XXV.     REGENERATION 

 

 

 

A     The difference between regeneration and conversion:

1     Regeneration is the word used by many theologians to express the work of the Holy Spirit in changing one’s heart.  They believe regeneration does not include and imply any activity by the person, but rather regeneration excludes it.  These theologians believe that the Holy Spirit first brings about a change of heart while the person is passive, what is while he is waiting to be moved by some outside influence.  This change enables that person to exercise repentance, faith, and love.  

2     To these theologians, the word conversion means that the Holy Spirit achieves the turning of the subject after regenera­tion.  They believe that conversion does not include or imply the agency of the Holy Spirit, but expresses only the involvement of the subject.  They believe that the Holy Spirit first regenerates or changes the heart, after which the sinner turns or converts himself.  Therefore, God and the subject each work in turn.  God first changes the heart, and as a result, the subject afterwards converts himself or turns to God.  Thus, the subject is passive in regeneration, but active in conversion.     

B     When we examine the theories of regeneration, we will see that the views of these theologians concerning regeneration naturally results from their belief of a constitutional moral depravity.  Until God and others correct their views on moral depravity, they will not change their views of regeneration and conversion.  

C    Why do so many view regeneration and conversion this way? 

1     The term regeneration originally expressed and implied a work on the subject by another agent.

2     We need and must adopt a word to use to express God’s Divine involvement.  

3     Most theologians attribute regeneration to the Holy Spirit.

4     Since conversion implies and expresses the activity and turning of the subject, conversion does not include and imply any influence of the Holy Spirit, and therefore does not imply or express what regeneration intends. 

5     Since both God and man are actually involved in the regeneration and conversion of a sinner, it is necessary to use words that will clearly teach this fact, and clearly distinguish between the agency of God and the subject.

6     The words, regeneration and conversion, nicely express this distinction, and therefore should be theologically used.

D    What are objections to this distinction. 

1     We can render the original term ‘gennao’, with its derivatives, (1.)  To beget.  (2.) To bear or bring forth.  (3.) To be begotten.  (4.) To be born, or brought forth.

2     In the Bible, regeneration is the same as the new birth. 

3     The way the Bible uses the phrase ‘ born again, to be born again means to have a new heart, to be a new creature, to pass from death into life.  In other words, to be born again is to have a new moral character, to become holy.  To regenerate is to make holy.  To be born of God, no doubt, expresses and includes the work of the Holy Spirit, but it also includes and expresses something that God’s Divine agency does to bring about this new birth, namely, making the sinner holy.  (Divine agency: specific power or act of God)  Certainly, a sinner is not regenerated whose moral character is unchanged.  If he were, how could the Bible say things like, whosoever is born of God overcomes the world, does not commit sin, and cannot sin?  If regeneration does not imply and include a change of moral character in the heart and life of the subject, how can God make regeneration a condition of salvation?  The fact is, the word regeneration, or being born of God, is used to primarily and principally express what is done, that is, making a sinner holy, and regeneration also expresses the fact that God’s agency influences the change.  Throw out the change of moral character that takes place within the subject and he will not be born again, he will not be regenerated, and we can’t say that God has regenerated him.

4     Some believe that regeneration really means and expresses only the work of the Holy Spirit; and, only by way of implication embraces the idea of a change of moral character and a change in the course of activity in the subject.  To this I reply:  

a     If regeneration truly expresses only the work of the Holy Spirit, it ignores the person effected by God’s Divine agency.

b     Regeneration really and fully expresses not only the work of the Holy Spirit, but also something that the Holy Spirit accomplishes.  

c      The thing, that the agency of God accomplishes, is a new or spiritual birth, a resurrection from spiritual death, the inducing of a new and holy life.  What God accomplishes is the prominent idea that the word regeneration expresses.  

d     What happens is that the subject turns.  It is silly to claim that his moral character changes without his involvement.  Passive holiness is impossi­ble.  Holiness is obedience to God’s law, the law of love, and, of course, consists in that person’s involvement.

