Regeneration
Regeneration
is a picture word. It means 2nd birth. It denotes a new beginning of
life. That’s why the Bible uses as illustrations ideas such as resurrection
from the dead, creation, and birth. Before looking at these ideas, I’d like to
give a brief, succinct definition of the word. “Regeneration is that
supernatural act of God, whereby a new and divine life is infused into the
person spiritually dead, and that from the incorruptible seed of God, made
fruitful by the infinite power of the Spirit.”
We
must begin by realizing that we are all dead in Adam. This is what we are
taught in 1 Corinthians 15:22* and Ephesians 2:1. This means, first
of all, we are separated from God – the life of our life, or the language of
Paul, “alienated from the life of God.” (Ephesians 4:18) secondly, we are
spiritually insensible to all spiritual things and destitute of all true
feeling. We are unaware that we are heavily laden because we are in our element
in sin (Ephesians 4:19). Therefore we have no relish or desire for truly
spiritual and heavenly things. Thirdly, we are incapable of any act of true
life. Acknowledging as Scripture does, that we are dead in sins and trespasses
prior to regeneration, it should go without saying that we are incapable of any
act of true life – in the words of Paul “not sufficient of ourselves to think
anything as of ourselves” (2 Corinthians 3:5).
*in
Adam all—in union of nature with Adam, as representative head of mankind in
their fall.
in
Christ … all—in union of nature with Christ, the representative head of mankind
in their recovery. The life brought in by Christ is co-extensive with the death
brought in by Adam.
As
J.I. Packer notes in his book 18 Words, it is our Lord’s conversation
with Nicodemus that provides us with a theology of regeneration in crystallized
form. John 3:3-8 is crucial to a biblical understanding of the doctrine of
regeneration. From Christ’s teaching we can extract for major components of the
doctrine of Regeneration. They are as follows: (1) The Source of the New Birth;
(2) The Nature of the New Birth; (3) The Necessity of the New Birth; (4) The
Method of the New Birth.
We
will look at these 4 points in turn. First of all we have the source of the new
birth. Jesus’ own words are, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born
again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” If you have ever done any word studies
on this verse, you will know that the word rendered “again” is purposely
ambiguous in the Greek, and can be translated either “again” or “from above.”
Unlike your first birth, rebirth is a vertical matter. It comes from above.
What does that even mean? The obvious answer to that question is that
regeneration is supernatural, as opposed to natural. It is something
miraculous; it is something heavenly. It is not commonplace or biological.
You’ll remember that later in that conversation Jesus says, “if I have told you
earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you
heavenly things?” Regeneration is a heavenly thing. In order to express
something supernatural in language that man can understand, i.e. a metaphor,
Christ chose the image of birth to communicate something divine to man’s finite
mind . The moral of the lesson is this: God is the source of the new birth. We
are told in James 1:17 that every good and perfect gift is from above and comes
down from the Father of lights. Every blessing, whether it be spiritual or
physical in nature, comes from above, comes from the hand of God. Regeneration
is no exception. Salvation in all of its constituent parts is God’s work. As we
are told in Jonah 2:9, “Salvation belongs to the Lord.”
Because
regeneration is a miracle, a new birth, a new creation, a resurrection from the
dead, only God can regenerate. “God has saved us and called us with a holy
calling not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace
which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (2 Timothy 1:9).
This verse is Paul’s version of Psalm 100:3, “is he that has made us and not we
ourselves.” In the prologue of his gospel, John argues the same way. He says,
“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to
become the children of God, who were born, not of the will of flesh nor of the
will of man, but of God.” The new birth is not the product of human lineage,
nor is it the result of human relationship, nor is it the result of a human
decision. Man is born, “of God.” The preposition “of” denotes the source or
origin. People are not again, people are not regenerated as a result of
something they do, but solely on the basis of God’s will and power.
(2)
The Nature of the New Birth
What
then, is the nature of the new birth? Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be
born when he is old? Can he enter a 2nd time into his mother’s womb
and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born
of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born
of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
Nicodemus was puzzled by the nature of the new birth. It is obvious by his
question that he is thinking of regeneration in terms of the birth process.
Jesus uses a word (gennao) that refers to the concept of generational descent.
In other words, Jesus is not focusing on the experience of birth but on the
fact that the father’s nature is passed on to his child. What happens in a new
birth? What kind of birth is it? It is a birth in which the divine nature is
imparted into the soul. Jesus said that your first birth reproduced in you the
nature of your parents. That is what is meant by the words “that which is born
of the flesh is flesh.” The 2nd birth, i.e. Regeneration implants
within you the divine nature. That is what is meant by the words “and that
which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” In the same way that children possess
the nature of their parents, God’s children possess a new nature, is a
spiritual and divine nature which they are given when they are born again. It
is clear then from this argument that regeneration is something supernatural.
It is something which only the Holy Spirit can do in the nature of the human
heart.
Our
regeneration and communion with Christ consists in conformity with these two
public acts of Christ: in a mortification of the body of sin in conformity to
His death – a putting to death of the “body of sin;” in conformity to His
resurrection, a “newness of life,” by quickening grace.
(3) The Necessity of the New Birth
“Do
not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” Regeneration is
necessary because people are born in Original Sin, by nature totally depraved.
No one can be saved without the new birth. The Greek word Δεῖ, translated
“must,” signifies logical necessity. By using such a strong term Jesus is
indicating that regeneration is essential, imperative, absolutely necessary for
salvation. Notice that Jesus does not tell Nicodemus to do anything in order to
be born again. “You must be born again” is simply a statement of fact. It is
not a command. It is what theologians call and indicative, or declarative
sentence. It is not an imperative sentence. We can easily summarize the whole
passage like this: Regeneration is not something that any man can do, because
flash can only produce flesh. It is a work of God’s Spirit, like the wind blows
when and where he pleases. Jesus is saying to Nicodemus, “Regeneration is a
necessity, but neither you nor anyone other man can cause the happen, even if
you could think of the way to return to your mother’s womb. Only God can
perform this work.”
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