The Holmon Illustrated Bible Dictionary defines regeneration as a “special act of God in which the recipient is passive. God alone awakens the person spiritually through the power of His Holy Spirit. Both the OT and NT also speak of the renewing of the individual. In a technical sense the act of regeneration takes place at the moment of conversion as the individual is spiritually awakened.”

The definition above is a good description of the new birth in Christ that all believers experience. The term “regeneration” comes from the Greek word palingenesia and is used only twice in the Bible. Firstly, in Matthew 19:28 and secondly in Titus 3:5. Regeneration means, “born again”, or “new creation” (“palin” = again; “genesia” = birth). The term “new birth” does not appear in the Bible. However, the teaching of the new birth does. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “So if any one be in Christ, there is a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold all things have become new.”

What is Regeneration?

Regeneration is a one-time experience of receiving new life through faith in Christ. A change sets in the heart, mind, and soul of a sinner at the point of regeneration. When a soul has been regenerated the work of sanctification begins. Sanctification is the work of God’s grace in the life of the Christian to make him/her more like Christ. The life of the Christian is one of sanctification as we live to bring glory to God by living according to his design and purpose. When we become a Christian our desires, affections, and interests change. We once lived according to our own desires, affections, and interests. However, now as a regenerate person in Christ we seek to live according to the will of God and his desires, affections, and interests. The old nature remains within the believer, and this is why believers are encouraged to walk in the spirit of God and to seek Him daily.

Regeneration and Reformed Theology

Reformed Theology (Calvinism) teaches that regeneration precedes faith. Since the natural man is dead and unable to respond to the gospel, he must first be regenerated so that he can receive the gift of faith. This work of regeneration according to Reformed theology will only happen in the soul of the elect of God. This takes place as God calls the sinner by irresistible grace.

American Reformed theologian and founder of Ligonier Ministries, Dr. R. C. Sproul (1939-2017) said this regarding regeneration.  “In regeneration, God changes our hearts. He gives us a new disposition, a new inclination. He plants a desire for Christ in our hearts. We can never trust Christ for our salvation unless we first desire Him. This is why we said earlier that regeneration precedes faith” (R. C. Sproul, Chosen by God, Tyndale Publishers, p. 118).

Jay E. Adams (1929 – 2020) a leading American Reformed author wrote in his book, Competent To Counsel, “Only God can bring life to dead souls to enable them to believe. He does this when and where and how He pleases by His Spirit, who regenerates, or gives life leading to faith…As a reformed Christian, the writer believes that counselors must not tell any unsaved counselee that Christ died for him, for they cannot say that. No man knows except Christ Himself who are His elect for whom He died” (Jay E. Adams, Competent To Counsel, p. 70).

Contrary to what the Reformed position teaches the Bible on the other hand teaches that new birth happens after an unregenerate sinner expresses and embraces faith in Christ. Upon our faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, the Holy Spirit enters our soul and regenerates us. This is taught in 2 Corinthians 5:17. The Bible encourages sinners to place their trust in Christ. In Acts 16:31 the Bible calls on sinners to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. If people are unable to believe without God first regenerating them, the biblical calls to believe are pointless.

The unregenerate sinner is called by the preaching of the gospel. The Bible says, “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). It is the gospel that draws all men unto the Saviour. It is the gospel that convicts hearts to believe. It is the gospel that encourages faith in Christ. Although the unregenerate man is dead in his sins and trespasses against God this does not mean to say he is unable to express faith in the Saviour. The Bible places a lot of emphasis on the convicting work of the Holy Spirit and the grace of God poured out on sinners. We are only able to accept the gift of salvation if we exercise faith and receive that gift.

Calvin, Regeneration and Salvation

Reformed theology teaches that an unborn infant can be regenerated, even though they have no understanding of Christ or the gospel. Upon birth, infant baptism is to be performed as a sign that the child is regenerate. If Reformed believers are faithful to the teachings of John Calvin, then they would believe that all the children born to believing parents are regenerated in the womb. Calvin believed that God grants faith to infants in the womb.

John Calvin wrote in his Institutes of the Christian Religion, “But how, they ask, are infants regenerated, when not possessing a knowledge of either good or evil? We answer, that the work of God, though beyond the reach of our capacity, is not therefore null. Infants who are to be saved (and that some are saved at this age is certain) must, without question, be regenerated by the Lord.”

