Tit 3:5; 1Jo 5:11-13; 2Co 5:17; 2Pe 1:4; 1Pe 1:23; 2Pe 3:10-14; Ecc 3:11.
Class Outline:
Pastor-Teacher
John Farley
Wednesday,
November 17, 2010
Spiritual Gifts Part 52: Live from now on in light of eternity
'The Doctrine of Spiritual Gifts'
'Point 2. The Giver of the Gifts: The Person and Work of God the Holy Spirit'
B. The second ministry of the Holy Spirit at salvation is called regeneration or being born again. It is taught in John 3:3-8; ; .
1 Peter 1:23 for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.
Regeneration is the technical term for being “born again”. Being born again is a result of faith in Jesus Christ, and it occurs at the instant you personally believe in Jesus Christ.
Regeneration consists of all that is represented by eternal life in a human being, a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Regeneration is the new birth performed by God the Holy Spirit at salvation whereby He provides the life of God, eternal life, to the believing sinner.
The Holy Spirit’s work includes (1) bringing the human spirit to life, (2) imparting eternal life to the believer, and (3) an act of creation whereby He makes the Church Age believer a new spiritual species
The Spirit’s work in regeneration includes restoring the human spirit, bringing it to life, ; .
John 3: 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (the human spirit)
Regeneration is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit at salvation in creating a human spirit, which causes the believer to become instantly trichotomous--body, soul, and spirit, ; Phile 25.
The human spirit is where eternal life resides, imputed at our spiritual birth.
If Christ is in you, though [on the one hand] the body is dead because of sin, yet [on the other hand] the [human] spirit is alive because of righteousness. [Wuest]
On the basis of God the Holy Spirit providing the human spirit to the believer, God imputes and imparts His very own eternal life to that human spirit. That is being born again.
Eternal life is the same life possessed by God the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. As such, it has no beginning and no end.
In the new birth, the Church Age believer is given a new nature and is made a new spiritual species. This is the basis for the believer being placed into the Body of Christ under the Baptism by the Spirit, 2 Cor 5:17;
The new spiritual species is unique to the Church Age. The purpose is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ through the creation of the Royal Family of God.
The born again believer in the Church Age is enabled to be a partaker of the divine nature, 2 Pet 1:4.
The believer in Christ has a new self which has been created by God in the likeness of God.[; ;
Regeneration is not dependent upon an experience, meaning that no experience will necessarily accompany it.
Believing in Christ is the only prerequisite on the human side to regeneration.
The result or effect of regeneration is summed up in the fact of possession of eternal life.
The seed that is imperishable is the living and enduring WORD OF GOD;
James 1:18 In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is called the living Word of God; John 1:1-3.
The same word of God created the universe; .
