate
receive Christ and enter into the privileges
of God's children (John 1:12-13). Conversely,
in the Epistle John insists that there is no
regeneration that does not issue in spiritual
activities. The regenerate do righteousness (I
John 2:29) and do not live a life of sin (3:9;
5:18: the present tense indicates habitual
law-keeping, not absolute sinlessness, cf.
1:8-10); they love Christians (4:7), believe
rightly in Christ, and experience faith's
victory over the world (5:4). Any, who do
otherwise, whatever they claim, are still
unregenerate children of the devil (3:6-10).
Paul
specifies the Christological dimensions of
regeneration by presenting it as (1) a life
giving co-resurrection with Christ (Eph. 2:5;
Col. 2:13; cf. I Pet. 1:3); (2) a work of new
creation in Christ (II Cor. 5:17; Eph. 2:10;
Gal. 6:15). Peter and James make the further
point that God “begets anew” (anagennao:
I Pet. 1:23) and “brings to birth” (apokyeo:
James 1:18) by means of the gospel. It is
under the impact of the word that God renews
the heart, so evoking faith (Acts 16:14-15).
Historical Discussion
The
fathers did not formulate the concept of
regeneration precisely. They equated it,
broadly speaking, with baptismal grace, which
to them meant primarily (to Pelagius,
exclusively) remission of sins. Augustine
realized, and vindicated against Pelagianism,
the necessity for prevenient grace to make a
man trust and love God, but he did not
precisely equate this grace with regeneration.
The Reformers reaffirmed the substance of
Augustine's doctrine of prevenient grace, and
Reformed theology still maintains it. Calvin
used the term "regeneration" to cover man's
whole subjective renewal, including conversion
and sanctification. Many seventeenth century
Reformed theologians equated regeneration with
effectual calling and conversion with
regeneration (hence the systematic
mistranslation of epistrepho,
“turn,” as a passive, "be converted," in the
AV); later Reformed theology has defined
regeneration more narrowly, as the implanting
of the “seed” from which faith and repentance
spring (I John 3:9) in the course of effectual
calling. Arminianism constructed the doctrine
of regeneration synergistically, making man's
renewal dependent on his prior cooperation
with grace; liberalism constructed it
naturalistically, identifying regeneration
with a moral change or a religious experience.
The
fathers lost the biblical understanding of the
sacraments as signs to stir up faith and seals
to confirm believers in possession of the
blessings signified, and so came to regard
baptism as conveying the regeneration which it
signified (Titus 3:5) ex opere
operato to those who did not obstruct
it’s working. Since infants could not do this,
all baptized infants were accordingly held to
be regenerated. This view has persisted in all
the non-Reformed churches of Christendom, and
among sacramentalists within Protestantism.
Regeneration Advanced
Information
Scripture terms by which this
work of God is designated:
Creating – Eph. 4:24
Begetting - 1Jo 4:7
Quickening - Joh 5:21 Eph. 2:5
Calling out of darkness into marvellous
light - 1Pe 2:9
The subjects of it are to be alive from
the dead - Ro 6:13
To be new creatures - 2Co 5:17
To be born again, or anew - Joh 3:3, 7
To be God's workmanship – Eph. 2:10
Proof that there is such a
thing as is commonly called regeneration.
The Scriptures declare that such a
change is necessary - 2Co 5:17 Ga 6:15
The change is described – Eph. 2:5 4:23
Jas 1:18 1Pe 1:23
It is necessary for the most moral as
well as the most profligate - 1Co 15:10 Ga
1:13-16
That this change is not a mere
reformation is proved by its being referred to
the Holy Spirit. - Tit 3:5
In the comparison of man's state in
grace with his state by nature. - Ro 6:13
8:6-10 Eph. 5:8
In the experience of all Christians and
the testimony of their lives.
Proofs that believers are
subjects of supernatural or spiritual
illumination.
This is necessary. - Joh 16:3 1Co 2:14
2Co 3:14 4:3
The
Scriptures
expressly affirm it. - Ps 19:7, 8 43:3, 4 Joh
17:3 1Co 2:12, 13 2Co 4:6 Eph. 1:18
Philippians 1:19 Col 3:10 1Jo 4:7 5:20
The first effect of regeneration is to
open the eyes of our understanding to the
excellency of divine truth. The second effect
the going forth of the renewed affections
toward that excellency perceived.
Proof of the absolute necessity
of regeneration
The Scriptures assert it. - Joh 3:3 Ro
8:6, 7 Eph. 2:10 4:21-24
It is proved from the nature of man as
a sinner - Ro 7:18 8:7-9 1Co 2:14 Eph. 2:1
Also from the nature of heaven - Isa
35:8 52:1 Mt 5:8 13:41 Heb. 12:14 Re 21:27
The restoration of holiness is the
grand end of the whole plan of salvation. - Ro
8:28, 29 Eph. 1:4 5:5, 26, 27
Bibliography
J. Orr,
“Regeneration,” HDB; J. Denney, HDCG; B. B.
