It is the greatest miracle in the universe that sinners are made sons of God through regeneration. It was no mere coincidence that I was present at 3314 I Street in the city of Philadelphia on December 25, 1927, the day I was saved. Regeneration is in a sense a repetition of that which took place in the first man, Adam; however, the processes are different. By union with Christ, believers experience the application of what Christ accomplished in His life, death, and resurrection. Sprouls new book on the hard sayings of Scripture. The natural man is dead in trespasses and sins . A religion that has none of the miraculous or supernaturalism is easier to accept than one that demands supernaturalism. The renovation of the earth after the deluge. All three Persons in the Holy Trinity are active in the justification of sinners. On one occasion I gave to my class in a Bible College the assignment to write a definition of Sanctification. In our day of scientific advance, miracles are to some an obstacle to faith. When a man is justified by faith, good works are sure to follow. The effects of Regeneration are nothing short of miraculous because there is no power within man that can produce them. 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. Positional Sanctification takes place at the time of Regeneration. That He (God) might be just, and the Justifier of him who believeth in Jesus (Romans 3:26). This was always recognized as impossible to mere human endeavor. 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. God has but one way of saving people. Whereupon the pastor advised her to go to the bank and withdraw the necessary money from the boys savings account. This is why people are not being born again in churches where the Word of God is not preached and taught. 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. But are they? Remember, we could never open the way nor introduce ourselves to God. He writes, Of His own will begat He us with the Word of truth (James 1:18). There He vindicated His Holy Law and at the same time showed mercy to sinners. What Every Christian Should Know about the Protestant Reformation. The worth of His shed Blood is the righteous ground on which the grace of God can act in behalf of sinners. Moreover, I do not want to bring thunder and lightning crashing down upon my own head. He says, . For instance, the book of Acts recounts the regeneration of Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9:19; 22:611; 26:1218), Lydia (16:14), and many others. One further thought. Dr. Kenneth S. Wuest said, God is the objective standard which determines the content and meaning, and at the same time keeps that content of meaning constant and unchanging, since He only is the unchanging One. A just person is one who has been declared righteous by God. (See Hebrews 6:4-6). In the Fathers plan for the Son we see the principle of Preparatory Sanctification. This word literally means a "new birth." What a theme! . But since all are guilty and deserving of judgment, how can He save those whom He loves? THE BIBLICAL DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION. The doctrine of Sanctification is doubtless one of the most misunderstood doctrines of our historic Christian faith. Pauls summary of his argument of this great truth lists the blessings which accompany it. It is God that justifieth (Romans 8:33). WebLearn what Regeneration means and it's Biblical definition including verses and verse references on the topic of Regeneration using Bakers Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical These results of justification by faith are given to us in Romans, chapter 5. Paul then distinctly teaches that thus is a new life in store for those who have been spiritually dead. . Some weeks before my acceptance of Jesus Christ I passed through a real struggle, restless and troubled because of a sense of guilt. The New Birth produces some glorious effects in the believers life. Only the high priest could come before the Divine Presence, and that only once each year, and not without blood. The answer is to declare His righteousness. You see, God could not remain just and at the same time allow sin to go unpunished. Quench not the Spirit (I Thessalonians 5:15), and Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God (Ephesians 4:30), and your life will be blessed. (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. holiness (Hebrews 12:14), that is, pursue it, press on after it. On account of our offenses He died, and on account of our justification He arose, the latter being the ratifying counterpart of the former, the confirmation of the completeness and satisfaction of the atonement. The idea of a second birth of the believers is clearly suggested in the expression, "newborn babes" (1Peter 2:2), and in the explicit statement of 1Peter 1:23: "having been begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which liveth and abideth." The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9). . . Paul says that forgiveness and justification are made possible through Jesus Christ, but he makes it clear that the two are not identical. In the Red Sea, God was delivering Israel while destroying His enemies in the waters. Indeed this is a special kind of glory, even the perfection of our Lord Jesus Christ. And I am convinced that my own conversion and call to the ministry were of Gods choosing and not mine. It is the time of the earths regeneration, the new order about which the prophets wrote, when Jehovah will set His King upon His holy hill of Zion (Psalm 2:6), And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more (Isaiah 2:4; Micah 4:3). WebRegeneration then, may be defined as an act of God whereby He bestows upon the believing sinner new life. Her boy had not earned the money. "It is no longer I that live," he exclaims, "but Christ liveth in me: and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me" (Galatians 2:20). In teaching this, they deny the Bibles teaching about the inability of man to believe in Christ by nature. . 