from my Soteriology paper

i was reading through some of my papers i've written for seminary and decided to post this part of a paper that i wrote on "regeneration"...

Why do we need regeneration? Is it a necessary part of salvation? Can a man repent of his sins and trust in Christ for salvation without that specific work of God which we call regeneration? It is to these questions that we will now turn our attention.

First, we must understand the state of the human heart. Scripture is not unclear about the deadness of a sinnerʼs heart and its complete inability to obtain spiritual life by its own strength.

In John chapter three we see a Pharisee, Nicodemus, come to speak with Jesus. We first read Nicodemusʼ words, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him” (John 3:2b). Jesusʼ response is interesting because He does not respond directly to Nicodemusʼ statement. Instead Jesus seems to cut right to the core issue: Nicodemusʼ need for regeneration, which He speaks of as being “born again”. Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). The phrase “born again” which Jesus uses, literally means “born from above.”

But Nicodemus, by his response, shows that he does not understand that Jesus is speaking not of physical birth leading to physical life, but of spiritual birth leading to spiritual life. Jesus goes on in order to make His point clearer:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ʻYou must be born again.ʼ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:5-8).

Jesus here communicates the truth that one must experience the new birth which is brought about by the Spirit. Without this working of the Spirit no one can enter the kingdom of God. So, we can see from this passage that a work of the Spirit, namely regeneration, is necessary in order for one to enter the kingdom of God (i.e. truly be saved).

We see this truth again in Ephesians chapter two. Here Paul plainly tells his audience the state of their hearts prior to salvation:
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” (Eph. 2:1-3).

Paul is speaking to the church at Ephesus, a group of saints (see Eph. 1:1), and he tells them that they, before they were saved, were spiritually “dead” because of their sins. He tells them that they “were by nature children of wrath.” We should notice that he leaves no one out: “among whom we all once lived.” Paul is saying that there is no one who is spiritually alive in and of themselves. Not only were the saints spiritually dead, they were deserving of wrath--Godʼs eternal punishment for sin. Therefore, we see that man needs regeneration. Man needs God Himself to perform a work in his spiritually dead heart. Manʼs dead heart must be given new life through the new birth. If God does not work regeneration, man has no hope of eternal life.

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so i ask you, have you trusted in God's work of salvation? or are you trusting in your own righteousness? by nature you are a child of wrath which means that you deserve God's wrath as punishment on your sin. this is not something you want to face. turn to God. turn to Christ and His saving work. trust Him for salvation. there is salvation in none other.

question

the other day i received a message on facebook from someone who is a friend of a friend on there. i was glad to see someone genuinely interested in understanding the Christian faith. this person must have seen my religious views because their question was directly related to it. i figured i'd share the question and my response while keeping the person anonymous--

Question:
What do you mean by Christ is your strength? And why do you think you should have died the death that Jesus died? I am a curious person trying to better understand the Christian philosophy/thinking. Your response is truly appreciated. Thank you

--
Answer:
Hello,

I’m sorry it took me a while to respond to you. You ask two good questions, and I am glad to answer them. Actually, the answers to both of them are related.

(In my response I reference the Bible a lot. If you do not have a copy you can read the verses by going to this website: http://www.biblegateway.com/ and typing in the references I give.)

Most importantly is the idea of “Substitutionary Atonement.” This is the idea I’m trying to communicate when I say that Christ died the death I should have died. Substitutionary Atonement is essential to the Christian faith.

The idea of Substitution is a familiar one in American culture--we have substitute teachers who take the place of our normal teacher. We have substitute sugars and even substitute for salt. These all take the place of something else. Jesus Christ was our substitute in death. But, unlike teachers, sugar, and salt substitutes, Jesus was a better substitute--He was the perfect substitute.

A verse that communicates this idea of substitutionary atonement is 1 Peter 2:24 in the Bible which says, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.”

