From Ardent Rebel to New Birth

From Ardent Rebel to New Birth: The Doctrine of Regeneration

A man walks into a bar. He is a man among men. He is large, proud, and in charge. Along both arms are tattoos, some of subject matters we cannot speak of here. He is gruff and worn from a life of rebellion. You name the sin, he has done it. This night, however, there is something different about the man. He’s not sure what it is, but as he approaches his favorite bar stool in his favorite watering hole, he knows there is something going on that he does not understand. There is a heaviness in his life that he is not accustomed to. He begins to take inventory of his life and realizes something he never even considered before. He harkens back to that pastor preaching on the street whom he mocked and called a fool. He knows now that if what that pastor said is true, then he is in a world of trouble. And so it starts, a heart of stone begins its transformation to a heart of flesh.

This hypothetical man may go home that night and be saved or he may take months, but God is working in his life and it is a mere matter of time before he responds to God’s calling. Some conversions happen like lighting similar to the Apostle Paul on the Damascus road. Others take time. In all cases, there is God working in ways we cannot understand or see. What we do know is this, Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” We are dealing with something that is mysterious, profound, and yet at the same time, very clear. Again and again, the Bible describes men as dead in their sins. Ezekiel, in describing what will happen to Israel in the new covenant brought on by Christ, says that we have a heart of stone incapable of responding to God. Jesus said that only if God draws you to Him will you come. In our sinful condition, we seek only for ourselves and not for God. Without something else, something divine happening, we will spend our lives seeking pleasure and self-satisfaction until we die and stand before God and he judges us.

As was the case with the Apostle Paul, and with all of the apostles, and with the Old Testament leaders of Israel, so too do we need God to intervene on our behalf. God must step in with power and turn a heart of stone incapable of responding to Him into a heart of flesh. In Ezekiel 36, we find the following description of what takes place when God regenerates Israel, and what we should understand as what happens to us when we experience this new birth as part of the new covenant:

25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (ESV)

Please notice that what is being described here is an act of God that is imperative. God is saying, “I will.” This is not a passive call that waits for men to respond, but is God actively involved in resurrecting a heart of stone that is spiritually dead. And once that heart has been reborn, it is now capable of responding in faith to God.

Consider also 2 Corinthians 4:

5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. [emphasis mine] (ESV)

Notice again how God is the one actively changing our hearts. In all cases of conversion, our hearts must be brought to life in order for us to see the light and respond by faith. Again and again, we find that our hearts are spiritually dead and that in such a condition, we are incapable of responding to the gospel. It is only when God breathes life into us that we then experience the truth, the love, and the faith necessary to place our faith in Christ.

And so if I may, I would like to provide some commentary. The obvious implication of this regenerative work is on the doctrines that are commonly recognized as Calvinism. It has been a long journey for me towards recognizing these doctrines. It started when I listened to an exposition of Romans 9. As I moved from there, I began evaluating the statements all over the Bible that describe man as incapable of coming to God. What becomes clear is that the Bible describes man as spiritually dead. And as we know from a physical since, dead men are incapable of doing anything. And while men are alive physically, and they act according to their sinful nature, they are up until the point that God regenerates their heart (spirit), dead as stone on the inside. And so my encouragement to you as you read this and as we continue to delve into the doctrines of grace is to wait patiently on the Lord. Read your Bible and let it speak to you. When you are not sure of something you read, jot down a note and continue reading and wait to see if something else clears it up. And most importantly, uphold the truths of the Bible even when they contradict some of the things you might have been taught.

Finally, let me encourage you to do one other thing in regards to this doctrine and all of the doctrines of grace. Make a mental file of each and every major figure in the Bible. When doing this, ask your self how they came to the faith? Did they make a mental decision that preceded the work of God? Were they just naturally inclined to God? Did they figure something out that others did not? Or, were they equally dead in their sins and required God to supernaturally step in and bring them new birth and bring new life to a dead heart? It is easy for us to pick and choose verses to match them up to our own way of thinking. What is more difficult is to understand the Bible in the context of everything that is declared to us. However, if we commit to God’s Word and hold it supremely above all else, what we find is that our sacred scriptures are so amazingly consistent at declaring the spiritual deadness of man at all points. And so that leaves you with a question. When the Bible describes you as spiritually dead, is it being purely figurative, or does it really mean that you are in and of yourself incapable of responding to God? Consider then the following verses:

Matthew 11:27: All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. [emphasis mine]

John 6:35-40: 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” [emphasis mine]

Popularity: 7% [?]

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts