To the child of God who reads and studies the Bible, it becomes a cleansing, sanctifying power in life. The grace of God does not run in human veins. . The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God (Luke 1:30, 35). It is based upon. God has children but no grandchildren. would prevent them from accepting it. What? 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). WebRegeneration then, may be defined as an act of God whereby He bestows upon the believing sinner new life. 6:46, 13; Eph. In chapter 2:1-16 he shows that the self-righteous are equally guilty before God. That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us (II Timothy 1:14). The Biblical account of the council at Jerusalem (Acts 15:1-29), shows that Paul and James were in perfect agreement. None but the justified who walk by faith can rejoice in the midst of tribulation, for rejoicing in tribulation is not natural to the unregenerate heart. 10:10, 14; 1 Pet. WebRegeneration was the principal work of the Holy Spirit. In the There is, of course, in these passages no reference to mere water baptism, any more than in Ezekiel 36:25. Genesis 15:6; Galatians 3:6). This dictionary is from 'Hitchcock's New and Complete Analysis of the Holy Bible', published in the late 1800s. The Christian assembly at Corinth was an assembly of saints, saved persons, set-apart persons, but not all of the saints were saintly in their behavior. All the doctrines of the Bible are important, but none is more vital to the peace and rest of the child of God than the Bible truth of Justification. 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). The coming kingdom of Christ on earth is the day of the earths regeneration, the times of restitution (restoration R.V.) To change this lost condition, to impart this new life, Jesus claims as His God-appointed task: "The Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10); "I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly" (John 10:10). It originates not with man but with God ( John 1:12 John 1:13 ; 1John 2:29 ; 1 John 5:1 1 John 5:4 ). There is no other way of one getting into Christs Church apart from the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit. God chose the Apostle Paul to expound the doctrine of Justification. It is used of the renewal of the world in Stoical philosophy. This is important because every child of God, as long as he is in this body, is able to sin. Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law (Romans 3:28). Its meaning is different in the two passages, though an easy transition of thought is evident. It is the "breath from Yahweh," the Spirit of God, who alone can give life to the spiritually dead. When we were saved we became partakers of the Divine nature (II Peter 1:4). The war is done, armistice has been declared, and God holds nothing whatever against us. . He accepts them. Man has nothing to do with it except to receive it through faith, and that as the Holy Spirit enables him. That which is born of the flesh is flesh (John 3:6). Total self-dedication to God is the result of self-determined separation to God. Whether the divine promises refer to the Messianic end of times, or are to be realized at an earlier date, they all refer to the nation of Israel as such, and to individuals only as far as they are partakers in the benefits bestowed upon the commonwealth. Indeed, only God can justify sinners. He had to rise from death and appear before God in our behalf in order to secure for us the benefits of His death. This word literally means a "new birth." And it came to pass on the day that Moses had fully set up the tabernacle, and had anointed it, and sanctified it, and all the instruments thereof, both the altar and all the vessels thereof, and had anointed them, and sanctified them (Numbers 7:1). This is positional truth, and it is important that we continually reckon ourselves dead to self. It was no mere incident when I enrolled as a student in The Philadelphia School of the Bible in 1935. (3) The process of regeneration is outside of our observation and beyond the scope of psychological analysis. The moralists of Pauls day were men of culture, refinement, and intellect, but they too were inexcusable. Moreover, the word does not always mean the accomplished end as the net result of a process, but sometimes it is the process leading to the goal of consummation. His Epistle is rather ethical than dogmatical in tone, still his ethics are based on the dogmatical presuppositions which fully agree with the teaching of other apostles. Christs accomplishment of redemption undergirds the Spirits application of redemption to the elect. The word regeneration appears only twice in the English Bible. Theologically speaking, regeneration and conversion are two sides of the same coin. The body is not the entire man, but it is the vehicle of the human spirit and the temple of the Holy Spirit. The New Birth produces some glorious effects in the believers life. Textbooks on Systematic Theology: articles "Bekehrung" by R. Seeberg; "Wiedergeburt" by O. Kirn in Hauck-Herzog RE3; "Regeneration" by J. V. Bartlett in HDB; "Conversion" by J. Strachan in ERE; George Jackson, The Fact of Conversion, London, 1908; Newton H. Marshall, Conversion; or, the New Birth, London, 1909; J. Herzog, Der Begriff der Bekehrung, Giessen, 1903; P. Feine, Bekehrung im New Testament und in der Gegenwart, Leipzig, 1908; P. Gennrich, Die Lehre yon der Wiedergeburt, Leipzig, 1907. It is future--When Christ, who is our life, shall be manifested, then shall ye also with him be manifested in glory (Colossians 3:4 R.V.). What do I do about calling a priest father at my Catholic University? It breaks through the order of causes and effects; it severs the continuity of the outer world; it makes impossible a rational joining together of realities; it prohibits a monastic view of the immediate condition of the world. But by what means does God produce the miracle of the New Birth? to renew, repair. While in the post-apostolic days we frequently find traces of a proper appreciation of an underlying spiritual value in baptism (compare Didache vii) many of the expressions used are highly misleading. . Thus Paul