1038. Regeneration

Welcome to The Daily Platform from Bob Jones University series entitled Breath of Life, which is a study on the Holy Spirit. We affirmed a statement already today, and I want you to think about it for a minute, so I intentionally put it in the title, The New Birth Through the Regeneration by the Holy Spirit.

What exactly does that mean? Think with me for just a moment about the breath of God. God speaks. That doesn't seem like that's the big deal to us, right?

It doesn't seem like it's that shocking a thing. If there are a couple of things that I could leave you with today, they would be this. One, I want to leave you in further amazement of who your God is. Secondly, I want you to understand and rejoice in the goodness of God in working in your life. See, God speaking alone is amazing. The self-revelation of God is amazing. If God does not self-reveal, we could never know Him. So think a little bit for a moment. You know it well. Genesis 1, In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, and the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Dr. Ormiston dealt with that some last week. Verse 3, God said, let there be light. The psalmist says it this way, Psalm 33, By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. God breathed and out of nothing came all that is. God spoke and made everything. The breath of God. When did God breathe again? 2 Timothy 3 and 16 says this, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.

Dr. Ormiston touched on that too. It is a God-breathed product. You know it well, then Hebrews 4 adds this, 4 and verse 12, For the word of God is quick, or it is living.

God breathed, and His word became a living book. There are times that we, I think, as we discuss something like regeneration, we kind of conflate in our minds ideas like agency and means. We wrestle with something like regeneration, one, understanding what it is, and we'll do a little of that, but then we really wrestle with how does it work? And because of the fact that we are created and then impacted by the fact that we are fallen, we tend to be egocentric. We see everything from our perspective. So what did I do to bring about regeneration? Like I have to find that place, there's something on my side.

And so we wrestle, right? And so there's this idea of agency, that God, we talked about, regenerates us by the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit regenerates us. That is true. But is that all there is? Does He use something? What are the means?

Because if we don't deal with some of that, we can tend to think, well, it's just me, and one day I was walking down the street, and I'm in this vacuum, and wham bam, there it was, I was regenerated. So imagine, I take my daughter, drop her off at school, most mornings. We get instructions about what's happening after school. My wife says to her, hey, by the way, dad is going to pick you up and bring you home after school.

So stop for a minute. What do you think is going on in my daughter's mind? Think about it this way, if after school I ran down to the academy, waited at the curb, my daughter came out, I scooped her up, and started running for Paris Mountain. Do you think that she would think that was a little odd? When my wife said to her, dad will pick you up after school and bring you home, I guarantee you, there's not in my 10th grader's mind any thought that I would be picking her up physically off the ground and carrying her up to Paris Mountain where we live. She had expected that a car was going to pull up, she'll open the door, and she'll get in.

So yes, I am the agency of picking her up, but the means is my car. So we have to keep some of that straight in our minds. So as we talk about regeneration, I want to look for just a minute at some understandings, okay? So what is regeneration?

Because I think there are some things there that we need to make sure we have straight. So consider with me, if you would, some stated definitions. And just quickly, some things that some theologians have said, I looked at a bunch of them, but there's a common theme. And so A.H. Strong said this, regeneration is that act of God by which the governing disposition of the soul, my heart, is made holy and by which through the truth as a means, the first holy exercise of this disposition is secured. And so the truth impacts me in such a way that that's part of what is happening in me in regeneration. Wayne Grudem added this, regeneration is a secret act of God, so it's something God is doing in which he imparts new spiritual life to us. Schaeffer said it this way, regeneration is the partaking of the divine nature by the impartation of the very life of God. The receiving of the divine nature means that the individual, thus blessed, has been born of God. Finally, Birkhoff adds, regeneration consists in the implanting of the principle of the new spiritual life in man, in a radical change of the governing disposition of the soul. It changes me, which under the influence of the Holy Spirit, gives birth to a life that moves in a God-ward direction.

In principle, this change affects the whole man, the intellect, the will, and the feelings or emotions. When I take all of these definitions and I put them together, there's something that I think we need to grasp, and that is this. Regeneration is the giving of new life.

So just quickly, what that means is this. It's not that somehow there's already a divine spark in you, there's something already there, and somehow God blows on it and brings it into a flame, or God fans something in you. And so I want you to think that it is the imparting of divine life in the one who has regenerated. It is new life.

That is really important for us to keep in mind. So then, let's talk about some scriptural descriptions. Some scriptural descriptions. The actual word regeneration is only found twice in the New Testament. One of them describes a culture, if you will, Matthew 19, 28, when Jesus was talking to his disciples. He said, that ye which have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye shall also sit upon twelve thrones. I believe there are theological implications of what regeneration means that connects to that, but he's not talking about, in a sense, what we are actually talking about. The other is found in Titus chapter 3. Paul is writing, and he describes men this way, Titus 3 and verse 3, for we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another, but after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior. Speaking of the idea of new life, the imparting of new life, this passage is dealing with salvation.

