Calvin on Regeneration

[Yeshua1]

Yes, according to the scriptures both OT saints and NT saints are saved by the New Covenant, which is "through faith". Where Calvin and TULIP believers error is when they teach that the OT saints were regenerated by the Holy Spirit prior to the glorification of Jesus Christ after His ressurrection. This is clearly unscriptural according to the gospel of John where we are specifically told that the Holy Spirit rebirth was not given until after Jesus' glorification. Jesus said the Comfortor would not come until He returned to the Father.

I believe the TULIP believers feel they need this regeneration pre-cross to be true or else the whole flower dies because TULIP teaches that God regenerates a person UNTO faith rather than what the scripture states which is THROUGH faith.

Remember, much of the NT writings are exhortations to BELIEVE and EXAMINE oneself if they are truly in Christ. What would be any reason for Paul or James or Peter to appeal to the BELIEVERS to examime themselves to make sure they are in the faith if it be true that no one can DO anything about it?! If TULIP be true, then much of the scripture would be meaningless.

Actually, the question would be a "problem" for presby reformed, as baptsist ones would see the new covenant in different terms than the ones who follow more of the calvin/Refomers perspective!

believe that you had asked how to know/tell if you are one of the elect of god as reformed see it?

Do you believe that jesus died for your sins, was raised from the dewad, and that you now have eternal life in and by him alone?

Welcome, you are one of the elect!

 

[Winman]

Actually, the question would be a "problem" for presby reformed, as baptsist ones would see the new covenant in different terms than the ones who follow more of the calvin/Refomers perspective!

believe that you had asked how to know/tell if you are one of the elect of god as reformed see it?

Do you believe that jesus died for your sins, was raised from the dewad, and that you now have eternal life in and by him alone?

Welcome, you are one of the elect!

#1 Arminian/Non-Calvinist ---> If you believe then you are elect

#2 Calvinist/Reformed ----> If you are elect then you will believe

When you asked Yeshua1 how to know if you are elect, which one did he say?

Amazing, when you ask a Calvinist how they know they are elect, they suddenly turn into Arminians! :laugh:

 

[Yeshua1]

#1 Arminian/Non-Calvinist ---> If you believe then you are elect

#2 Calvinist/Reformed ----> If you are elect then you will believe

When you asked Yeshua1 how to know if you are elect, which one did he say?

Amazing, when you ask a Calvinist how they know they are elect, they suddenly turn into Arminians! :laugh:

No, for ONLY those whom have been elected by God will respond by receiving jesus by faith, thus confirming their election!

 

[steaver]

No, for ONLY those whom have been elected by God will respond by receiving jesus by faith, thus confirming their election!

Merry Christmas!

Actually, I don't believe this is a matter of contention between Calvinism and Armenianism. I'm not either by definition because I reject some of each position.

I would agree 100% with your statement. There is an Election according to the foreknowledge of God. This does not affect the responsibility of men and women to make a choice concerning the gospel.

 

[steaver]

Unreal!

Are you guys familiar with John MacArthur? He has a radio program he runs each day. I listen to it at work on the Christian radio station. He's a good preacher, I like his sermons. MacArthur is a Calvinist, but get this; this morning he was preaching on how one should examine themselves, whether they be regenerated or not, from Hebrews 3. Here John was giving a passionate plea to his listeners that they better make sure they are not just playing church, that they better make sure they have been regenerated!

This is EXACTLY what I was saying when I said how these preachers who believe in TULIP will preach the exact opposite of what they claim to believe.

If the man believes in TULIP then he has no business warning folks that they better examine themselves to make sure they are truly saved, because according to TULIP they have ZERO part in receiving salvation through regeneration!!

Unreal!

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

That's exactly why I am not a fan of his but I'm not sure he said that...please find a transcript & post it for review.

 

[steaver]

That's exactly why I am not a fan of his but I'm not sure he said that...please find a transcript & post it for review.

