The Doctrine of Regeneration

THE DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION

What the Bible Teaches about Being Born Again

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date: April 16, 2023

Series: Neglected Doctrines

Note: Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction to Sermon Series

This sermon is the first in a new sermon series that will be preached intermittently over the next few years. The sermon series is entitled “Neglected Doctrines” and emerges out of my observation that certain important biblical doctrines are often neglected or undervalued by evangelical churches in America. By God’s grace, let’s be a congregation that gives careful attention to all that the Bible teaches!

Introduction to Sermon

Four men serve as keynote speakers at an evangelism conference in the late 1990s. By the time that the conference talks are turned into a book, one of the keynote speakers has departed from the ministry and walked away from his wife and family. This man, along with some other prominent evangelical ministers over the last 25 years, have made a shipwreck of their faith.

Hundreds of people respond to the invitation to receive Christ at the end of an evangelistic message. A few years later, they have fizzled out except for a handful of people who are pressing on to know the Lord.

A generation of young people grow up in the same church, receive the same instruction, and are involved in the same activities. Twenty years later, half are walking with the Lord, and the other half are nowhere to be seen.

Why? Why is it that there are so many people who have had close contact with the Christian faith, even to the point of professing to believe in Christ or attempting to serve Him, end up throwing in the towel and living the remainder of their lives as unbelievers? There is more than one legitimate explanation for this dynamic. But one legitimate explanation is that, in many cases, such people were never born again in the first place. What it means to be born again – to be regenerated – is the neglected doctrine that I want to address this morning.

The Definition of Regeneration

First, let me define regeneration: regeneration is God’s sovereign work of imparting spiritual life to a spiritually dead sinner, thereby turning the dead sinner into a living saint. Before regeneration, the dead sinner was repelled by God and disobedient to God. After regeneration, the living saint is drawn to God and obedient to God.

Although the biblical words that are used to describe regeneration are more important than the English word ‘regeneration’, nevertheless the meaning of the English word is helpful to understand. The prefix ‘re’ means ‘again’, and the word ‘generation’ has to do with generating, making, or creating. So the verb ‘regenerate’ means to ‘create again’ or ‘create anew’. “[Unless] one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)

As we shall see, Scripture uses a number of different terms to describe the reality of regeneration. But at the outset, we simply need to understand that regeneration is God’s sovereign work of remaking a wretched sinner into beautiful son or daughter of God. “[If] anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

The Background of Regeneration

Second, let me talk about the background of regeneration. Before we can grasp the beauty of God’s regenerating grace, we first need to grasp the depth of humanity’s depravity, for which regeneration is the only answer. So, in order to appreciate the weightiness of this doctrine, we must first come to terms with the weightiness of our sin.

The first three verses in Ephesians 2 clearly set forth the deadness and corruption of man’s sinful heart. Paul is writing to Christians who had already experienced God’s transforming grace. In Ephesians 2:1-3 Paul tells these Christians what they were like before they were captured by God’s grace. Paul says,

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience–among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” (Ephesians 2:1-3)

What was true of these Christians before they were arrested by divine grace, is true of all human beings who have not yet encountered God’s grace. The unconverted are dead in their sins. They are physically and psychologically alive – they have thoughts and emotions and motivations and bodily activities – but they are spiritually dead. They are alive to sin, but dead to God. They are alive to unrighteousness, but dead to holiness. They are alive to the devil, but dead to the Holy Spirit. “They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.” (Ephesians 4:18) They walk in “trespasses and sins”. They follow all the wrong things: they let the sinful world system set their agenda, they are under the controlling influence of satanic power and deception, they implement their own unruly passions and desires. The unconverted are “by nature children of wrath”. The phrase “by nature” points to the fact that ever since mankind’s fall into sin in Genesis 3, the starting point for all human beings is a world of sin under the judgment of God.

Adam and Eve, before they sinned, were by nature children of blessing. After creating Adam and Eve, “God blessed them” (Genesis 1:28). But after Adam and Eve exchanged God’s truth for a lie, they plunged themselves and their descendants into spiritual darkness. Since then, every human being is born into a world of sin and is a world of sin – every human being (except for our Lord Jesus) is a world of sin – and as such every human being exists under the judgment of God and is always ripening toward the judgment and wrath that will be poured out on the unconverted on the day of judgment (see Romans 2:5). That is the terrible predicament that every human being is in, unless God plucks you from it.