Warfield, Biblical and Theological Studies;
systematic theologies of C. Hodge, III, 1-40,
and L. Berkhof, IV, 465-79; A. Ringwald et
al., NIDNTT, I, 176ff.; F. Buchsel et al.,
TDNT, I, 665ff.; B. Citron, The New Birth. (2)
Regeneration an Act of
God by systematic theologian,
Charles Hodge:
1.
Regeneration is an act of God. It is not
simply referred to Him as its giver, and, in
that sense, its author, as He is the giver of
faith and of repentance. It is not an act
which, by argument and persuasion, or by moral
power, He induces the sinner to perform. But
it is an act of which He is the agent. It is
God who regenerates. The soul is regenerated.
In this sense the soul is passive in
regeneration, which (subjectively considered)
is a change wrought in us, and not an act
performed by us.
Regeneration
an
Act of God's Power
2.
Regeneration is not only an act of God, but
also an act of his almighty power. Agreeably
to the express declarations of the Scriptures,
it is so presented in the Symbols of the
Protestant churches. If an act of omnipotence,
it is certainly efficacious, for nothing can
resist almighty power. The Lutherans indeed
deny this. But the more orthodox of them mean
simply that the sinner can keep himself aloof
from the means through which, or, rather, in
connection with which it pleases God to
exercise his power. He can absent himself from
the preaching of the Word, and the use of the
sacraments. Or he may voluntarily place
himself in such an inward posture of
resistance as determines God not to exert his
power in his regeneration. The assertion that
regeneration is an act of God's omnipotence,
is, and is intended to be, a denial that it is
an act of moral suasion. It is an affirmation
that it is “physical” in the old sense of that
word, as opposed to moral; and that it is
immediate, as opposed to mediate, or through
or by the truth. When either in Scripture or
in theological writings, the word regeneration
is taken in a wide sense as including
conversion or the voluntary turning of the
soul to God, then indeed it is said to be by
the Word. The restoration of sight to the
blind by the command of Christ was an act of
omnipotence. It was immediate. Nothing in the
way of instrumentary or secondary coöperating
influence intervened between the divine
volition and the effect. But all exercises of
the restored faculty were through and by the
light. And without light sight is impossible.
Raising Lazarus from the dead was an act of
omnipotence. Nothing intervened between the
volition and the effect. The act of quickening
was the act of God. In that matter, Lazarus
was passive. But in all the acts of the
restored vitality, he was active and free.
According to the evangelical system it is in
this sense that regeneration is the act of
God's almighty power. Nothing intervenes
between his volition that the soul,
spiritually dead, should live, and the desired
effect. But in all that belongs to the
consciousness; all that precedes or follows
the imparting of this new life, the soul is
active and is influenced by the truth acting
according to the laws of our mental
constitution. (3)
In closing:
The
Westminster Catechism, under the headings of
redemption and effectual calling covers,
regeneration.
Westminster Shorter Catechism
Question 29 on redemption/regeneration:
Q: How
are we made partakers of the redemption
purchased by Christ?
A: We
are made partakers of the redemption purchased
by Christ, by the effectual application of it
to us by his Holy Spirit. (1.)
(1.) John
1:12-13. But as many as received him, to them
gave he power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name: which were
born, not of blood, nor of the will of the
flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
John
3:5-6. 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.
Titus
3:5-6. Not by works of righteousness, which we
have done, but according to his mercy he saved
us, by
the washing of regeneration, and
renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on
us abundantly through Jesus Christ our
Saviour.
Westminster Larger Catechism on
effectual calling/regeneration:
Q. 67:
What is effectual calling?
A. 67:
Effectual calling is the work of God’s
almighty power and grace, whereby (out of his
free and special love to his elect, and from
nothing in them moving him thereunto) he doth,
in his accepted time, invite and draw them to
Jesus Christ, by his word and Spirit; savingly
enlightening their minds, renewing and
powerfully determining their wills, so as they
(although in themselves dead in sin) are
hereby made willing and able freely to answer
his call, and to accept and embrace the grace
offered and conveyed therein.
“Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach
me thy statutes.” (Psalm 119:12)
“Study to shew thyself approved
unto God, a workman that needeth not to be
ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
(2 Timothy 2:15)
Notes:
1.W. E. Vine, An
Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words,
(Iowa Falls, Iowa, Riverside Book and Bible
House), p. 939.
2.J. I. Packer, Elwell
Evangelical Dictionary, “Regeneration,”
(Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Book House),
pp. 924-926.
“To God, only wise, be glory
through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.” (Romans
16:27) and “heirs according to the promise.”
(Galatians 3:28, 29)
Mr. Kettler has previously
published articles in the Chalcedon
Report and Contra
Mundum. He and his wife Marea attend the
Westminster, CO, RPCNA Church. He served as an
ordained ruling elder in the Orthodox
Presbyterian Church. He worked in and retired
from a fortune five hundred company in
corporate America after forty years. He runs
two blogs sites and is the author of the book
defending the Reformed Faith against attacks,
titled: The
Religion That Started in a Hat.
Available at:
http://www.thereligionthatstartedinahat.com/
For more study:
* For a great source of
theological definitions go to Rebecca writes
at Rebecca writes
http://www.rebecca-writes.com/theological-terms-in-ao/