WHY SPIRITUAL REGENERATION OR REBIRTH CANNOT PRECEDE FAITHBy Ezekiel KimosopCalvinism teaches that a sinner must first be regenerated or reborn by God before he can believe in Christ. They further claim that those who will never respond to the gospel have been predestined by God to eternal damnation in hell. This teaching is theologically referred to as the double predestination doctrine. It inescapably implies that the sinner is not responsible for his decision to reject the gospel!My view is that this doctrine, which is historically identified with Augustine of Hippo and later outlined by John Calvin in his writings, is not supported by any passage of Scripture.This article seeks to clarify the Biblical basis for my objection to the Calvinism notion that sinners are so "dead in sin" that they are unable to respond to the salvation call before first being regenerated by God into faith.Those who subscribe to the notion that regeneration must precede faith often point to a number of proof texts to support their arguments.Sections of the passage of Ephesians 2:1-10, among others, are often quoted in defense of this notion. Let us briefly examine the passage below.Ephesians 2:1-3 says "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others" (NKJV).The second text is Ephesians 2:5 which repeats the phrase "dead in trespasses" in relation to the sinner's spiritual condition.These texts are then literally interpreted by Calvinism to imply that the sinner's condition cannot allow him to respond to Christ.Calvinists then supply an analogical inference outside Scripture to state that God must first regenerate (recreate) the sinner's heart before he can believe so that he can exercise faith in Christ. My view is that this analogy is nowhere taught or implied in the Bible! It is consistent with, and derives from a second inference drawn from the false doctrine of Limited Atonement held by Calvinism under the TULIP theory. Calvinism teaches that if the sinner is listed among those who God predestined or appointed to eternal life from the foundation of the world, then God must of essence first conduct a "spiritual surgery" of sorts to restore the "dead sinner" and facilitate his exercise of faith!On the other hand, Calvinism argues that if the sinner is among those ordained for eternal damnation in hell, God would flatly ignore him and he will never come to faith. Instead the condemned sinner will ultimately perish in his trespasses! Simply put, God, according to Calvinism, discriminates between sinners without any objective basis.Why? Because under Calvinism theology, God, in the exercise of His sovereignty, has already predestined sinners to their respective destinations and only those specifically chosen by God have been appointed for redemption in Christ. They teach that the damned (or reprobate) sinner simply cannot hear the gospel or make a moral choice for obedience to Christ because his destiny was sealed by God from the foundation of the world. It is instructive that, in the world of Calvinism, the conviction of the sinner by the Holy Spirit is not the same thing as regeneration. They teach that conviction only comes to the chosen sinner after regeneration by God!I have never found a worse soteriological heresy than this!These Calvinism philosophical analogies do not find the support of Scripture when read in context and in whole. One doesn't have to be a PhD in Biblical studies to discern that Paul has employed several metaphors in Ephesians 2:1-10, including the one we have just outlined. The metaphors are as follows:A) "Dead in trespasses" (2:1,5); B) "made us alive together with Christ" (2:5), C) "raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (2:6); D) "workmanship , created in Christ Jesus for good works" (2:10). These are four solid metaphors or figures of speech that describe our relationship with God in context. They cannot be subjected to literal interpretation without distorting the Scriptures.For instance, if the phrase "dead in trespasses" is to be understood in a literal context, how does one retain the rest as metaphors? Do we (believers) now literally sit in heavenly places? Has Christ literally raised us up and made us sit in heavenly places? If so why are we still on this side of the sun? Scripture is replete with teachings and illustrations that affirm God's offer of unlimited grace to sinners and the sinner's responsibility for obedience to the call of the gospel. The Bible nowhere teaches or implies that God manipulates one set of sinners to obedience while preventing another from receiving His grace. John 3:16 is explicit on this. Similarly, those who interpret Acts 16:14 to infer that God first regenerated the heart of Lydia often fail to notice that in the same chapter Paul responded to the jailer's question saying "...Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household" (Acts 16:30-31).Why was regeneration or opening of the heart not mentioned in the second case or even elsewhere taught in the Bible?Elsewhere in Scripture, Paul rhetorically proclaims "How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how Shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written" (Acts 10:14-15). The procedure outlined in Scripture is clear. The gospel must first be preached and on this basis, the sinner is convicted of sin. At the point of conviction, the sinner has an open opportunity to respond to Christ in faith. He can also resist or reject the gospel. No sinner is forcibly saved!Romans 10:10-11 says " For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."When a doctrinal system is based on convictions that lie outside the authority of Scripture, it should not be blindly embraced even if they were developed by theologians of repute. No commentary or set of theological works should take the place of Scripture.The Bible is the ultimate tool by which the integrity of any Christian doctrine must be proven.My concluding view is that faith must precede (or come before) the regeneration of the sinner and not vice versa. Regeneration is the beginning of the sanctification process through which the believer is reborn in Christ and grows in the knowledge of the truths of Scripture.In the teaching of Scripture, God cannot, and will not, regenerate a sinful vessel who has not repented of his sins otherwise the efficacy of the atonement of Christ will be thrown into doubt.May the word of God eternally illuminate our hearts and minds and remain the exclusive source of our spiritual instruction. May it daily guide our practical Christian living. Shalom© Ezekiel Kimosop August 2020.
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