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Many people erroneously believe that regeneration precedes faith. This is a false doctrine of 5 point Calvinism. The reasoning is that since the unbeliever is spiritually dead and cannot understand spiritual phenomenon (and that is true), that a person must be regenerated by God the Holy Spirit before he can understand and believe the Gospel. And that is false. Regeneration is synonymous with being born again. To say that regeneration must occur before a person can believe the Gospel, is to ignore and deny the fact that the purpose of the Gospel message is to bring the unbeliever to the point where he can place his faith in Christ for salvation. Romans 10:14-17 says, 'How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? [15]And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ''HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GLAD TIDINGS OF GOOD THINGS!'' [16] However, they did not all heed the glad tidings; for Isaiah says, ''LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?'' [17] So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. But I say, surely they have never heard, have they? Indeed they have; ''THEIR VOICE HAS GONE OUT INTO ALL THE EARTH, AND THIER WORDS TO THE ENDS OF THE WORLD.''
[God calls the unbeliever through the Gospel message. 2 Thess. 2:13 'But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning (based on His omniscience, God knew in eternity past who would place their faith in Christ and so decreed that their decision to believe in Christ would certainly take place. The decree did not cause the person to make the decision, it simply took cognizance of the fact that the decision would be made and therefore guaranteed that the decision would take place.) for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. [14] And it was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Though man is born spiritually dead and unable to save himself or initiate salvation, God has taken the initiative and made Himself known to man. First through creation itself, (Romans 1:18-20), and through the Gospel message. God has made Himself known, and has made salvation available to man. It then becomes man's responsibility to make a decision based on the Gospel message, to either place his faith, his trust in Christ to provide that salvation, or to reject the Gospel message and therefore reject Christ and remain spiritually dead.
The Bible is clear that faith precedes, and is necessary to be born again (regenerated). 'Believe (have faith) in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved (born again, regenerated)...' Acts 16:31. And again, the Bible says, 'For by grace you have been saved (born again, regenerated) through faith ; and that (salvation, not faith) is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast' Eph 2:8-9.
The word 'regeneration' is synonymous with being born again. The word comes from the Greek 'Palingenesias. Strong's number G3824. Palingenesias' comes from 'palin' which means 'again', and 'genesis' which means 'birth, origin, life'. It means to be born again and refers to receiving eternal life which is imputed by God to the human spirit which is created by The Holy Spirit and placed in the one who believes in Christ for salvation.
In the common grace ministry of God the Holy Spirit, He takes up the slack for the missing human spirit of the spiritually dead unbeliever to whom the Gospel is being presented and makes it perspicacious to him. If the hearer places his faith in Christ as a result of Gospel hearing, then the Holy Spirit takes that faith and carries it to the point of salvation. He makes the faith effective for salvation. There is no merit in the faith. The merit is the object of faith, which in salvation, is Jesus Christ.
Eternal salvation requires being born again - regenerated, and is always through faith in Christ, and faith in Christ comes though the Gospel message, the means by which God calls man.
1 Peter 1:23 'for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God (the Gospel) [24] For,
''ALL FLESH IS LIKE GRASS,
AND ALL ITS GLORY LIKE THE FLOWER OF GRASS,
THE GRASS WITHERS,
AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF,
[25] BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ABIDES FOREVER.''
And this is the word which was preached to you.
John 3:36 - And he who believes in (has faith in, clings to, relies on) the Son of God has (now possesses) eternal life.
But whoever disobeys (is unbelieving toward, refuses to trust in, disregards, is not subject to) the Son of God will never obtain (never experience) eternal life, and [instead] the wrath of God abides on him forever.
[God's displeasure remains on him; God's indignation hangs over him continually.]
Amplified Bible (AMP)
The reasoning is that since the unbeliever is spiritually dead and cannot understand spiritual phenomenon (and that is true), that a person must be regenerated by God the Holy Spirit before he can understand and believe the Gospel. And that is false.
'How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed?
katjonjj wonders why people reject the message if the message is as powerful as the OP makes it out to be...
~Perhaps because they're unable to.
07-26-2010, 12:32 AM
2K5Gx2km
n/a posts
It really depends on how you take regeneration.
If regeneration is not simultaneous with or post justification, being born again, recieving the Holy Spirit (sealed), ect. then yeah I guess it can precede faith.
But the Bible is clear that regenration (by the way this word is only used two times in the NT - not a very good foundation for drawing the Calvinist interpretation) is post faith or is simultaneous with faith.
