calvinists insist man must be soveriegnly regenerated before they can believe the gospel .. when the bible repeatedly says regeneration comes through believing it .. would 3 of the 5 points of calvins tulip if pauls believe in jesus and you will be saved , also acts 16 :31(debating calvinism pg . 281 )
ANSWER
what dave has done is seriously misunderstands what regeneration is all about .. by making mixing regeneration with salvation (even though they both are apart of the over all process of salvation ... what we need to do is lay out as briefly as we can the difference between the two actions
A --- regeneration ... in basic form is God work by the spirit of God to renew a person .. to physically change the person from spiritually dead to spiritually alive .. this is the first act which enables the person to respond to the gospel in the way the lord desires
B ---salvation ... this is the place in a believers journey where the believer is finally glorified with the glory of christ
when we look at john 3 :1 -18 we find that regeneration truly does happen first
to start off .. a man called nicodemus came to jesus , and praises him for he believed he was truly of God .. for none would preach the way christ has without God being with him ....
Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
these verses are very reflective of this act .. whay does jesus choose to start with the work of the spirit and being born again as a believer regeneration is in this section of john 3
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God
we note .. that this act is referred to as being born of .... the water and spirit ... and earlier on Jesus referred to it as being born again
and this could be referring too flesh (carnal) and spiritual (Gods work) and again jesus tells us we must be "bornagain" this has to have great significance as we have said twice
The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
a quick note .. here again is a parallel of wind and the holy spirit this is very significant .. as it represents the spirits freeness in his acts
the "every one" is not every single person but all those who are chosen they are the "everyone"
so by the time we get to verses 15 -16 .. we have had this amazing discussion on the holy spirit and the significance it has to the new creature in christ (regeneration) .. but before we get ahead of our selves .. there is one thing that needs to be discussed ..
the parallel of moses and the serpent and the lifting up of the son of man
in numbers 21 :1 -9 we are given a account of the jews who had sinned agains God and moses .. and they wanted forgiveness .. God gave a commant that moses should make a bronze serpent .. so that who ever had been bitten could look to it and live .. we are not told who looked, howmany looked .. if all, if some ... or nothing of the sort .. but this is parelleled to the lifting of the son of man ... that all who look upn him shall live ..
this is an important focus since it shed some light on what christ would do ... he would garantee his elect a security that no other could
that whoever believes in him may have eternal life, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life
so here we have another important part to discuss .. since there is much to say on this ... firstly .. we need to make a point of noting .. God is the subject .. he love for "the world" has led him to give his son (the object) and we are only mention as the ones given .. do not make this about us ..
verse 16 -21 is a commontary on the passage before and sums up the whole point .. but this is just a start .. the elect"the world" are great in number ...
even if God loved the world (every single person) he showed it by saving even one person .. lets not get ahead of ourselves and make man the central part .. we dont deserve anything, God owes us nothing .. but because he has chosen a people in christ we should be thankful
the bottom line is verses 3 -8 are the foundation to understanding verse 15 (which 16 -21 is a commontary of)
making the running order of salvation ... .. regenearation, recieving true saving faith .. which re become justified, adopted as a child of God, sanctification is the on going process of being conformed to christ and finally glorification in salvation
but never mix up regeneration as being saved as dave does
"the 3 point of calvinism which he seems to believe this would effect are t ...u .... and i, which it does not in any way destroy but since john 3 affirms regeneration ---------> true saving faith
based on paul say "believe in jesus and you will be saved (acts16 :31)
A -- it was not just paul, it was both silas and paul
B -- this does not change or damage our beliefs it is merely a confirmation
how is one saved .. by being regenerated of the holy spirit then having as a gift true saving faith in christ jesus .. by the work of God
even acts 2 points to this ... the spirit changed the lives of the believers ... acts 2 :1 -4 ... "the spirit came to rest on them in the form of a blazing fire .. this was the apostles and believers regeneration in action .. before this they had human faith that does not save, after they recieved true saving faith
also in acts 16 :25 -34
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29 And the jailer[f] called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. 34 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God
we see an act of greatness had happened in the prison in front of the gaurd .. so we can see this act impacted him in a way that may have lead to regeneration, but this hard to know as it doesnt say too much
the question from the jailor ... "Sirs, what must I do to be saved" may refer to being spared his life in this judgement not much can be stemonstrated from the text as it is silent on the issue ... with only one indication .. in the following words "and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened" .. so the impact of what happened caused the jailor to assume something had gone wrong and his life was on the line for this till he was assured that no one had left
there is a strong point in this that the man was regenerated ...
