Yesterday on the blog here I wrote about 1 John 5:1 reads which says, “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.”

I made mention of the fact that in the original Greek, a present tense, continuous action) that Jesus is the Christ has been born (gennesanta, perfect tense – an action already complete with abiding effects) of God.”

The fact that someone is presently going on believing in Christ shows that they have first been born again. Faith is the evidence of regeneration, not the cause of it. Since both repentance and faith are possible only because of the work of God (regeneration), both are called the gift of God in scripture (Eph. 2:8, 9; Phil. 1:29; 2 Tim 2:24-26).

Now compare this with John 20: 30, 31 – Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. Continue reading →

Understanding the relationship between the new birth and saving faith is vital to an accurate understanding of our salvation. I believe the Bible teaches us clearly that regeneration (or the new birth) precedes (comes before) faith. In other words, while in a state of spiritual death, God makes His elect people spiritually alive (regenerating them); then they exercise faith, and then they are justified.

Regeneration >>>> Faith >>>> Justification

This is a logical sequence rather than a temporal one in that all this might take place in a split second in time, but logically, one thing has to come before the other. Dead people don’t do anything. God has to resurrect a person before he will ever take actions. That is true both physically and spiritually. Jesus did not ask for or need Lazarus’ cooperation in order to raise him from the dead. If He did, the miracle of resurrection would never have happened. But Jesus acted monergistically (one power working), for without any assistance, He spoke life into Lazarus’ dead physical body. Once brought back from the dead, Lazarus could then do something and took steps to exit the tomb.

Understanding this principle of monergistic (one power working) resurrection allows us to fully appreciate the Divine miracle of our spiritual resurrection. If you are a believer in Christ, God has done this for you.

Paul, writing to the Christians at Ephesus wrote, “You He made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins.” (Eph. 2:1) The word for “dead” here in Greek is necros, meaning “dead like a corpse.” The Christians were once dead, but are now alive. Of course, Paul is refering to spiritual rather than physical death. In this passage there is no mention whatsoever of the Christian’s role in this, for the simple reason that the dead cannot do anything either to cause or to facilitate resurrection. Resurrection is an act of God – something He does by Himself – alone.

Spiritually dead people are not physically, intellectually or emotionally dead, and therefore have an interest in all kinds of (non-spiritual) things. They may or may not have an interest in religion, and may even appear to be seeking after God and truth, while the fact is, they are running as fast as they can away from Him, seeking refuge from Him in false religion or false forms of spirituality, having no interest in a relationship with the One true God. They may want the benefits of what a relationship with God would bring (peace, guilt removed, feelings of belonging, etc.), which is why they appear on the surface to be seeking God. That is because the Christian knows that the only One who can give these benefits, ultimately is God Himself. However, though unregenerate man longs for the benefits of what only a relationship with God can bring, he wants these things in independence of Him.

We do not know this from outward observation but by the revealed truth of God’s word. Romans 3:11 says, “there is no one who seeks for God” – literally, “there is no God seeker.” Seeking is therefore the business of the believer and starts at the moment of regeneration, but not before.

Those who are in the flesh (those without the Spirit) cannot please God, will not submit to the law of God and indeed, are incapable of doing so (Rom. 8:7,8). Jesus made it clear that unless someone is first born again they cannot enter the kingdom of God (John 3).

A verse that spells this out in some detail for us is 1 John 5:1. “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.”

In the original Greek, the verb tenses are very revealing. A literal translation reads: “All the ones going on believing (pisteuon, a present tense, continuous action) that Jesus is the Christ has been born (gennesanta, perfect tense – an action already complete with abiding effects) of God.”

The fact that someone is presently going on believing in Christ shows that they have first been born again. Faith is the evidence of regeneration, not the cause of it. Since both repentance and faith are possible only because of the work of God (regeneration), both are called the gift of God in scripture (Eph. 2:8, 9; Phil. 1:29; 2 Tim 2:24-26).

Here are two videos that walk us through the 1 John 5:1 text, the first by Dr. John Piper. Continue reading →

Continued from part 3

I ended the last post on this theme by recommending John Owen’s book “The Death of Death in the Death of Christ.” It is a majestic work. Though written many decades ago, I believe the arguments presented there remain unrefuted.

Here’s what we need to think through. If we as Christians believe that Christ really did make an atonement for sin… if we believe He made an actual rather than a merely hypothetical atonement that really did remove the wrath of God on behalf of sinners, then we need to think through the logical consequences of that.

As John Owen makes clear in the book, if Christ made an actual atonement for sin, then by resistless logic, the following must therefore be true:

“The Father imposed His wrath due unto, and the Son underwent punishment for, either:

1) All the sins of all men.
2) All the sins of some men, or
3) Some of the sins of all men.

In which case it may be said:

That if the last be true, all men have some sins to answer for, and so, none are saved.

That if the second be true, then Christ, in their stead suffered for all the sins of all the elect in the whole world, and this is the truth.
But if the first be the case, why are not all men free from the punishment due unto their sins?

You answer, “Because of unbelief.”

I ask, “Is this unbelief a sin, or is it not? If it is, then Christ suffered the punishment due unto it, or He did not. If He did, why must that hinder them more than their other sins for which He died? If He did not, He did not die for all their sins!”

Continue reading →

…namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.”

“Taste death for everyone….” Surely “everyone” means everyone, right?

Well usually, yes, but not always. This in fact has to be determined by the context in which the words are spoken. For example, if a teacher asks his class of students, “Is everyone present?” he is not asking if everyone on the planet is present in the room, but rather all the students enrolled in the class. Context is key. That’s how the word “everyone” is used. Context determines what is meant by the words.

The question in Hebrews 2:9 is whether “everyone” refers to all human beings without distinction, or whether it refers to everyone within a certain group (as in the above illustration, “everyone” of the students enrolled in the class).

To determine the answer to that question, lets now read Hebrews 2: verses 9 -10 together: Continue reading →

offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,
13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.
14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

Did Christ’s sacrifice perfect for all time everybody on the planet (past, present and future)? Surely not, unless we believe in universalism (that everyone will be saved).

In John 15, Jesus taught us that true love can be seen in laying a life down for friends:
13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends.
14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.
15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
16 You did not choose me, but I chose you…

In Galatians 2:20, Paul wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Can a non Christian affirm that like Paul, he was crucified with Christ? Surely not! Continue reading →