New Birth…New Life

A Study of the Doctrine of Regeneration & Related Subjects
by David H. Leaf

7. How does the Bible describe the unregenerate (non - born again) person?
Romans 3:9 - 18  "What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." 13 "Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips." 14 "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness." 15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they have not known." 18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes."

Romans 5:10 "For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life."

Romans 8:8 "Those who are in the flesh cannot please God."

Ephesians 2:1 - 3 "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 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 - 3 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."

1 Corinthians 2:14 "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned." The unbeliever will always put a wrong estimate or evaluation on the things of God.

Galatians 5:19 - 21 "Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 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."

Ephesians 2:12 "remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world."
Ephesians 4:18 - 19 "Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 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. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity."

Colossians 1:21 "And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,"

Romans 1:21 - 32  "For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them."

The following descriptions of an unregenerate person are summarized from the above Scriptures: unrighteous, unthankful, ignorant, violent, no fear of God, deceptive hearts and words, without peace, worthless, enemies of God, cannot please God, dead in sin, under the rule of Satan, evil, disobedient, rebellious, hostile, egotistic, hard heart, impure, sensual, children of wrath, hopeless alienated, futile, foolish, idolatrous, perverted, shameless, debased, arrogant, haters of God

8. What are the signs (fruits or effects) of the New Birth?
The new birth results in a family trait or family resemblance: Being righteous & doing righteousness. Being a child of God & habitually sinning do not belong together.
Galatians 5:22 - 25 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self - control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit."

1 John 1:7 "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin."
1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

1 John 2:3 - 6 "And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says "I know him" but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked."

This obedience is not the PERFECTION of our lives, but the DIRECTION of our lives.
It is not our PERFECTION, but our REACTION to our IMPERFECTION.
True Christians cannot sin with impunity, because it is a violation of his or her new nature in Christ. See 2 Cor. 5:17

1 John 2:9 - 11 "Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes."

1 John 2:23 - 25 "No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he made to us - eternal life."

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

1 John 3:4 - 10 "Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 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. 9 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. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother."

1 John 3:14 - 15 "We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him."

1 John 3:23 - 24 "And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us."

1 John 4:7 - 8 "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love."

1 John 5:1 "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."

1 John 5:4 - 5 "For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world?our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?"

1 John 5:11 - 12 "And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life."

1 John 5:18 "We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him."

This is a summary of the fruits or signs of rebirth: selfless, sacrificial love for Christ and others, regular confession and repentance of sins, joy, peace, and correct doctrine of God, Christ, salvation, sin, etc.

9. How is the New Birth illustrated in Scripture?

In the language of RESURRECTION from the dead

John 5:24 - 29 "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life." 25 "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment."

John 11:17, 23 - 25, 38 - 44 "Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days…23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 24 Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" 38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days." 40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me." 43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." 44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."

Romans 6:4 - 6 "We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin."

Ephesians 2:5 - 6 "even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,"

Colossians 2:12 - 13 "having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,"

Colossians 3:1 - 4 "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

10. Is the New Birth the RESULT of faith, or is faith the RESULT of the New Birth?

"We do not cause our new birth by an act of faith. Just the reverse: the cry of faith is the first sound that a newborn babe in Christ makes. Regeneration, as we sometimes call it, is all of God. We do not get God to do it by trusting Christ; we trust Christ because he has done it to us already." - John Piper

"Infants do not induce, or cooperate in, their own procreation and birth; no more can those who are'dead in trespasses and sins' prompt the quickening operation of God's Spirit within them." - J I Packer

"When God works in us, the will, being changed and sweetly breathed upon by the Spirit of God, desire and acts, not from compulsion, but responsively." - MARTIN LUTHER

"Just as in the beginning "God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light' so, at the moment he appointed for our new birth, he said, "Let there be life' and there was life." - J. A. MOTYER

"That there is such a thing as a spiritual and divine light immediately imparted to the soul by God, of a different nature from any that is obtained by natural means." - Jonathan Edwards

"This calling is an act of the grace of God in Christ by which he calls men dead in sin and lost in Adam through the preaching of the Gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit, to union with Christ and to salvation obtained in him." - Francis Turretin

John 3:3 Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."

John 6:63 "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life."

The sinner is dead in sin, not sick or drowning. A corpse cannot request anything.