Now it should be obvious from Paul’s description that there is nothing that any human being can do to rescue himself from the mess that he is in. I say ‘it should be obvious’ because Paul uses the word dead: “dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked”. The spiritually dead have no ability to make themselves spiritually alive. Dead people cannot resurrect themselves. Dead people cannot turn themselves into paragons of moral righteousness. Only someone who is alive and who has the ability to impart life to others, would be able to make a dead person alive.

The same point about mankind’s inability to rescue itself can be observed in other passages. Consider this assessment of the entire human race in Romans 3:

“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one…. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:10-12, 18)

How in the world do people who have no heart for God, no fear of God, no understanding of God’s ways, and no love for God’s righteousness, actually get a heart for God? People who don’t have a heart for God are not good candidates for giving themselves a heart for God. People who have a natural bent toward sin are not good candidates for giving themselves a new and holy disposition.

We read these sobering words in Jeremiah 13: “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil.” (Jeremiah 13:23) Of course, the Ethiopian could put a layer of paint on his skin if he wanted to, and a leopard could layer itself with mud if it spent a few hours rolling around in the mud. Likewise, sinners can plaster their external appearance with religiosity and moral façade. But just as a man cannot change the fundamental nature of his skin and a leopard cannot change the fundamental nature of its spots, so a sinner cannot change the fundamental nature of his wicked ways.

The unconverted are dead in sin, enslaved to sin, and in love with their sin. They are blind to “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:4), and the wonderful message of the cross seems like utter foolishness to them (1 Corinthians 1:18). If any of the dead are to come alive, if any of the enslaved are to be set free, if any of the blind are to gain their sight, and if any of the foolish are to become wise, then God must do the saving and rescuing.

The Necessity and Nature of Regeneration

Third, let me discuss the necessity and nature of regeneration.

Its Necessity

When I say that regeneration is necessary, I mean two things. First, I mean that regeneration is necessary because your natural sinful condition is so bad, so depraved, and so hopeless that you will either be regenerated or you will remain wretched forever. The second thing I mean, when I say that regeneration is necessary, is that regeneration is necessary in order to enter into and see God’s kingdom of grace. The path to heaven goes through the delivery room called regeneration. The many paths that avoid this delivery room all end up in the same place: hell. These are sobering words and I don’t say them lightly. Regarding the necessity of regeneration as the necessary prerequisite to entering God’s kingdom, we can do no better than Jesus’ teaching in John 3:

“Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”” (John 3:1-8)

Nicodemus was a Jew, an Israelite, a descendant of Jacob – but that wasn’t enough. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, which means he was part of a Jewish holiness movement that emphasized righteousness and ritual purity rules – but that wasn’t enough. Nicodemus was an influential leader – he is called “a ruler” in verse 1 and “the teacher of Israel” in John 3:10 – but that wasn’t enough.

Somewhere along the way you might have seen a bumper sticker that says, ‘Born OK the first time’. The truth, however, is that no sinful human being is born okay the first time – not even a privileged Jew like Nicodemus. Unless you are born a second time – unless you experience spiritual birth – you cannot enter into God’s kingdom.

Its Nature

Even as Jesus presses upon Nicodemus the necessity of regeneration, Jesus also highlights the nature of regeneration. The phrase “born again” in verses 3 and 7 can also be rendered “born from above”. In either case, the phrase points to a spiritual birth that is something other than physical birth. Physical birth is our first birth, a birth that takes place in the natural realm: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh”. Spiritual birth is a second birth, a birth that takes place in the spiritual realm: “that which is born of the Spirit is spirit”.

