The Relationship of Justification and Regeneration

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear;
but of power, and of love,
and of a sound mind.
2Timothy 1:7

Monergism Books posted:
"Faith does not proceed from ourselves, but is the fruit of spiritual regeneration."
- John Calvin.

I commented, but my comments were deleted because they exposed the popular lie embraced by many!

Sing F Lau
comment 1 deleted:
And regeneration is the EFFECT and FRUIT of the LEGAL JUSTIFICATION APPLIED by God's free grace at effectual calling out of the state of sin and death to that of grace and salvation. (Legal Justification was ACCOMPLISHED on the cross, but APPLIED personally at effectual calling of each elect).

It is the removal of the condemnation of death through the application of the righteousness of Jesus Christ to an elect PERSONALLY that gives the basis and warrant for the Holy Spirit to regenerate an acquitted and righteous man.

This enables a child of God to believe the gospel. In believing, he gives evidence of his justified and regenerated and adopted state!

God justifies forensically!
Faith justifies EVIDENTIALLY.

The Papists insist that legal justification is by both works and faith.

The new reformers insist that legal justification is by faith ALONE!

The Scriptures insist that legal justification is by God's free grace (the manner) alone, based on the righteousness of Christ alone (the basis), and that BOTH faith and works justify experientially, and evidentially.

A biblical distinction (rightly dividing the word of truth ) is the essence of sound theology!

Sing F Lau
Comment 2 deleted:

So many believe and approve something so immoral... that the Holy Spirit regenerates an unjustified man, i.e. giving eternal life to one still under the just condemnation of death, guilty and without righteousness (i.e. someone whom the Father has not APPLIED the righteousness of Jesus Christ!)

It is like the condemned guilty criminal was released and given freedom before the Judge declared him not guilty but righteous and free.

They believe that such a regenerate man then believes, and God justifies him!

Justification by God's grace must LOGICALLY precede regeneration! That's elementary.

Regeneration makes believing possible, i.e. makes evidential justification by faith possible.

The three Persons of the Godhead work in perfect and complete unity and harmony.

MB retorted:
Can any person come to faith in Jesus Christ apart from the work of the Holy Spirit?

I replied:
"Except a man be born again, he CANNOT... that which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."

So what is the issue?

Can anyone be regenerated by the HOLY Spirit who is still under the condemnation of death, i.e. not justified by the free grace of God?

That is the issue, MB!

Please delete this again!

Jason
Eph 2:8-9

Sing F Lau
Brother Jason, what does that passage teach?
It ain't polite to just give chapter and verse.
At least tell us what you believe the passage says.

This is because ONE SAME passage
Out of ONE SAME passage, some people conclude that they must believe INORDER TO have eternal life, and a few others conclude that they believe BECAUSE they have been given eternal life.

And this vast difference is evident among those who claimed themselves 'reformed'!

I preached a sermon on that text, Eph 2:8-9.
Read it here.
https://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2008/01/saved-by-grace-through-faith-whose.html

Read it, and may our Lord bless you to learn  few things.

Sing F Lau
Terrance L Krueger @Why does no one consider the passages telling who's faith "justifies eternally"?
==========
"Saved by grace through faith – whose faith?" at
https://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2008/01/saved-by-grace-through-faith-whose.html

Jason
The faith Christ gives as Reformers claim. Sing I do not believe it to be impolite not to exegete every scripture; helpful, yes, but impolite not at all.

Both grace and faith are both gifts given by Christ.

Sing F Lau
In Eph 2:8-9, the gift is most certainly the salvation... and that salvation is by the FAITHFULNESS of Jesus Christ, and bestowed to sinners by grace; the former speak of the ground of that salvation, the latter speak of the manner that that salvation is bestowed to the ill-deserving.

Jason
In response to John Gill's commentary on eternal justification I recommend also reading John Flavel's response A.W Pinks and Spurgeons for further clarification.

Sing I have read a fair amount of what Gill wrote so then why should I not read of the others I mentioned lest I become bias and if what you claim is so simple why be afraid to make a comparison?

Sing F Lau
Glad that you have read Gill on eternal justification. Now, please summarise what he said on that subject. Thanks.

Jason, lest you misunderstand... I don't mean you don't read those three people you mentioned. I am suggesting that I can read the mind and thoughts of SO MANY more by reading their confessional statement on THAT PARTICULAR POINT. Those theologians who signed both the WCF and the 1689BCF were easily more than 100.

Lord not over the Lord's heritage

Neither as being lords over God's heritage,
but being ensamples to the flock.
1Pe 5:3

1Co 16:12
¶As touching our brother Apollos, I greatly desired him to come unto you with the brethren: but his will was not at all to come at this time; but he will come when he shall have convenient time.

I read this one-verse paragraph and was impressed, instructed, and aptly reminded.

Apostle Paul greatly desired Apollos to visit Corinth,
However, he was careful not to lord it over him;
He could have exercised his apostolic authority;

Instead, he respected Apollos' liberty.
The apostle Paul did not abuse or overstep his apostolic power; he's a great man indeed. Far lesser men are inclined to impose their desires on others; this is considered by some as good leadership!
--------- 
Bill Taylor
And some do so gleefully! May God help us never to lord it over the flock of God in any aspect.

Cheri Thomas
Someone who is abusing their position, or lording it over people, is not a servant of the LORD. and thus is to be rejected. The power that the servant of the LORD has is not their own, but Almighty GOD's. 

