Pay no attention to those that try to say the Bible does not mean what it says. We are chosen for salvation through faith in the truth. After we believe we are given the right or power to become children of God. Some fallen people have the spiritual ability to seek God and trust in Christ. Christ is the means of salvation, He is the way and no one comes to the Father except through Him. The work God requires of us is to believe in Jesus. We are to love our God with all our heart.
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Power to choose
- Thread starter agedman
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We come to believe through the Word of God.
Romans 10:17--Faith comes by hearing and hearing through the Word of God.
Jas 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
--We are begotten (born again) by the word of truth. The word of truth is the gospel. Without faith in the gospel there is no new birth.
1Pe 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
--Clearly we are born again by the Word of God.
1Pe 1:25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
--This word of God, referred to, is the specifically the gospel. It is impossible to be born again without faith in the gospel.
Christ was telling Nicodemus that without faith in the gospel he could not be born again. It was his faith in Christ.
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Joh 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
--Christ was the only begotten Son of God. He needed to believe in Him. To be born again was to enter into the same family as Christ was.
Born again: It can be translated: born again, born anew, born from above. They all have the same basic meaning in the Greek. Salvation is of God.
Nicodemus had one birth, a physical birth. Now he needed a second birth, a fresh birth (anew), one from above (spiritual). It would not be physical, as Nicodemus referred to himself in verse four.
Everyone of us believe that salvation is from God. We don't disagree. It must be a spiritual birth. That is the point Jesus was making.
That which is flesh is flesh; that which is spirit is spirit.
Marvel not that I say unto you: You must be born again!
Which shows faith comes from an outside Source and not innate in man.
It is of His(God) own will that He has begotten us by His word and not of our own will. This correlates with Romans 9:16 It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. Then it also agrees with John 1:13 when he wrote It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.[vs. 13]
Never disagreed with this. Which goes back to those who died in Spain from AD 33ish until AD 60ish as Paul purposed to go there to proclaim Christ. He only went where Christ was not known(Rom. 15:20). So those who died never hearing the gospel, never knowing of Christ existence were never begotten by God. Being born of God is outside of man's control. God is the One solely responsible for doing this.
Without the gospel, if anyone proclaims they were saved outside the gospel, falls into pure mysticism. However, God works through the gospel, procuring those that are His. Faith is an evidence of the new birth ALREADY being accomplished by God's efficacious work wrought upon their heart.
Oh, Nicodemus was already a believer, never doubt that for a second. He stated “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”[Jn. 3:2b] He did not know the deeper things of God, and that was what Jesus expounded upon. This no regeneration prior to Christ is a sickening doctrine. They had the Spirit, but not in His plenitude as we have Him now.
That negates man's response 'but I had to....'
He ALREADY had that new birth, mon ami. But not in His plenitude. It is like those who are new converts. You have to take baby steps with them, giving them milk. In time, you start feeding them meat.
But you guys repeatedly state 'But I had to do this....' or 'But I had to do that...' before God will save anyone. That is not all of God, monsieur. You repeatedly state faith comes from man, so grace comes from God and faith comes from man is not 'salvation is all of God.' Not even close. Where I come from, that is a 50/50 proposition.
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OK. Never mind.
At the end of this chapter, before he had ever met Him, Christ had this praise of Nathanael: "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!" Nathanael was circumcised in heart, already. And received praise from God for it:
... he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. Ro 2:29
I also believe in the power to chose but only after we have been chosen!... If not how can you know "what" to choose?... Brother Glen
Acts 26:28 Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian... I agree, if not then surely Agrippa would have become one!... Brother Glen
Then they don't choose do they?
Yes, the Bible teaches synergism.
Monergism teaches the absence of the responsibility of man.
For example, Paul expressed synergism when he said:
"I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me." Paul was the one "doing." Paul continued to express: "I pray for you;" "I am determined to come unto you;" "I fellowship with you;" etc. It was always in the first person singular, and when needed "in the strength of Christ," or "in the power of our Lord Jesus Christ."
