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Regeneration
Regeneration, the supernatural act of God that imparts eternal life to a
human being, is the beginning of spiritual life in each individual
Christian. Just as a person is physically born into a human family, every
believer in Christ is spiritually born into the family of God. Without this
spiritual birth, a person remains spiritually dead (John 3:3-7).
Yet for such a basic and fundamental truth, regeneration is a doctrine
that has not been clearly articulated by theologians over the
centuries, often being confused with conversion or taken to include
justification, sanctification, and even glorification (Walvoord 129). It
seems helpful then to begin our discussion by differentiating between
these theological truths in order to focus clearly on the doctrine of
regeneration.
• Conversion is the human counterpart of regeneration, including
repentance (Greek: mataneo, “change of mind”) and trusting in
God’s plan of salvation, made available to us through Jesus
Christ, for reconciliation with God, the process of exercising
saving faith.
• Justification is a legal concept, as when a person is declared
not guilty in a court of law, and refers to a person being declared,
not simply “not guilty” but righteous before God, based on
trusting in the finished and accepted work of Jesus Christ as
payment in full for their sin (Romans 5:1, 8-10).
• Sanctification has two aspects: 1) in positional sanctification a
person is found to be holy because they are in Christ (Hebrews
10:10, 14) and 2) progressive sanctification involves the
outworking of their new standing in Christ in daily life as they
mature in faith (1st Peter 1:15, 16).
• Glorification is the sure end of justification (Plett 101); it is the
purpose of God for which He saves individuals, that His glory
would be revealed in them as it was in Christ (Romans 8:28-30).
Regeneration, the quickening of spiritual life within the heart of a
person dead in their sin, remains distinct from each of these
concepts, while being integral to and inseparable from salvation.
Works Cited:
Walvoord & Zuck’s Bible Knowledge Commentary, “John.”
Billy Graham’s The Holy Spirit.
Les Plett’s Bible Doctrine Class Notes.
Charles Ryrie’s The Holy Spirit.
R.C. Sproul’s Basic Training: Plain Talk On The Key Truths Of The Faith.
Elmer Towns’ What The Faith Is All About.
John Walvoord’s The Holy Spirit