Church Words 101 - Regeneration
In John chapter three, Nicodemus, a well-respected religious leader of his day, is left perplexed by Jesus’ claim that anyone who wishes to see the kingdom of God must be “born again.” When Nicodemus’ immediate reaction is to question how a person can be reborn physically, Jesus seeks to correct his thinking by informing him that eternal life is only experienced by being re-born by the Spirit of God. Fast forward to today, and the idea of being “born again” is under scrutiny once again. While Jesus’ original intention was to emphasize the dramatic nature of our need for a new life born of the Spirit, many today equate the phrase “born again” to a change of mind, to become enlightened, or to some type of spiritual awakening brought on by a religious experience, the effect of which is very minimal and is thought to only bring about a change in behavior or convictions. While all of these might be associated with being born again, the reality of what takes place by the Spirit of God in the life of a believer is much more extreme than we initially realize.
“Regeneration” is another word used in Scripture to define the act of being born again. It’s a word that we don’t hear much today and, in fact, is only used twice in the Bible (Titus 3:5-6; Matthew 19). You might be tempted to think that because it’s only used twice, it must not be that important. Yet, regeneration is an essential component in learning to appreciate our salvation in Christ. If there is no regeneration by the Spirit, there is no eternal life to hope for.
“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 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, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” – Titus 3:4-7 (ESV)
The Greek word for “regeneration” in this verse, on its own, simply means “re-birth” or “renewal.” Wayne Grudem says in Systematic Theology that regeneration refers to the “secret act of God in which he imparts new spiritual life to a person.” Now, while having a good working definition is important, it’s even more important that we understand the significance of regeneration in the outworking of God’s plan of redemption in his eternal narrative. For us to fully grasp the weight of the regeneration of the Spirit in the life of a believer, we need to go back to the beginning of our story.
The Breath of Life
In Genesis chapters one and two, we read two accounts of the creation story. God lays the foundation of creation and then works to make it inhabitable for humanity to live and flourish as his representatives on earth. While Scripture says that God speaks creation into existence in chapter one, chapter two shows God intimately forming mankind from the dust of the ground.
“Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” - Genesis 2:7 (ESV)
The animating “breath of God” is referred to elsewhere in Scripture by the term “ruach.” This is a complex term that is not easily translated into English. Sometimes it’s translated as breath, sometimes it’s translated as wind, and other times it’s translated as spirit referring to either a created spirit or the Spirit of God. Ultimately, this passage in Genesis teaches us that the source of human life is found in God. Every creature that breathes does so by the presence of the life-giving breath of God. Apart from God, no life is possible.
The Loss of Life
As we come to the end of Genesis chapter two, we see that God places Adam in the midst of the garden and commands him to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God informs him that the consequences for disobedience will be that they will “surely die.” In chapter three, the serpent deceives Adam and Eve into eating from the tree causing them to experience shame and guilt for the first time. Yet, it appears that God’s threat of death doesn’t come to fruition. They don’t die. Instead, God comes to them, explains the judgment that is coming upon them, and then expels them from the garden they called home. So, what happened? Did God change his mind? The answer may be found in how we understand death. While we might think of death as “ceasing to live,” death is better understood to be separation. When a person dies, we understand that our spirit is separated from our body. At the fall, mankind was separated from God and eternal life available in him. As the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 2:1, we are “dead” in our sins apart from God.
The Promised Life
The good news is that God has no intentions of leaving us in our hopeful state. God foreknew man’s sin and planned in advance for our future redemption. The rest of Genesis describes God initiating his plan of redemption through Abraham and his descendants. Even though his people continually fall into idolatry, God remains faithful in pursuing them and offering salvation to a dying world. When the nation of Israel eventually found itself in Exile, many began to wonder if God had permanently rejected them. The prophet Ezekiel was sent to Israel in Babylon to reaffirm to them that, while things may look bad, God has not forsaken his promises. Speaking in Ezekiel 36, God says,
“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit (ruach) I will put within you...And I will put my Spirit (ruach) within you.” - Ezekiel 36:25-27 (ESV)
Ezekiel 37 depicts the valley of dry bones where God is seen to have the power to raise what has been long dead to new life. While Israel was focused on having a better life in the moment, God was promising a new life to come.
The New Life
The promise of a new heart in Ezekiel 36 is closely associated with the promise of the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31. Here, the prophet declares that God “will put (his) law within them and will write it on their hearts.” This is ultimately fulfilled in the person and work of Christ as he goes to the cross, is crucified, dies, is buried, and is resurrected. Upon his ascension into heaven, the Spirit of God is then sent to indwell God’s people as he brings them to life and transforms their person. This brings us back to the verse we looked at earlier in the book of Titus. The Holy Spirit is said to seal us as he indwells us, regenerates us, and renews us into the image and life of Jesus Christ. Going back to Ephesians 2, Paul says that we “were dead...But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.” The good news of the gospel is not that he makes our life better, but that he raises us up to new life in him.
The Life to Come
As I mentioned earlier, the Greek word for “regeneration” only occurs twice in the Bible. Paul uses it in Titus 3:5-6 to describe the new life of the believer and then we see it again in Matthew 19:28 when Jesus is talking about the new world to come. All this is to say that God’s plan of redemption goes far beyond the regeneration of man. He intends to give new life to the entirety of creation. This is good news. What good would it be if God renewed humanity only for us to continue in a broken creation? God promises to regenerate the heavens and the earth so that his life would fill all things. The current work of the Holy Spirit in our life personally, and in the life of the church, is merely a foretaste of the new life to come. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:19, “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” In other words, if our only taste of regeneration is in this life, we should feel sorry for ourselves. But our hope is firmly established on the truth that God has promised to regenerate all things in the next life. A life where death has been defeated and is no present no more.
While “regeneration” is a word used only minimally in scripture, it has profound implications for our understanding of our life in Christ. Be blessed and take heart for our life in Christ and the life to come.
