Regeneration is the sovereign act of God whereby He imparts His very life and His very nature to the believing sinner (John 1:12-13; Titus 3:5). Man’s first birth is natural; his second birth is spiritual and supernatural. His first birth makes him a member of a fallen race; his second birth makes him a member of a redeemed race. His first birth gives him a depraved nature (Eph. 2:3); his second birth makes him partaker of the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). The moment a person is born again he receives a new life (John 6:47; 1 John 5:12) and a new position as a child of God (John 1:12; 1 John 3:1-2). In short, he is a new creature in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17).
It's impossible to be saved and not be regenerated. It's impossible to be regenerated and not be saved. Every born again person is saved. It is a Biblical absurdity to suggest that a person is saved and regenerated and at some later point of time becomes a believer in Christ. Faith and regeneration take place simultaneously. They both take place at the same instant of time. One is the response of a lost, sinful man to the gospel; the other is the supernatural work of God.
Today there are those of a Reformed persuasion who teach that regeneration precedes faith. They would say that a person must be born again before he believes. They would say that a person must have God’s LIFE before he can believe on Christ. C. D. Cole states it this way: "The Calvinist says that life must precede faith, and is logically the cause of faith. Faith did not cause the new birth, the new birth caused faith." [From a tract entitled Which Comes First In Conversion--Life or Faith? By C.D.Cole, published by Chapel Library, Venice, Florida].
Why do such men teach this? "Extreme Calvinists put the new birth before faith, since they believe that spiritually dead humans cannot exercise faith and, therefore, need to be born again before they can believe" [C. Gordon Olson, Beyond Calvinism and Arminianism, p. 39]. The doctrine of man’s total depravity has been carried to the extreme by some Calvinists resulting in a wrong understanding of man’s inability. They believe that the sinner is dead in sin and therefore he is like a corpse, totally unable to do anything. They believe he first must be regenerated and have life and only then will he be able to believe the gospel. But the Scripture teaches that he must believe in order to have life (John 20:31).
The Philippian jailer once asked, "What must I do to be saved?" (Acts 16:30). If Paul had been an extreme Calvinist he might have said, "You can do nothing to be saved, absolutely nothing. You are dead in sin and a dead man can do nothing. If God doesn't regenerate you, then you are doomed." How different was the answer Paul gave: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31).
The common Calvinist argument is this: "The depraved sinner is said to be DEAD (Eph. 2:1). Since he is dead it is impossible for him to believe. A dead corpse cannot do anything." But Paul in Ephesians 2:1 is speaking of spiritual death and to compare spiritual death with physical death is problematic. A person who is physically dead cannot speak, cannot breathe, cannot laugh, cannot walk, etc. But a spiritually dead person can do all of these things. It's wrong to say that a spiritually dead person can do nothing. Even the Calvinist would have to admit that he can reject Jesus Christ, he can pray, he can read the Bible, he can sin and he can even do good works in a vain effort to try to earn his salvation. He has ability to do all of these things.
Wherein lies the inability of the depraved sinner? He can't because he won't. An example of this is found in Genesis 37:4--Joseph's brothers "could not speak peaceably unto him." They were unable to speak peaceably unto him. What kind of inability was this? Were their mouths being held shut by some outside force so that they could not talk? Were they carried hundreds of miles away from Joseph so that it was impossible to talk to him? No, they could not because they would not. They did not want to speak to him in this way because of the depravity of their sinful and jealous hearts. Why can't men believe? Why don't men come to Christ? "And ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life" (John 5:40). Or literally, "And ye are not willing to come unto Me that ye may have life" (William Kelly's translation). Their inability to come to Christ was due to their refusal to come to Him that they might have life. [Important note: The extreme Calvinist, if consistent with his belief, should re-write John 5:40 in this way: "And ye will not have life that ye may come to me." This is because Calvinism teaches that a dead sinner cannot come to Christ or believe in Him unless he first has life]. For a more detailed study on the willingness of God to save depraved men, see God's Willingness and Man's Unwillingness.
It's impossible to be saved and not be regenerated. It's impossible to be regenerated and not be saved. Every born again person is saved. It is a Biblical absurdity to suggest that a person is saved and regenerated and at some later point of time becomes a believer in Christ. Faith and regeneration take place simultaneously. They both take place at the same instant of time. One is the response of a lost, sinful man to the gospel; the other is the supernatural work of God.
Today there are those of a Reformed persuasion who teach that regeneration precedes faith. They would say that a person must be born again before he believes. They would say that a person must have God’s LIFE before he can believe on Christ. C. D. Cole states it this way: "The Calvinist says that life must precede faith, and is logically the cause of faith. Faith did not cause the new birth, the new birth caused faith." [From a tract entitled Which Comes First In Conversion--Life or Faith? By C.D.Cole, published by Chapel Library, Venice, Florida].
Why do such men teach this? "Extreme Calvinists put the new birth before faith, since they believe that spiritually dead humans cannot exercise faith and, therefore, need to be born again before they can believe" [C. Gordon Olson, Beyond Calvinism and Arminianism, p. 39]. The doctrine of man’s total depravity has been carried to the extreme by some Calvinists resulting in a wrong understanding of man’s inability. They believe that the sinner is dead in sin and therefore he is like a corpse, totally unable to do anything. They believe he first must be regenerated and have life and only then will he be able to believe the gospel. But the Scripture teaches that he must believe in order to have life (John 20:31).
The Philippian jailer once asked, "What must I do to be saved?" (Acts 16:30). If Paul had been an extreme Calvinist he might have said, "You can do nothing to be saved, absolutely nothing. You are dead in sin and a dead man can do nothing. If God doesn't regenerate you, then you are doomed." How different was the answer Paul gave: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31).
The common Calvinist argument is this: "The depraved sinner is said to be DEAD (Eph. 2:1). Since he is dead it is impossible for him to believe. A dead corpse cannot do anything." But Paul in Ephesians 2:1 is speaking of spiritual death and to compare spiritual death with physical death is problematic. A person who is physically dead cannot speak, cannot breathe, cannot laugh, cannot walk, etc. But a spiritually dead person can do all of these things. It's wrong to say that a spiritually dead person can do nothing. Even the Calvinist would have to admit that he can reject Jesus Christ, he can pray, he can read the Bible, he can sin and he can even do good works in a vain effort to try to earn his salvation. He has ability to do all of these things.
Wherein lies the inability of the depraved sinner? He can't because he won't. An example of this is found in Genesis 37:4--Joseph's brothers "could not speak peaceably unto him." They were unable to speak peaceably unto him. What kind of inability was this? Were their mouths being held shut by some outside force so that they could not talk? Were they carried hundreds of miles away from Joseph so that it was impossible to talk to him? No, they could not because they would not. They did not want to speak to him in this way because of the depravity of their sinful and jealous hearts. Why can't men believe? Why don't men come to Christ? "And ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life" (John 5:40). Or literally, "And ye are not willing to come unto Me that ye may have life" (William Kelly's translation). Their inability to come to Christ was due to their refusal to come to Him that they might have life. [Important note: The extreme Calvinist, if consistent with his belief, should re-write John 5:40 in this way: "And ye will not have life that ye may come to me." This is because Calvinism teaches that a dead sinner cannot come to Christ or believe in Him unless he first has life]. For a more detailed study on the willingness of God to save depraved men, see God's Willingness and Man's Unwillingness.