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.. Sanctification is used with reference to God. The tribunal of Heaven differs from all earthly tribunals. Positional Sanctification is not a second work of grace to be sought subsequent to the experience of Regeneration. In Acts 20:21, repentance is defined as turning from sin and turning to God. But it is no sin to be tempted. Before our sins were put away, we had absolutely no right of approach to God. Regeneration then, may be defined as an act of God whereby He bestows upon the believing sinner new life. It is the first action of the regenerate soul in moving from something to something. Regeneration precedes and produces conversion. We know that our Lord Jesus Christ was sinless and therefore free from all moral impurity, and yet He prayed, And for their sakes, I sanctify myself . translations in the Geneva Bible, King James Version, and American Standard Version). Accordingly, Rome teaches that regeneration is conferred to individuals in the sacrament of baptism _ex opere operato _(through the work performed). The work of regeneration is further illustrated in Ezekiels vision of the dry bones (Ezek. Justification can be defined as that act of God whereby He declares absolutely righteous any and all who take shelter in the blood of Christ as their only hope for salvation. However, we who are His children are wrong when we use His sovereignty as an excuse for our sinful unwillingness to carry out our responsibility. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (I Thessalonians 5:23). In John 3:8, Jesus teaches that regeneration is the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit who produces new hearts in the elect. This is Positional Sanctification, and it is the portion of every regenerated person. 2:1). (John 7:37-39). All Christian parents would bestow eternal life on their offspring if they could, but they cannot. In other words, when God called us it was with the view that we should obtain the glorified state. Paul says, Do not depend on your good works to justify you. James says, Do not neglect to perform good works if you are justified. Both are right. In the remainder of chapter 2, verses 17-29, the Apostle strips the Jew of every vestige of the cloak of self-righteousness, so that when we reach chapter 3, verse 19, Gods startling verdict is Guilty! Every mouth is stopped and all the world is accused before Him. (5) Regeneration, being a new birth, is the starting-point of spiritual growth. For by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified (Hebrews 10:14). Tis everlasting peace, Sure as Jehovahs name;Tis stable as His steadfast throne, For evermore the same. The mass of the people of Israel are therefore as yet scarcely aware of the fact that the conditions on which these divine promises are to be attained are more than ceremonial and ritual ones. He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, Who hath also given unto us His Holy Spirit (I Thessalonians 4:8). Inasmuch as our Lord said, Ye must be born again, you better believe it! The preparatory work has been going on for some time according to Divine plan, but now that work becomes effective in the life of the individual person. the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Titus 3:5 (AV). As to the nature of the change, it consists in the implanting of a new principle or disposition in the soul; the impartation of spiritual life to those who are by nature "dead in trespasses and sins.". Preparatory and Positional Sanctification are entirely the work of the Triune God, but in the matter of our Practical Sanctification there is that element of human responsibility. (7) Recent philosophy expressive of the reaction from the mechanical view of bare materialism, and also from the depreciation of personality as seen in socialism, has again brought into prominence the reality and need of personal life. Praise God! 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. As God is pure and sinless, none but the pure in heart can see God (Matthew 5:8). What is in view here is the perfect Sanctification of the whole man, the time of its accomplishment, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the fact that God Himself will bring it to pass, for Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it (verse 24). By regeneration we become "an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession" in whom divine virtues, "the excellencies of him who called you" (1Peter 2:9), are manifested. . The opening statement in the Bible says, In the beginning God created . The moment of the Spirits regenerating work in me climaxed His work of Positional Sanctification. Thus the latest development of idealistic philosophy corroborates in a remarkable way the Christian truth of regeneration. There is never any danger of Christians not becoming perfectly Sanctified. Men change in their thinking. Repurchase of captured goods or prisoners; the act of procuring the deliverance of