Regeneration

This is the second in my series, Them Five Dollar Bible Words

Today’s $5 word: Regeneration

This word only occurs twice in the New Testament:

Matthew 19:28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit upon the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Jesus is speaking of the kingdom. When he comes again with power and glory, he shall set up his kingdom on the earth and sit on the throne of his glory. Regeneration refers to the physical renovation of the earth, a new birth for the earth. In this time of the kingdom, the apostles will sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. This is pretty clear: there is an earthly kingdom coming, and Israel has a part.

Titus 3:4-7 But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Here regeneration means new birth, or being born again.

Jesus spoke of being born again in John 3:1-7

There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

First, Jesus tells us that being born again is absolutely necessary to enter the kingdom - Ye must be born again.

Second, he explains being born again: our first birth, of our mother, is of the flesh, meaning she passed on to us life, physical life, life fit for living on the earth; through our first birth we inherit physical and personality qualities from our parents. But this first birth is insufficient for life in the kingdom of God, for we are born separated from God, without the Spirit of God. The second birth is of the Spirit, what Paul called the renewing of the Holy Spirit. By this new birth the Spirit gives to us the life and character of God; by this birth God becomes our Father, and we become his children. Is this a wonderful gospel or what!

Here are just a few verses speaking of the blessedness of being born again:

John 1:12-13 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the children of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

The new birth is God’s work, something he does for those who receive Jesus. We hear this phrase often, Receive Jesus as your Savior. How do we receive him? As many as received him…them that believe on his name. Believing Jesus is the Son of God, the Christ, and trusting him to save you is receiving him.

1 Peter 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. 

Our first birth is of corruptible seed – human nature and life; we get old and die, our second birth is of incorruptible seed – God's life, everlasting life!  We are born again by the Word of God.

Romans 8:16-17 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. 

What a wonderful work of grace this is! By believing in Jesus we are born again; we become children of God; to top it off His Spirit bears witness with our spirit that this is so! This is what they used to call a know so salvation. Hallelujah!

1 Peter 2:2  As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby

When we are born again we begin our new life as babies and our diet is the milk of the Word. As we grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, our diet changes to the meat of the Word. 1 John (2:12-14) describes our development as going from children to young men to fathers. Hebrews (5:11-6:2) describes it as going from being a baby to being an adult (go on unto perfection). Paul says, If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. The point being, we grow and mature in this new life. Two vital keys to growing in grace are the Word and the Spirit: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, and Be filled with the Spirit.

“How were we drowned in wickedness, so that we could not be purified, but needed a new birth? For this is implied by Regeneration. For as when a house is in a ruinous state no one places props under it, nor makes any addition to the old building, but pulls it down to its foundations, and rebuilds it anew; so in our case, God has not repaired us, but has made us anew. For this is the renewing of the Holy Spirit. He has made us new men. How? By His Spirit.” (Chrysostom)

We must be born again. We can be born again. Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born again. Have you been born again?

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Baptism and being born again

by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit

Is this a reference to water baptism? I believe it is. Why? Two reasons:

(1) the word for ‘washing’ (λουτρόν loutron) only occurs twice in the New Testament (here and Ephesians 5:26); Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament says it means, "a bathing, bath; used in the N.T. of baptism." A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament by Arndt & Gingrich says, "bath, washing of baptism;" they go on to translate Titus 3:5 as the bath that brings about regeneration.

(2) the full line in Thayer is, "used in the N.T. and in ecclesiastical writings of baptism." For example, both Justin Martyr (110-165) and Tertullian (155-240) use washing for baptism.

That’s strong evidence to me.

The real question is, What is the relationship of baptism to the new birth?

I am persuaded that John Calvin offers an excellent explanation:

“The sacraments present, both to good and to bad men, the grace of God. Though wicked men may receive no advantage from the sacraments…believers receive what is offered.”

“We ought to acknowledge in baptism a spiritual washing. We ought to embrace therein the testimony of the remission of sins and the pledge of our renovation, and yet so as to leave to Christ his own honor, and also to the Holy Spirit; so that no part of our salvation should be transferred to the sign.”

“It is necessary to guard against unsound interpretation, lest the wicked superstition of men, as has frequently happened, change a sacrament into an idol. When Paul says that we are washed by baptism, his meaning is, that God employs it for declaring to us that we are washed, and at the same time performs what it represents. If the truth were not connected with baptism, it would be improper to say that baptism is the washing of the soul. At the same time, we must beware of ascribing to the sign what belongs to God alone. We must not imagine that water cleanses the pollutions of the soul, which nothing but the blood of Christ can accomplish. In short, we must beware of giving any portion of our confidence to the element; for the true and proper use of the sacrament is to lead us directly to Christ, and to place all our dependence upon him.

Others again suppose that too much importance is given to the sign, by saying that baptism is the washing of the soul. Under the influence of this fear, they labor exceedingly to lessen the force of the eulogium which is here pronounced on baptism. But they are manifestly wrong; for, in the first place, the apostle does not say that it is the sign which washes, but declares it to be exclusively the work of God. It is God who washes, and the honor of performing it cannot lawfully be taken from its Author and given to the sign. But there is no absurdity in saying that God employs a sign as the outward means . . . for God acts by the sign in such a manner, that its whole efficacy depends upon his Spirit.

The grace of God is not confined to the sign; so that God may not, if he pleases, bestow it without the aid of the sign. Besides, many receive the sign who are not made partakers of grace; for the sign is common to all, to the good and to the bad alike; but the Spirit is bestowed on none but the elect, and the sign, as we have said, has no efficacy without the Spirit.”