We place much emphasis on the need for salvation, but sometimes, the change that brings can be confusing to some. This daily devotional looks at what regeneration means.
We can obtain salvation without knowing everything about the change that is made in our hearts. However, it helps us make sense of the whys and hows of the process of salvation to know about regeneration.
What Happens at Conversion?
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Mt. 7: 13-14 ESV)
Salvation — the narrow gate — leads to other things after we choose to enter.
When we choose to accept the Plan of Salvation, we
- admit that mankind was separated from God after the original sin, making us sinners;
- believe Jesus paid the penalty for those sins to become our Savior and Redeemer;
- confess God as Sovereign God; and
- demonstrate that commitment by submitting to living our lives following His laws and commandments, confessing God as Sovereign Lord.
That means we have entered through the narrow gate through faith. The narrow gate is both Jesus and salvation.
Salvation is what we get crossing the threshold of the gate. Jesus is the how we are getting it.
Really, what happens at conversion is the act of passing through the narrow gate. On the other side, is regeneration.
Salvation is the gift of life through the deliverance from condemnation and sin to acceptance and holiness and changes us from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
- Holiness is the transcendent excellence of His nature that includes elements of purity, dedication, and commitment that lead to being set apart.
- Purity means possessing God’s moral character, having eliminated the stain of sin.
- Spiritual death is the spiritual separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin.
- The spiritually alive are those who have ABCDed, so they are no longer separated from God.
Conversion is the product of repentance, when we turn away from our sins and return to God, that secures salvation.
Faith is a gift from God that enhances the conviction that the doctrines revealed in God’s Word are true, even if we do not understand all aspects of them, a belief which impacts our lives you and distinguishes us from others.
Regeneration is being changed from spiritually dead to spiritually alive and the internal new birth and requickening that God brings about through the work of the Holy Spirit.
The Change that Regeneration Brings
“He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” (Ti. 3: 5 ESV)
Let’s put those two concepts of righteousness and regeneration together.
We only become righteous when we become holy.
- Being righteous means we are free from sin because we are following God’s moral laws.
- Holy means to be set apart — because of our devotion to God — to become perfect, and morally pure while possessing all virtues.
- Perfection means we reach a state of maturity because the combination of the spiritual graces form, when all are present, spiritual wholeness or completeness — holy, sanctified, and righteous.
- Spiritual graces are worldly morals that have been submitted to God to further His kingdom instead of enhancing this world.
- Sanctified means to be set free from sin.
- Pure means not being sinful or having the stain of sin.
- Virtues are standards of moral excellence.
We are only free from sin when we are set apart. We are only set apart when we have been given the internal new birth obtained through salvation.
That is why we cannot work our way into salvation. We ourselves cannot make those changes.
What we have to remember is regeneration begins instantaneously at conversion. It ushers in God’s grace when we put or faith and trust in Him and allows grace to reside in our hearts.
Regeneration is where we get our spiritual nature back. We are changed from spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
You see, it isn’t just about reconciliation. Oh, yes. We need forgiveness for our sins. We are separated from God and are disobeying His laws and commandments.
But regeneration is about restoration. Restoration is bringing our relationship with God back to what it was.
What God wants to bring us back to is what Adam and Eve had before the original sin. That can only be accomplished through grace. Grace leads to faith, which leads to salvation, which leads to regeneration.
How being born again is different than regeneration? Being born again is a principle of grace, something that is infused instead of acquired, due to the power of God, an inward change, and the birth of all of our graces.
Is maybe being born again the what and regeneration the how? Or is it like sanctification: navigating the Sanctification Road, working out our salvation, and growing from milk babies to steak adults?
Only God Can Regenerate Us
God alone regenerates us.
We can’t earn our way to salvation. There is only one way: through Jesus.
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’” (Jn. 14: 6 ESV).
No, our works do not save us. We cannot do random acts of kindness and get into Heaven.
Only God can change us. When we show we have faith and accept God’s Plan of Salvation, we are changed to be holy, as the Sovereign Lord is.
Our initial confession renews our relationship with God. God restores our relationship and makes us spiritually alive.
Can We Lose Our Salvation?
“My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand” (Jn. 10: 29 ESV)
I don’t think we can lose our salvation.
If we could, that would mean we would have to be regenerated over and over again. That doesn’t happen.
A while back, I thought regeneration was one of those three-part words. The first part is the past-tense aspect. God changed us from spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
The present-tense regeneration is where I get bogged down. I don’t see anywhere in Scripture where it says we waffle back and for between being spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
I do think we will have a future regeneration. “Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed” (1 Cor. 12: 51-52 ESV).
When we get to the eternal life part, we will be like Christ. “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears[a] we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (I Jn. 3: 2 ESV).
We don’t have a present-tense regeneration because it is sanctification. That is where the big change takes place. It is where God wants us to change our character to be like Him, not just our mindset to follow His rules.
We get to choose to change our character and lifestyles. We can’t be a regenerated new creation when we are hanging on to old sin.
We choose to not follow the deceitful desires. So much in this world is deceitful. We chase after things we think will bring us happiness and security but end up being disappointed.
Regeneration gives us a new character, but that doesn’t mean we are finished with the needed changes. During our lifetimes, we work on fusing that character with our physical character so that we imitate God.
We have to make a conscious effort to grow to be like God. This means that it has to work on our hearts, minds, and free will.
That work is called the process of sanctification.
But God also knows we need renewal daily because we have to change our mindset. That takes time — our whole lives, in fact. It is a progression.
What does Lamentations 3: 22-23 say? “The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning” (Lam. 3: 22-23 NLT).
Every day, God gives us His love in new, inventive ways to help us renew our minds. He wants us to succeed in making the change. He wants our regeneration complete.
Father God. You make us new when we invite You into our hearts. No, Lord, we don’t understand how, but we are so thankful You do. You are reconciling us to You in order to restore us to our former selves. We want to be changed to be like You. That happens through regeneration. Thank You that regeneration changes us from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive. Help us to navigate the Sanctification Road, so that we can be regenerated to Your character. May we always keep our eyes on You and live as You have called us. Amen.
What do you think?
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