Q&A: Regeneration

I figured its easier to explain regeneration through a question & answer post, so here are some common questions regarding the Spirit's work of regeneration:

1) Is it possible to be saved and not be regenerated? Why?

The Bible clearly teaches that it is impossible to be saved and not be regenerated (Matthew 7-You will know them by their fruits, John 3-Born of the Spirit, James 2-Genuine faith brings works or else it is "dead"). God's work of salvation includes regeneration. When God saves a man, who repents and puts his faith in His Son, He literally gives man a new God-fearing and sin-hating nature. This new nature is where God's Spirit begins to work. Evident changes will inevitably occur as a result of this new nature. Each Christian may grow in different rates, nevertheless, growth and conformity to the truth are always present.

2) What are some of the changes brought about by this new nature?

Daily struggle with sin
Holiness
Godliness
A lifestyle of faith and love
Continual repentance
Separation from the world
Fire to preach the Gospel wherever you are
Hunger and thirst for righteousness
Burning hatred for sin
Burning desire to serve the Lord and glorify His Name
Unquenchable thirst for God's Word
Delight and excitement for God
Fear of the Lord
Full dependence on God
And many more...

3) How is the change brought about by regeneration different from changes brought about by reading a psychological self-help book?

A psychological self-help book can go as far as changing a person's way of thinking or attitude towards things, but it can never change his very nature. Also, once a principle of psychological principle stops working, the person may abandon the learned belief and go back to his usual behavior.

God's supernatural work of regeneration is not like this. God literally changes a person's heart, not just his way of thinking. This is the one of the core principles why salvation can never be snatched away. God is the author and finisher of our faith. If you really belong to Him, He will finish the work He started in you because His reputation rests on it.

I'll give you an example to make the change brought about by regeneration clear. Let's say I came home from school so stressed and tired. Then my mom, without even asking me if I was okay, asked me in an arrogant, commanding tone to do all the house chores. If I were an unregenerate person, I would rebel in anger. After which I will feel so justified by my actions. The only time I would be bothered by such anger is if someone caught me shouting at my mom or someone points out my sin. Now, considering the exact, same scenario and if I were a regenerate person, what would I do? Some of you will think that I'm not going to get angry. This is not always true. A more realistic response is this: I would DO EXACTLY THE SAME THING as my "unregenerate version" did. I WOULD STILL REBEL IN ANGER. Now where's the difference? After saying all those angry words to my mom, I would feel as if I had swallowed a two-edged sword. I'm not even going to make it to bed time. I would run back to apologize to my mom regardless if someone caught me or pointed out my sin. This is regeneration. You have a new nature that simply cannot stomach sin or bear with the things of the flesh. You can take a piece of that darkness here and then or go back to your evil habits for a while; but the moment you do that, your new nature, created by the Holy Spirit, would be screaming out to you and you cannot help but run back to God in repentance and worship.

4) If man is given a new God-fearing and sin-hating nature when he repents and places himself fully in the hands of God, why is he still capable of sin?

It is because we are still housed in a box of flesh (flesh in the Bible refers to sinful, God-hating nature we are born with). In fact, one of the biggest evidences that a person is regenerated is his/her continual struggle with sin. A regenerate person is not someone who will never sin. Instead, he is a person with a God-given nature that genuinely desires Him [GOD] and genuinely hates the things that He hates. A regenerate person's life is a living example of godliness and holiness.

Refer to the example given on the answer to question number three (anger example) and see the change brought about by regeneration.

5) What if a man professes to be a Christian and yet is manifesting no evidence of regeneration?

In this case, the person is not really saved. What he has is a false fire. The apostles warned us about this. Maybe he is just in Church because of the pastor, his friends or the "good feeling" he gets when he worships God. He might also be in Church because the people there are helping him in his life. Another common reason to be in Church would be the attractiveness of the Biblical principles that may have been presented during sermons. An unregenerate person is not genuinely aching for God. It is impossible to love God genuinely without first knowing the Truth and being changed by Him. The moment persecution strikes or the Biblical principles he employs are "not working", he will be among the first ones to leave the Church. Make no mistake, Peter is a regenerated soul even though He ran away from his "cross" because He came back and faced his death. Being regenerate doesn't mean to be perfect, infallible or sinless. It only means that you have a new nature that is opposed to your old and wicked one; and this new nature is fully evident in your thinking and lifestyle.

6) Are you implying that man was born with an evil and corrupt nature that is why we cannot genuinely love God on our own? and therefore, we need to be saved and regenerated first by God upon hearing the Gospel?

Exactly! You got it!

7) But isn't man created in the likeness and image of God?

It is true that man was created in the image and likeness of God. However, after Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit, that nature was tainted by sin and can no longer be considered the "image of God". God's image is pure. Since man has tainted his God-given nature, it is no longer God's image. In fact, after the fall of man, the Bible never described man again in God's image and likeness. Paul, in his epistles to the Romans, describes men (including himself) as the "enemy of God" with a heart that is "deceitfully, wicked". This is why it is necessary to be changed by the Lord first before we can seek the fullness of His glory. Without holiness, no one will see the Lord. Since man is not holy by himself, it must be supernaturally granted by God by His grace, through His Son, Jesus Christ.

A beautiful passage in Romans 5:12-21 explains all these. Sin entered and corrupted man through Adam, while righteousness entered through Christ. However, Jesus did not just reversed the sinful effect brought about by the sin of the first man. He also made it possible for us, a sinful folk, to be reconciled with a holy God and to even live in union with Him!

8) Do you have any physical proof that man's nature is totally corrupted by sin?

Leave a child on his own. Don't discipline him in any way and let his nature alone direct him and see what happens. He will succumb to his very nature and live a sinful life. He might even become a monster of violence and lust that would make Hitler look like a good person. This is what we truly are: read Romans 3:10-20, 23. All men are sinners. No one is born unscathed by sin. There is only one person who is righteous: God.

If you still don't believe that our natures are corrupted by sin, ask yourself these questions: how many sins have you done in your entire life? Which is more easier to do, to sin or to follow God? Which is more pleasurable to do: sin or sacrifice? Why does sinning bring pleasure and sacrifice bring pain? Still think sin has no power over man? It is because our nature is to continually sin and rebel against God.

This is the very reason why we need God to change our natures first before we can genuinely and hungrily seek Him and love Him by our earthly standards.
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HOPE YOU GOT BLESSED! TO BE HONEST, Q&A BLOG WRITING SEEMS TO WORK BETTER THAN RAMBLING... hmmmm...