Good morning, Everyone! (It’s morning for me anyway). Today we’ll discuss the 6th and last condition for salvation. Please don’t hesitate to comment or ask a question! All Scripture is taken from the ESV Bible unless indicated. All italics within Scripture is mine.
C. How do you get Salvation? What are the conditions?
6). Regeneration (new birth, a birth from above, a birth of the Spirit, being born again…however you want to say it). I will refer to it as New Birth. New Birth should occur following a person’s conversion (and it will, if that person is sincere). New Birth is caused by a gracious and sovereign act of God, apart from man’s cooperation, in which the believer is spiritually awakened through the power of the Holy Spirit. “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12,13). “According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again…” (1 Pet. 1:3b). God gives us membership into His family; with it, you now have openness and a relationship with God that you couldn’t get from your human, natural birth. New Birth is the beginning step of an eternal walk with God; it allows you to have a relationship with God. New Birth is absolutely essential to be a part of the kingdom of God––“Jesus answered [Nicodemus], ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God’” (John 3:3).
New Birth is described as a resurrection experience where new life is given to something dead. “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins…4But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ” (Eph. 2:1,4-5). “…he saved us…according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). God gives us New Birth to save us from His wrath.
Ezekiel 18:31 says, “Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!” This verse has New Testament, or “new covenant,” terminology. Yes, it is prior to Christ’s atoning sacrifice, but the point is that the person is responsible (in part) for repentance, and God is the one who will bring about the change. What God requires, He provides…He requires a new heart and spirit, and He gives it, as long as the person is accepting.
New Birth signifies an entrance into a new life. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17). We become new, so we will not have the same mind set or desires. We will elaborate on what it means to have New Birth, or to be born again, in a later post.
All of the conditions we have discussed are indeed necessary for salvation. But we can never forget the one real and only reason and condition for salvation, the 4th reason in this study––Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Without Christ’s willing sacrifice, not one of the other conditions would matter at all. The only reason you are saved from an eternal life of facing God’s wrath in hell is because Christ died and His blood was shed! Don’t ignore this gracious offer of salvation.
Next time we’ll begin a section on past, present, and future salvation.
Niki Ƹ>Ï<Ʒ
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