The Living Word (Lesson 2)

The Necessity of Regeneration

The need for regeneration

The Bible is a book that contains all which we need for spiritual growth and understanding; however, man in his natural state has no spiritual discernment; therefore, unless man has been given spiritual life, with a new ability to discern spiritual things, the bible will be of no benefit to him. He may interpret every passage flawlessly, with a literal, grammatical, historical hermeneutic — but the true, life-giving realities contained in it will be of as little benefit as if one were to pour pure, fresh water down the throat of a corpse. This is not to say that the unregenerate can have no valuable insight into the treasures of scripture; rather, those insights that God is pleased to give him will do him no good — they will only benefit the regenerate. This is consistent with God’s manner of working in human history: Exodus 12:35,36 relates how God took the wealth and labor of the Egyptians and used it to enrich his chosen people. Similarly, God has ordained that some whom he has not chosen to bless with spiritual life would give their lives to study the grammar and historical contexts of his word. With this labor he enriches the spiritual understanding of those whom he has chosen, so they can reap the benefits of the heathen’s study and employ them for spiritual benefit. Thus, the linguistic/historical studies, and technical commentaries even of liberals and unbelievers may be used by believers for God’s glory. However, for the unbelievers themselves, who have no true understanding, their fruit of their labors in entirely lost on them. The bible delineates several reasons for the necessity of regeneration for all who would truly profit from the study of scriptures.

  1. The natural man is dead Eph. 2:1; Jn. 3:3
  2. The natural man has no spiritual understanding; I Cor.1:18 this is because
  3. The natural man may study scriptures assiduously, yet he will miss its central message: Christ Jn. 3:9-14; Jn. 5:38-40

The benefits of regeneration

It is apparent, therefore, that, unless a man be given spiritual life, the scriptures will profit him nothing. The question then arises, how may a man be given spiritual life? The answer to that is that he must come to Christ, humbly seeking the truth that Christ alone has to offer Jn. 7:37,38; Jn. 3:14,15. However, the natural man will never come to Christ, because he does evil, and therefore hates the light Jn. 3:20; Jn. 6:44. Therefore, we are presented with an impossible situation: but, what is impossible with men is possible with God Mat. 19:25,26. Although man is naturally unwilling to come to Christ, God has chosen to draw some supernaturally Jn. 6:35-40; these will inevitably come to Christ, because the almighty God has chosen them. Elsewhere, Christ calls them his sheep, because they alone will hear his voice Jn. 10:1-5; 14. These, Christ’s sheep, because they are regenerate, do profit from scriptures. This is because:

  1. God himself teaches those whom he regenerates Is. 54:13; Jer. 31:33,34; 1 Thes. 4:9; Heb. 8:10; Jn. 6:45
  2. Christ prayed that the Father would sanctify them through his word Jn 17:17; and the Father always hears the prayers of the Son Jn. 11:42
  3. Christ promised to send his Spirit to the elect, to guide them into all truth Jn. 14:26;15:26;16:13
  4. The Spirit whom Christ sent gave to all believers an anointing, so that they may know all things 1 Jn. 2:20,27
  5. We have the mind of Christ 1 Cor. 2:16

The regenerate therefore, in sharp contrast with the unregenerate, have all things they need for sanctification and growth. But they must avail themselves of these benefits through the study of the word. It is through the word that Christ prayed for believers to be sanctified Jn. 17:17. This is because the word shows us the glory of Christ 2 Cor. 3:18; and it is only as we behold this glory that we are changed into the same image. The more clearly we see Christ, through the word, the more we will reflect that image. We see Christ but imperfectly now, therefore we reflect him imperfectly; but when we see him as he is, only then will we be perfectly like him 1 Jn. 3:2. This will only take place as we remain in his word; and remaining necessitates obedience Jn. 15:10; Jm. 1:22-25.

Some concluding observations

Hopefully by now it is sufficiently clear that regeneration is absolutely essential for a proper understanding of the word, and for the benefits that such an understanding gives. But do we reflect this understanding in practical application to our lives? It is only as God gives us knowledge of Christ through the word that we may be changed. Remember how desperately hopeless you were as an unregenerate sinner, until God shone the light of his gospel in your heart 2 Cor. 4:6. Now, how foolish would it be to suppose that something that God alone could begin may be completed by any human means Gal. 3:1-5? If we truly believe that God alone can save and sanctify, through the word alone (cf. Rom. 10), then how can we explain how our practice so frequently denies this principle? How many of us, in struggling with our sanctification, will try anything to increase our will-power and resolve, yet allow the word to lie dusty on our shelves. Or how many times have we sat through invitations at the conclusion of sermons that seem to take for granted that we have the natural ability, apart from Christ, to change ourselves. Is it possible that the time spent with heads bowed and soft music playing in the background, in an emotional/volitional tour-de-force, could be better spent humbly seeking for God to display Christ to us in the scriptures which we are examining, and thereby to form Christ in us? What about our methods of evangelization? Does it do any good to reason with young-earth or internal-consistency arguments with one who has no spiritual perception. Would it not be better for us to say with Paul “And I, brethren, when I came unto you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in meekness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit, and of power: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” (1 Cor. 2:1-5)? All the best arguments in the world, until God chooses to regenerate a sinner, will be like putting glasses on one who is totally blind. But praise be to God, who gave us new spiritual sight when he regenerated us! Now let us be continually increasing the keenness of that sight that he gave to us, when we were totally blind, by gazing on the glory of Christ in scriptures, and letting our spiritual natures feast on that image.

Study Questions:

  1. If an unsaved man sits down to study scriptures, with only his natural reasoning ability, how much benefit will he reap?

  2. What needs to take place before he can reap true spiritual benefit? Support your answer with the scripture.

  3. If it is true that the work of the Holy Spirit is necessary for a mans to understand spiritual things, do humans have any part in the process of learning? If so, what is our part?

  4. Does the Holy Spirit teach us today by speaking directly to our hearts, apart from any other revelation? What means does he use to instruct us?

  5. What is the content of the teaching that the Holy Spirit imparts to believers? (See John 14-16)

Can we have any confidence as believers that we will be profited by studying the word? Are there any scripture passages you can think of that would support that confidence?

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