Calvin also wrote in the Institutes of the Christian Religion on the same topic. “Many He certainly has called and endued with true knowledge of Himself, by internal means, by the illumination of the Spirit, without the intervention of preaching.”

How can the Calvinist know that one day his children will come to Christ? Is there any way of knowing if children are elect? John Calvin suggested that all the children of the elect will be saved. Calvin writes, “Our children, before they are born, God declares that He adopts for His own when He promises He will be a God to us, and to our seed after us. In this promise their salvation is included.”

Again, this is problematic for many leading Calvinists today. For example, take John Piper’s son, Abraham Piper. At age 19, he was excommunicated from his father’s church after he rejected the faith. He was restored to membership four years later, but later rejected the faith again.

The view that the children of elect parents are also elect is mere speculation. If it is true then we do not need to concern ourselves with the spiritual condition of our children, as they are going to be saved at some point on the bases that their parents are elect. A Calvinist may find hope and comfort in this doctrine, but they must consider the possibility of their children never coming to a saving knowledge of Christ, and what that means for them and their children. If it is true that all children born to elect parents will come to the Saviour, what does it mean if they never do? Does it mean that the parents were never elect?

Scripture teaches that salvation is a matter of personal faith and a personal relationship with the living God. Salvation is not based on the family you are born to. We are not saved because our parents are saved, but because we ourselves possess faith in Christ. It is important that we teach our children from a young age the truths of the Bible because, “the holy scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 3:15).

What Does Scripture Say

The Reformed view on regeneration is not in keeping with the teaching of the Bible. The Holy Scriptures say that the gift of salvation, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, eternal life, and regeneration never precede faith, but is the result, the evidence of faith.

John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believes on him may not perish, but have life eternal.” The Bible says in this verse that belief comes before salvation.

Faith in Christ is the condition of salvation. In Acts 16:31 the Bible says, “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” Again, the order of salvation is clear; believe comes first then salvation. Regeneration is not a condition for salvation, faith is (Rom. 5:1 & Eph. 1:13).

Bible teacher Samuel Ridout, wrote about the great importance of faith prior to new life. He wrote, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible seed, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever” (I Peter 1:23). New birth is by the word of God. That it is a sovereign act of God, by His Spirit, none can question. But this verse forbids us from separating, as has sometimes been done, new birth from faith in the gospel. It has been taught that new birth precedes faith; here we are told that the Word of God is the instrument in new birth. “Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God”; “the word which by the gospel is preached.” Thus while we can distinguish between faith and new birth, we cannot separate them. John 3:3 and 3:16 must ever go together. There is no such anomaly possible as a man born again, but who has not yet believed the gospel” (Samuel Ridout, Numerical Bible).

Dr. John Walvoord, former president of Dallas Theological Seminary, also wrote on the necessity of faith before eternal life or regeneration is received. He said, “Eternal life is not possessed until faith in Christ is exercised. Eternal life is not to be confused with efficacious grace, or that bestowal of grace which is antecedent to faith. Eternal life is to be identified with regeneration and is received in the new birth. It is resultant rather than causative of salvation, but is related to conversion or the manifestation of the new life in Christ” (Wycliffe Dictionary of Theology, p. 195).

Calvinist will use Ezekiel 36:26 as a proof text for their view that regeneration precedes faith. Ezekiel 36:26 says, “And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.” However, the Calvinist viewpoint is not supported by this verse. This verse is not about believers and their salvation, but rather about the prophetic “house of Israel” which is found in verse 17. The context here is what God will do to restore Israel to her land.

Earlier in the Book of Ezekiel the Bible says, “Cast away from you all your transgressions wherewith ye have transgressed, and make you a new heart and a new spirit: why then will ye die, house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 18:31). Here the emphasis is placed on man’s responsibility for a new heart. The condition of the new heart here is repentance.