11. Does the unbeliever (unregenerate person) have the free will or ability to believe in or accept Christ?
John 6:44, 65 "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day…65 And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father."
This INABILITY is self - imposed because of a person's sinful nature.
It is not that they won't come because they can't come to Christ; but
they can't come because they won't come to Christ.

John 5:37 - 40 "And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, 38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. 39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life."

If you set two bowls of food in front of a dog: one of broccoli, and one of meat, the dog will always choose the meat instead of the broccoli. He is physically capable of eating the broccoli, but because of his dog nature, he will always choose the meat.
The sinner's inability is not mental or physical. It is moral. Because of his sinful nature he would never choose God. He will often choose religion, but would never be naturally inclined toward the truth.
Jesus said to the Pharisees in John 8:45, "… because I tell the truth, you do not believe me."

Free will is the ability to choose what we want. We always choose what we want. We must choose what we want. But the unregenerate sinner never wants the truth, He or she might seek out substitutes, but never the real thing. The unborn sinner only has the free will to reject the gospel, but none to accept it.

The human will is RELATIVELY free, but not ABSOLUTELY free. We have the freedom to choose what we want to eat, but our choice is limited by what food is available, or by how much money we have. When a mugger sticks a gun in your back and says, "Your money or your life." You are not without a choice, though your choices are limited to two. If your desire to live is greater than your desire for your money, then you will give, even reluctantly, your money to the mugger. You have made a choice which is based on your greatest desire of that moment.

Walter Chantry in his article entitled "The Myth of Free Will", writes this:
"The will of man is his power to choose between alternatives. Your will does decide your actions from a number of options. You have the faculty to direct your own thoughts, words, and deeds. Your decisions are not formed by an outside force, but from within yourself. No man is compelled to act contrary to his will, nor forced to say what he does not wish. Your will guides your actions.

"Yet this does not mean that the power to decide is free from all influence. You make choices based on your understanding, your feelings, your likes and dislikes, and your appetites. In other words, your will is not free from yourself! Your choices are determined by your own basic character. The will is not independent of your nature, but the slave of it. Your choices do not shape your character, but your character guides your choices. The will is quite partial to what you know, feel, love, and desire. You always choose on the basis of your disposition. according to the condition of your heart.

"It is just for this reason that your will is NOT free to do good. Your will is the servant of your heart, and your heart is evil. "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that EVERY imagination of the thoughts of his heart was ONLY evil CONTINUALLY" (Gen 6:5).

"There is NONE that doeth good, no, not one" (Rom 3:12). No power forces man to sin contrary to his will, but the descendants of Adam are so evil that they always choose the evil.

"Your decisions are molded by your understanding, and the Bible says of all men, "And their foolish heart was darkened" (Rom 1:21). Man can only be righteous when he desires to have fellowship with God, but, "There is NONE that seeketh after God" (Rom 3:11). Your appetites crave sin, and thus you cannot choose God. To choose good is contrary to human nature. If you chose to obey God, it would be the result of external compulsion. But you are free to choose and hence your choice is enslaved to your own evil nature.

"If fresh meat and tossed salad were placed before a hungry lion, he would choose the flesh This is because his nature dictates the selection. It is just so with man. The will of man is free from outside force, but not from the bias of human nature. That bias is against God. Man's power of decision are free to choose whatever the human heart dictates; therefore there is no possibility of a man choosing to please God without prior work of divine grace.

"What most people mean by free will is the idea that man is by nature neutral and therefore able to choose either good or evil. This simply is not true. The human will and the whole of human nature is bent to ONLY evil CONTINUALLY Jeremiah asked, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots'? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil" (Jer 13:23). It is impossible. It is contrary to nature Thus do men desperately need the supernatural transformation of their natures, else their wills are enslaved to choosing evil.

"In spite of the great praise that is given to "free will," we have seen that man's will is not free to choose a course contrary to God's purposes nor free to act contrary to his own moral nature. Your will does not determine the events of your life nor the circumstances of it. Ethical choices are not formed by a neutral mind but always dictated by your personality makeup."

The human "free will" is not the ultimate determiner of our new birth. We cannot cause our new birth by a personal decision. It is God's Will that determines our new birth.

John 1:12 - 13 "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God."