The monergist denies Paul's position and must re-phrase Paul's words:
"God prayed for me;" "God does all things through me which will strengthen me;" "God fellowships with you through me;" God is determined to come to you..." etc. But Paul didn't say those things.
Calvin twisted the Scriptures and you follow in his footsteps. It is a twisted thinking of the sovereignty of God--exaggerated. Man can't do anything; God must do everything. When put that way, man is irresponsible. He does not give account for anything. And God becomes the author and takes full blame for the Calvinists' sins.
I told you that I would call you on your perennial sin of bringing him up out of the blue just when no one has mentioned him but you.
DHK, you have mangled more Scripture than anyone can shake a stick at. --Your distain of what you think Calvinism has been noted.
You need to make a vow not to mention certain names --that will help in your healing.
Faith is confidence in the word of another. It might be the Quran, your wife, your business, money, or the Bible. Faith always has an object. What is the object of your faith. You put your faith in many things, ever day. Concerning salvation, you had to hear the word of God first. Then you had to become familiar enough and comfortable enough with its message that you were going to accept it. Perhaps the Holy Spirit had a part in that by helping you to see the need of a Savior by convicting you of your sin. Either way there was a time when you, by faith, believed the gospel message and thus was saved/regenerated.
When Abraham believed God; was made righteous, there was no such thing as regeneration. According to you his faith was null and void. Regeneration is entirely a NT phenomenon.
According to Romans 4:1-5 faith is not a work. If it is not a work, it is NOT human effort. It is contrasted to both works and human effort. It explicitly states that Abraham was not justified by works but by faith. There is no human works involved in faith. Why imply that there was?
Salvation is by faith and faith alone. What ever happened to sola fide?
A total red herring. First many good commentators believe that Paul did go to Spain between his two imprisonments, as he desired to. So that argument of yours simply rests on your own speculation.
Second, as I have explained to you before, there never was a time in history where it was not possible for that generation to reach the population of the world--from the first generation until now.
In the first century the global population was about one hundred million--a population not so difficult for the early church to reach considering the number of people saved at Pentecost and the different nations they came from.
In our generation almost every nation has a Bible translated into its language; half the world is connected through internet; 87% have TV or radio, and virtually no part of the world is inaccessible to the gospel, especially if one wants to hear it. The real reason people don't hear the gospel is the failure of evangelical missions to go and preach it.
Without the gospel there is no salvation. There is no reason for no one not hearing the gospel today. If you are that concerned about anyone not hearing the gospel then you be that one to tell them about it.
Faith in the gospel brings salvation/regeneration.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
I challenge you to give me one example of one person in the NT whom God put his Spirit in Him before he was regenerated.
We have no evidence when Nicodemus was saved.
Consider Paul's salvation for a minute. Like Nicodemus he was a Rabbi, a member of the Sanhedrin. When confronted by Christ he immediately called Christ "Lord!" not "Rabbi," for it was Paul who already was a rabbi, as was Nicodemus. To call Christ Rabbi is simply to acknowledge him as a peer.
Then Paul changed course in his life.
He no longer went his way to persecute Christians. He no longer associated himself with the Sanhedrin. He never again went back there. Rather he went straight to Ananias as he was commanded to, and then was baptized. After that he was preaching in the area, and then spent three years in the desert receiving direct revelation from God.
What happened to Nicodemus. No evidence of salvation. He continued to meet with the Sanhedrin where he never spoke up for Christ. He never witnessed about Christ. He associated himself with the killers of Christ. That is the company he kept. Not until we get to the burial of Christ do we find Nicodemus coming out of the woodwork and associating himself with other believers. Nicodemus was saved, but not immediately.
In fact, if you believe the Lordship salvation of John MacArthur it would have been impossible for Nicodemus to have been saved until after Christ had died.
My statement was "Salvation is of God." It doesn't negate anything.
Salvation is a free gift. It must be accepted by faith or it isn't salvation at all.
Pure speculation on your part. You have no evidence.
Again faith is not a work. Why are you accusing us that faith is a work, when the Bible clearly teaches otherwise.
