Praying for regeneration

To argue that someone who is not born again cannot pray for regenerating grace because of the sin in his soul is wrong. If it was true, the same argument could be applied to a born-again person praying for holiness. The prayers even of those who are born again are mixed with sin. If you cannot pray until rebirth because your prayers are sinful then you cannot really pray until you are perfectly holy either. If the presence of sin is a reason for not praying in one case, it is in the other.
Therefore we urge anyone who is not born again to pray for it to happen, not because new birth is obtained by prayer as such but because there is no better way to prepare for it. It is better to pray than do nothing. The prayer of the unregenerate is marred by sin, but not necessarily any more than any other prayers.

From my book What the Bible teaches about being born again, p 152

The regeneration of all things

A new order of things is coming and it is those who have first been born again who will enter that kingdom. ... As our souls have been restored and refreshed already so there will come a time when all things are restored or regenerated. We most often speak of this in terms of glorification although it is as much an entire or completed sanctification (just as regeneration is an initial sanctification), or, in terms of regeneration, the external and universal regeneration that follows internal and personal new birth.

From my book What the Bible teaches about being born again, p 145

Conversion and regeneration

Conversion consists of repentance and faith and it is being born again that makes these two possible. It is not that by repenting and trusting in Christ we are born again but that by being born again we are enabled to repent and trust in Christ. Kuyper says that some old Scottish theologians would speak of the implanting of the faith-faculty (regeneration) followed by faith-exercise and faith-power. Without the faculty, the exercise of faith and its power cannot be known.

From my book What the Bible teaches about being born again, p 134

Regeneration and Assurance

Two dangers confront us in this area - on one hand, wrong headed presumption and on the other, needless despair. It is God’s will that every newborn Christian should know that he has entered God’s Kingdom. Nevertheless, not all have the same level of assurance about this. Better that we enter heaven doubting our new birth than that we go to hell falsely assuming we have been born again.

From my book What the Bible teaches about being born again, p 127

He can never be content in his sins again

"Benjamin Beddome wrote:

'The principle of grace will always be rising up against sin, and at length will triumph over it.'

The regenerate man has broken with sin and will no longer live in it as he once did. The born-again sinner sins, but he can never be content in his sins again."

From my book What the Bible teaches about being born again, p 121

Having a reputation for being a Christian does not prove regeneration

"You may have a conscience that agrees that you are a Christian. You may have a tender heart, a hatred of sin and a love for God’s Word. These are excellent things but again they cannot prove regeneration. Having a reputation for being a Christian is not the same as being born again. No amount of zeal, persecution or patience under trial can prove anything. Even strong hopes of heaven and willingness to die for Christ are inconclusive. In Matthew 7:22, 23 Jesus speaks these sobering words
Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!
There is such a thing as a mere form of godliness (2 Tim 3:5)."

From my book What the Bible teaches about being born again, p 120

Regeneration - the knowledge factor

"This fact must not be abused, but out of ignorance a person may live contrary to certain Christian teachings and practices and may appear not to be born again when in fact he is. Of course, if he is genuinely reborn that will show itself when his errors are pointed out.
Far from arguing against religious instruction and faithful teaching prior to conversion, this observation argues rather in its favour. The better instructed people are, the better they will be able to discern their standing before God and benefit from being reborn."

From my book What the Bible teaches about being born again, p 110, 111

Born again - date unknown

"On occasions, I have met people who cannot tell you accurately when they were born. I remember a Vietnamese fellow who was picked up on the streets of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) as an orphaned toddler, and was eventually brought up in the UK. He only knew more or less how old he was. Many abandoned children share the same sort of ignorance. In certain parts of rural Nigeria, it is common not to know the exact day you were born as records are not kept too strictly. In a similar way, many Christians do not know exactly when they were born again. As Archibald Alexander points out, even those who claim that they do know may well be wrong. ... 
A characteristic of regeneration is that it is mysterious and secret so we should not be surprised that it can be difficult to know exactly when it has occurred."

From my book What the Bible teaches about being born again, p 103, 104

NB  There are apparently some 51 million people  wordwide with no birth certificate [63% of them in SubSaharan Africa].

Born to give them second birth

"More broadly, Jesus was

Born to raise the sons of earth,

Born to give them second birth.

His (Christ's) birth led to his atoning death and resurrection. We think of the atonement most readily in connection with justification and link the resurrection with the new birth. The atonement, was necessary, however, for both. Without it, there would be no basis for regeneration. Because of all that Christ has done, God is willing to grant rebirth to his own that they may receive the full benefit of Christ’s redemption."

From my book What the Bible teaches about being born again, p 96

Man not suited to life in heaven

"By this stage in history, we are familiar with the fact that it is impossible for a man to survive in outer space without artificial support. It is one of the great barriers to any idea of colonizing the moon. The moon’s atmosphere is alien to human life. Man is no more able to live unaided on the moon than he is to fly like a bird in the air or live like a fish in the sea.
It is equally true that man is not suited to life in heaven. The problem is not a lack of oxygen, a surfeit of water or an inability to fly. Rather the problem is moral. In heaven all things centre on God and, by nature, this is not man’s inclination."