John 5:21 "For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will."

Romans 9:14 - 18 "What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion,  but on God, who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills."

Acts 16:14 "One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul."
* see the Westminster statement on "free will" (Question No.17).

12. What is "Baptismal Regeneration?"
It is the belief that Regeneration occurs the moment of baptism.
The Roman Catholic Catechism teaches this:
"Baptism not only purifies from all sins, but also makes the neophyte 'a new creature', an adopted son of God, who has become a'partaker of the divine nature', member of Christ and co - heir with him, and a temple of the holy Spirit." (page 354, #1265)

Baptism was not intended as the WAY to salvation, but as a SIGN of our salvation. It is an external public testimony of an internal personal experience.

13. What is "Decisional Regeneration?"
Up to this point we have seen that the new birth is a sovereign act of God the Holy Spirit upon the dead spirit of the sinner, whereby He brings to life what once was dead.
"Decisional regeneration" is the view that the new birth comes about as the direct result of a human decision.
An illustration will be of help:
Rick Warren in his book "The Purpose Driven Life" invites sinners to come to Christ. Here is a quote:
"…I invite you to bow your head and quietly whisper the prayer that will change your eternity:'Jesus, I believe in you and I receive you.'
…If you sincerely meant that prayer, congratulations!! Welcome to the family of God! You are now ready to discover and start living God's purpose for your life…" (p. 58 - 59)
If you are not appalled by this you should be. Regeneration has been reduced to a procedure which man performs. God is not at the beck and call of every sinner that repeats some formula. God is not obligated. He does however promise that he will never turn away anyone who comes to him in a humble and repentant attitude.
Isaiah 66:2 "All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word."

Psalm 34:18 "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit."

Psalm 51:17 "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."

Any person coming to God must feel the weight and guilt of their sin.
Matthew 11:28 - 30 "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

John 6:37 "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out."

1 Peter 5:5 "Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

No one unaided by the Spirit of God can come of their own accord. Making a "decision" does not put one into the Kingdom of God; that is God's decision.

14. What is "Easy Believism?"
"Easy Believism" is a part of "decisional regeneration." A person makes a confession that he or she believes that Jesus died for their sins, and on that confession is the basis for their assurance of salvation.
Part of the confusion with many people is that the Bible never invites anyone to "ask Jesus into their heart", or to "accept Jesus as their Lord & Savior." We are commanded to "believe" and "repent" but not to "accept." Evangelical slogans when repeated long enough, become traditions that actually keep people away from a truly biblical understanding of the new birth.
Evangelists who really believe that they can get people born again by a simple decision or "faith commitment" often resort to emotional and psychological manipulation. We are overcome by the SUPER SALESMEN "soulwinners" who pull professions out of lost souls with a promise that they will go to heaven on the basis of a little prayer and a profession of faith in Jesus. But they never know the reality of passing from death to life. Keith Green wrote:
"Can't you see what fools we are? We reach people with a man - made, plastic gospel. We get people to come forward to the altar by bringing psychological pressures that have nothing to do with God. We'lead them' in a prayer that they are not yet convinced they need to say. And then to top it all off, we give them'counseling', telling them it is a sin to doubt that they're really saved."
We need to call people to believe and repent. That is a decision. But we should not coerce them or pressure them to do it. Because unless they freely and sincerely "decide" for Christ out of the conviction of the Holy Spirit, it will be empty words and a false faith.

?Because we are living in a consumer culture, we are led to believe in instant conversions. We prefer to depend, not on the power and sovereignty of God, but massive multi - million - dollar "festivals" and media events, our worldly entertainment extravaganzas and minstrel show, and our psychological manipulation methods to get people to walk the aisle, shake the preacher's hand, mumble a prayer, "say these words after me or just follow along while I pray for you," or "just ask Jesus into your heart," and then we wonder why most of our converts never join a church, and most of those who do join a church turn out to be as mean as the Devil and are interested only in tearing our churches apart.

Instant Christians is a modern invention. The "Father" of the modern missionary movement, William Carey, a missionary to India, labored in India 7 years before he baptized his first convert. David Livingston served 8 years in Africa before seeing anyone converted. Adoniram Judson served in Burma 6 years, and Hudson Taylor in China for 10 years before seeing anyone become a Christian.