The Holy Spirit, Part 2: Regeneration
If this is your first time reading my articles, welcome! I’ve just started a topical series about the Holy Spirit.
Here’s a quick review of what we learned in the first article entitled, “Is He Real?”
- The Holy Spirit is equal with the Father and the Son, yet each is distinct. They are, however, of the same essence.
- He is a person with intellect, will, & emotion.
- What He does:
o Teaches
o Testifies
o Guides
o Convicts
o Commands and directs
o Performs miracles
o Calls to special service
o Intercedes
- What people can do to Him:
o Obey
o Lie to
o Resist
o Grieve
o Reverence
o Blaspheme
o Insult
o Quench
In this article, we’ll look at the topic of “regeneration.”
The Importance of Regeneration:
Few doctrines are more fundamental and important to effective preaching and teaching of the gospel message than the doctrine of regeneration
A failure to understand this most basic doctrine of Christianity can, and will, cripple the power of the gospel. It can cause us to preach a salvation by works!
So, it’s extremely important for us as believers, who long to share the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ, to fully understand the doctrine of regeneration
What Does “Regeneration” Mean?
The word is only found twice in the New Testament:
- MATT. 19:28, “And Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration, when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.’”
- Titus 3:5-6, “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regenerationand renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.”
God, in His grace, saves those who believe, not because of any righteousness found in them, but because of His mercy, kindness and love:
- “Kindness,” “love,” and “mercy” all represent aspects of God’s grace.
- The means of grace through which He accomplishes this salvation is:
o The rebirth of our spirit, spoken of as “a washing” from the filth of sin, and . . .
o The “renewal” bythe Holy Spirit.
o No mention is made here of the role of faith in the process because Paul’s entire focus was on what Godhas done, not on human response.
o But faith is important:
Ø To acknowledge my sinfulness.
Ø To ask God to forgive me.
Ø To place my hope and trust in Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Regeneration means the imparting, or giving, of eternal life. That’s pretty important!!
We must understand this truth from God’s Word or we’ll not be able to explain the true gospel: God’s grace alone, through our faith alone, in Jesus Christ, alone.
To “generate” is to create, originate or produce. To “re-generate” is to make something alive that used to be dead.
The Greek word translated as “regeneration” means new birth, reproduction, renewal, re-creation. Theologically, then, regeneration is an act of God, which imparts, or gives, eternal life.
- Col. 2:13, “And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He [the Father]made you alive together with Him [Christ],having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”
How can you and I be “alive” and “dead” at the same time? Before we believed and received Jesus Christ as our Savior, we were spirituallydead to God. We had no interest in spiritual things until God “regenerated,” or re-birthed, our spirit.
- EPH. 2:1- 9, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, that no one should boast.”
Regeneration is an act of the Trinity, all three play a part in it. It’s a work of the Triune God:
- John 1:13, “But as many as received Him [Jesus],to them He [Father]gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His [Jesus] name, 13 who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Regeneration is credited to the Triune God, not to us!
- The Father is the source of regeneration. James 1:17-18, “Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow. 18 In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we might be, as it were, the first fruits among His creatures.”
o It’s a goodthing to be born again isn’t it?
o The Father is the source of all goodthings.
- The Son is the vehicle through whom regeneration occurs:
o John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.”
o Romans 3:21-22, “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe;”
o Acts 16:31, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved.”
§ Jesus is the “instrument” through whom regeneration occurs.
- The Holy Spirit is the agent of regeneration:
o John 3:5-8, “Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.’”
o Titus 3:5, “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.”
So, we see that each member of the Godhead has an important part, and that’s in keeping with their being of One essence.
For the Christian, the first person of the Trinity, the Father, becomes the spiritual Father of the believer. The Greek word, “abba” means father and has a more tender connotation, more like “daddy.”
- Romans 8:15-16, “for you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”
To have Christ is to have eternal life:
- 1 John 5:12, “He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.”
The third person, the Spirit, acts as the effective, capable and qualified agent of regeneration:
- “By the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit”
What are the characteristics of regeneration?
- 1. It’s instantaneous. It’s not a long process.
· 2. The actual work of being born again (having your spirit re-birthed, made alive to the things of God), happens instantaneously, at the moment of faith in Christ.
How do we know this to be true?
- The verb tenses in the Greek text are very important!
Follow me here: it’s a little technical but stay with me.
- In John 1:13 we read, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
o Notice: “. . . who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
§ The word, “born,” in the Greek text is an aorist passive indicative. Aorist means a past action; a one-time event; a snapshot of something that already happened in the past. Passive means that you didn’t do it; someone else did it. Indicative confirms the reality of the action from the viewpoint of the person speaking.
- Being “born of God,” then, means:
o That it happened in the past as a one-time event.
o You didn’t cause the action to happen to you. God did it.
o You, as the person to whom it occurred, are affirming the reality of it by the change(s) in your life.
Another passage is John 3:3, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
- In this verse, the word “born” in the Greek text is an aorist passive subjunctive.
o Aorist, again, means that it happened one time in the past. Passive, again, means that you didn’t do it. God did. The subjunctive tense means that it may not have happened yet, but it is an absolute possibility.
o In this verse, it means, “unless one is born again,” and that is an absolute possibility.
o In this verse specifically, Jesus is saying to Nicodemus, “Nicodemus, unless you are born again, unless that possible event occurs in your life, that one time event, that regeneration that only God can do, unless that possible event occurs in your life, Nicodemus, you cannot see the kingdom of God!”
o And that is true for every human being that has ever lived with the exception of Jesus, who was sinless and did not need to have His spirit regenerated, rebirthed.