Here you go; a TULIP preacher preaching an Arminian sermon....

http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/1378/examine-yourselves-whether-you-be-in-the-faith-part-2

Here is one excerpt;

John MacArthur; "You better look at your own life and make sure you don't do the same thing. Here God is ready to lead you into His rest, here God is ready to lead you into His kingdom, here God is ready to usher you into salvation but you harden your heart and you are caught in the evil act of unbelief, departing from the living God. Oh, don't let it happen to you, He says, like it happened to them".

Oh, it's a beautiful sermon, I like it! Because it is an Arminian sermon, and yet it comes from the mouth of a TULIP believer. Go figure!

 

[Yeshua1]

Here you go; a TULIP preacher preaching an Arminian sermon....

http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/1378/examine-yourselves-whether-you-be-in-the-faith-part-2

Here is one excerpt;



Oh, it's a beautiful sermon, I like it! Because it is an Arminian sermon, and yet it comes from the mouth of a TULIP believer. Go figure!

Actually, Dr John was exhorting them to do as peter said told us to do, to examine ourselves and to be sure to confirm that we are indeed elected of God, as we should have lifestyles and doctrines to match that truth! many have a name it/hope so salvation, John addressing that we need to have an actually one!

Reformed 101

 

[steaver]

Actually, Dr John was exhorting them to do as peter said told us to do, to examine ourselves and to be sure to confirm that we are indeed elected of God, as we should have lifestyles and doctrines to match that truth! many have a name it/hope so salvation, John addressing that we need to have an actually one!

Reformed 101

And? That is actually what I said he was doing. Preaching the Armenian view point of the scripture on regeneration.

You can't escape the fact that TULIP believers are preaching Armenian pov sermons and they don't even see it!

 

[steaver]

Actually, Dr John was exhorting them to do as peter said told us to do, to examine ourselves and to be sure to confirm that we are indeed elected of God, as we should have lifestyles and doctrines to match that truth! many have a name it/hope so salvation, John addressing that we need to have an actually one!

Reformed 101

Do you hear your own words my brother in Christ?

MacArthur is exhorting people to examine themselves to confirm that they are indeed elect/regenerated. As you rightly say, Peter says the same. As an astute bible student, shouldn't you be asking yourself why this is? Would an Apostle, let alone any TULIP preacher for that matter, exhort a person to examine themselves whether they be born again or not IF they can do absolutely nothing at all about it anyways? Has the TULIP blinded you to what is so obviously preached in the NT concerning the exhortations to examine oneself?

Let me ask you a question brother, does your pastor preach Armenian sermons? Does he ever tell the congregation that they better not be just playing church?

Why are these TULIP believing preachers preaching Armenian sermons?? I think I know why. Ultimately it is the Holy Spirit guiding into all truth. They cannot help but preach Armenian sermons. Have you ever heard a preacher preach a TULIP sermon? Ever??? Why is that? Don't they truly believe TULIP is the gospel?

 

[pinoybaptist]

Calvinists and Arminians, as well as semi-Pelagians, and all else in-between all preach the gospel as if the cross was still about to happen (Jesus saveS instead of Jesus saveD) or happens depending on what action the sinner takes. Accept Jesus as personal savior in the case of Arminians, or obey the gospel in the case of Calvinists.

They both have excellent preachers and expositors who mess everything up at the end of most sermons when it's time for their cue to get sinners to "come to Christ" so they (the preachers) can count their "crowns" when they get to heaven.

The cross is past, the blood is shed, Christ is SEATED, and God will not repeat the redemption story for every sinner after the cross who "believes", or "accepts Christ", or "repents and converts" or "believes the gospel".

 

[steaver]

Accept Jesus as personal savior in the case of Arminians, or obey the gospel in the case of Calvinists.

I guess that's why I don't sit in either camp, I believe it is accept and obey!