It's soteriological in nature. It's the only place that I find that regeneration specifically is used to talk of that, but regeneration is found throughout the whole of the New Testament. But for us to understand it, God often gives us word pictures, and so it's found in a lot of what we would call metaphors, descriptive pictures that help us to understand.

You know many of them. One of them is a birthing metaphor. So we use the language, it's New Testament language, of being born again, being born again. John 1-13, which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 1 John 3-9, whoever is born of God does not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. 1 Peter 1-3, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. John 3-3, Jesus answered and said unto him, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

James said it this way, James 1-18, of his own will begat he us with the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. God does an amazing, miraculous, initial first work that imparts divine life in people. We can understand it as a birthing metaphor, being born, coming to life. A second metaphor is a creation metaphor.

Before it, there was not. 2 Corinthians 5-17, therefore of a man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Ephesians 2-10, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works.

Ephesians 4-24, and that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Why should I stand in awe of God and why should I rejoice at the goodness of God? Because God does a work that if he doesn't do, we are hopeless. It is not something that I can fan the flame. It's not a means of me working my way up. It's not something if I could just do enough good works, if I could just be religious enough, then I could.

It doesn't start with you. God does a miraculous work that he wants us somehow to understand and stand in awe of him. And if the picture is somehow birth and that helps me get it, that's what God wants me to get. If it's creation, that there was nothing and God breathed and he brought everything, that he describes this working that he does in our life as a creation, there is something now new. There's also a resurrection metaphor. He talks about a new heart, a new spirit, a new being, a spirit within people.

John 5, 25, 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. And so Ephesians 2 builds off of that metaphor about being dead and coming to life so we would understand regeneration. So quickly then, I want us to consider the details of regeneration.

The details of regeneration for us, if you're like me, you start to think about and you want the mechanics. How does God do that? You know what, think about where we started with creation. Don't you want to know the mechanics of how God created? I mean, he spoke, he breathed and it all came in. I want to know the mechanics, like how did you begin to even form an atom?

How did you put the piece? God doesn't tell us any of that. And if your mind's like mine, there are things that frustrate me about because I want to know, but you know when I get there and I don't know, I by faith say, God did it. Isn't he awesome?

And isn't he good? If you're sitting here today thinking, man, in the next 10 minutes, Mr. Benson's going to give us the mechanics of regeneration, I am sorry to disappoint you. But there are some details of regeneration that ought to make us stand in awe. And so first of all, I want you to see the condition of man.

Man's condition prior to regeneration. Romans 8, 7 says, because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Enmity against God.

We don't have the time, I won't take the time, but go back and in light of this at some point read in detail Romans chapter 1 and listen to the things that are said about where man is before God acts. Paul writing, describing men in general says that they were vain, empty in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened. He says they became fools.

God gave them up to uncleanness. He describes men as those who have changed the truth into a lie. That God gave them up unto vile affections. That God gave them over to a reprobate mind. He describes them this way, being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whispers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents.

He says they are without understanding. In all the descriptions that the scriptures give us of where we start in the equation of regeneration, the scriptures make it abundantly clear. There isn't a way from there to life on our own. One of those sobering statements as I was studying for this message that I read again was the description of man and that the scriptures describe him as being without hope. That's tough. And without God in the world.

What a statement. What's man's condition before God regenerates him? We're without God. We're without understanding.

We're filled with vain imaginations. And we're at enmity with God. Describing the world in the days of Noah, you know it well. God saw Genesis 6-5 that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And so we come to Ephesians chapter 2.

And we capture where man was. Listen to what Paul writes. And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins wherein in time past you walked according to the course of the 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, our lifestyle, the way we lived in times past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. And we're by nature, our very nature, the natural thing for us, 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. Young people, if you're sitting here today and you are saved and somehow in your experience you do what we all do, right? This is just who I am and this is just the way I live and this is the way I think and these are the things I do and somehow, somehow even in our salvation, familiarity tends to breed contempt.

It's just kind of the way I live. Hear me young person, if you live with a sensitivity to what God is doing in your life, if you live with an understanding of truth that looks like choices that you are making, stop today and realize you only do that because God in his mercy made you alive. Don't take your relationship with God for granted. He regenerated you.

You were dead. So contemplate the compassionate work of God in regeneration and understand some things. One, God is the author. John 1-13, which were born not of blood nor of the will of flesh nor of the will of man but of God.

God made you alive. The Holy Spirit is the agency. Reminded of that in John 3 where Christ, talking with Nicodemus, describes the work of being born again and he says that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. And he talks about the work of the Spirit. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit.