From my book What the Bible teaches about being born again, p 87

Regeneration essential

 

"Being a new creation is what counts (Galatians 6:15) and to suppose that any action on our part, without new birth, is going to please God is plain wrong. In fact, such a person, in Boston’s words, has shut the door with the thief still in the house ... his prayers are an abomination to God (Proverbs 15:8). Inevitably, selfishness and an unchanged heart will dog his every step."

From my book What the Bible teaches about being born again, p 86

New birth necessary for faith

 

"It is true that unbelievers can do what is relatively good but without new birth they cannot do what is truly good and pleasing to God. Without regeneration, a man has no true faith and so can never satisfy God. Hebrews 11:6 reminds us that without faith it is impossible to please God. It is those who are born of God who receive Jesus by faith and who believe he is the Christ (John 1:12-13; 1 John 5:1). Faith is a flower that will only grow where the field has been prepared and transformed."

From my book What the Bible teaches about being born again, p 86

Change impossible by nature

 

"It is our nature to do evil. We have no more prospect of changing that nature by ourselves than a man with black skin has of turning it white or a leopard has of exchanging its spots for tiger stripes."

From my book What the Bible teaches about being born again, p 82

New birth more than a beggar finding bread

 

"Sometimes Christians describe becoming a Christian using the figure of a beggar finding bread. This is fine as far as it goes, but the biblical picture is closer to that of a dead man being brought to life. The change needed is less like a veterinary surgeon sewing up a wound in the paw of some poor creature and more like the total transformation involved when a caterpillar becomes a butterfly."

From my book What the Bible teaches about being born again, p 79

New birth no optional extra

 

"If we simply confine ourselves, firstly, to what the Bible says about the new birth itself, we immediately see that being reborn is not an optional extra for Christian living. It is not a de luxe add-on, a bonus, an extra, something reserved only for ‘first-class travel’. Rather it is something vital. It is indispensable. It is not an elegant window giving us a view of the glory of God’s house but the very door into it. Without this there can be no entrance. It is not a mere sniff at the delicacies in God’s kingdom but a real taste of what he has to offer, a feast that will enter our bodies and do eternal good. Without it we will starve. If you are not born again, you are simply not a Christian at all."

From my book What the Bible teaches about being born again, p 77

Regeneration - everywhere in the New Testament

 

"The idea of a fundamental change equal to a new birth is not something confined to one or two chapters of the New Testament. The idea is found in many places and a variety of illustrations are employed. ... It is clear that the Bible uses a variety of pictures to convey the idea that the Christian life starts with a radical change produced by God. ... washing, receiving a new heart or spirit, God’s law in the mind and on the heart, ... circumcision of the heart, ... a new birth, a new planting, a new creation, a resurrection, a passing from darkness to light, entering a new world, setting out in a new direction, Spirit baptism and being irresistibly drawn. God intends all these pictures to add to our understanding of regeneration and we do well to reflect on them. Is your understanding of new birth all that it should be?"

From my book What the Bible teaches about being born again, pp 65, 74

Regeneration - when and where the Spirit wills

 

"Jesus uses a picture that grows out of the fact that in Hebrew, Greek and other languages, the word for Spirit or spirit is also the word for breath or wind. This is because both are invisible. Just as ‘the wind blows wherever it pleases’, so the Spirit regenerates whom he will. In the same way that you cannot see the wind but you can see where it has been and what it does, so the Spirit works in people’s lives, and though his work is invisible to our eyes, the results are seen in changed lives. Just when and where the Spirit will work next we cannot definitely know."

From my book What the Bible teaches about being born again, p 63

‘You must be born again’ - a command?

 

"The you in ‘you must be born again’ (John 3:7) is plural. Everyone needs to be born again, not just Nicodemus. The words are often misunderstood to mean that we must do something ourselves to be born again. Yet the picture itself suggests the very opposite. Grammatically, this is an indicative not an imperative, a statement not a command. Just as we cannot decide to be born, so we cannot decide to be born again. Just as birth comes at the beginning of our conscious human life so new birth is at the start of the Christian life."

From my book What the Bible teaches about being born again, p 62

Is faith necessary for new birth?

 

"The fact that receiving or believing appears to arise before becoming children of God or being born of God in these verses tempts some to think that receiving or believing is a condition for being born of God. However, the whole point of the passage is that becoming a child of God is not a matter of ‘natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will’. God makes it happen. As Paul observes: ‘I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow’ (1 Corinthians 3:6). Only God, the giver of life, can make alive. The same point is made in a previous quotation from Ezekiel 36, where God says, 'I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh [italics mine].'"

From my book What the Bible teaches about being born again, p 62

Regeneration - an imperfect change

 

"Finally, for all the positive things we can say about the new birth it is right to remind ourselves that, as Boston notes, it is an imperfect change. Just as a newborn baby is not a mature man, so a newborn Christian has plenty of developing to do. It is important that we do not expect too much. Thomas Watson says, ‘The new creature is but begun here; it is not perfected or drawn in all its orient colours till it comes to heaven.’ Calvin warns, ‘There still remains in a regenerate man a fountain of evil, continually producing irregular desires.’ The fight against sin goes on to the end. We should pray with Wesley, 'Finish, then, Thy new creation; Pure and spotless may we be.' It is not ‘Till in heaven we take our place’ that we will know the perfect restoration found in Christ."

From my book What the Bible teaches about being born again, p 43