e     I said that regeneration and a new heart is the same thing in the Bible.  But, God requires sinners to make themselves a new heart, which they could not do if they were not active in this change.  If the work is a work of God such that God must first regenerate the heart or soul before the sinner becomes involved, it would be absurd and unjust to require him to make himself a new heart, until he is first regenerated. 
     The gospel attributes regeneration to man.  The Bible wouldn’t do this if regeneration only expressed the agency of the Holy Spirit.  Paul said, “For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.”  (1 Cor. 4:15)

f        The Bible speaks of conversion as the work of someone other than the subject of it, and therefore, conversion cannot express only the activity of the subject of conversion.  

1)        Conversion is attributed to the word of God: “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;” (Psalms 19:7)

2)        Conversion is also attributed to man: “Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns (converts) a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:19-20) 

3)        In the Bible, both conversion and regeneration are sometimes attributed to God, sometimes to man, and sometimes to the subject; which clearly shows that the distinction that we are examining is arbitrary and theological, rather than biblical.  The fact is that both terms imply the simultaneous exercise of both human and divine agency.  The fact that a new heart is the result demonstrates the activity of the subject; and the word regeneration, or the expression “born of the Holy Spirit” (John 3:5), expresses God’s Divine agency.  The same is true about conversion, which describes the sinner turning to God.  The Bible says that God turns him.  But the Bible also says that he turns himself.  God draws him, and he follows.  In both regeneration and conversion, God and man are both active, and their activity is simultaneous.  God works or draws, and the sinner yields, turns, and changes his heart, or in other words, he is born again.  The sinner is dead in trespasses and sins.  God calls on him, “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light”.  (Eph. 5:14)  God calls.  The sinner hears and answers, “Here am I”.  God says, “Arise from the dead”.  The sinner makes an effort, and God draws him into life; or rather, God draws, and the sinner, like Lazarus, comes forth into life.

g     The difference between regeneration and conversion that is commonly believed today is not only not recognized in the Bible, but it can be very harmful for two reasons: 

1)        It encourages and promotes a false philosophy of depravity and regeneration.

2)        It encourages the sinner to wait for regeneration before he repents or turns to God.  It is spiritual suicide to represent the sinner as needing to wait passively for God to regenerate him before he gives himself to God. 
     Since the difference between regeneration and conversion is not only arbitrary, but also anti‑scriptural and damaging, and since this difference supports a false philosophy concerning the subject of depravity and regeneration, I will drop this distinction; and from now on, please remember that I use regeneration and conversion as meaning the same thing.  

E     What is not regeneration? 

1     Regeneration is not a change in the substance of our soul or our body.  Even if it was, God could not require sinners to change it.  A change of the physical substance of our soul or body would not constitute a change of our moral character.  The sinner does not need a physical change, because the sinner already has all the faculties and natural attributes required to render perfect obedience to God.  All he needs is enough influence to use his powers and attributes, as he should.  The words, conversion and regeneration, don’t imply any change of substance, but only a change of our moral character.  These words are not used to express a physical, but a moral change.

2     Regeneration does not express or imply the creation of any new faculties or attributes of our nature, or any change whatever in the constitution of our body or mind.

F     What is regeneration? 
     I said that regeneration and a change of heart are identical.  It is important to inquire into the scriptural use of the term heart.  Like most other words, the Bible uses this word several ways.  In the Bible, the heart not only as possesses moral character, but it is also the source of moral action.  The heart is the fountain from which all our good and evil actions flow, the source of all our holiness or sin, or, in other words, our heart is the seat of our moral character. 
     “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.  “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.”  (Matt. 15:18-19) 
     “Brood of vipers!  How can you, being evil, speak good things?  For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.”  (Matt. 12:34-35)
     When the Bible represents the heart possessing moral character, and as the fountain of good and evil:

1     The heart cannot mean the bodily organ that propels the blood.

2     The heart cannot mean the substance of the soul or mind itself: substance cannot possess moral character all by itself.

3     The heart is not any faculty or natural attribute.

4     The heart cannot consist in any constitutional taste, relish, or appetite, for these cannot have moral character all by themselves.

5     The heart is not emotions.  We saw that we cannot base moral character on emotions.  Yes, the Bible often uses the word ‘heart’ this way, but not when it suggests that the heart is the fountain of moral action.  When the Bible represents the heart as possessing moral character, the word cannot mean to designate any involuntary state of mind.  For neither the substance of our soul or body, nor any involuntary state of our mind can possess moral character all by itself.  The very idea of moral character implies the idea of a free action or intention.  To deny this would deny a first truth.

6     The word ‘heart’, when it applies to the mind, is figurative, and means something about the heart that resembles the mind or is closely related to the mind.  Knowing how the heart functions will help lead us to the true idea of the heart of the mind.  The heart pumps our blood and perpetuates organic life.  Either the heart is the fountain from which blood flows from the very depths of our being, or it is the fountain from which life or death may flow according to the condition of the blood.  We not only possess a body, a soul and a mind, but we also possess a spirit, and the Bible represents this spirit or heart as a fountain out of which flows good or evil, depending on whether the heart is good or evil.  This heart is represented, not only as the source or fountain of good and evil, but as being either good or evil all by itself, as constituting the character of man, and not merely as being capable of moral character.  The Bible says we have control over our heart.  We are responsible for our heart, and if it is wicked, we are required to change our heart under penalty of death. 
     A radical change of our heart, in the sense I am using it right now, constitutes a radical change of our moral character.  This is plain from the passages in Matthew I just read. 

7     Our own conscience, then, must tell us that our heart not only possesses these characteristics, but also possesses our supreme ultimate intention.  The Bible represents regeneration in the following ways.  Regeneration constitutes a radical change of character.  It is the resurrection from a death in sin.  It is the beginning of a new and spiritual life.  Regeneration constitutes a new creature.  It is a new creation, not a physical, but a moral or spiritual creation.  Regeneration is converting or turning to God.  It is giving God our heart.  It is loving God with all our heart and our neighbor as ourselves.  Our ultimate choice, which is the intention of our soul, determines our moral character. 
     Regeneration then is a radical change of our ultimate intention, and, of course, of our goal in life or our purpose for living.  We saw that choosing an ultimate goal in life is efficient in producing conscious decisions that seek to obtain that goal.  Therefore, a selfish ultimate choice is a wicked heart, out of which flows every evil; and a benevolent ultimate choice is a good heart, out of which flows every good and commendable deed. 
     In order to have the characteristics that the Bible attributes to it, regeneration must consist in a change in the attitude of our will, or a change in our ultimate choice, intention, or preference.  Regeneration is a change from selfishness to unselfish love, from choosing self‑gratification as our supreme goal in life, to the supreme and ultimate choice of the highest good of God and of the universe.  Regeneration is a change from a state of complete consecration to self‑gratification for its own sake, to a state of entire consecration to God, and to the interests of His kingdom as our supreme and ultimate goal in life.

G    The universal need for regeneration. 

1     Because of our moral depravity, regeneration must be a condition of salvation.  We know that moral depravity is universal among all the unregenerate moral agents of our race.  It surely is impossi­ble, that a world of unholy, selfish beings should be happy.  It is impossible that God will fill heaven with selfish beings.  We know in our hearts, that without true unselfish love or holiness no moral being can be ultimately happy.  Without regeneration, there is no way a selfish soul can be prepared either for the duties, or for the enjoyments, of heaven.

2     The scriptures clearly teach the universal need for regeneration.  “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’”  (John 3:3)             
     “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation” (Gal. 6:15)  

H    Agencies employed in regeneration.  

