Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | Galatians 3:23 ¶ But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Galatians 3:23 ¶ Now before faith came, we were kept in custody under the Law, [perpetually] imprisoned [in preparation] for the faith that was destined to be revealed, |
Subject: God grant repentance? |
Bible Note: Regeneration is the presence of Christ entering by the Holy Spirit into the one who turns to God in faith. However, what that change entails in a metaphysical sense the Bible gives no instruction and, therefore, it is beyond me. Whatever regeneration entails, it is not because man is physically or spiritually unable to believe God or obey the law but because: (a) man refuses to trust God, and (b)he cannot obey the law in a manner that God approves. Both cases are the result of his fallennes by virtue of Adam's transgression and their continued participation in such fallenness. I admit, there is a change; but that transformation is due to the presence of the Holy Spirit entering within the one believing and entails, as far as I can tell, no physical change in the substance of the heart or the spirit. Of course, when Christ comes, all things will be made new and, in that day, there will occur some sort of physical transformation (mainly by the total extraction of sin?) of heart and spirit. In 1 Cor 2, we do learn that man is incapable of spiritual discerment but it is not the result of your interpretion of the text since it goes beyond what the text actually says, at least, as I read it. I already discussed where your interpretation of the phrase, "God may grant them repentance," is mistaken, which the TEV clarifies. Eze 36:26 refers to Israel as a nation and it is primarily in that context it ought to be interpreted. As such, the language is metaphorical with respect the transformation of the heart from stone to flesh. The "new spirit" is due to the promised presence of the Holy Spirit. Again, this is with respect to Israel as a nation and not individuals. To extend the text to mean individual persons, however, poses no problem. It is still metaphorical, as far as the heart is concerned. No one's heart is stone, at least, to my knowledge. The "new spirit" primarily involves the entrance and domination of the God's Spirit dwelling within man's (keeping in mind that we are not told how He will do it, only the fact that He will). If you are speaking of a moral and spiritual change without suggesting a physical transformation of the heart or a change of substance of the spirit, I can agree; otherwise, I do not. From my reading of the Bible, what you suggest is unwarranted by the Bible verses cited. |