speaks of the "second Adam," by whom the life of righteousness is initiated in us; just as the "first Adam" became the leader in transgression, He is "a life-giving spirit" (1Corinthians 15:45). He lacked the real power of God, so he thought to purchase it with money. (John 7:37-39). . (I Corinthians 12:13). So if you have trusted Christ to save you, then you have been set apart once for all; you are Gods sanctified one. That He came to earth none can deny, but any biological explanation remains a mystery. . (Genesis 2:3). Notice the order; they are said to have been Sanctified before they were Justified. The will of God is all-important in the life of the child of God. Now the New Birth does not eradicate the old nature, but it does give new life to control it. Man as he is by nature stands in direct contrast to the demands of the spiritual life. The source of justification must be in the one holy and righteous God. Faith is the vital point of contact between the sinner and God. The necessity of such a change is emphatically affirmed in Scripture ( John 3:3 ; Romans 7:18 ; 8:7-9 ; 1Corinthians 2:14 ; Ephesians 2:1 ; 4:21-24 ). He was pastor of Highland Park Baptist Church (Highland Park, Michigan) until the end of 1963 when he resigned More. Even in our daily prayer life, He warned us that we can be successful only as we pray, as He said, In My Name. It is through Him we have access (Ephesians 2:18). It refers to Preparatory Sanctification. You and I are guilty and condemned. WebIt is a certain status and relationship we enjoy in Christ: in him we are consecrated to God, saints ( 1 Cor. Perfect (or ultimate) Sanctification is that aspect of Sanctification related to the final perfection of the children of God. Then we saw the record of the pure love and grace of God, in sending Jesus Christ to die in the sinners place and for sin, showing that the sinner could be justified before God, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Therefore, says Paul, in view of what God in His Son has done for man, these are the blessings that pour forth from God to all who receive His justifying grace.. The only way that God could be both merciful and just was through Calvary, where Jesus Christ paid the penalty for sin. 1915. This we see from the testimony of some of Israel's best sons and daughters, who also knew that this grace was found in the way of repentance and humiliation before God. Some who believe regeneration to be hereditary use Acts 16:31 in support of this theory. But not many days before the deadline, she went to the bank, and after inquiring she learned that the money was there, deposited in her sons name by another person. If a mans obedience to some part of the law is his boast, he may glory before man but not before God (Romans 4:2). Johannes Muller and Rudolf Eucken among others emphasize that a new life of the spirit, independent of outward conditions, is not only possible, but necessary for the attainment of the highest development. Spiritual life, as Professor Eucken says, can be implanted in man by some superior power only and must constantly be sustained by superior life. Not posse non peccare (able not to sin), but non posse peccare (not able to sin). Whereunto He called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ (II Thessalonians 2:14). . This change is ascribed to the Holy Spirit. The holy man of God will honor God with his body. Malachi 3:2), and there is no doubt that John the Baptist found in such passages the ground for his practice of baptizing the Jews who came to him (John 1:25-28 and parallel's). Jesus said, And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you (John 14:16, 17). In John 3:8, Jesus teaches that regeneration is the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit who produces new hearts in the elect. If we had it now we would not be waiting for it. I interpret Peters scathing rebuke to mean that there was a man who, though he was baptized, was never regenerated. So much lower than Gods standard of holiness is mans that things which are approved of men may be counted as evil in the sight of God. 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. Here Peter is saying the same as Jesus said in John 3:5. He must judge and condemn the guilty. . The man who contends that he does not need to be justified by God must first establish the evidence that there is no accusation against him. This is understood more clearly when we realize that the Word of God is both living and life-producing. The Christian is to be perfect in the sense that he should be spiritually mature in his behavior toward God and toward his fellow-men. His first recorded act that could not be produced instanteously by natural means was the turning of water into wine (John 2:1-10). The kingdom of Christ on earth will be a time of world-wide subjection to the authority of Christ, when sin, sorrow, sickness, suffering and strife will not touch earths inhabitants. It is the first step in the experience of the believer. (2) Man has fallen from his virginal and divinely-appointed sphere, the realm of the spirit, the Kingdom of God, living now the perishing earthly life. Also, sanctification is the work of God in us to make us more like Jesus. Finally, this regeneration, this new life, is explained as the knowledge of God and His Christ: "And this is life eternal, that they should know thee the only true God, and him whom thou didst send, even Jesus Christ" (John 17:3). (6) The truth which is mentioned as the agent by whom regeneration is made possible (John 8:32; James 1:18; 1Peter 1:23), is nothing else than the Divine Spirit, not only the spoken or written word of God, which may convince people of right or wrong, but which cannot enable the will of man to forsake the wrong and to do the right, but He who calls Himself the Truth (John 14:6) and who has become the motive power of regenerated life (Galatians 2:20). . This is a "regeneration in the proper meaning of the word, for it signifies a renovation of all visible things when the old is passed away, and heaven and earth are become new" (compare Revelation 21:1). Most of us have at one time sought to improve ourselves by turning over a new