All we like sheep have gone astray

All we like sheep have gone astray

A few observations:

1. Sheep are those whom God had chosen and gave to Christ.
- John 6:39 KJV — And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.

2. Gone astray: lost, separated from its Owner; sin has separated them from God; each has gone down his own way, even the way of death; man's way is the way of death; the wages of sin is death, being separated from God.
- Genesis 2:17 KJV — But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

- Pro 14:12 KJV - There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

3. Christ came to seek and to save the lost, His own people, those whom God has given to Him before the foundation of the world.

- Matthew 1:21 KJV — And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

4. The LORD laid on him: God freely imputed the sins of Christ's people on Christ, and He suffered the full curse in their stead. This happened at the cross, and not when you believe, the latter is a devil's lie.

- 2Co 5:21 "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

- His sinless life of perfect obedience to all the laws of God secured the righteousness needed for our justification; freely imputed to His sheep AT THE CROSS TOO, not when you believe; even so, Adam's sin was imputed to you in the garden of Eden.

- Rom 3:22 "Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:" Righteousness provided by God is through the faithfulness OF-OF-OF Christ, not your faith IN-IN-IN Christ; the latter is the devil's lie. 

The earlier Baptists and the later Reformed guys

Sir, in a sermon, the preacher said that the earlier Baptists all concentrated on Romans 1:16, but the later Reformed guys will concentrate on Romans 1:17.

What do you say to that?
--------

Kindly note that Romans 1:16-17  is a 2-verse paragraph; the thoughts are interconnected.

16 ¶For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

Both ought to be taken together.

The "Reformed guys" concentrated on 1:17 likely because they are intoxicated by the sound bite of "the just shall live by faith". However, they have COMPLETELY missed the points of verse 17.

Note a few things. Understand them well, and learn a few things.

1. In the preaching of the gospel - obviously by one who is not ashamed of it - the righteousness of God's own provision, through the redemptive work of Christ, is revealed, made known, proclaimed. The gospel is perceived by every believing one as the message that declares the power of God in saving sinners. The gospel is not the power; the gospel is the good news that declares the power of God to save His people in Jesus Christ; don't confuse the two.

2. It is "from faith to faith," THAT IS, from the preacher who has faith and is not ashamed of the gospel to those IN WHOM the Holy Spirit HAS WORKED the grace of faith; i.e. in those ALREADY EFFECTUAL CALLED  (already justified by God's free grace, regenerated by the Spirit of God, adopted by the Father, and, indwelt by the Holy Spirit who works faith in them.)
- This faith worked in them by the indwelling Spirit is drawn out by gospel preaching.

"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Romans 10:17 KJT

1 Corinthians 1:18 KJT — For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which ARE SAVED it is the power of God.

"From faith to faith" completely repudiates the fiction of gospel regeneration.

3. "... the just shall live by faith" is completely PERVERTED and TWISTED by so many, both the reformed as well as the deformed and the unformed. 
- "... the just shall live by faith" is an indicative statement of fact about *the just.* It is a description about the just - they shall live by faith. It is NOT a prescription what the unjustified must do (i.e. believe) in order to be justified. 

- Who are the just? They are those whom God HAS freely JUSTIFIED by His grace. Romans 3:24 KJT "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." Justification is NOT through your faith but through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Did you get it?

Those whom God HAS FREELY JUSTIFIED shall live by faith... they shall not live by observing the ceremonial laws, as the Judaizers insisted and wanted to impose upon the Gentile believers.

Apostle Paul marshalled Abraham as the classic example of this truth - the just shall live by faith - to refute the fiction of the Jewish Judaizers.

BUT the reformed people make "the just shall live by faith" to mean "the unjustified man is justified by his faith, i.e. when he believes."

It is like twisting a statement like "the living shall live by breath" into "the dead shall be made alive by their breath."

They have defiled the holy faith. But you do this:

Jude 1:20 KJV — But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,

"The important thing is NOT to stop questioning."

"The important thing is not to stop questioning."

But wise and honest questioning can be dangerous; questioning obliges a truthful man to accept new truths and cast away old fables; this is both unpleasant and humbling. Maybe this is why few ask questions anymore.

Let me give you an example.

Matthew 5:30 "And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell."

Matthew 18:8 "Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire."

It's a popular belief that no Christians can go to hell; it's just utterly impossible, they insist. They believe Christ Jesus has saved His people from hell. (No, the Scriptures say Christ has saved His people from the lake of fire, Rev 20:15. Hell and the lake of fire are distinct, Rev 20:14. I hope you are aware of both!)

Why did the Lord Jesus Christ so solemnly warn His disciples to take drastic measures against sins in order to avoid hell/everlasting fire?

Have you stopped questioning?

Another example.

"The just shall live by faith" is repeated in the Scriptures: Hab 2:4, Rom 1:17, Gal 3:11, Heb 10:38.

Since it's "the just shall live by faith," then how is it that the condemned is justified by faith?

(I assume you know that it is the condemned who needs to be justified by God the Judge, and the unjustified is incapable of faith.)

If a condemned man is "justified freely by the grace of God" (Rom 3:24), then what's the fable of justification by faith alone in the same sense?
How does God justify a condemned man?
How does faith justify a believing man? 
Are they the same?

Have you stopped questioning?