But why did Jesus have to die? Why did He have to be our substitute in death? This verse has told us that He died so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. We are healed by His wounds--by the event where He got His wounds--the cross. It says that He died so that we might do two things: die and live. Die to sin, and live to righteousness. This dying and living are spiritual death and life. Throughout the Bible, when it talks about spiritual life and spiritual death it speaks of them in the sense of “what is controlling you”. When sin and unrighteousness are controlling you, you are said to be “dead.” But when you are said to be “alive”, you have been given life through Jesus‘ work. Another way to put this is that a person who is spiritually dead is separated from God spiritually. But a person who has spiritual life is united with God spiritually (and, in the end, physically in Heaven as well.) From the Bible we can see this: Spiritually, all people are dead (Psalm 51:5; Romans 5:12) unless they have received life from Jesus Christ (John 11:25-26).

Ephesians 2:1-5 says this:
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).

This idea of being separated from God is because of mankind’s nature. The Bible tells us that God created the Heavens and the Earth (everything that exists). We believe in a triune God--the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. These are not three Gods, but three different persons, all equal and all so unified that they are actually one.

Colossians 1:13-23 is a good passage that explains the idea of sin separating us from the God who created us, and Jesus reconciling that separation. You can read the passage here: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=colossians+1%3A13-23&version=NASB

Notice at the end of verse 16 (speaking of Jesus) it says “all things have been created through Him and for Him.” See, we were created for Jesus. But we have all sinned--we have rebelled against our creator, we have all turned to our own ways and not lived for Him. The first part of Isaiah 53:6 says, “All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way…” Here the Bible tells us that we all have not followed God’s way, instead we follow our own ways. Because of this God, who created us for Himself, has the right to (actually, He must) punish us. The Bible teaches that God is a just God and a good God. If He were to let rebellion go without punishing it, this means He is not perfectly good and perfectly just. He would not be a good judge. (Exodus 34:7 says that God will, by no means, leave the guilty unpunished). Well, all of mankind is guilty because all have sinned and turned to their own ways instead of His ways (Isaiah 53:6 and Romans 3:23).

But the second half of Isaiah 53:6 says this: “but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him [Jesus].”

This is what I mean by Jesus died the death I should have died. I am a sinner. I have turned to my own ways and therefore I am guilty. God will not let the guilty go unpunished. Not only am I guilty before a smaller power (like the government). I am guilty before the God who created me and the rest of the universe (Col. 1:16). Because I am guilty before the infinite God, I deserve to be punished by Him--I deserve death. BUT, as it says in Ephesians 2:4-5, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).”

I hope that makes sense. All of us deserve punishment by God because we have sinned against Him (we deserve death). But, God is so rich in His mercy and His love, that He bore our sins Himself in His body on the cross (that’s 1 Peter 2:24 again). So that when we believe in Him...when we trust in Him and what He did...then He doesn’t count our sins against us, but, as Isaiah 53:6 says, He caused our iniquity (our sin) to fall on Jesus.

So...you also asked what I mean by saying that Jesus is my strength. If you go to Romans 8, this is a good passage to use to explain what I mean. (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8&version=NASB )

In verse 18 it says that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Verse 28 says that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. In other words, no matter what we go through, it will all be worth it in the end, because God is the one working it all for His purposes. Verse 37 says that in all these things (all the things that were listed in verses 35 and 36...any trouble that life can bring us)...in all those things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. Who is it that loved us? Verse 32 has told us. It is God. Verse 32 says that God Himself, who did not even spare His own Son…(that’s how much He loved us)...He will also freely give us all things--He will help us through any situation.

This is what I mean when I say that Christ is my strength. It brings such great encouragement no matter what happens in life when I know that the God of the universe loves me so much that, in order to redeem me and save me so that I might have a relationship with Him, in order to do that He spared no expense--He did not even spare His one and only Son. A God who will do that, will He not also freely give us all things?

I hope this was helpful for you.

If you have any further questions, feel free to ask.

Elias

God uses hurt knees

This week is VBS (Vacation Bible School)...well, no, not VBS -- Soccer Camp! AWANA created a different kind of VBS that they don't call VBS 'cause VBS should be a time where non-church kids come to learn about Christ. and VBS is a foreign word to non-church people. So we're doing a Soccer Camp for 5-10 yr olds. It's great! We start with an hour and 15 mins of stretches and different soccer skill stations. Then we have about an hour for snacks and then a Bible lesson and we end with 30 mins for actual scrimmages.