Salvation is all of God. It is the free gift of God which cannot be merited. If it is not accepted by faith, then it is not the salvation that God has defined in the Bible. Perhaps you are looking for something mystical.
Where did you get that gibberish from?
It would be good that the thread not wander too far from the primary topic.
The initial OP and subsequent posts presented the facts both by Scriptures and by logical thinking against the view of freedom of the will/choice, and innate ability to self choose righteousness from the realm of darkness.
The CONTEXT of John 1 demands one understand that it is power to become that results in the becoming in which John states is given to those that embrace the light (do not turn from the light in comparison to those who do turn from the light).
John very carefully lays out the foundation stone upon which he will build the rest of the gospel. John presents Christ as the very Son of God.
The Word (Christ) was with God throughout eternity.
He is the illumination of "let their be light" in the opening of Genesis.
He, who illuminates EVERY MAN, is rejected.
John's account repeatedly records the Lord Jesus Christ's very words about who, why and what happens to those who turn from the light in contrast to those who do not turn from the light.
John is also very careful to show that the EMPOWERMENT of John 1 culminates in belief expressed in John 3 which is again a comparison between the righteous and unrighteous, old birth and new birth, that which is from heaven compared to that which is earthy.
Throughout John, the character and deity of Christ is layered out upon this foundation established in the first chapter.
The great "I AM," the illumination, the empower-er, is contrast against the backdrop of those who seek to have their sins unexposed, and seek to destroy the light (see John 8).
The empowerment of those who do not turn from the illumination, is key to understanding that, just as the Lord Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully human, so to has God empowered mere humans to become the Sons of God fully human and fully God (joint heirs to the throne and to attain a glorified body).
The simple words of John "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God" THOSE are the ONLY ONES who will express belief.
There is no innate freedom of choice, no ability, no lifting into some ethereal state that the unrighteous may ascend. No preceding or prevenient grace, no freedom of the will. These are human contrivances that seek to blend and blur that the unrighteous might further cover their unrighteousness in a cloak - as a wolf in sheep's skin.
Only those who are empowered (KJV), given the right (NASB), by GOD become believers.
That right, that power is of God and results in belief.
The initial OP and subsequent posts presented the facts both by Scriptures and by logical thinking against the view of freedom of the will/choice, and innate ability to self choose righteousness from the realm of darkness.
The CONTEXT of John 1 demands one understand that it is power to become that results in the becoming in which John states is given to those that embrace the light (do not turn from the light in comparison to those who do turn from the light).
John very carefully lays out the foundation stone upon which he will build the rest of the gospel. John presents Christ as the very Son of God.
The Word (Christ) was with God throughout eternity.
He is the illumination of "let their be light" in the opening of Genesis.
He, who illuminates EVERY MAN, is rejected.
John's account repeatedly records the Lord Jesus Christ's very words about who, why and what happens to those who turn from the light in contrast to those who do not turn from the light.
John is also very careful to show that the EMPOWERMENT of John 1 culminates in belief expressed in John 3 which is again a comparison between the righteous and unrighteous, old birth and new birth, that which is from heaven compared to that which is earthy.
Throughout John, the character and deity of Christ is layered out upon this foundation established in the first chapter.
The great "I AM," the illumination, the empower-er, is contrast against the backdrop of those who seek to have their sins unexposed, and seek to destroy the light (see John 8).
The empowerment of those who do not turn from the illumination, is key to understanding that, just as the Lord Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully human, so to has God empowered mere humans to become the Sons of God fully human and fully God (joint heirs to the throne and to attain a glorified body).
The simple words of John "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God" THOSE are the ONLY ONES who will express belief.
There is no innate freedom of choice, no ability, no lifting into some ethereal state that the unrighteous may ascend. No preceding or prevenient grace, no freedom of the will. These are human contrivances that seek to blend and blur that the unrighteous might further cover their unrighteousness in a cloak - as a wolf in sheep's skin.
Only those who are empowered (KJV), given the right (NASB), by GOD become believers.
That right, that power is of God and results in belief.
