One of the most dramatic moments in my life for the shaping of my theology took place in a seminary classroom. One of my professors went to the blackboard and wrote these words in bold letters: "Regeneration Precedes Faith."
These words were a shock to my system. I had entered seminary believing that the key work of man to effect rebirth was faith. I thought that we first had to believe in Christ in order to be born again. I use the words in order here for a reason. I was thinking in terms of steps that must be taken in a certain sequence. I had put faith at the beginning. The order looked something like this:
"Faith - rebirth -justification."
I hadn�t thought that matter through very carefully. Nor had I listened carefully to Jesus� words to Nicodemus. I assumed that even though I was a sinner, a person born of the flesh and living in the flesh, I still had a little island of righteousness, a tiny deposit of spiritual power left within my soul to enable me to respond to the Gospel on my own. Perhaps I had been confused by the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. Rome, and many other branches of Christendom, had taught that regeneration is gracious; it cannot happen apart from the help of God.
No man has the power to raise himself from spiritual death. Divine assistance is necessary. This grace, according to Rome, comes in the form of what is called prevenient grace. "Prevenient" means that which comes from something else. Rome adds to this prevenient grace the requirement that we must "cooperate with it and assent to it" before it can take hold in our hearts.
This concept of cooperation is at best a half-truth. Yes, the faith we exercise is our faith. God does not do the believing for us. When I respond to Christ, it is my response, my faith, my trust that is being exercised. The issue, however, goes deeper. The question still remains: "Do I cooperate with God's grace before I am born again, or does the cooperation occur after?" Another way of asking this question is to ask if regeneration is monergistic or synergistic. Is it operative or cooperative? Is it effectual or dependent? Some of these words are theological terms that require further explanation.
A monergistic work is a work produced singly, by one person. The prefix mono means one. The word erg refers to a unit of work. Words like energy are built upon this root. A synergistic work is one that involves cooperation between two or more persons or things. The prefix syn -
means "together with." I labor this distinction for a reason. The debate between Rome and Luther hung on this single point. At issue was this: Is regeneration a monergistic work of God or a synergistic work that requires cooperation between man and God? When my professor wrote "Regeneration precedes faith" on the blackboard, he was clearly siding with the monergistic answer. After a person is regenerated, that person cooperates by exercising faith and trust. But the first step is the work of God and of God alone.
The reason we do not cooperate with regenerating grace before it acts upon us and in us is because we can- not. We cannot because we are spiritually dead. We can no more assist the Holy Spirit in the quickening of our souls to spiritual life than Lazarus could help Jesus raise him for the dead.
When I began to wrestle with the Professor's argument, I was surprised to learn that his strange-sounding teaching was not novel. Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield - even the great medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas taught this doctrine. Thomas Aquinas is the Doctor Angelicus of the Roman Catholic Church. For centuries his theological teaching was accepted as official dogma by most Catholics. So he was the last person I expected to hold such a view of regeneration. Yet Aquinas insisted that regenerating grace is operative grace, not cooperative grace. Aquinas spoke of prevenient grace, but he spoke of a grace that comes before faith, which is regeneration.
These giants of Christian history derived their view from Holy Scripture. The key phrase in Paul's Letter to the Ephesians is this: "...even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace have you been saved)" (Eph. 2:5). Here Paul locates the time when regeneration occurs. It takes place 'when we were dead.' With one thunderbolt of apostolic revelation all attempts to give the initiative in regeneration to man are smashed. Again, dead men do not cooperate with grace. Unless regeneration takes place first, there is no possibility of faith.
This says nothing different from what Jesus said to Nicodemus. Unless a man is born again first, he cannot possibly see or enter the kingdom of God. If we believe that faith precedes regeneration, then we set our thinking and therefore ourselves in direct opposition not only to giants of Christian history but also to the teaching of Paul and of our Lord Himself.
(Excerpt from the book, The Mystery of the Holy Spirit, by R.C. Sproul, Christian Focus
For more on this topic see:
The New Genesis by R.C. Sproul
Monergism vs. Synergism by John Hendryx
A Defense of Monergistic Regeneration by Gannon Murphy
James, and ALL others who read this thread. There is ONE THING that remains a fact according to what God has said throughout the Book of Acts in His word. If you HAVE NOT had an unclosed personal in your face encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ, and felt the presence of His Holy Spirit coming into your heart to convert you when you FIRST believed and received Christ , You ARE NOT BORN AGAIN!... that's Biblle! And you should have a testimonial that you share with others freely of when the Lord FIRST touched you and convicted you of your sins, and revealed to you that you need a sinner because you were lost! Regardless of what you say or what or whose doctrien you believe, if you can't testify about your salvation experience, then you HAVE NOT seen Jesus nor are you FILLED WITH HIS HOLY SPIRIT BONR AGAIN. Beuse there is no wasy you can come in personal direct conatct with Jesus and NOT talk about it. Every person in the Gospels and the Book of Acts including Peter and Paul when they experienced the salvation of the Lord, had something to talk about as to what happened to them when Jesus Christ came into their life... so think about it, if you do not have a testimony, then you ain't been born again!...again, that's Bible! whether you like it or not! You can't just walk into salvation and say you believe in Jesus... salvation is an experience a person has, when the weight of burdens and sins are lifted, and and you can't keep it to yourself... as the old hymn goes, I just couldn't keep the good news to myself, gotta run and tell somebody else what the Lord has done for me, when He saved my soul and set me free!
Therefore, I ask again to you James and the others...
Maybe you can explain /share the questions
(1) How is a sinner regenerated by the Holy Spirit, how does all this work and/or happen?
(2) How does GOD draw a sinner to Himself God?