C. H. Spurgeon’s View and Logic on Regeneration

The Baptist Preacher C. H. Spurgeon is a well-known and respected figure throughout Christianity. Mr. Spurgeon is known as the “prince of preachers”. He is also a Calvinist. C. H. Spurgeon saw the difficulty with the Reformed view of regeneration. Even though he held on to his Calvinist school of thought he also spoke against the classic Reformed view on the subject of regeneration. In his sermon, Warrant of Faith, preached in 1863 he said, “If I am to preach faith in Christ to a man who is regenerated, then the man, being regenerated, is saved already, and it is an unnecessary and ridiculous thing for me to preach Christ to him, and bid him to believe in order to be saved when he is saved already, being regenerate. Am! only to preach faith to those who have it? Absurd, indeed! Is not this waiting till the man is cured and then bringing him the medicine? This is preaching Christ to the righteous and not to sinners.”

Spurgeon saw a few problems with the typical Reformed view. Firstly, regeneration prior to faith will be a stumbling block to the preaching of the gospel. This is because if someone is already regenerated then preaching the gospel of faith and repentance would be pointless. Secondly, it eliminates the fact of the spiritual battle in soul-winning for Christ. Spurgeon said, “…and bid him to believe in order to be saved when he is saved already…Am I only to preach faith to those who have it?” Spurgeon also said, “Is not this waiting till the man is cured and then bringing him the medicine?”

Consequences of the Reformed View of Regeneration

We must state the fact that some great Reformed men have been used by God in the proclamation of the gospel and the saving of souls. Men such as C.H. Spurgeon, George Whitefield, William Carey, and others have been used by God to bring many to Christ. This was despite the inconsistency between their theological stance and the gospel message they preached.

To the Calvinist, the preaching of the gospel is a pointless exercise if the person you are witnessing to has not been regenerate. According to the Reformed tradition the natural man must first be regenerate before he can receive the gift of faith, which is sovereignly and irresistibly granted by God alone. According to the Calvinist viewpoint there is nothing an unsaved person can do to produce regeneration because he is spiritually dead and has no desire to believe. The Calvinist doctrine of total depravity teaches the utter inability, desire, and will of man to learn the truths of God revealed in Holy Scripture. The Calvinist hold the view that faith is wholly of God and is one of the effects of regeneration.

There is not a single example or text in the New Testament that teaches the unbeliever to pray for regeneration. The Bible teaches that Christ has paid the penalty of sin and purchased salvation for all those who by faith receive the gift of salvation.

Conclusion

Our Lord and Saviour said in John 17:3, “And this is the eternal life, that they should know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” It is a strange doctrine to believe that someone is “regenerated” by God, but does not know Christ by faith. Lewis Sperry Chafer in his Systematic Theology explains regeneration and the relationship to Christ. Chafer writes, “The important fact, never to be forgotten in the doctrine of regeneration, is that the believer in Christ has received eternal life. This fact must be kept free from all confusion of thought arising from the concept of regeneration which makes it merely an antecedent of salvation, or a preliminary quickening to enable the soul to believe. It is rather the very heart of salvation” (L S. Chafer, Systematic Theology, Vol. VI, (Dallas, TX: Dallas Seminary Press, 1948), p. 117).

The Word of God teaches that sinners receive eternal life by faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. Our Lord said that he is “the way, the truth, and the life” in John 14:6. Since Christ is “the life” the Holy Spirit must bring us to union with Him. He that has Christ has his life, and he that does not have Christ does not have life (1 John 5:12).

The work of regeneration is conditioned on faith. Faith must precede new birth. The spiritual order of God’s work of regeneration is best summarized by theologian and writer, Sir Robert Anderson, “It is by the Word that the sinner is born again to God. As Scripture declares, ‘We are born again by the word of God”— living and eternally abiding word of God.” And to bar all error, it is added: “And this is the word by which the gospel is preached unto you “— preached, as the Apostle has already said, “with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven.” Not the Spirit without the Word, nor the Word without the Spirit, but the Word preached in the power of the Spirit. God is never arbitrary; but He is always sovereign. Men preach; the Spirit breathes; and dry bones live. Thus sinners are born again to God” (Sir Robert Anderson, Redemption Truths, (Kilmarnock, GB: Ritchie, 1940), p. 152).

Credits: Although I have written this paper the main bulk of the article is the work of David Dunlap. It is taken from his work entitled Limiting Omnipotence–The Consequences of Calvinism.

See this link for more information. https://www.middletownbiblechurch.org/reformed/ddregen.htm