So man has drawn the proverbial line in the sand where God can not go beyond it or He violates their free will. As I stated before, God can only go so far, man must do the rest. Yet God is sovereign.
It does no such thing. Man is responsible to believe in God. Man is responsible for his sin. Man is responsible to God if he fails to repent. All mankind has His laws written upon their hearts, and will be held accountable to Him for not obeying those laws.
So I guess Paul could have murdered many people, stolen from the churches that he help establish being he could do all things through Christ? Context, mon ami, context. He could all things through Christ, yes. It was Christ who enabled him to all things. What were those 'all thing' he could do through Christ. I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.[Phpp. 4:10-13] He had been in need and bounteous. He knew hunger and full belly. Paul was saying that whether fed or in hunger, having nothing or a lot, he can do anything through Christ. He was strengthened in knowing that God was ever with him, whether in prison or free. It was through Christ he penned 13 NT books we cherish.
Rubbish, mon ami, pure rubbish.
When one runs out of bullets, they must fire blanks, it seems. You are the one who continually drags his name into our debates. Your hatred for the man is not healthy. He has been dead for centuries, yet you want to drag him out of his grave to crucify him anew.
Man is a dead corpse inwardly. Just like the widows' son in 1 Kings 17, Eutychus in Acts 20, Lazarus in John 11, Dorcas/Tabitha in Acts 9, the 12 year girl that Christ visited in Matthew 9 and Mark 5, they could no more choose to accept or reject the life pumped back into them then sinners who are unregenerate.
When we preach, witness, speak to the unregenerate, they are inwardly like those I mentioned were dead physically. They can not choose to accept the gospel being unable to, being dead inwardly. Once God quickens them as they are being preached, witnessed to, by His words, the gospels illumines their understanding whereby they now see, hear and receive Him and His word. Their heart has been opened by God for them to receive the engrafted word(planted in them), which will save their souls.
Excellent post.
And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? Matt 19:16
Eternal life equated by Jesus in verse 23 to entering the kingdom of heaven. Equated by Jesus in verse 24 as enter the kingdom of God. Equated by the disciples in verse 25 to , being saved. All of which Jesus had said was relative to having giving up all one had and following him.
Peter asked about those who had giving up all and followed him, what would they have.
Jesus told him that, the ones following him in the regeneration, when he came to sit on the throne of his glory, would reign with him verse 28, I assume in the kingdom of God on the earth.
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Romans 8:29 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. Col 1:18 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. Acts 13:33
For, if we have become planted together to the likeness of his death, so also we shall be of the rising again; And if we died with Christ, we believe that we also shall live with him, Romans 6:5,8 YLT
eternal life, enter the kingdom of God, saved, regeneration, conformed to image? -------- born again.
Maybe we all should choose to raise ourselves from the dead.
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God is always sovereign. Yet it seems you are the one that is telling God what he may and not do. Perhaps it is not so much the sovereignty of God you are concerned about, but the "sovereignty of man."
Does man believe? Or must God believe for man as Calvinism teaches? Nowhere in the Bible is there any example of God giving the Spirit to an unsaved man, but that is what Calvinism teaches--that he must be regenerated before saved; that he must be regenerated before he can have the faith to believe. IOW, God does the believing for man, for man is only a corpse. It isn't man that does anything is it? God is doing it. Man has no responsibility. He is Irresistibly Drawn, has not choice in this matter. It is not his choice. It is God's choice already made before the foundation of the world. This is not man's responsibility. It is God's.
Why even witness if that is the case? Man ought not to have any responsibility there either. God will do all the choosing, calling, saving, etc. Why should man interfere with the work of God? That would be irresponsible of him to do so, wouldn't it?
He did at one point. And he was convinced it was the will of God. It was his choice to do so.
However, Paul does use the first person singular, "I". Paul did those things.
He was able to do them through the strength of God. He "cooperated" with God. That is synergism. He didn't stand still and claim that God did all the work.
Why should it be rubbish?