1     The scriptures often attribute regeneration to the Spirit of God. 
     “Jesus answered, ‘most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  Something that is born of the flesh is flesh, and something that is born of the Spirit is spirit.’”  (John 3:5-6) 
     “Who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God”?  (John 1:13)

2     The subject is active in regeneration.  Regeneration consists in the sinner changing his ultimate choice, intention, preference from selfishness to unselfish love; or, in other words, in turning from the supreme choice of self‑gratification, to the supreme love of God and the equal love of his neighbor.  Of course, the person who is being regenerated must be actively involved in the work.

3     There are generally other agents; one or more human beings may be involved in persuading the sinner to turn to Christ.  The Bible recognizes both the subject and the preacher as agents in the work.  Thus, Paul says: “I have begotten you through the gospel” (1 Cor. 4:15) 
     The Bible often uses the same word, “begotten”, that Paul uses here, in passages where it attributes regeneration to God.      

a     Peter said, “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart” (1 Peter 1:22) 
     Here, the Bible attributes the work to the person being regenerated.  Therefore, there are always two, and generally more than two, agents used to accomplish the work of regeneration.  Many theologians believe that regener­ation is the work of the Holy Spirit alone.  To prove this they quote only those passages that attribute regeneration to God.  But, I might just as well insist that it is the work of man alone, and quote only those passages that attribute it to man in order to support my position.  Or, I might claim that it is the work of the subject alone, and prove this position by quoting only those passages that attribute regeneration to the person affected by it.  Or again, I might claim that it is accomplished by the truth alone, and quote passages like James 1:18 to support my position: “Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of His creatures.”  (James 1:18)

b     Here’s one more.  “Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.”  (1 Peter 1:23)  

c      Many think that a third person is only an instrument in the work of regeneration.  But, the fact is, he is as much a willing, designing, responsible agent, as God and the subject are.  (Instrument: A means whereby something is achieved, performed, or furthered.  Man is never an instrument, but a co-agent with God, except in providential government.)

d     If we want to discover how the Bible can consistently attribute regeneration at one time to God, at another time to the subject, at another time to the truth, and still another time to a third person; we can find the answer in the nature of the work.  The work of regeneration accomplishes a willful change of choice, concerning one’s purpose in life.  This we call a change of heart.  The sinner, whose choice must change, must do something, of course.  The goal that he must choose must be, clearly and forcibly, presented to him.  This is the work of another person and the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit takes the things of Christ and reveals them to that person.  The truth must then be used as an instrument to influence a change of heart. 

I         Instruments used in the work.  

1     Truth.  From the nature of regeneration, truth must be used, because regeneration is nothing more than our will being properly influenced by truth.

2     There are often many providences and circumstances involved in enlightening our mind, stirring our souls, and inducing regeneration.

a     These are the means of presenting the truth.  Mercies, judgments, men, methods, and, in short, anything that will help to enlighten our mind, are instruments used in regeneration.
  Those who believe in a physical moral depravity must also believe in a constitutional regeneration; and, of course, consistency compels them to maintain that there is only one agent involved in regeneration, and that is the Holy Spirit, and that there no other instrument is involved.  And because the work is an act of creative power, other instruments can’t be used any more than other instruments could have been used in creating the world.  These theologians repeatedly maintain that regeneration is a miracle; that there is no tendency whatever in the gospel, no matter how well it is presented, whether it is presented by God or man, to regenerate the heart.  Dr. Griffin, in his Park Street Lectures, maintains that the gospel naturally tends to create and perpetuate an opposition to, and a hatred for God, until the Holy Spirit changes the heart.  He believes that the very nature and constitution of the carnal mind is involuntary, and that enmity against God is a part of human nature itself.  As a result, he must deny the ability of the gospel to regenerate the soul. 
     Such theologians often proclaim that there is no philosophical connection between preaching of the gospel and the regeneration of sinners.  They say that God did not design the gospel to produce that kind of result.  Instead, God designed the gospel to produce the opposite result.  The scriptures that they like to use to illustrate their views have been Ezekiel’s prophesying over the dry bones, and Christ’s restoring sight to the blind man by putting clay on his eyes.  They say that Ezekiel’s prophesying over the dry bones had no tendency to bring them to life; and the clay the Savior used was really designed to destroy rather than to restore sight.  This shows how easy it is for scholars to adopt a deadly and absurd philosophy, and then search the scriptures to isolate passages that they believe supports their theory.  What will happen if you teach that the gospel has nothing to do with regenerating the sinner?  Instead of telling him that regeneration is embracing the gospel, you tell him that he must wait, and first have his constitution recreated by God before he can possibly do anything but oppose God!  This is telling him the greatest and most abominable lie.  This mocks his intelligence.  What?  Tell the sinner that he must believe on pain of eternal death.  Tell him to embrace the gospel and to love God with all his heart, and at the same time, you tell him that he is totally helpless, and constitutionally the enemy of God and of the gospel.  Then, to top things off, you tell him that he must wait for God to regenerate his nature, before it is possible for him to do anything else but to hate God with all his heart? 

