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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Faith following Regeneration | 1 John 5:1 | DocTrinsograce | 173596 | ||
As there has been much discussion lately on the topic, I thought that this might be an interesting article to post. Please see the link below if you'd like to question Dr. White on the issue. "Generally such a passage would be understood to present the following order of events: 1) Believe that Jesus is the Christ, and 2) you are born of God. Yet, the original readers of this text would not jump to such a conclusion. In reality, the most literal rendering would be, 'Every one believing (present tense participle, emphasizing both the on-going action as well as the individuality of saving faith, 'each believing person') that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God (a perfect passive verb, 'has been born by the agency of God'). In John, 'the one believing' is very common, and it is no accident the the emphasis falls upon the on-going action of faith. The one believing that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. If a person is now believing that Jesus is the Christ in a true and saving fashion, they are doing so because, as a completed action in the past, they were born again through the work and agency of God. The verb 'to be born' is passive: they were caused to be born by another, that being God. They did not cause their own spiritual birth. And what is the inevitable result of being born of God? belief that Jesus is the Christ. Just as all those who are given by the Father to the Son come to the Son (John 6:37), so too all who are spiritually reborn through the work of God have as the object of their faith the Lord Jesus Christ. "Some ... exegetes might object to this interpretation. A means of testing the consistency of the exegesis offered of this passage would be to ask how such a person interprets these words from John: "'If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.' (1 John 2:29) "Every consistent protestant would say, 'the reason one practices righteousness is because they have already been born of Him. We do not practice righteousness so as to be born, but instead the birth give rise to the practice of righteousness'. And such is quite true. But, this means that in 1 John 5:1 the belief in Jesus as the Christ is the result of being born of Him. The verbal parallel is exact: in 1 John 2:29 'the one practicing righteousness' is a present participle; in 1 John 5:1 'the one believing' is a present participle. In both passages the exact same verb in the exact same form is used. Therefore, sheer consistency leads one to the conclusion that divine birth precedes and is the grounds of both faith in Christ as well as good works. "The testimony to the fact that God's work of grace precedes any human action can be found all through the text of scripture. Luke knew it well: "'A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.' (Acts 16:14)" By Dr. James White http://www.aomin.org/ |
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2 | Faith following Regeneration | 1 John 5:1 | mark d seyler | 173601 | ||
The assumption that is made in this interpretation, that does not come from Scripture, is that regeneration precedes faith. These verses are then interpreted according to that assumption, and are bent to say something that they don't actually address. Allow me to demonstrate: Coming to faith is spoken of not using a present participle, but using the Aorist tense. In English, we speak of things in various tenses as well as in Greek. We all recognize that we are speaking of different things when we say "I began to do..." and "I am doing..." To say "I am believing..." speaks of my current activity, but makes no mention of the beginning, or inception, of that activity. "I believed...", or "I began to believe..." speaks of the inception of belief. Greek also has these distinctions. Rom 13:11 Also this, knowing the time, that it is now the hour for you to be aroused from sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we believed. This passage refers to the beginning of belief, and the verb "believed" is an Active Aorist, speaking of "when I began to do this". That Paul says "first believed" indicates the Inceptive Aorist. Other examples: John 10:38 “. . . though ye believe (present active subj.) not me, believe (aorist) the works: that ye may know, and believe (aorist), that the Father is in me, and I in him. Believe Me - Aorist Active Imperative - to the Jews - Come to faith Ro 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe (Aorist) in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. John 19:35 and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. (Aorist Active Subjunctive) John 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. Aorist Active Subjunctive Each of these examples show the same verb in the same tense and voice, Aorist Active, of the beginning of belief. The full literal translation of this is to say "as a thing that you yourself do, begin your believing". And of course we know, when someone believes, they are born again, no delay, and so it can be truly said that the one believing (Present Participle) has been born of God. But as a present participle, it cannot, grammatically, speak of the beginning of that state, only of the continuing existance of that state. Dr. White wrote: "If a person is now believing that Jesus is the Christ in a true and saving fashion, they are doing so because, as a completed action in the past, they were born again through the work and agency of God." But that is not exactly what the Scripture says: 1 John 5:1 Everyone believing that Jesus is the Christ has been generated from God. What is verse DOES NOT say is "Everyone believing that Jesus is the Christ 'Believes Because they have been' generated from God." What it DOES say is that everyone who is presently believing has been born of God. This is fully in harmony with the balance of Scripture, we believe, we repent, He gives re-birth. Neither the wording of Scripture nor it's grammer support Dr. White's conclusion. Act 16:14 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira, one reverencing God, listened, whose heart the Lord opened thoroughly to pay attention to the things being spoken by Paul. "Opened thoroughly", "opened her heart to respond", or "regenerated"? Did Luke mean "regenerated" when he wrote "opened her heart"? Luke records the apostles' command to the people "believe" (Aorist Active - something that the one who believes does themself) in Acts 4:4, 4:32, 8:12, 8:13, 9:42, 13:12 is especially interesting, as the precursor to belief is recorded, by Luke, "Then seeing the thing happening, the proconsul believed, being astounded at the doctrine of the Lord." And this clearly demonstrates what precedes belief. Not regeneration, but preaching. To insert regeneration before belief is entirely from man's traditions, and is never found in Scripture. Love in Christ, Mark |
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Questions and/or Subjects for 1 John 5:1 | Author | ||
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DocTrinsograce | ||
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mark d seyler | ||
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Missypj | ||
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reedy |