Tell me this:
If Calvin's Irresistible Grace is so irresistible that unsaved man cannot resist it when he is brought to saving grace in Christ, then why doesn't the Lord do the same thing in the life of the believer? Why is the grace of God not just as irresistible so that the believer never sins during his entire life as a Christian. He should be sinless, the Holy Spirit preventing him from all sin.
But Irresistible Grace in its application and practice is a myth.
As a man Calvin was a murderer.
His system of theology has done more harm than good in most of the churches I have encountered in my life.
That is your opinion, unsubstantiated by Scripture. Man is spiritually dead which simply means he is separated from God. He has a spirit for he is made in the image of God. That spirit is separated from God. It is not dead, but inoperable. In fact it may be quite alive and well and in cahoots with Satan and his demons. What that spirit is not, is "alive in Christ." It is dead or separated from Christ.
As the Bible states in 2Cor.5, he needs to be reconciled to God, and that is the ministry of the Christian as ambassadors of Christ--the ministry of reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
But the righteousness of God comes only through faith.
This is Calvinism not taught in the Bible.
Where does it say they cannot respond.
The Philippian jailer responded.
The Ethiopian Eunuch responded.
The thief on the cross responded. (There was no regeneration then).
"Once God quickens them." If they had been quickened or made alive as the word means, then you would be able to show me a spirit-filled unsaved individual in the NT? Where does such a person exist?
:applause::applause::applause:
You are the one pumping synergism into this debate, not I, mon ami. I am not telling God what He can and can not do, it is you, not I, monsieur. You are the one saying that God is reconciling the world through Christ, but many are dying lost, not being reconciled to God. You are saying that God is not willing that any should perish, but many are perishing, even right now. You are saying that Christ died for every man, yet Jesus stated He was laying His life down for His sheep.
Does a physically dead person believe? No. Then how can the spiritually dead spirit within a man exercise belief/faith, when it does not have the capacity to do so? The unregenerate have a spiritually dead spirit that is blind as a bat, deaf as a doornail, a heart as hard as granite. That is why they are unresponsive to the preaching of the gospel before God quickens them. It is in this quickening they can see, hear and love, and not before then.
I showed you and you said that was to fulfilled in Israel later on down the road, mon ami.
You are coming unhinged, unglued mon ami. Take a deep breath. Man, in an unregenerate state, is unable to believe. When we witness to the lost, monsieur, we talk to the physical body. It takes God to go deeper than we can, and that is the heart of them. No amount of preaching entices the dead in sins sinner. Sure, they physically hear with their ears on the sides of their head, but it does not penetrate their heart. It takes God, through the gospel, to quicken them.
God already did the choosing, mon ami. He then calls them out from amongst the world of sinners via the gospel. He also does the saving.
Saul was in on the murder of Stephen, as he was consenting unto his stoning. But that was before the Light shined upon him.
Look, after the quickening, we do what is commanded of us, repent. If God wants us to do something and we do not, He will make us wish we had the first time. Just like with Jonah. God told him to go to Ninevah, and he headed towards Joppa and got on a ship headed for Tarshish. After three days in the whale's belly, Jonah 'cooperated' with God. You will do God's will or pay for being rebellious. As Christians, though we do not always stay in the center of His will, when we sin, we get corrected, get back in line and move on. if that is what you call 'cooperation', then so be it.
Good questons. :thumbsup: We live in bodies racked with and by sin. God, when He saved us, saved the soul, but the body is still fallen, and prone to sin. That will be fixed when we get that new body fashioned in the likeness of Jesus' most glorious body. That is what Paul spoke about having a warfare. Our flesh desires, lusts after sin, yet the spirit of man has been made anew in Christ and brings our flesh back under subjection.
You no more know Calvin was a murderer than I. He very well may have been, but many historians have differing views so I do not know what side to believe. You need to leave that man in his grave.
Nekros means more than separation, mon ami. It means corpse, lifeless, dead as a hammer, &c. Just as the physical body is dead w/o the spirit, the spirit of man is dead w/o God. The body minus the spirit is dead just as our spirit was dead minus God's Spirit.
And who exactly gets the reconciliation? Believers, not unbelievers.