 

[Iconoclast]

The doctrine of the Holy Spirit's direct influence, is a fundamental truth of the gospel dispensation. That Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, and completed the great work for which he assumed our nature, is a truth that lies at the foundation of Christianity. The gospel reveals to us the Spirit as well as the Son. When about to leave the world, Jesus promised another comforter, who should dwell with his disciples for ever. The Holy Spirit, as God, had always been in the world: but he was now to be present by a peculiar manifestation and operation. This manifestation and operation attended the ministry of the Word on the day of Pentecost, and the gospel has always been the sword of the Spirit,[149] the instrument with which he operates in the fulfilment of his office for which he has come into the world, in answer to the prayer of Christ.

jlDagg

David in the ot psalm 51:
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

ay I ask, are you speculating that people in the OT were unregenerate? Not sure what Biblical evidence you would hope to produce that would affirm such an assertion. Fact is, with all due respect to you brother, this understanding is quite wrong. In the Old Testament like the new, persons were saved by Jesus Christ plus or minus nothing (Read Galatians 3). Further, the OT often used terminology such as God "circumcising" the heart to indicate a work regeneration:

"And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live." (Deut 30:6)

Being from Deuteronomy, this promise of God's working in their heart was directly to the Israelites of the time. This circumcision of the heart is really the same experience as regeneration (Rom 2:29; Col 2:11-13). Regeneration is God granting the ability to hear, understand, believe, obey and enter the kingdom (See John 3 & the entire book of 1 John). Apart from the new birth men remain slaves of sin and the Devil (John 8:34, 44). Human nature has not changed from the beginning of time from OT to NT. People still need the Holy Spirit to believe lest they remain hostile to God by nature (Rom 8:7).

The fullness of times has come when Jesus fulfilled the law on our behalf. But the Old Testament can be likened to a seed and a branch while the NT is like the full flowering and fruit of that same branch. The root is the same plant that brings forth the fruit. There may be degrees of difference as Jesus told the disciples prior to his resurrection that the Holy Spirit was "with them" but would be (future tense) "in them" (John 14:17), but this simply shows that the Holy Spirit was fully active in the OT in creation, and the prophets, priests and kings as well as the regeneration of individual children of promise. There should also therefore be no confusing the filling of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit's work of regeneration. They may be organically connected but they are not the same. One is the Spirit's work to renew the heart ... the other is the Spirit's indwelling. Indwelling is referring to the Holy Spirit's positive, pervasive, abiding, covenant presence in believers through the Spirit. The OT saints had the former with only limited presence of the latter.

Further example:
Sometimes in the Old Testament God even reveals behind the scenes how He enabled particular Jews to obey his Word when they were called to repent: In 2 Chronicles chapter 30, for example, when couriers with a message of repentance passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, they laughed them to scorn and mocked them when they were called to repent, "Nevertheless some men of Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. The hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded by the word of the LORD." (Chronicles 30:11-12)

The text says some tribes resisted the call to repentance, but only those tribes which the HAND OF GOD GAVE A HEART TBEY THE WORD, repented. So here is a clear instance of the Spirit of God working faith and repentance in the hearts of certain persons among Israel while leaving others to their own rebellious self-will...

Hope this helps a little

For a fuller treatment on this topic, I recommend God's Indwelling Presence: The Holy Spirit in the Old and New Testaments by James H. Hamilton, Jr.

 

[Iconoclast]

Regeneration in the Old Testament
by John Hendryx

The following is a visitor's set of questions regarding the nature of the new birth in the Old Testament...

How is it that Israel could swear with all their heart and seek God with their whole desire? Were these affections necessarily the result of regeneration, or could they be produced by Jews under the law? Was pre-Christ Israel regenerate? Only some? Everyone at that time, not not necessarily later? Is regeneration a primarily new covenant occurrence, or could Jews under the law also receive regeneration? If so, what is the significance of Ezekiel 11:18-20, where God apparently promises to grant regeneration only later (after Christ?).

----------------------------------------------

Very good questions....