Today during the scrimmages I was walking around to the different games to make sure everything was running smoothly. At the 9-10 yr old field I saw a boy, Eric, walking with a limp. I took him over to the first aid station and had "Nurse Martha" (my mom :) ) take a look at his knee. A while later he came back to the field and I sat down next to him and made sure he was doing ok. All the campers get a gospel bracelet that has Yello, Black, Red, White and Green on them. As we were sitting there Eric said "What do all these colors mean?" Haha! If that's not invitation to share the gospel, I don't know what is! So I shared with him and he prayed to trust Christ as His savior!

Afterward I told my mom and the VBS...err, I mean Soccer Camp leader, Mary Alice, "Praise God for hurt knees!" God used that to create an opportunity to share the gospel.

Please do be praying that Eric's knee will feel better, but most importantly pray that he grows in his walk with Christ.

101

I wish I had (maybe I should say "made") more time to read. I love to read and gain insights and shape my worldview, beliefs, understanding and gain knowledge that will hopefully form into wisdom.

At the church I am part of we have men's Bible study on Friday mornings. We are currently going through the Workbook to "Twelve Ordinary Men" by John MacArthur. It's a great workbook. It's kinda funny though 'cause I could get along fine if I didn't bring my workbook because Pastor Bob leads it (even though the men in the study take turns "leading" each page in the workbook...Pastor Bob is just so excited about and knowledgeable of the Scriptures that he ends up leading) and we make it through about three discussion questions each time. I find that we're not really talking about the book, we just use the questions in the workbook as springboards into discussion lead by Pastor Bob.

So even though PB gets upset at us when we don't have anything written down for the answers to the questions, I've decided to take the time to actually read the book "Twelve Ordinary Men" (what a concept!) instead of answer the questions in the workbook. I find it profitable since we discuss the workbook anyway, and I, otherwise, wouldn't make the time to read the book.

It's a great book! I'm only in chapter one 'cause I only got this bright idea three weeks ago and I only read it on Thursday nights (and chapter one is 21 pages long...the intro was 8 pages itself)...anyway, enough excuses for my slow reading...let's get to what I really started to write this entry about--

In the first chapter of this book MacArthur is arguing for the "ordinariness" of the 12 apostles. It's so true, yet historically the church has raised these men up on pedestals and memorialized them in marble sculptures. While reading his arguments I realized that by treating the apostles as uncommon, amazing men who are far superior to us, we excuse ourselves from having to live up to what they did.

MacArthur quotes 1 Corinthians 1:20-21 which says, "Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe." And he points out that the apostles were not from among the religious elite of the time. There were no scribes, no pharisees, no sadducees, no rabbis, no one of the sort. These were ordinary men so that when they did extraordinary things they would not get the credit. Christ, the power behind them, would get the credit.

This is in contradiction to the way the world works (if anyone from Phase 2 is reading this..."Do Not Conform!" or if you remember H206 "Stand Defiant!"). The people of the world desire the fame and glory for themselves. After explaining this MacArthur goes on to say:

"With the notable exception of Judas Iscariot, these men were not like that. They certainly struggled with pride and arrogance like every fallen human being. But the driving passion of their lives became the glory of Christ. And it was that passion, subjected to the influence of the Holy Spirit--not any innate skill or human talent--that explains why they left such an indelible impact on the world." [emphasis mine]

Do I desire to make an indelible impact on the world? Do you desire to make an indelible impact on the world? What, then, should be our passion? Our passion should be the glory of Christ.

Oh God, give me this passion: to glorify Christ, all that He has done, all that He is. May He be the one I desire to magnify, not myself. Help me not to conform to the pattern of this world. Help me to stand defiant against the trends of modern culture which encourages me to focus on myself. Help me instead to focus on Christ in all I do.