The phrase “born again” in verse 3 is further explained in verse 5 by the phrase “born of water and the Spirit”. This reference to “water and the Spirit” invites us to go back to Ezekiel 36:25-27 where spiritual birth is described for us. Before I read these three verses, keep in mind that these words are being spoken to an unclean people (Ezekiel 36:29) whose lives were characterized by “evil ways”, “iniquities”, and “abominations” (Ezekiel 36:31). Such people cannot cleanse and renew themselves; instead, the cleansing and renewing must be done to them. To such people the Lord says:

“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. 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. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” (Ezekiel 36:25-27)

The spiritual birth described in Ezekiel 36:25-27 involves at least three facets. First, the sinner is cleansed from his sin, uncleanness, and idolatry. Water symbolizes this cleansing, but the reality is that the sinner is washed from his filth. Second, the sinner is given a new heart. This is nothing less than a spiritual heart transplant: the old stony heart, that was stubborn and hard and unresponsive to God’s Word, is removed, and it is replaced with a new heart that is soft and tender and malleable and teachable. Third, the sinner is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who empowers the cleansed man with a new heart to walk in obedience. That is the new birth. That is what it means to be born again. That is what it means to be born of water and the Spirit. You are washed clean of all the accumulated filth and gunk from your many years in vanity and pride. You are given a new heart. And instead of being led astray by “the prince of the power of the air, the [unholy] spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2), now you are led into true obedience by God’s Holy Spirit who is at work in His regenerated people.

Some people mistakenly think that they have to get religious in order to be acceptable to God. Some people mistakenly think that they have to clean themselves up in order to have God’s favor. Some people mistakenly think that they have to do this and do that, go to church and give money, pray a lot and read your Bible more, keep many rules and check many boxes, be a good neighbor and treat others well, in order to be a citizen of God’s kingdom. All that is so much rubbish!

Unconverted people don’t need any of the above – unconverted worldly people don’t need any of the above and unconverted churchgoing people don’t need any of the above. Instead, you need something that is completely outside of your control to make happen. Just as you cannot control the wind – “The wind blows where it wishes” (John 3:8) – so you cannot control the Spirit. But what you need is for the Holy Spirit to birth you into God’s kingdom. Don’t clean yourself up; you need God to cleanse you! Don’t try to reform your old stubborn heart; you need a new heart! Man-made religion is men with sinful stubborn hearts trying to do their best to find God – it doesn’t work! Man-made politics is men with sinful stubborn hearts trying to make life work for people – it ends badly! The reformation of our old stubborn hearts isn’t what we need; what we need are new hearts! Don’t try to manufacture obedience in your own strength – you need the Holy Spirit to empower you for obedience.

If you respond to all this by saying, ‘What you are saying is making me feel desperate?’ my response is ‘Great!’ The predicament that an unconverted man is in is not only desperate, but impossible! When the disciples “were exceedingly astonished” (Mark 10:26) at Jesus’ statement that “[it] is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:25), they asked him, “Then who can be saved?” (Mark 10:26) Jesus didn’t answer by saying, ‘Well, many people, of course, as in the many sensible people who aren’t weighed down by their wealth.’ He didn’t say that. What did He say? “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” (Mark 10:27) It is impossible for men to bring themselves into the realm of salvation. But it is not impossible for God to rescue sinners “from the domain of darkness” and transfer them into “the kingdom of his beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13).

The Doer of Regeneration

And this brings us to the fourth point, which is to identify and glorify the Doer of regeneration. Who is the Doer of regeneration? The Triune God alone. God is the One who performs the act of regeneration. Before we return to Ephesians 2, just consider the other two passages we just looked at. The very teaching in John 3 that we must be born again should make it obvious that we do not give birth to ourselves. When it comes to physical birth, we don’t birth ourselves; we are born. As D. A. Carson puts it, “The child about to be born does not make a commitment to come out of his mother’s womb.”[1] Likewise when it comes to spiritual birth: we don’t birth ourselves, we are born again. We are birthed by another. We are brought forth. Ezekiel 36 confirms this line of thought, when God says: “I will cleanse you”, “I will give you a new heart”, “I will put my Spirit within you”.

The same truth is taught in Jeremiah 31, a well-known passage that describes the new covenant. One of the promises of the new covenant is directly related to regeneration: “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.” (Jeremiah 31:33) This is just another way of describing the heart transformation that regeneration is. The disobedient heart that resists God’s Word and suppresses God’s truth and breaks God’s commandments is only overcome by God’s unilateral action upon the heart. God writes His law upon the heart of His people, so that God’s law is now internalized, loved, understood, delighted in, and kept. When God inscribes His law on a human heart, that heart is thereafter drawn to and delights in the teaching that God has inscripturated in the Bible. The truth written down objectively for our instruction and edification links up with the truth internalized in the transformed heart, and they resonate with each other!