I believe it can be clearly demonstrated that regeneration is an occurrence in both the Old and New testaments. Human nature is the same under both and human beings cannot extract themselves, by way of self-effort, to follow YHWH. The law in itself does not produce the needed affection for God in the naturally uncircumcised hearts of the Israelites.

Clearly the Old Testament taught from start to finish that God had chosen a remnant within the physical decedents of Abraham. By no means were all Jews regenerate. Romans 9:6-13 speaks of this phenomena:

For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel;
7 nor are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants, but:
"THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED."
8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God,
but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.
9 For this is the word of promise: "AT THIS TIME I WILL COME, AND SARAH
SHALL HAVE A SON."
10 And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived
twins by one man, our father Isaac;
11 for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good
or bad, so that God's purpose according to His choice would stand, not
because of works but because of Him who calls,
12 it was said to her, "THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER."
13 Just as it is written, "JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED."

You are correct in assuming that Israel having the moral ability to seek God with their whole heart was a necessary result of their regeneration.

Sometimes in the Old Testament God even reveals behind the scenes how He enabled particular Jews to obey his Word when they were called to repent: In 2 Chronicles chapter 30, for example, when couriers with a message of repentance passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, they laughed them to scorn and mocked them when they were called to repent, "Nevertheless some men of Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. The hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded by the word of the LORD." (Chronicles 30:11-12)

OK lets look at this event... the text says some tribes resisted the call to repentance, but only those tribes which the HAND OF GOD GAVE A HEART TBEY THE WORD, repented. So here is a clear instance of the Spirit of God working faith and repentance in the hearts of certain persons among Israel while leaving others to their own rebellious self-will...

You question...
If so, what is the significance of Ezekiel 11:18-20, where God apparently promises to grant regeneration only later (after Christ?).

Notice the wording that Jesus uses in John 14 about the promise of the Spirit...

16 "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you."

Jesus claims in this passage that the disciples KNOW the Spirit already because he is ABIDES WITH YOU [the disciples]... but notice His change up here -- AND WILL BE IN YOU. This is a future tense of an indwelling. Apparently the saints of the OT enjoyed regeneration but may not have enjoyed indwelling to the extent that we do. Regeneration and indwelling are not exactly the same the same for in regeneration the Spirit works to illumine our minds and renew our hearts prior to our faith in which He comes to indwell us. That pre-salvific action is not called indwelling. "WITH YOU" and "IN YOU" appear to demonstrate qualitative differences.

The Spirit has been active since creation. Deut 30:36 when YHWH is speaking to the Jews themselves, he says, "Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live."

This is clear indication that God's promise for regeneration was for the hearers of these words as well as their children, not just some eschatological promise ....

But the INDWELLING of the corporate body by the Spirit presupposes the resurrection. The Spirit helps us to obey Jesus commandments (vs. 15) where the righteous demands of the law are met for those who walk according to the Spirit. Of course the Jews are also part of Christ's body but they only experienced the promises in the form of types and shadows. Look at the hall of faith in

Hebrews 11 ...
39 And all these , having gained approval through their faith, did not
receive what was promised,
40 because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.

Furthermore passages like Joel speaks of the Spirit being poured out on all mankind (Jew & Gentiles), so that this promise was no longer just confined
to the Jews.

Joel 2:28
"It will come about after this
That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind;
And your sons and daughters will prophesy,
Your old men will dream dreams,
Your young men will see visions.


So while all Jews were part of the physical covenant in their circumcision, but not all were spiritually circumcised. While the work of the Spirit was active in the OT what we have is founded of better promises for everything which the OT pointed to has been fulfilled.

Related Articles
Are Regeneration and Receiving the Spirit the Same Thing? by Ra McLaughlin
What About the Passages Which Show Receiving the Sprit After Faith by John Hendryx
Did Jews Understand the Promises of the Messianic Age? Questions Regarding My Essay on Joh

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

Why should I care about this old testiment salvation? Frankly I don't ...God has already done that. But for me its all about his magnificant plan to save a fallen world...hear and now. Then it is, how is God working in my life?