God regenerates us by the breath of God, the breath of life, the Spirit of God. But then understand that the Word is the apparatus. God is the author, the Spirit is the agency and the Word is the apparatus. Think for a minute about Lydia in Philippi.

Acts 16 says, And a certain woman named Lydia, seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshiped God, heard us, whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. There was an actual apparatus, the Word of God. 1 Peter 1 22 says this, Seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit, unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that you love one another with a pure heart fervently, being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.

John 15 3, Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. And James 1 reminds us that God uses the apparatus of the Word. I find in every passage, in a broader context that deals with this idea of being born or being resurrected, the imagery of regeneration that God always has present there, the blood of Christ and the Word of God.

Those are the apparatus. As I close, I want to bring this to a point of application by talking about what we know to be the evidences of regeneration. We struggle, don't we? God did that, how do I know I'm born again? Am I really born again? Number one is active belief that Jesus is the Christ. Active belief that Jesus is the Christ.

1 John 5 1, Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone that loveth him that begat loveth him also is begotten of God. The words that are used there to believe is active. It is a present active indicative. It's an abiding state of belief. It's active belief. Born of there is a perfect passive.

It means has been born. So the active belief is the evidence of the fact that I have been born or I am regenerated. It is active belief.

Continuing to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Redeemer, the Messiah is evidence that you have been regenerated. The second is active righteousness. 1 John 2 29, If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone that doeth righteousness is born of him.

The same thing is true. The doing of the righteousness there is a present active participle. It is the one that is doing righteousness.

It's an abiding state of doing righteousness. Is born, again, a perfect passive, has been born. It is evident. So a question, does that mean I ever doubt? Do I ever doubt I'm not saved? No, that's not what it's saying.

It is active. I'm persisting in believing. Does it mean that if I ever sin, I'm not saved? No, it is not that I've sinned. It is that I'm staying active in doing righteousness.

There's a pattern. But then there's a third thing and that is aggressive resistance to sinning. 1 John 5 18, We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not, but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one touches him not. 1 John 3 9, Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God.

And the same usage of the language is there. So I'm actively resisting sin. What should I do with that? Three things and I'm done. One, honor the word of God. I'm a believer. I'm born again. God uses the agency of the word of God to bring me to that. Honor the word of God. Maybe you're here today and the word has been preached and right now you are feeling conviction. I'm not sure I'm saved.

Listen to God. Secondly, evidence who you are. Evidence who you are.

How do I do that? I pursue righteousness actively. I actively build my faith. I know that I'm born again if I actively believe that Jesus is the Christ.

So what am I going to do with that? I'm going to actively pursue Christ. Because the evidence is who I am in Christ. Today as we leave chapel, I hope that you will stop for a minute and say, God, you did something I could never do. Thank you.

I'm your child. Secondly, that you'll rejoice in the goodness of God and that that will drive you to pursue Him by living like Him in righteousness and knowing Him better so you can believe better. Father, thank you for the gift of eternal life by the grace of God, and through the regeneration by the Holy Spirit. If there's someone here who doesn't know you, oh God, I pray today, would you save them? In Jesus' name.

Amen. You've been listening to a sermon preached by Dr. Alan Benson, Vice President for Student Development and Discipleship at Bob Jones University. Today we have Dr. Eric Newton from the Bob Jones University Seminary with us. Eric, Dr. Benson touched on God's goodness in today's message, and I know you wanted to share a little more about that for our listeners.

Yes, David. One of the verses that comes to mind is 1 Peter 1.23, where it says that, Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God which liveth and abideth forever. This verse tells us that the breath of life in us – regeneration – which Dr. Benson preached on comes through the breath of the word of God, and it's a living and abiding word. You know, life is frail for us, and there's a lot of pressure.

Maybe particularly right now, we're feeling a lot of pressure and frailty. But the great contrast in these verses at the end of 1 Peter 1 is that the word of the Lord remains forever. And so therefore, even though we are frail and pressured and sinful, we can have every confidence in life above because the seed by which we came to life doesn't pass away.

The grass that we're hopefully growing right now in our backyards, that's going to die. But what we have through regeneration is imperishable. It's eternal because it's from an eternal word of God. And so that's what the Holy Spirit has breathed out. He exhales these enduring words, these eternal words, and through those words, he breathes life into sinners like us. So it's no wonder that Jesus said in the Gospels, actually quoting Deuteronomy, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. That's our life. That's the goodness of God in giving us this kind of eternal life in Christ that will not fade or rust or be corrupted or ever perish. Well, thanks, Eric, for sharing those thoughts, and we hope these messages will be an encouragement as we explore the power of the Holy Spirit in this series called, Breath of Life. Join us again tomorrow here on The Daily Platform.