Now let’s return to Ephesians 2. Remember, verse 1 tells us that people, before they encounter God’s grace, are “dead in the trespasses and sins in which [they walk]”. And remember, dead people are incapable of making themselves alive. So, after explaining the deadness and utter lostness of sinful man in verses 1-3, the apostle Paul celebrates God’s grace in verses 4-5:

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ–by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5).

Ephesians 1:19-20 tells us about God’s immeasurably great power by which He raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus’ resurrection was a physical resurrection, and the Bible teaches that one day believers will also experience the glory of physical resurrection. But the point of Ephesians 2:4-5 is that the same divine power displayed in Jesus’ physical resurrection is displayed when God brings spiritually dead people to spiritual life. “[Even] when we were dead in our trespasses, [God] made us alive” – this is nothing less than spiritual resurrection, regeneration, re-creation. As Christ was raised from the dead bodily, so God gives His chosen ones a share in Christ’s death-defeating victory by raising them from the dead spiritually – and so it is that those who are made alive are made alive “together with Christ”.

This gift of new life is the expression of God’s grace: “by grace you have been saved” (v. 5). Dead people not only are unable to make themselves alive, but also are unable to force God’s hand or earn God’s favor. People who are enthralled with the world’s idol factories, enslaved to their own sinful passions, and animated by the prince of demons, can do nothing to make themselves attractive to God. The good news of the gospel is not that mankind is lovely and worthy of salvation. The good news of the gospel originates in the heart of God: He is “rich in mercy” (v. 4), He loves with “great love” (v. 4), and He acts according to “grace” (v. 5). Therefore, because of the plenitude of His own grace, mercy, and love, God is eager and willing to walk through the spiritual graveyards of this sin-darkened world and regenerate those whom He “chose… in him [Christ] before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4).

When God commands the dead to live, they live! By sheer grace, God is the One who performs the act of regeneration.

The Means of Regeneration

Fifth, it is important to understand the means of regeneration. God doesn’t require the use of means, but He ordinarily uses means to accomplish His work.

What do I mean by ‘means’? Consider a statement like this: I cleaned the floor by means of a soap-filled mop. Who cleaned the floor? I did. But I did it through the means of a soap-filled mop.

If God wanted to, He could bring about someone’s regeneration by simply willing it. A dead-hearted, sin-enthralled, wicked man could go to bed one evening, and while he was sleeping, God could will that this man be immediately and thoroughly cleansed, receive a new heart, and become a fit habitation for the Holy Spirit. God could do that if He wanted to. And if God were to do that, that man who went to bed dead-hearted, sin-enthralled, and wicked, would wake up a new creation: alive, indwelt by the Spirit, and eager for righteousness.

In fact, however, God ordinarily uses identifiable means to regenerate people while they are not sleeping. In terms of what the Bible teaches, it is not enough to say that a merciful God performs the act of regeneration. We must also say that a merciful God performs the act of regeneration through the proclamation of His Word to the sinner. The act of regeneration and the proclamation of the Word are not the same thing. The proclamation of the Word is the declaration of truth to the sinner. The act of regeneration is making the sinner alive to the gospel truth that is being declared. The Spirit of God brings sinners to life through the proclamation of the Word of God.

There are multiple passages that make this clear. James 1:18 says, “Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.” (James 1:18) “Of his own will he brought us forth” – this refers to regeneration. What means did He use to do this? “[The] word of truth”. “[He] brought us forth by the word of truth” (italics added).

First Peter 1:23-25 says,

“… you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.” (1 Peter 1:23-25)

“[You] have been born again” – this refers to regeneration. What means did God use to do this? “[The] living and abiding word of God”, which “is the good news that was preached to you”. “[You] have been born again… of imperishable [seed], through the living and abiding word of God” (italics added).