 

[steaver]

Why should I care about this old testiment salvation? Frankly I don't ...God has already done that. But for me its all about his magnificant plan to save a fallen world...hear and now. Then it is, how is God working in my life?

Well, you can care or not about this debate, but the point is there is only one gospel which saves both OT and NT. Calvin's view was that one must be regenerated in their physical lifetime to be saved. The NT teaches against such a rebirth happening pre-cross.

I am wondering EWF, does your pastor give Armenian sermons on examination of oneself, or does he stick to TULIP?

 

[steaver]

Regeneration in the Old Testament
by John Hendryx

The following is a visitor's set of questions regarding the nature of the new birth in the Old Testament...

How is it that Israel could swear with all their heart and seek God with their whole desire? Were these affections necessarily the result of regeneration, or could they be produced by Jews under the law? Was pre-Christ Israel regenerate? Only some? Everyone at that time, not not necessarily later? Is regeneration a primarily new covenant occurrence, or could Jews under the law also receive regeneration? If so, what is the significance of Ezekiel 11:18-20, where God apparently promises to grant regeneration only later (after Christ?).

----------------------------------------------

Very good questions....

I believe it can be clearly demonstrated that regeneration is an occurrence in both the Old and New testaments. Human nature is the same under both and human beings cannot extract themselves, by way of self-effort, to follow YHWH. The law in itself does not produce the needed affection for God in the naturally uncircumcised hearts of the Israelites.

Clearly the Old Testament taught from start to finish that God had chosen a remnant within the physical decedents of Abraham. By no means were all Jews regenerate. Romans 9:6-13 speaks of this phenomena:

For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel;
7 nor are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants, but:
"THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED."
8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God,
but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.
9 For this is the word of promise: "AT THIS TIME I WILL COME, AND SARAH
SHALL HAVE A SON."
10 And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived
twins by one man, our father Isaac;
11 for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good
or bad, so that God's purpose according to His choice would stand, not
because of works but because of Him who calls,
12 it was said to her, "THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER."
13 Just as it is written, "JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED."

You are correct in assuming that Israel having the moral ability to seek God with their whole heart was a necessary result of their regeneration.

Sometimes in the Old Testament God even reveals behind the scenes how He enabled particular Jews to obey his Word when they were called to repent: In 2 Chronicles chapter 30, for example, when couriers with a message of repentance passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, they laughed them to scorn and mocked them when they were called to repent, "Nevertheless some men of Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. The hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded by the word of the LORD." (Chronicles 30:11-12)

OK lets look at this event... the text says some tribes resisted the call to repentance, but only those tribes which the HAND OF GOD GAVE A HEART TBEY THE WORD, repented. So here is a clear instance of the Spirit of God working faith and repentance in the hearts of certain persons among Israel while leaving others to their own rebellious self-will...

You question...
If so, what is the significance of Ezekiel 11:18-20, where God apparently promises to grant regeneration only later (after Christ?).

Notice the wording that Jesus uses in John 14 about the promise of the Spirit...

16 "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you."

Jesus claims in this passage that the disciples KNOW the Spirit already because he is ABIDES WITH YOU [the disciples]... but notice His change up here -- AND WILL BE IN YOU. This is a future tense of an indwelling. Apparently the saints of the OT enjoyed regeneration but may not have enjoyed indwelling to the extent that we do. Regeneration and indwelling are not exactly the same the same for in regeneration the Spirit works to illumine our minds and renew our hearts prior to our faith in which He comes to indwell us. That pre-salvific action is not called indwelling. "WITH YOU" and "IN YOU" appear to demonstrate qualitative differences.

The Spirit has been active since creation. Deut 30:36 when YHWH is speaking to the Jews themselves, he says, "Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live."

This is clear indication that God's promise for regeneration was for the hearers of these words as well as their children, not just some eschatological promise ....

