Subject: Order of occurance |
Bible Note: Greetings once again tgc: I found your reply most interesting. Below I have numbered and listed comments you made, and have provided my comments on them in return. The first comment of yours that stood out was: 1)"Regeneration : When Christ renews ones heart and gives that person the new nature or if you will the point a which the new man is born. This is entirely the work of Christ and man has no hand in it." With that I agree. Next you stated: 2)"The Bible teaches that salvation comes by grace through faith." Yes that is clearly stated in Eph. 2:8-9. But is there any place in the Bible that says, "regeneration" comes through faith. If what you previously said was true, and which I believe it is that; "regeneration, is entirely the work of Christ and man has no hand in it." Then is it possible to exercise faith to bring about "regeneration" The word faith and believe are interchangeable in Scripture, and since we are commanded to believe (1 John 3:23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ) or have faith in Christ, then I only see where faith is necessary for salvation, but not necessary for "regeneration." And since we both agree man has no hand in regeneration, then at the same time we cannot be commanded to be "regenerated" If being regenerated was to be commanded, then we would have to obey and that would mean that in obeying we actually did have a hand in it, since obedeince to any command is active rather than passive. And we would be found contradicting ourselves in what we previously stated. Next you stated: 3) "Yes I belive an unregenerated man can respond to the Gospel." In my understanding of the unregenerate, they are spiritually dead, (Eph. 2:1-10)and unable to respond to any call. Even Lazarus had to first be awakened from his dead condition before he could obey the call of Jesus to "come forth" (John 11:43) I don't see where the dead can even hear let alone respond to anything. Next you stated: 4) "The Bible goes on to tell that faith comes by hearing the Word of God." I agree. But is there any place in the Bible where it says "regeneration" comes from hearing? I think we need to see the difference between "faith" and "regeneration" The last statement of yours that stood out was: 5) "all who come to Christ have an unregenerated heart." Once again can those who are spiritually dead until being regenerated, be able to come to Christ? In my previous example of Lazarus, we have seen that before Lazarus could come to Jesus, he had to first be brought to life. I think this is the same thing we see concerning being made alive physically can also be said about being made alive spiritually. I hope to hear from you soon. God bless you and thanks for the great reply New Creature |