Regeneration is the communication of the new heart to sinners by the operation of the Holy Spirit through the Word...a Christ-generated act of instantaneously communicating spiritual life to a man convicted of sin.
Regeneration is expressly denied to be of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man (John 1:13), and is ascribed to God himself. Not all men have faith in Christ; and those who do have it, have it not of themselves; it is the gift of God, worked out through the Redemption which is in Christ through the mighty operation of his Spirit, which is the fruit and effect of His invincible grace. This is because the natural man is wholly captive under the power and dominion of sin, and a slave unto it, and has neither a power nor will to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ apart from the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit.
"And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live...Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD." - Ezekiel 37:14
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive [quickened us] with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions � it is by grace you have been saved.
Ephesians 2:4-5
�It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.� (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) And he said, �This is why I told you that no one can come to me [i.e. believe in me] unless it is granted him by the Father.�
John 6:63-65
You have been born anew, not of perishable seed but but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God..."�
1 Peter 1:23-25
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.
1 John 5:1
Faith in the living God and his Son Jesus Christ is always the result of the new birth, and can never exist except in the regenerate. Whoever has faith is a saved man.
Charles Spurgeon from the sermon �Faith and Regeneration�
If salvation is the implantation of a new, infinite life in the soul, it must be a work of God. Self-caused effects can never rise above the character or qualities of their cause. "Flesh gives birth to flesh but the Spirit gives birth to Spirit," Jesus told Nicodemus. This saving grace cannot be caused by the creature, it can only come from God.
John Hannah from To God be the Glory (pg. 34-5)
The inward offer is a kind of spiritual enlightenment, whereby the promises are presented to the hearts of men, as it were, by an inward word.
LOL... No, baby CONVICTION OF YOUR SINS IN YOUR HEART COMES FIRST, then repentance!Usually this is when God bring a oerson to their knees in beokrness and convict their hearts, and they expereince a near death epeience looking into hell , does one repent and TRUN away from their wicked ways to God...LOL
How can a person come to regeneration (being born again, i.e. salvation) if they dont: first, HEAR the Word of God; second, BELIEVE or have FAITH in the Word of God, and third, REPENT and ACCEPT Jesus into their heart as their Lord and Savior? Yes, the Holy Spirit has to draw a man to salvation, thats what being convicted of your sins is. So, therefore, a person hears the Gospel of God's love for mankind, he believes that the Gospel (the WHOLE Bible) is truth and that Jesus is the ONLY way that he can be with God in Heaven, then he cries out to God for forgiveness of his sins (this 3rd thing is whats known as being born-again, aka regeneration). All of this is the work of the Holy Spirit. Man has NOTHING whatsoever to do with hie own salvation.
The Romans Road to Salvation or Regeneration
The first step to salvation is to realize that we are all sinners:
Romans 3:10 (KJV)
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
Romans 3:23 (KJV)
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Next, you must know that because of sin there must be a price paid:
Romans 6:23 (KJV)
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
This price can be paid by you with an eternity in Hell, or you can accept the price that Jesus paid for your sin:
Romans 5:8 (KJV)
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
To accept Jesus� payment for your sin simply call on His name and ask Him to forgive your sins and save you:
Romans 10:9-13 (KJV)
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. [10] For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. [11] For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. [12] For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. [13] For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
If you are ready to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour, take time right now to pray, confessing your sin and asking Him to save you.
When you accept Jesus, He is faithful to do what He said He would - He forgives you and saves you. This an eternal life that cannot be lost:
1 John 5:13 (KJV)
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
my earlier post friends is very clear we are born with a measure of faith to believe.That is the Holy Spirit in us. i do not want to make this too hard because some will not understand.
LSU, my question to you is have you been truly been BORN AGAIN by the FIRE of the Holy Spirit of God? And if so, were you not dead( dull in your hearing, sat in darkness, not alive) in your sins in knowing Christ and about the things of Chirst? And yet of you say have been born again. how can you not understand how a sinner receive the Holy Spirit of God upon repentance of their sins, and confession of their faith in Christ, if you say you have been born again? Were you not a sinner BEFORE you received redemption from Christ death on the cross and His blood as the soap that would wash away your sins?
I say with questions as you present, if you have not, or did not experience the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit when YOU FIRST BELIEVED, I would have to question your new birth in Chirst.
As I've said, being saved is not the same as being born again from above by the Holy Spirit in that, faith to believe and call upon the name of the Lord and belief in what He did for our sins and receiving this, saves us, and the Holy Spirit immediately comes inside of us to SEAL us. But the new birth of being born again is the work of the Spirit of cleansing us from all unrighteousness and opening our eyes into the spiritual things of God. And if you don't undersatnd how this is done, I can't understand how it is that you are born again, because the Holy Spirit reveals to us all our sins, that have displeased God, so that we can completely repent of them in the washing process. And the Holy Spirit who is now living on the inside of us, brings us to repentance of these sins. This is another reason why we are taught not to quench the Holy Spirit. And what does this eman, it means give room for the Sprit to do His work in and trugh us as He pleases, and stop trying to hid or cover up when He brings our past to remembrance for us to repent.
And if you have not experienced the burning of FIRE that takes place on the inside of the person who is being born again and is baptized with the Holy Spirit, then all you must do is ask God to fill you and baptize you with His Holy Spirit, and you WILL KNOW how it is that God does what He does, and you will be born again which means born from above through the works of the Holy Spirit.
Anone who has not experiences the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit as a burning fire shut up in thier bodies in their new birth in Christ, has not completed the process of the new birth of being born again from above. But the comfort is all you have ot do is ask of God and the Holy Spirit will get to work in you. just don't resist what He brings forth becasue He will bring you to your knees in the presence of God...:glow:
My take has always been that when someone is born again they receive the Holy Spirit. To answer your question, yes I was dead. I had no part in my salvation. Therefore I give all glory to God for my salvation and none to myself.