But the INDWELLING of the corporate body by the Spirit presupposes the resurrection. The Spirit helps us to obey Jesus commandments (vs. 15) where the righteous demands of the law are met for those who walk according to the Spirit. Of course the Jews are also part of Christ's body but they only experienced the promises in the form of types and shadows. Look at the hall of faith in

Hebrews 11 ...
39 And all these , having gained approval through their faith, did not
receive what was promised,
40 because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.

Furthermore passages like Joel speaks of the Spirit being poured out on all mankind (Jew & Gentiles), so that this promise was no longer just confined
to the Jews.

Joel 2:28
"It will come about after this
That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind;
And your sons and daughters will prophesy,
Your old men will dream dreams,
Your young men will see visions.


So while all Jews were part of the physical covenant in their circumcision, but not all were spiritually circumcised. While the work of the Spirit was active in the OT what we have is founded of better promises for everything which the OT pointed to has been fulfilled.

Related Articles
Are Regeneration and Receiving the Spirit the Same Thing? by Ra McLaughlin
What About the Passages Which Show Receiving the Sprit After Faith by John Hendryx
Did Jews Understand the Promises of the Messianic Age? Questions Regarding My Essay on Joh

Yes, I know even non-cal preachers who struggle with understanding the inaguration of the rebirth. I believe if one just reads the text without preconceived TULIP ideas they would conclude that the rebirth is post cross only. All are saved through faith, both OT and NT. All are given a choice to make, whether to believe God or not believe God. Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness. NOT, Abraham was regenerated, let's stick to what has been written.

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

Well, you can care or not about this debate, but the point is there is only one gospel which saves both OT and NT. Calvin's view was that one must be regenerated in their physical lifetime to be saved. The NT teaches against such a rebirth happening pre-cross.

I am wondering EWF, does your pastor give Armenian sermons on examination of oneself, or does he stick to TULIP?

Why do you ask? Anyway my teacher is the holy spirit....why don't you ask him who he represents. Maybe he can clear up your hang up 's

 

[steaver]

Why do you ask? Anyway my teacher is the holy spirit....why don't you ask him who he represents. Maybe he can clear up your hang up 's

So you are saying there should be no discussion on this subject or any other for that matter?? Did you not enter into this debate on your own freewill?? Then when challenged to examine your beliefs you get offended??

So your teacher is the Holy Spirit, then i guess you have perfect doctrine and anyone who sees the scripture any other way than the way the HS has taught you is in error?? What about Ellen White and Joesph Smith? They claim the HS has taught them as well. I totally understand the role of the HS in teaching His children doctrine, but must we not search the scriptures and study to show ourselves approved? This is a debate board :love2:

 

[Winman]

by John Hendryx

OK lets look at this event... the text says some tribes resisted the call to repentance, but only those tribes which the HAND OF GOD GAVE A HEART TBEY THE WORD, repented. So here is a clear instance of the Spirit of God working faith and repentance in the hearts of certain persons among Israel while leaving others to their own rebellious self-will...

Oh brother, this is a Calvinist desperately trying to insert Total Depravity and Irresistible Grace into OT scripture where it is not shown. If anything, this text shows the very opposite;

2 Chron 30:6 So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, Ye children of Israel, turn again unto the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you, that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.
7 And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, which trespassed against the LORD God of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye see.
8 Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the LORD, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve the LORD your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you.
9 For if ye turn again unto the LORD, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.

No mention of God irresistibly regenerating anyone here, the exact opposite is shown. Only if the Israelites conditionally TURN to God will he turn to them. Only if they first YIELD themselves to God will he turn his wrath and fierceness away from them.

There is no mention of God irresistibly causing the Israelites to repent, they must willingly and knowingly repent and turn to God, and upon this condition will God show them mercy.

No one in the OT had the indwelling Holy Spirit, and Romans 8:9 tells us if a person does not have the indwelling Spirit, then they are still in the flesh. Yet many people in the OT were able to believe and repent toward God. Total Inability is false doctrine.