Are you dying inside? (Part 2c2) 3

 in Bible

Dear Friends,

Last time, I presented two different ideas about regeneration (AKA being “born again”).

One idea (the popular one) says that we hear the gospel and then we can choose to be born again and go to heaven.

The other idea says that we cannot make any genuine moves or overtures toward God until HE decides to regenerate us (without any reliance on the gospel), and that all the people he regenerates will certainly go to heaven.

So, if you are interested in a person named God, if you want to get to know the Creator better, if the Bible matters to you, then get your thinking cap on! Let’s see which of these very weighty, very high-stakes ideas about regeneration meshes with the Bible better.

Bonus: I hyperlinked the outlines, so you can more easily navigate this series!

Series Outline:

Part 2 Outline:

Do you need a band-aid or a resurrection?

Like I said last time, Christians agree that the eating of the forbidden fruit caused Adam and his descendants to be messed up, and in need of help.

But, oh my goodness, it matters a lot how “messed up” you think humans naturally are.

So which is it? Are we only messed up to the point that we need the Spirit / the Bible / other Christians to coax and persuade us to make a decision for Christ? Or are we so messed up that we actually need divine power to sovereignly give us a new nature, to give us spiritual life, without our permission?

Let’s go to the Word.

The quick and the dead

No, this phrase was not invented in Hollywood 🙂

[Ephesians 2:1 KJV] And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

“Quicken” is not a common word anymore, so here is a definition (1)

“to make alive : revive“

So we were “dead”, and then we were made alive. Can we agree that when when Jesus resurrected Lazarus, Lazarus did not get to make a decision about it? Then we should be able to agree that regeneration works the same way. You need a resurrection….nothing short of that will suffice. That is how messed up we are by nature. And there are many passages that talk about the natural depravity of man, which I will not get into now.

Some might say, wait a minute, “revive” can be applied to people being woken from unconsciousness. Sure, but the verse I quoted clarifies that we were “dead”. We were not unconscious. And you should also know that later in the passage, Paul doubles down on this terminology.

[Ephesians 2:1-5 KJV] And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

Also, please notice the other descriptors he uses for our non-regenerate selves. He says “were by nature the children of wrath”. Again, that doesn’t sound to me like someone who needs some wooing.

One last note about this passage…I assume some will say “What about the faith mentioned in verse 8? Doesn’t that mean we have to use faith to get regenerated?”

[Ephesians 2:8 KJV] For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Well, I cannot go into a long discussion on this right now, but I will say this objection does not bother me at all, and here’s why, briefly. Faith is not necessarily the same thing as belief. Faith can mean something put inside of you by God, without your permission:

[Hebrews 11:1 KJV] Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

For it to be “evidence”, it seems reasonable to say it is something that originates somewhere outside the believer. If this just means belief, then I don’t see how it could be evidence of anything. Would an attorney ever say “I believe my client is innocent and said belief is evidence that he is in fact innocent”?

So where does faith come from?

[Hebrews 12:2 KJV] Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Yup…it comes from an external source. Also interesting to note that not everybody has it:

[2 Thessalonians 3:1-2 KJV] Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you: And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.

So the reason Ephesians 2:8 mentions faith is because faith is part of the regeneration package. Faith in this context is the ability to believe. It’s a freebie, like salvation from hell. But belief is not free. Oh no, my friends….belief can be very costly indeed (but it’s worth it :-))

God speaks and BOOM! Life happens

OK, one more passage to drive home this resurrection connection and then we will be done for today. Hang in there!!

[John 5:24-25 KJV] Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

Did you notice I bolded “hath”? The passage indicates that belief is a lagging indicator of regeneration (this assumes that anybody who possesses everlasting life is someone who has been regenerated….I hope we can agree on that!). Belief comes after regeneration. Belief is evidence that someone already has everlasting life! That’s why I bolded “hath”.

But anyway, notice again, like in Ephesians 2:1, regeneration is compared to a resurrection. Wondering why I believe this is not talking about the actual final resurrection? Look a few verses down:

[John 5:28-29 KJV] Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

Clearly, this pair of verses is talking about the final resurrection. He says the hour is coming, but he does not say “and now is”. But go back to the earlier passage and you will see he says “and now is”. So in that earlier passage he is talking about regeneration.

Parting thoughts

Regeneration is awesome.

No one is safe from it. No one is off limits to God.

He speaks with power, his voice gives life, he does not ask permission, and that is why regeneration is compared to a resurrection in the two passages I mentioned today.

So, let’s be more consistent with this Biblical metaphor. Just as physically dead people cannot do anything physical, spiritually dead people cannot do anything spiritual.

So, since John 3:16 talks about believing in Jesus, it is not talking about how to become born again. It’s not talking about how some one who has no spiritual life can obtain spiritual life.

John 3:16 cannot mean that dead people are supposed to “believe” anything.

Question for you, my dear friend: Have you been quickened?

God bless you.

(1) Webster’s definition of quicken

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3 thoughts on “Are you dying inside? (Part 2c2)”

    • Reply ↓
      TFOTF

      Hi Mark, thank you for your comment and question! Here are my thoughts…

      Mark:
      Wouldn’t it be better to say that the elect are saved because of it (regeneration) and made to draw near to God…

      TFOTF:
      Amen, the elect are saved in a vital sense (as opposed to the legal sense, on the cross) because of regeneration. As far as drawing near to God, yes it generally makes us draw near to God, but we are still dogged by the sin that dwells in us (Romans 7:17). We may even sinfully reject the gospel call, like the rich young ruler, and still be eternally saved and regenerated.

      Mark:
      …the non elect are off limits to God

      TFOTF:
      If you mean God is not going to change his mind about someone, and move them from the non elect to the elect category, I agree. My focus is on our time-bound perspective…we should never look at a sinner, even a heinous, unrepentant sinner, and say they are definitely going to hell and will never amount to anything. God is too big for us to limit Him like that. Only He knows 100% who is in the lamb’s book of life. Imagine what people must have said about the thief on the cross while he was sneaking around at night, stealing from people. Imagine Mary’s horror, upon hearing that thief rail on Jesus. Then, imagine her shock when he suddenly does a 180 🙂

      God bless you Mark! Thanks again.