Regeneration and Belief

Written by Mike Young on February 9, 2008 at 8:44 am

This past week I engaged in a line of theological discussion regarding whether belief precedes regeneration or vice versa. The controversial passage of scripture was 1John 5:1 “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.”

The controversy was whether one believes because he is born of God or whether he is born of God because he believes. The irony is that the one promoting the notion that one is born of God because he believes also claims to disbelieve in work salvation.

So, let’s suppose one does believe that faith is in fact the gift of God, yet also believes it must precede the new birth. Are there any implications of this?

  1. Faith is not the product of man

  2. Faith comes from God

  3. Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved

  4. The natural man receives not the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them for they are spiritually discerned

The problem arises when we take observation 3 and turn this into a chronological or cause and effect doctrine. This aorist imperative was given by Paul, in Acts 16:31, to the jailer when he and Silas were locked up in Thyatira. They had been imprisoned for casting out the demons from a possessed woman, which resulted in her masters losing much profit from her soothsaying. Anyway, a series of events took place thus resulting in the jailer asking the question, “What must I do to be saved?” This command was given in response to the question.

Basing a doctrine on this exchange is much like basing one on the command given by John the Baptist to repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. If one repents, truly repents, will he be saved? I believe so. If one truly believes in the biblical testimony of who Jesus is, will he be saved? Again, I believe so.

Now the question is can an individual truly believe and can he truly repent without something divine happening? This takes us to observation 4. And I believe the answer is no. Try as we might, unless God intervenes in our lives we are incapable of acting out these two traits of belief and repentance.

The reason I make such an assertion is based on my understanding of the scriptures. In 1Cor 2:14 we are told that the unregenerate man, “ouv du,natai gnw/nai“. He does not have the power to come to know or to learn the truths of God. If he doesn’t have such power to come to know such truths, how can he believe them? If can’t believe them, how can he repent?

If I believe this verse, then this is the conundrum. If I don’t believe this verse, then the implications are far worse than what we set out initially to deal with.

And this isn’t the first time we’ve come across this truth. It may be the first time we’ve had it in such a succinct form. But we’ve definitely seen it before. We’ve come across is it in Matthew when Jesus explains to his disciples the reason why certain folks see with their eyes but cannot perceive what they see; or why they can listen and not hear.

So let’s now suppose that God intervenes in a life and gives true faith, but does not yet regenerate the life. We end up with a walking contradiction, a believing non-believer if you will. Believers are synonymous with the children of God. But let’s now postulate that an individual is not regenerated, hence is not born into God’s family via spiritual adoption, yet he believes? Whether this is a continued state or merely an instant is moot. The damage is done and we can no longer trust the source of our doctrines.

Some may feel this is just mindless debate and that none of this really matters. Yet it does matter a great deal. Not to me, but to Christianity and to God. Over the years, our faith has gone through numerous trials and we’ve seen via history the watering down of doctrine and the embracing of heresy. And much of what we see in America bears no resemblance to the Christianity we find in the bible.

Faithfulness to our God is not dependent on any outcome. We’re not in this to win people over or to make converts. We’re here as a testimony of what God has done. The outcome is up to God. It always has been.

Comments (2)

Category: Misc. Rants, Theological Takes


wildernessVoice is totally for my own purposes; to vent, rant, elaborate and to generally discuss my thoughts and views. Sometimes I write about theological items, political perspectives and even technical tidbits.

It's my sincerest desire that during the course of my writings, I somehow find a way to either amuse, enlighten or otherwise enrich you. Please stop by for a while and enjoy.