Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | 2 Corinthians 13:5 ¶ Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test? |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 2 Corinthians 13:5 ¶ Test and evaluate yourselves to see whether you are in the faith and living your lives as [committed] believers. Examine yourselves [not me]! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves [by an ongoing experience] that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test and are rejected as counterfeit? |
Subject: Difference backsliden or not saved? |
Bible Note: Dear Brother Mark, You wrote, "And so it is through the resurrection of Jesus that a work is done in the believer..." No, the work of Christ is atonement. The work of the Father is election. The work of the Holy Spirit is regeneration. (See John chapter 3.) You asked, "So Biblically, regeneration is when the life of Christ is created in a person, and that person is now a new creation. Would you agree or disagree?" Since you insist, I'd have to agree. However your definition is much too general. Certainly the lack of specificity helps you in your arguments, but I'd posit that it is better to come up with a more definition that is not just solely based on the Word, but also everything the Word has to offer toward a definition; in other words, a definition exhaustively based on Scripture. I'm puzzled. When I've offered a complete definition, you want me to agree to a less rigid one. All I can do is refer you back to the definition I've given. You asked, "Doesn't the quote from Carroll disagree with your previous post?" No, Dr. Carroll specifically states that quickening precedes repentance. The word "quickening" is an old English word for being made alive. In other words, tantamount to the metaphor used by Christ as being born again; i.e., rebirth. In Him, Doc "The specific operation of God that is in view in the doctrine of irresistible grace is the divine work of regeneration. Regeneration literally means 'to regenerate again.' It is the concept that rests upon Scripture's teaching concerning rebirth or being born anew. This is the idea expressed in Paul's concept of 'quickening,' by which the sinful person is raised from spiritual death to spiritual life. "Most Christians agree that regeneration is necessary for salvation. The debate rages over the question of how this necessary condition is met. Historic Semi-Pelagianism teaches that in order to be regenerated one first must have faith. In this schema, it is clear that faith precedes regeneration and that regeneration rests upon a prior response to faith. Thus, God is seen as offering salvation to whosoever will cooperate with His grace. "In contrast to all forms of Semi-Pelagianism, Augustianian and Reformed theology teaches that the grace of regeneration is a monergistic work that is done by God alone because it is a work only God can do. It is a work accomplished on us and in us by which our very natures are changed. It is at once a divine act of re-creation and of liberation. By re-creation we are quickened to spiritual life, or raised from the state of spiritual death. "Regeneration is not a joint venture. We do not cooperate in it because we will not cooperate in spiritual matters while we are still dead in our sins. Our hearts are totally disinclined and indisposed to the things of God. We love darkness and will not have God in our thinking. The desires of our hearts are enslaved to sin. We will never choose Christ until or unless we are liberated from that slavery. In short, we are morally unable to exercise faith until and unless we are first regenerated. "This is why the axiom of Reformed theology is that regeneration precedes faith. Rebirth is a necessary pre-condition for faith. Faith is not possible for spiritually dead creatures. Therefore, we contend that apart from spiritual rebirth there can be no faith. "Of course, once the divine initiative of regeneration has been wrought by the sovereign monergistic work of God, the rest of the Christian life is synergistic. But the transformation of the person from death to life, darkness to light, bondage to liberation is done by God alone, effectually and irresistibly. This is the Biblical basis for the church's confession Soli Deo Gloria." --R. C. Sproul |