leaf and attempting to throw off bad habits. This is every Christians position, independent of the length of time one has been saved, how much or how little one knows about the Bible, or how spiritual that person might be. Every saved person is as much a saint now as he ever will be in time or eternity. Through natural birth they pass on to their offspring their own nature and likeness. God was manifest in the flesh. What man has understood or explained it? The new life from God is compared to a wedding garment in the parable of the Marriage of the King's Son (Matthew 22:11). The English word regeneration is the translation of palingenesia, from palin (again) and genesis (birth). . Copyright 2023, Bible Study Tools. The Holy Spirit dwells in the Church corporately as well as in each member individually and personally. Related Topics: Regeneration, Justification, Sanctification, Lehman Strauss taught Old Testament history for eight years at Philadelphia Bible Institute, and served as pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church, Bristol, Pennsylvania, from 1939 to 1957. 2. : the renewal, regrowth, or restoration of a body or a bodily part, tissue, or substance after Do We See Any Gospel Connections in the Book of Numbers? Many who stress continually the great doctrine of Justification fail to see that Practical Sanctification is equally important. Peter likewise stresses the same truth where he writes, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby (I Peter 2:2). . of It was Isaiah and Jeremiah who drew attention to this (Isaiah 57:15; Jeremiah 24:7; 31:33-35; 32:38-40, et passim). But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Our Lord left no doubt as to the indispensable necessity of the new birth as a pre-requisite to entrance into the Kingdom of God. The church redeemed and regenerated is to be a special "possession," an "heritage" of the Lord (Ephesians 1:11,14), and the whole creation is to participate in the final redemption and adoption (Romans 8:21-23). Here Peter speaks of the use made of the Word of God in Regeneration. . 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. And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes (Ezekiel 36:23). And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters (Genesis 1:2). The parables of Jesus further illustrate this doctrine. But when Paul and Silas said to the jailer, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house, they were telling him how he and the members of his household could be saved. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with a willing spirit" (Psalms 51:10-12). He who denies the possibility of Christs Virgin Birth can hardly be expected to believe in the New Birth. Are you rejoicing in His imputed Sanctification? Hitchcock's Bible Names. Consider well and take seriously the fact of the universality of sin. At the same time regeneration supplies a new life-power of divine origin, which enables the component parts of human nature to fulfill the law of God, to strive for the coming of God's kingdom, and to accept the teachings of God's spirit. The Old Testament had succeeded--and even the Gentile conscience agreed with it--in convincing the people of this need. It is His own glory which He has given to us (John 17:22), and it is the result of our being declared righteous through faith in His Blood. When a man is justified by faith, good works are sure to follow. Spiritual maturity should be the goal of every saved person. Spiritually, it means that God brings a person to new life (that they are "born again") from a previous state of separation from God and subjection to the decay of The surrender of our bodies to God is absolutely essential to Practical Sanctification. He existed in spirit form eternally before the world was, and still He was born an infant babe, of a woman, having no human father. No one naturally seeks after God (Rom. Let us put it another way--the only righteous basis for our justification has been provided through the death of Christ. The Holy Spirit is the agent of regeneration inasmuch as He convicts people of their sinful condition, of the wrath to come, and of their need for Christ. When God, by a judicial decision, made Abraham a righteous man, He did it on the principle of faith, that he (Abraham) might be the father of all them that believe (Romans 4:11). The statement that God separated Paul from his mothers womb is more than a reference to Gods providential care of him at birth. It will last! Still the need of it is plainly stated by Paul. WebRegeneration is a Biblico-dogmatic term closely connected with the ideas of justification, Divine sonship, and the deification of the soul through grace. Josephus (Ant., XI, iii, 9) speaks of the anaktesis kai paliggenesia tes patridos, "a new foundation and regeneration of the fatherland," after the return from the Babylonian captivity. If we looked to men for a definition of the words justification and righteousness, their meaning might change with time and differ according to geographical location. Here we learn that God is the Source and Cause of all things. And make certain that you are clear on one point, namely, the new creation begins with Christ. and the son of man, that is a worm!" The fact that He is in you is the plain teaching of Scripture. The saving work of Jesus Christ will culminate in Gods ultimately uniting all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth (Eph. The mother said nothing but felt keenly disappointed with the pastors remarks. Both the carnal and the spiritual are included in the sanctified saints. It appears from Acts 8:18, 19 that Simon never did enter experientially into the truth of the Gospel. Fallen in Adam, all people are born dead in sins and trespasses and are incapable of spiritual renewal. When Adam sinned he lost the Divine image and likeness with which he was created. This truth is emphasized for us in I Peter 3:18, where we read: For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God. The last phrase of this verse, that He might bring us to God, can be translated, that He might provide for us access into the presence of God. This blessed privilege is all of grace.