The very way that John 3 unfolds shows us that God brings about regeneration through the means of the gospel. After emphasizing the necessity and nature of regeneration, John 3 doesn’t leave us to ourselves to meditate on the mysterious nature of the new birth. Instead, John 3 directs our attention to what God has done to give us life:

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:14-16)

It is through this proclamation of God’s love displayed through the sacrificial death of God’s Son that the Holy Spirit brings about regeneration in a sinner’s heart, so that the sinner is drawn to the beauty and worth of Christ.

The Result of Regeneration

Sixth, we need to understand the result of regeneration. In keeping with the previous point, the immediate and obvious result of regeneration is that the one who is regenerated is captivated by the Lord Jesus Christ, captivated by the gospel, captive by the Word of God. Regeneration came about through God’s Word, which exalts the Lord Jesus Christ, and thus the regenerated heart is now forever bound to the Scriptures and to the Lord Jesus Christ who is revealed through the Scriptures. That is the immediate and obvious result of regeneration.

But there are other practical lifelong results of regeneration that we need to be clear about. Just as the unseen wind is known by its effects, so the regenerating work of God’s Spirit is known by its results (see John 3:8).

Going back to Ezekiel 36:25-27, there can be no doubt that the result of regeneration is obedience. The sinner is cleansed (v. 25), receives a new heart (v. 26), and is indwelt by the Holy Spirit (v. 27). After the Lord declares this profound transformation, He says: “I will… cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” (v. 27) In terms of the context of Ezekiel 36:25-27, this true obedience is not a form of guilt management. Those who attempt to obey out of guilt have not been cleansed. Also, this true obedience is not outward reformation. Those who make an attempt at outward reformation are attempting to control the impulses of their hard heart, and that doesn’t work. True obedience flows from the new heart – the humble and teachable and moldable heart of flesh. Finally, this true obedience isn’t sustained by man’s strength, but is empowered by the Holy Spirit. Show me a community of regenerated people, and I will show you a community of people who are growing in grateful, heartfelt, joyful, and earnest obedience to God’s Word. Show me a religious community of unregenerate people, and I will show you a community of people who are attempting to manage their guilt and reform their sinful hearts in their own strength. It makes no real difference whether the unregenerate community takes the shape of a loosey-goosey progressive religion that rejects biblical teaching or the shape of a stuffy legalistic fundamentalist religion where rigid rules are the answer to everything – in either case, the transforming power of regenerating grace is absent.

Then, taking one more look at Ephesians 2, in verse 10 Paul says: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10) The very fact that “we are his workmanship” and that we are “created in Christ Jesus” echoes the truth of regeneration. A true Christian is not self-made, but is made by God. And although we are saved by divine grace and not by our own works, nevertheless we are saved “for good works”. As Jesus taught that “no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its fruit” (Luke 6:43-44), so you can be sure that when a bad-tree-like sinner becomes by God’s regenerating power a good-tree-like saint, he will begin to bear good fruit and will indeed learn to walk in the good works which God prepared beforehand. Good fruit doesn’t make the tree alive, but good fruit shows that the tree is alive!

We also do well to ponder some verses from 1 John. First John teaches us that those who are regenerated invariably reflect God’s character in their everyday lives. Have a listen:

“If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.” (1 John 2:29)

“Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.” (1 John 3:8-9)

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world–our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:1-5)

Let me just focus on that statement that “his commandments are not burdensome”. This statement captures the practical effect of regeneration: regeneration leads to joyful obedience. Why are God’s commandments not burdensome to God’s redeemed children? The very next words are: “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world.” God’s commandments are burdensome to the unredeemed and disobedient heart. But when a sinner is born of God, he gets a new heart and his love affair with the world is terminated. We aren’t immediately perfected, of course, and our entire life we have to make war against “the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul” (1 Peter 2:11). But regeneration immediately sets us on a new trajectory, with a new disposition and desire, such that going forward those who have been born again delight in God’s commandments, love one another, and desire to walk in righteousness.

The final result of regeneration, and the transformed life that flows from it, is that future day when God’s redeemed people inherit the kingdom. The New Testament is crystal clear: people whose lives are not transformed will not inherit God’s kingdom:

“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21)

Those in bondage to “the works of the flesh” – no matter what they claim to be or believe – will not inherit God’s kingdom. The opposite of “the works of the flesh” is “the fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22), and it is those who bear the Spirit’s fruit who will “reap eternal life” (Galatians 6:8). What is this fruit?