...its a high calling...but the ordinary apostles did it. So...so can I.

a principle

I am going through Level Two EE at our church and we are reading "The Master Plan of Evangelism" by Robert E. Coleman. It's an amazing book on evangelism.

I was just reading it and wanted to share this quote with you. Its about not only preaching and teaching but living a life of teaching other people by the way we live each and every moment of our lives:

There can be no shirking or evading of our personal responsibility to show the way to those we are training, and this revelation must include the practical outworking in the life of the deeper realities of the Spirit. This is the Master's method, and nothing else will ever suffice to train others to do His work.
It makes us vulnerable, of course. We are not perfect like our Lord, and those persons to whom we open our lives will come to see our many shortcomings. But let them also see a readiness to confess our sins when we understand the error of our way. Let them hear us apologize to those we have wronged. Our weaknesses need not impair the discipleship when shining through them is a transparent sincerity to follow Christ.

I often feel insufficient for the ministry when I mess up and make mistakes. But the people I lead also make mistakes. And if they do not see me make mistakes, they will think there is something wrong with them because they are not "as good" as I am (rather, as I appear to be). Instead they need to see my sins and also see how I handle them--by confessing my sins and expressing a sincere desire to truly follow Christ.

The Mighty Magnet

Our Associate Pastor shared this quote with me today (he heads up evangelism training at our church):

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.~John 12:32

Come, ye workers, be encouraged. You fear that you cannot draw a congregation. Try the preaching of a crucified, risen, and ascended Savior; for this is the greatest "draw" that was ever yet manifested among men. What drew you to Christ but Christ? What draws you to Him now but His own blessed self? If you have been drawn to religion by anything else, you will soon be drawn away from it; but Jesus has held you and will hold you even to the end. Why, then, doubt His power to draw other? Go with the name of Jesus to those who have hitherto been stubborn and see if it does not draw them.~C. H. Spurgeon

scatter

Went to Bible study this morning. It was great. Two quotes I want to remember.

The first: "Impression without expression equals depression."

Translation: If you learn something (if something is impressed upon you) and it does not result in a change in your life (expression)...well, that's just sad (depression). In other words, let the Word of God change you.

The second quote from my pastor (who lead the study), he said when he was talking about the function of the church:

"We meet for education. We scatter for evangelism."

I totally agree with him. And the church (the universal church, click here for a pretty good explanation of the church) needs to hear that these days. So many churches are becoming "seeker sensitive". Sure, it's good to reach out to people who want to come to church and who may be scared off by the traditional church atmosphere. But many churches do this and thus sacrifice the purpose of the church. The understanding of the purpose of the church is being lost as a consequence.

People think that the church building and church services are supposed to be the places of evangelism. This misunderstanding is what has caused the sermons of many a pulpit across America (and the world) to become watered down. Christians and others attending the services are receiving milk instead of solid food. This milk is directed at those who either don't know Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, or they have just come to salvation. This is good for new believers. But this should not be done in the main church service. Otherwise how are people going to grow?

We are told many times in Scripture to grow and mature in our faith. Hebrews 6:1 tells us this: "Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and press on to maturity..." (cf. 2 Peter 3:18, Eph. 4:15, 2 Tim. 3:14-17, Col. 2:6-7, et al.)

I have heard complaints about para-church groups, and how they are having to do the work of the church because the church is not doing its job (see this blog, 4th paragraph down starting with "He missed the boat"). What this seems to me is that the people who say things like this have a fundemental misunderstanding of the definition of "The Church".

"The Church" is not a building that Christians meet in. If that was the case the church I go to now wouldn't be a church 'cause we meet in a gym (would we be a gym?). The Church is the people who meet in that building. But it is more than that. I like the phrase "The Universal Church." This helps to clarify that "The Church" is universal. All Believers, everywhere make up "The Church". With this understanding, there is no such thing as a "para-church" organization. Because these so-called para-church organizations are made up of Christians. And Christians ARE part of the church.

Para-church organizations are great! THEY are where evangelism is supposed to take place. They are where we can scatter to (for evangelism) after we meet on Sundays (or whatever day) for education.