(3) How did GOD draw you to Himself so that you might become a born again Christian? In other words, What's your born again testimony of your salvation experience?... nothing JUST happens... so what was your born again experience?...thanks, and God bless...:glow:
CORRECTIONS: And you should have a testimonial that you share with others freely of when the Lord FIRST touched you and convicted you of your sins, and revealed to you that you need a Savior, and that you were a sinner because you were lost! Regardless of what you say or what or whose doctrine you believe, if you can't testify about your salvation experience, then you HAVE NOT seen Jesus nor are you FILLED WITH HIS HOLY SPIRIT BORN AGAIN. Because there is no way you can come into personal direct contact with Jesus and NOT talk about it...
over look all the typos, my typewriter hasn't been converted , so it tends make mistakes:excited::laugh:
(Ella) (1) How is a sinner regenerated by the Holy Spirit, how does all this work and/or happen? (End)
Through Baptism.
God Can and Will Bestow The Gifts of The Spirit�but the Recipients still need to Be Baptized. These People in Acts were Given The Gifts of The holy Spirit�BEFORE Being Regenerated and Able to make a Free Will Choice to Believe and Obey God. That is Why they Needed to be Baptized.
Acts 10:44-48
New International Version (NIV)
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in tongues[a] and praising God.
47 �Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.� 48 So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.
The Woman Lydia�s �Heart was Opened� By God. God Imparted His Grace to her so that she could Respond to Him�Yet she Still Needed to be Baptized in Order to be Regenerated.
Acts 16:14-15
New International Version (NIV)
14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul�s message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. �If you consider me a believer in the Lord,� she said, �come and stay at my house.� And she persuaded us.
The Holy Spirit Regenerates Through Christ In God�s Grace. It is The Grace of God that Regenerates�Through Christ. With Him�In Him�Through The Power of The Holy Spirit!
Man has to be �Reborn Again� in Order to Enter the Kingdom of God.
John 3:3-6
New International Version (NIV)
3 Jesus replied, �Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.[a]�
4 �How can someone be born when they are old?� Nicodemus asked. �Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother�s womb to be born!�
5 Jesus answered, �Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[b] gives birth to spirit.
Footnotes:
a.John 3:3 The Greek for again also means from above; also in verse 7.
b.John 3:6 Or but spirit
It ALL Starts with Baptism�with being Reborn�with Being Regenerated (a New Creation).
(Ella) (2) How does GOD draw a sinner to Himself God? (End)
It is God�s Word that �Draws� Mankind to Him. It is through �Hearing� The Word and RESPONDING to it�that Man is Drawn to God.
But Man Must FIRST Be REGENERATED in Order to be Able to Hear The Word and to Respond.
(Ella) (3) How did GOD draw you to Himself so that you might become a born again Christian? In other words, What's your born again testimony of your salvation experience?... nothing JUST happens... so what was your born again experience?...thanks, and God bless... (End)
I was Baptized as a Baby. Raised in a Catholic School. As a Child Jesus was as Real to me as the Corner Policeman. I would Pray to Him as if He were Right There With Me.
I remember one day while we were at a Baseball Game that our father had taken us to (me and my two brothers). We had been Running Around trying to catch Foul Balls and Dad finally had Enough and told us to
�STAY IN OUR SEATS�!
So we sat there�Pouting! I remember Praying to Jesus
�Jesus�Please�I haven�t asked you for Anything in a Long While�. �I�ve been Good (Relatively so) and I would REALLY LOVE to catch a Foul Ball�. I remember making that�Sad�Pouty Face�with my Lower Lip almost to my Nose and asking Jesus��Please�!
It was not even a Full Second after I Finished that a Ball came Slicing towards me. All I had to do was Stick my hands out! The ball slapped into my Hands and dropped at my Feet. I did not even feel the Sting�Because of My Joy.
I remember Jumping Up and Down and Looking Up and Saying �Thank You Jesus�.
It was as Natural a Thing as if my Own Father had given it to me. I made no Big Deal of it. It was what I Expected! So you see�God and Christ and The Holy Spirit was Common Fact to me.
Perhaps I Took My Faith for Granted. It could be Argued that because I was so Young and that since I Grew Up (Literally) in The Lord�that I became �Blas� about My Faith�Perhaps I had.
It was not Until I was In The Army and in a Combat Zone that I Really Began to �EXPERIENCE� My Faith�to Know My Faith�to Begin My Walk with Jesus �Close by My Side�.
It was there�with �Death�s Hot Breath� on My Neck and the �Sounds� of Young Men Crying Out for�? It was there that I �Saw� God�s Mercy��Felt� His Grace and �Lived� God�s Word!
I Have �LITERALLY� Felt His Touch�it is Soft and Gentle. I have �Literally� been �Held� in Jesus� Arms�they Are Strong and Firm and REASSURING!
I have been Saved�not Just Spiritually � But LITERALLY�By God!
I was �Born Again� as a Baby. I became a Member of The Body of Christ as a Baby. I became a �Soldier� for Christ and a Member of The Community of Believers as a Young Man (Confirmed Believer)�but it was not Until
I ENTERED Into a PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP with Christ My Lord�Christ My KING�Christ My Best Friend�that I Began to EXPERIENCE My Faith.
My Brothers and Sisters�Salvation is Not like a Flu Shot! A One Time and Forget Deal.
Salvation is not Like a Credit Debt that you have to Pay Off with Works.
Salvation is not Like some Intricate Machine with a zillion Parts that comes with a 1,000 Page Instruction Book in Yiddish!
Salvation is a Simple Way of Life�of Living�with Rules that we Have to Obey and that you Have to Do EVERYDAY !
Philippians 2:12
New International Version (NIV)
Do Everything Without Grumbling
12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed�not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence�continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,
Jesus Never Said it would be Easy! But Jesus did Say if we Believed in Him�He Would be Always With us and that He Would HELP us All The WAY!