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).

“[The] fruit of the Spirit” is the fruit that increasingly characterizes those who have been “born of water and the Spirit” (John 3:5). The water has washed them from the filthy works of the flesh, and the Spirit now leads them along the path of righteousness.

The Significance of the Doctrine of Regeneration

Seventh, I want to say a few things about the significance of the doctrine of regeneration.

1) Pursue faithful ministry

In terms of our ministry to the unconverted, we must reject gimmicks and clever techniques. Instead, we must embrace the means that God has appointed. We do indeed make an appeal to people, but it is not a fleshly appeal that we make. The world knows how to manipulate sinners with comfortable allurements and fleshly entertainments. The world knows how to put on a good show, and certain religious personalities have followed suit. But it is not to be this way among us. Our calling is not to impress people with allurements, adornments, audio-visual awesomeness, the fine-tuning of the worship atmosphere, or watered-down messages pitched to the world’s wisdom. We ought to conduct our ministry in such a way that if God isn’t at work in a person’s life, then that person wouldn’t be interested in what we have. And what we have is the message of the cross: “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (1 Corinthians 2:2) The gospel message “is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18).

2) Don’t write anyone off

In terms of our mindset about the unconverted, everyone is an improbable and unworthy candidate for God’s grace. Therefore, don’t be writing anyone off. The fact that everyone is an unworthy candidate for God’s grace means that anyone might receive it! And why? The unconverted churchgoer is in the same impossible fix that the foul-mouthed factory worker or hardened criminal is in. They are equally lost, and yet by divine grace any of them might be saved in an instant as they hear the gospel. Therefore, see to it that they do, in fact, hear the gospel.

3) See the church through the lens of regeneration

Third, in terms of what the true church is, our vision for the church’s life and worship must be seen through the lens of regeneration. What is the true church of the Lord Jesus Christ? It is God’s handiwork, God’s creation! The gospel is proclaimed and, through this gospel, God makes people alive. Then these alive people gather together to worship the Lord and enjoy fellowship with each other in the Lord. God’s Word is taught, so that these alive people learn to order their everyday steps in accordance with God’s instruction. From the pulpit, through our various ministries, and in everyday conversations, the gospel continues to be proclaimed. And as this gospel is proclaimed, and as this proclamation is accompanied by the testimony and transformed lives of already Christians, God makes more people alive and draws them into fellowship with us. This whole thing, from start to finish, is the work of God! He has made us alive, and put a song in our heart, and made His Word sweet to our taste, and given us love for one another.

4) Turn to the Lord!

And yet, in a gathering of 135 people, the odds are high that at least a handful of people have not yet experienced the new birth. You’re still on the outside of God’s kingdom. Your eyes are still blind to the glorious realities of the gospel. You see the church as a cultural or social or religious phenomenon, but you don’t see it as the very handiwork of God’s Word and God’s Spirit. And it’s no wonder that you see it as you do, because you haven’t yet tasted and seen for yourself that the Lord is good. And perhaps at this very hour, in a moment of unusual clarity, you can perceive that you are still in bondage to your sin, that you are still by nature a child of wrath! But could it be that God, who is rich in mercy, is drawing near to you to deliver you?

Before the promise of Ezekiel 36, there is the plea of Ezekiel 18:

“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live.” (Ezekiel 18:30-32)

It is stunning to hear God say to you: “make [yourself] a new heart and a new spirit”. For we have learned from Ezekiel 36 that these very things He must do for us, if they are to be done. And yet, God commands us into what He Himself must give to us. The command is designed to break us, that we might cry out:

“Nothing in my hands I bring,

Simply to Thy cross I cling;

Naked, [I] come to Thee for dress,

Helpless, [I] look to Thee for grace:

Foul, I to the fountain fly,

Wash me, Savior, or I die.”[2]

And there, beneath the Savior’s bloody cross, even you might be born again.

ENDNOTES

[1] D. A. Carson, The God Who is There: Finding Your Place in God’s Story. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2010: p. 125.

[2] From the hymn “Rock of Ages” by August M. Toplady.