So, regeneration, being “born again,” is a one-time event in the life of every truebeliever:
- It is not a long drawn out process.
- You and I have assurance from the text that if you have believed and received Jesus Christ as Savior, your spirit has been re-born – made alive – to the things of God.
- That’s why you’re convicted when you do the things now that you used to do before, but had no conviction or struggle with conscience.
As an analogy, being born again from above is similar to being born once, from your mother’s womb:
- It only happened once, in the past. You didn’t birth yourself; you were the passive one. Mom did all the work.
- In a similar way, spiritual re-birth is a work of God. You were the recipient of the birth:
o The action was carried out on you.
o You can affirm that because you’re here; you’re alive.
- It’s the same when we’re regenerated, or born again:
o It happened one time.
o Our spirits were made alive to God. You didn’t do it.
§ But you can affirm that it happened. There’s something’s different. You’ve been changed somehow; godly things matter now.
Here’s what we’ve learned so far about regeneration:
- 1. It’s instantaneous, that is, it happens at the moment of faith.
- 2. It’s not experiential. That is to say:
o It’s not based upon some human experience. You don’t get any warm fuzzies! You don’t fall down a bark like a dog.
o It’s a reality, but its not based on “experience,” “feelings” or “emotions.”
One might argue that infants can be regenerated:
- But, even though faith is not the means of regeneration, it is a requirement, which must be met before anyone can be regenerated.
- Because infants lack the intellectual capacity to reason, they cannot be born again until such time as they grow up enough to understand the truth of the gospel.
Understanding, or experiencing, spiritual things as a part of the Christian life comes after regeneration:
- We may become aware of something being different:
o Our lifestyles and pleasures in life change. Our motivations change. That all comes after the fact of being “regenerated” or “born again” by the Holy Spirit of God.
What are the effects, or fruit, of regeneration?
- A spirit once dead to the things of God has received eternal life, which characterizes the nature of God:
o True believers have a new nature, a Divine nature. New birth brings new nature:
o 2 Cor. 5:17, “Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
- The new nature doesn’t eradicate or destroy the old nature.
- Neither is there a split personality. Each nature, the old and the new, has a capacity to live life in a certain way:
o The old nature to serve sin, Gal. 5:19-21, “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these.”
o You and I didn’t care about righteousness before being born again. We partied! We fulfilled the desires of the flesh, whatever they may have been, with great vigor.
There ought to be a change in manner of life, attitude toward God and the things of God:
- The new nature, brings the capacity to serve God and righteousness:
o Romans 6:18, “Having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”
o A true believer cares about the things that are pleasing to God, or you should!
The new nature now allows us to be controlled by the Spirit of God:
- Eph. 5:18, “and do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled[controlled] with/by the Spirit.”
- The regenerated person should walk (live) by the Spirit, be led by the Spirit and be controlled by the Spirit.
- We are not perfect, practically speaking, but we have the new capacityto please God and to grow into the image of Christ.
We have a new life:
- The new nature will bear fruit in a new life.
- 1 John 4:7, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God”:
o One fruit of this new life is love for one another, even when we’re behaving in a not so lovely fashion.
o The fruit of the Spirit is defined in Gal. 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control.”
o These fruits are evidence of a new nature, a new life, having had our spirit “regenerated” by God.
o These fruits of the new birth are a reminder that although we’re completely passive in the act of regeneration, the results of that new birth should involve every area in our lives.
Closing thoughts:
We’ve learned a lot here:
- The person who was dead spiritually and blind to spiritual truths comes to life spiritually through God’s act of regeneration.
- Just as a blind man for the first time contemplates the beauties of color and perspective when his sight is restored, so the newborn spirit contemplates the new revelations of spiritual truth.
- At the moment of regeneration, for the first time, you and I were able to understand the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit.
- You and I are now able to enjoy the intimacies of fellowship with God and freedom in prayer.
- You and I now know the joy of forgiveness for a lifetime of sinful behavior.
- You and I desire to be under control of the Holy Spirit of God.
- God’s giving of eternal life cannot be revoked.
- If God grants it, who has the power to take it away?
- We never see in Scripture someone regenerated a second time.
- Christians may lose a lot of their spiritual blessings due to sin in their lives and they may desperately need confession and restoration. However, the factof regeneration does not change, provided it was at one time genuine.
Through all our experiences in life, the truth of regeneration should be a source of constant hope and confidence:
- Phil. 1:6, “He who began a good work in you will perfect [complete]it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
If you are a born-again believer in Jesus Christ, this is God’s promise to you:
- You may trip; you may stumble; you may blow it big time, but God will never forsake you. He will love you, correct you, disciple you, and change you.
- If you’re His child, then, eventually you’ll turn back to Him in humility, confess your sins and restore your relationship with Him.
- Remember, it wasn’t God who moved away from you.
“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart” (Psalm 95:7).
By His Grace,
Gary T. Dromi, Ph.D., D.Min.