J       In regeneration, the subject is both passive and active.  

1     The fact that he is active is obvious from the very nature of the change.

2     The fact that he is passive at the same time is obvious from the fact that he acts only when he is acted on.  He is passive while he receives the truth that the Holy Spirit presents to him.  I know that this perception is not a part of regeneration, but it occurs at the same time as regeneration.  It influences regenera­tion.  It is the condition and the occasion of regeneration.  Therefore the subject of regeneration must be a passive recipient of the truth presented by the Holy Spirit, at the time that the act of regeneration takes place.  As the Holy Spirit acts on him with the truth: he is passive.  When he receives this truth, he then willfully and actively commits his heart and life to the Lord.  Many theolo­gians mistakenly represent the subject as completely passive throughout regeneration!  This immediately rids the sinner of any conviction that he must do and is responsible for doing something about it. 
     It is remarkable that the church has been maintaining this absurdity for over a thousand years.  As long as this foolish doctrine thunders from pulpits across the land, it is no surprise that sinners are not converted to God.  As long as the sinner believes this, he will not be born again.  It is impossible.  He stands and waits for God to do what God requires him to do, and which no one can do for him.  Neither God, nor any other being, can regenerate him.  If he will not turn, if he will not change his heart, it is impossible that God, or anyone else, can change him.  Oh, but sinners must wait for God to save them in His own good time!  How many times have you heard that?  Sinners who are taught to wait for God to change their hearts, and believe what they are taught, will never become regenerated unless the Holy Spirit can draw their attention away from this senseless error, and with their minds focused on the truth, influence them to close in with the offer of eternal life.  

K     What is implied in regeneration?

1     The nature of the change shows that regeneration must be instant.  It is a change of our choice, or of our intention.  This must be instant.  The preparatory work of conviction and enlightening our mind may be gradual and progressive.  But, when regeneration occurs, it must be instant.  

2     Regeneration implies a complete instant change of moral character, that is, a change from entire sinfulness to entire holiness.  We have seen that regeneration consists in a change from selfishness to unselfishness.  We have also seen that selfishness and love cannot coexist in our mind at the same time; that selfishness is a state of supreme and entire consecration to self, that true love is a state of entire and supreme consecration to God and the good of the universe.  Regeneration, then, implies a complete change of our moral character. 
     The Bible represents regeneration as dying to sin and becoming alive to God.  Death in sin is total depravity.  Dying to sin and becoming alive to God, must imply complete present holiness. 

3     The scriptures represent regeneration as the condition of salvation in such a sense that if the subject should die immediately after regeneration, and without any further change, he would go immediately to heaven.  The thief on the cross is an excellent example of this. 
     Let me say the scriptures require only perseverance in one’s first love as the condition of salvation, in case the regenerate soul should live a long time in this world after regeneration. 

4     When the scriptures require us to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, this does not imply that there is sin remaining in our heart that we must put away by degrees.  But, the spirit of the requirement is that we should acquire as much knowledge as we can of our moral relationships, and continue to conform to all truth as soon as we understand it.  This, and nothing else, is implied in abiding in our first love, abiding in Christ, or living and walking in the Spirit.