Think about it - if regeneration is 'something' prior to faith and therefore prior to justification and recieving the Holy Spirit then what difference is that from the position of previenent grace where God convicts the person, opens the heart, enlightens the mind so that one may exercise faith.
The problem is that regenration is linked to recieving the Spirit and being justified - it is not 'something' prior to those things, which are post faith. Regeneration is being born again and recieving the HS. Justification and regenration are two sides of the same coin - one is judical and the other spiritual.
Many people erroneously believe that regeneration precedes faith. This is a false doctrine of 5 point Calvinism. The reasoning is that since the unbeliever is spiritually dead and cannot understand spiritual phenomenon (and that is true), that a person must be regenerated by God the Holy Spirit before he can understand and believe the Gospel. And that is false. Regeneration is synonymous with being born again. To say that regeneration must occur before a person can believe the Gospel, is to ignore and deny the fact that the purpose of the Gospel message is to bring the unbeliever to the point where he can place his faith in Christ for salvation. Romans 10:14-17 says, 'How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? [15]And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ''HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GLAD TIDINGS OF GOOD THINGS!'' [16] However, they did not all heed the glad tidings; for Isaiah says, ''LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?'' [17] So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. But I say, surely they have never heard, have they? Indeed they have; ''THEIR VOICE HAS GONE OUT INTO ALL THE EARTH, AND THIER WORDS TO THE ENDS OF THE WORLD.''
[God calls the unbeliever through the Gospel message. 2 Thess. 2:13 'But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning (based on His omniscience, God knew in eternity past who would place their faith in Christ and so decreed that their decision to believe in Christ would certainly take place. The decree did not cause the person to make the decision, it simply took cognizance of the fact that the decision would be made and therefore guaranteed that the decision would take place.) for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. [14] And it was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Though man is born spiritually dead and unable to save himself or initiate salvation, God has taken the initiative and made Himself known to man. First through creation itself, (Romans 1:18-20), and through the Gospel message. God has made Himself known, and has made salvation available to man. It then becomes man's responsibility to make a decision based on the Gospel message, to either place his faith, his trust in Christ to provide that salvation, or to reject the Gospel message and therefore reject Christ and remain spiritually dead.
The Bible is clear that faith precedes, and is necessary to be born again (regenerated). 'Believe (have faith) in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved (born again, regenerated)...' Acts 16:31. And again, the Bible says, 'For by grace you have been saved (born again, regenerated) through faith ; and that (salvation, not faith) is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast' Eph 2:8-9.
The word 'regeneration' is synonymous with being born again. The word comes from the Greek 'Palingenesias. Strong's number G3824. Palingenesias' comes from 'palin' which means 'again', and 'genesis' which means 'birth, origin, life'. It means to be born again and refers to receiving eternal life which is imputed by God to the human spirit which is created by The Holy Spirit and placed in the one who believes in Christ for salvation.
In the common grace ministry of God the Holy Spirit, He takes up the slack for the missing human spirit of the spiritually dead unbeliever to whom the Gospel is being presented and makes it perspicacious to him. If the hearer places his faith in Christ as a result of Gospel hearing, then the Holy Spirit takes that faith and carries it to the point of salvation. He makes the faith effective for salvation. There is no merit in the faith. The merit is the object of faith, which in salvation, is Jesus Christ.
Eternal salvation requires being born again - regenerated, and is always through faith in Christ, and faith in Christ comes though the Gospel message, the means by which God calls man.
1 Peter 1:23 'for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God (the Gospel) [24] For, ''ALL FLESH IS LIKE GRASS, AND ALL ITS GLORY LIKE THE FLOWER OF GRASS, THE GRASS WITHERS, AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF, [25] BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ABIDES FOREVER.'' And this is the word which was preached to you.
John 3:36 - And he who believes in (has faith in, clings to, relies on) the Son of God has (now possesses) eternal life. But whoever disobeys (is unbelieving toward, refuses to trust in, disregards, is not subject to) the Son of God will never obtain (never experience) eternal life, and [instead] the wrath of God abides on him forever. [God's displeasure remains on him; God's indignation hangs over him continually.]
Amplified Bible (AMP)
Mike...Your Logic and Reason is twisted...I will adress this soon...
Think about it - if regeneration is 'something' prior to faith and therefore prior to justification and recieving the Holy Spirit then what difference is that from the position of previenent grace where God convicts the person, opens the heart, enlightens the mind so that one may exercise faith.
quote]
And you don't think that is regeneration from the dead?...
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