by Garrett Glende

In case you haven’t been following along, the past few topics in this series have been under the umbrella of the application of the atonement in our redemption. We have been walking through what theologians call the ordo salutis (order of salvation), studying the process of our salvation from election to glory. The issue at hand this week is the wonderful doctrine of regeneration: God’s act of giving new life to dead sinners by awakening their hearts to see the glory of the Son and their need for His forgiveness.

Grudem defines regeneration as “a secret act of God in which he imparts new spiritual life to us.” The crux of this definition is that regeneration is fully an act of God. Jesus gives us insight into this “secret act,” as Grudem describes it, in John chapter 3 where He encounters Nicodemus. Here Jesus tells him, “Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Nicodemus’ response suggests that such an occurrence would be impossible, to which Jesus replies:

“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 3:5-8).

Jesus illustrates the mystery of regeneration by comparing the act of God, particularly the Holy Spirit, to the wind. We cannot see the miracle of the new birth take place, but we are able to see its effects. So it is with the wind: we only know that the wind is blowing because we hear its whistle and see the swaying of the trees. Just as we cannot control the course of the wind, we also are at the mercy of the sovereign will of God in regeneration. As spiritually dead people (Eph. 2:1), running as fast as we can away from our Creator, we must be brought about to a whole new life in order to make any sort of movement towards God. In support of God’s regenerating work, James speaks of the Father of lights, who has “of his own will brought us forth by the word of truth” (James 1:18). Peter also declares that God has “caused us to be born again…” (1 Pet 1:3). Indeed, we see throughout Scripture that God is the only person who is able to grant spiritual life.

Now that it is clear that God is the one who gives new life, we can look at what actually happens in regeneration. As stated above, much of it is a mystery and we cannot explain all the details of the process, but we can glean certain truths from Scripture. One thing that can be noted is that the Bible often relates the new birth with ideas such as washing, cleansing, and renewing. We see this clearly in Titus 3:5 where Paul writes that God has “saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” Echoes of Ezekiel 36:25-27 come to mind:

“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.”

Again, we see that God is the one who gives this new life to His covenant people, purifying them through the washing that comes from the Spirit. This passage from Ezekiel is a beautiful picture of God’s grace in removing our hearts of stone, hardened to spiritual truth, and replacing them with hearts of flesh that are alive and receptive to God’s word. We who were once alienated to God and hostile towards Him, completely dead in our sins, have now been brought into life where we are able to worship and glorify our maker (Col. 1:21).

The book of 1 John offers much practical application in light of this doctrine. As a benchmark for true saving faith, John cites many fruits that will be exhibited in result of the new birth. We must examine our own hearts to see if we are truly living in accordance with what the Bible describes a born again person is like. John writes that “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 3:9). We see clearly that regeneration results in a changed life. The sins that we once lived in – the very same ones that enslaved us – no longer control our lives. We have been given a new heart that now desires to please God in all that we do. This does not mean that we never sin again, but there should be a distinct mark in our attitude towards sin and its outward manifestations. By this hatred of sin, we will be assured of our salvation, as John writes that “you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him” (1 John 2:29). Perhaps the greatest display of the Spirit’s work of regeneration is our love for God and people. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7). It seems simple, but it is often one of the hardest things to do – love one another. Consider if your life displays the fruit of the Spirit. Do you claim to have been born of God, but fail to love your brother? These types of questions are difficult to ask yourself, but it is good for us to diagnose what is really going on in our hearts. But this we know for sure: that for those whom God has given new hearts of flesh He will never cast out. He will continue to mold and sanctify them into disciples of Christ, all by the marvelous power of the Holy Spirit that powerfully works within us. May we truly live as those given new life, fighting sin and loving others, all to the glory of God.