. (Exodus 39:44). As a matter of fact, I have never met an advocate of the death to self movement who could tell me how I might die to self. On one occasion I gave to my class in a Bible College the assignment to write a definition of Sanctification. He did not use it with reference to repeated action, but rather in contrast to our physical birth which is from beneath, or earthly. And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (Genesis 2:7). As God takes the initiative in making the covenant, the conviction takes root that human sin and depravity can be effectually eliminated only by the act of God Himself renewing and transforming the heart of man (Hosea 14:4). If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar; for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? (I John 4:20). The grace of God does not run in human veins. He writes, Of His own will begat He us with the Word of truth (James 1:18). Definition Paul says that forgiveness and justification are made possible through Jesus Christ, but he makes it clear that the two are not identical. Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ (I Peter 2:5). And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary; for thou hast found favor with God . Some who believe regeneration to be hereditary use Acts 16:31 in support of this theory. The most remarkable apostolic gloss or commentary on the subject is found in John 7:39. At the time of our regeneration, we repented, condemned ourselves, and confessed our sins. If the problem in the Christian life is to bring our practice up to our position, then let us become men and women of the Word. Do We See Any Gospel Connections in the Book of Numbers? It is based upon. Simon Magus was baptized, but he was not regenerated. There is always the danger of men trying to live the Christian life when they are not Christian at heart. He guides us through His Word. The Blood of Christ! Knowing that we shall enter into and share Christs glory should make us rejoice now. But when Paul and Silas said to the jailer, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house, they were telling him how he and the members of his household could be saved. Reformation and revival occurs when the Spirit of God sovereignly moves to change the hearts of men, bringing them from spiritual death to spiritual life. Heaven may be reached without education, wealth or worldly acclaim, but it will not be inhabited by those who have not been regenerated. The Bible warns against this false view where it says, If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (I John 1:8). God has a righteousness which He desires to make ours. Though regeneration is a one-time act of God, it is also the fountainhead of sanctification, the beginning of the ongoing process of spiritual renewal. Young believers must not feel that they are not making progress because they are not surging ahead at a fast rate of speed. While Reformed theologians defended the doctrine of regeneration against the sacramentalism of Rome, they affirmed that baptism is a sign and seal of the regeneration of believers. Regeneration, Justification and Sanctification | Bible.org The fact that He is in you is the plain teaching of Scripture. 1. : an act or the process of regenerating : the state of being regenerated. Many Christians either withdraw from it completely or else they associate it with fanatical fringe groups. The former is a judicial act of God, which frees man from the law of sin and absolves him from the state of enmity against God; the latter an enduement with the Spirit, which is an earnest of his inheritance (Ephesians 1:14). Like the Corinthian believers, and all true believers, I was at that moment justified by God. would prevent them from accepting it. This birth is "of the day, free, delivering from passions, taking away every veil of our nature or birth, i.e. It was not to a social outcast, criminal or drunkard, but to a religious, law-abiding man that Christ addressed the command, Ye must be born again. Some persons who possess a certain moral goodness and are therefore self-righteous, do not realize any need of regeneration. While in the post-apostolic days we frequently find traces of a proper appreciation of an underlying spiritual value in baptism (compare Didache vii) many of the expressions used are highly misleading.