Without the Spirit, we are none of His. It takes the Spirit to quicken sinners to life to be able to respond.
This happens at the same time they are saved. If you can not see this, sorry, I can not help you.
This thread is NOT on Calvinism.
Let us all please keep it on the issue of the OP.
The thread is upon the notion that the unregenerate can self generate and therefore have the ability to express freedom of will and choice to accept or reject elements of either realm - darkness or light.
From the opening post and subsequent posts, it was shown that such freedom does not exist.
One who turns from the light does not have any ability, much less any desire, to have light shining upon them.
Therefore, the person of darkness is shackled to the realm of darkness and may only choose from that offered by darkness. All offerings, though they may seem "good gifts" and be called "good gifts" will ultimately decay, be discarded, and left in ruin.
In the Spiritual, one who has no desire to have light shine upon them, is shackled by a darkened heart and lacks understanding of the mind, has no freedom of choice other than what seems "right in their own eyes."
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I will address two matters, briefly that were posted.
It was offered in a post that these three responded without regeneration:
The first two is easy to be seen in Scriptures, because the verses specifically state the manner of living and devotion - the response to light given that showed a lack of turning, but embracing.
The thief on the cross has no such history or background given in Scriptures. However, it cannot be assumed that just because he admittedly deserved to die on the cross, he had turned from the light. In fact, the very words "We deserve..." shows that he had no desire to cover his sin, and was comprehending the light. These two elementary facts demonstrate that the thief was most certainly given the "right to become" a believer.
What of the other thief?
The scene of the cross is another example of those who turn from the light and one who does not turn from the light.
The question of "regeneration" is not specific to this thread but is a bit related to the discussion.
On a personal level, I have a bit of an issue with that word - "regeneration."
Certainly, the believer is not "re" anything. For there is nothing generated of the fleshly birth that is worth anything to the heavenly. And certainly, anything relating to the heathen heart, mind, soul, and strength.
Rather, the believer is a completely new generation a work of the Trinity in progress. A "New Creature..."
Let us all please keep it on the issue of the OP.
The thread is upon the notion that the unregenerate can self generate and therefore have the ability to express freedom of will and choice to accept or reject elements of either realm - darkness or light.
From the opening post and subsequent posts, it was shown that such freedom does not exist.
One who turns from the light does not have any ability, much less any desire, to have light shining upon them.
Therefore, the person of darkness is shackled to the realm of darkness and may only choose from that offered by darkness. All offerings, though they may seem "good gifts" and be called "good gifts" will ultimately decay, be discarded, and left in ruin.
In the Spiritual, one who has no desire to have light shine upon them, is shackled by a darkened heart and lacks understanding of the mind, has no freedom of choice other than what seems "right in their own eyes."
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I will address two matters, briefly that were posted.
It was offered in a post that these three responded without regeneration:
"The Philippian jailer responded.
The Ethiopian Eunuch responded.
The thief on the cross responded."
There is not room in this post, but the case has been made in other threads that each of these had demonstrated the lack of turning from the light.The Ethiopian Eunuch responded.
The thief on the cross responded."
The first two is easy to be seen in Scriptures, because the verses specifically state the manner of living and devotion - the response to light given that showed a lack of turning, but embracing.
The thief on the cross has no such history or background given in Scriptures. However, it cannot be assumed that just because he admittedly deserved to die on the cross, he had turned from the light. In fact, the very words "We deserve..." shows that he had no desire to cover his sin, and was comprehending the light. These two elementary facts demonstrate that the thief was most certainly given the "right to become" a believer.
What of the other thief?
The scene of the cross is another example of those who turn from the light and one who does not turn from the light.
The question of "regeneration" is not specific to this thread but is a bit related to the discussion.
On a personal level, I have a bit of an issue with that word - "regeneration."
Certainly, the believer is not "re" anything. For there is nothing generated of the fleshly birth that is worth anything to the heavenly. And certainly, anything relating to the heathen heart, mind, soul, and strength.
Rather, the believer is a completely new generation a work of the Trinity in progress. A "New Creature..."