persons or things from the possession and power of captors by the payment of an equivalent; ransom; release; as the redemption of prisoners taken in war; the redemption of a ship and cargo. Perfect (or ultimate) Sanctification is that aspect of Sanctification related to the final perfection of the children of God. In general this is still the opinion of pronounced sacrmentarians, while evangelical Christianity has gone back to the teaching of the New Testament. II. The Spirit regenerates. . Justification is a legal term which changes the believing sinners standing before God, declaring him acquitted and accepted by God, with the guilt and penalty of his sins put away forever. Paul wrote this to those who were boasting that the Law was given to them. Since only God possesses creative power, He alone can impart life where there is no life. The waters of baptism symbolize the washing and renewal of the Holy Spirit. An interesting passage in the book of Isaiah shows that men can sanctify themselves (set themselves apart) to do evil. Let us look now at the work of the Holy Spirit in the believers Positional Sanctification. Godly sorrow is what leads to repentance. But our present hope and future glory are not jeopardized by tribulation. Grace has dug a foundation so deep that men have been drinking from its cleansing, justifying stream for centuries. And such were some of you; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God (I Corinthians 6:11). The source of justification must be in the one holy and righteous God. Both were inspired by the Holy Spirit, therefore both are correct. There is a mystery attached to both. To the child of God who reads and studies the Bible, it becomes a cleansing, sanctifying power in life. Here we see all three Persons in the Godhead active in Sanctification. Spiritual life, as Professor Eucken says, can be implanted in man by some superior power only and must constantly be sustained by superior life. Water is also used in the Bible as an emblem of the Word of God, and in such uses it is associated with cleansing or washing, not drinking. We have here a new creation as against the old creation. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God (Romans 8:14). Both have reference to justification before men. The behavior of some of the Christians at Corinth was anything but commendable. 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. WebTo be "born again" or "regenerated" is to start a new spiritual life, one that is from God rather than from a human parent. Though conversion and regeneration, in real-time, appear to With our New Birth we received a new power and pattern for living. The verb sanctified means set apart, and the corresponding noun saints are those persons who have been set apart, the set-apart ones. In the Old Testament, God promised this work of grace through the prophet Ezekiel: I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. We read, And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. This baptizing work of the Holy Spirit is synonymous with Positional Sanctification. The Pharisees made open and loud professions before men, but their hearts were full of covetousness. Other passages affirm this teaching. If a man is not guilty, no act or declaration of justification is needed. How does one pursue Sanctification? Do not misunderstand Paul. Abraham was justified, not by rites of religion, for circumcision was not required until later, nor by the deeds of the law, for the law was not yet given, but through faith in Gods Word. Justification cannot be on arbitrary grounds. The Scriptures do not teach that Sanctification is the improvement of the unregenerate nature, nor that it is the eradication of that nature thereby rendering it impossible for a child of God to commit sin. Let us put it another way--the only righteous basis for our justification has been provided through the death of Christ. The devils (demons) also believe, and tremble (James 2:19), but such mere belief cannot save one. . Dr. Chafer said, Even if Sanctification were limited to the field of human experience, there would never be an experience that could be proven to be its perfect example, nor would any human statement of that experience exactly describe the full measure of the divine reality. There must be a moral basis for a holy God to justify a sinful man. Immature Christians are spoken of (as were the proselytes of the Old Testament) as babies, who were to grow to the stature, character and knowledge of "full-grown men" (5:13,14). The Letter is addressed unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints . The English word regeneration is the translation of palingenesia, from palin (again) and genesis (birth). Most assuredly does the work of Sanctification in the believer involve victory over sin in his daily life. Let us turn to the Scriptures for the answer. . Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (II Corinthians 7:1). Now the New Birth does not eradicate the old nature, but it does give new life to control it. In Pauls day, and later in the days of the Protestant Reformation, and in our own day, it would be difficult to find a truth more cardinal to our historic Christian faith than the doctrine of Justification. The Galatians must know that he was no self-styled, self-appointed apostle, but rather divinely set apart. The mere professor is easily moved by tribulation (Matthew 13:21), but in the justified, tribulation works a positive good.
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