Jesus Came Not to be Useful, but to be Precious

"No amount of working will make Me precious to you."

Amen.

Be benefited by this.

Implications for Apologetics

A very popular method of Gospel ministry employed by many Christians is to build historical, archaeological, or scientific evidence for all or part of the Christian faith, present their case to an unbeliever, and "demand a verdict." This attempt to "prove" the factuality of Christianity by presenting extra-biblical evidence is called evidentialist apologetics.

Such a method can be very useful in strengthening the confidence of believers in the veracity of the Bible. It can also be helpful when responding to questions, criticisms, or arguments against Christianity from those who speak out against Christianity.

However, in terms of evangelism -- in terms of actually bringing about the salvation of unbelievers -- a monergistic, and thus Biblical, understanding of regeneration demonstrates the futility of evidentialism to achieve what is necessary to be born again and believe.

Ultimately, the reasons Christians disagree on this is because of their misunderstanding of human nature. Remember that humanity's problem – our spiritual death – is that we can’t see what is right in front of us. No matter how elaborate, thorough, or accurate the presentation, no display of evidence will ever make a difference to a blind man. He must first be given sight.

The futility of evidences in achieving the desired effect of Gospel ministry is given throughout Scripture. Here's a sample.

John 12:37, 39-40 – But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him. … For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, "He has blinded their eyes and he hardened their heart, so that they would not see him with their eyes and perceive with their heart, and be converted and I heal them."

Do you see how crazy that is? Even though Jesus Himself performed so many signs in front of the people to demonstrate that He was God in the flesh, and therefore worth believing in, they still didn't believe in Him. The glory of Jesus Himself, to say nothing of His miracles, should be enough evidence (humanly speaking) to compel worship and joyful faith. But the problem was their spiritual death. Their eyes were blind so that they could not see. Their heart was hard so that they could not perceive.

Deuteronomy 29:2-4 – And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and all his servants and all his land; the great trials which your eyes have seen, those great signs and wonders. Yet to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear.”

Apparently the same was true 1500 years earlier. Think about what Moses is reminding the Israelites of here. Yahweh Himself appeared in a burning bush (Ex 3:1-6). He brought the ten plagues upon Pharaoh and Egypt (Ex 7-11). He parted the Red Sea (Ex 14:16, 21). He drowned the Egyptians with that same Red Sea (Ex 14:27-28). He brought them to Sinai where they saw His glory like a consuming fire (Ex 24:17). They saw Moses' face glow (Ex 34:29-30). They saw the tablets of the Law written by God Himself (Ex 34:1). They saw His glory fill the Tabernacle such that nobody could stand in it (Ex 40:34-35). They saw the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire throughout their journeys in the wilderness (Ex 40:36-38). They ate the manna from heaven (Ex 16:35). They drank the water from the rock (Ex 17:6). They saw the earth open up and swallow Korah and his fellow rebels (Num 16:31-33). They looked at the fiery serpent on the pole and were healed of their wounds (Num 21:8-9). If anyone had enough evidence to believe with all their heart in Yahweh, it was this group of people.

But what does Moses say? Even though you've seen all these things done right before your eyes, you don't have a heart to know. You don't have eyes to see. You don't have ears to hear. That kind of heart, those kind of eyes, and those kind of ears are given by God Himself. He grants them in the new birth. That's what's needed, not more evidence.

John 8:43-47 – Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.

The reason people don't believe is because they can't truly hear Jesus' words. And the reason they can't hear them is because they are not of God. You see? Only God's elect have ears to hear. He gives them those ears when He grants them new life.

John 10:26 – But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep.

This speaks again, now explicitly, about why people don't believe the Gospel. It is because they are not of Jesus' sheep. Again, we see that it is only the sheep (the elect) who will eventually believe, because it is only the sheep (the elect) who will receive the new birth.

Last time we looked to Cornelius Van Til as we considered the implications of regeneration on evangelism. He also has helpful thoughts as we consider the philosophy and methodology of apologetics (from My Credo):

First, any non-Christian epistemology, i.e., any theory of knowledge based upon principles acceptable per se to the "mind of the flesh," (and therefore those of [the synergist’s] own method) is doomed to utter failure.

Basically, what he's saying is that if your 'evangelistic methodology' or 'missiology' presents to people what is acceptable to the mind of the flesh -- to the natural mind -- it's faulty. The theory of knowledge upon which the evidentialist apologetics model is based is one such non-Christian epistemology. While supplying extra-Biblical evidences for the veracity of the Christian faith is extremely helpful for believers, and while it has its place in defending the faith against accusations or questions from non-believers, evidences will never contribute one iota to an unbeliever’s salvation. Because, again, as we have seen, the natural man is blind to the most convincing evidence imaginable; namely, the Glory of God revealed in Jesus Christ! If that isn't enough evidence, no presentation of any lesser evidence will make a difference.

A consistently Christian methodology of apologetics [requires] that we preach with the understanding that the acceptance of the Christ of Scripture by sinners who, being alienated from God, [determined] to flee his face, comes about when the Holy Spirit, in the presence of inescapably clear evidence, opens their eyes so that they see things as they truly are.

You see? The 'evidence,' so to speak, is always sufficient. What the unbeliever needs is his eyes to be open. And this opening of the eyes to see things as they truly are is nothing other than regeneration. And the sole means of regeneration is the preaching of the Gospel.

And so, if regeneration is wholly an act of God, accomplished solely by the means of the preaching of His Word, and will be applied only to the people whom He chooses, our evangelism and our defense of the faith should look like that is the truth. We should not put our faith in scientific data or archaeological findings or any other kind of human reasoning. As Christians, we should put our faith solely in the Gospel to do the work of bringing Jesus' sheep to Himself. For, again, it is this Gospel -- not anything else -- that is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes (Rom 1:16).

The nature of the new birth is spiritual (John 3:6). Therefore, we must only appeal to the spiritual in the unbeliever. And the only thing spiritual in the unbeliever is death (Eph 2:1-3). So we are to preach the Gospel, not by appealing to something natural in people, but by appealing to the fact that they are dead, and that Christ gives life by grace through faith in Him.

It is only this message of the Gospel that will ever bring about the new birth.

For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. ...and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
- 1 Corinthians 2:2, 4-5 -

For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.
- Psalm 138:2, NKJV -

1. The Theology of the New Birth
1.1. Man's Spiritual Death (Total Depravity)
1.2. The Dead Cannot See
1.3. The Wind Blows Where it Wishes: The Freedom of God and Irresistible Grace
1.4. Regeneration and Faith: Temporally Simultaneous but Logically Distinct

2. Implications for the Christian Life
2.1. God Grants What He Requires
2.2. The Impossible is No Longer Burdensome
2.3. The Means of Justification is the Means of Sanctification

3. Implications for Gospel Ministry
3.1. Introduction
3.2. Evangelism
3.3. Apologetics

Implications for Evangelism

I concluded Monday's post with this sentence: "Because it is through the preaching of the Gospel that this miracle of the new birth happens, we must consider what implications these things have on the way we evangelize." By "these things" I mean all that we've considered about the new birth in this series. Since man is totally depraved, since that means he can't see the glory of God for what it is, since God is the Sovereign and Free one in salvation, since we believe because we are born again (and not vice versa), since God grants what He requires, how do we preach the Gospel to the lost? How do we evangelize?

The first thing to recognize is that the new birth is the work of God alone, and He tells us that He will accomplish this work by specific and particular means – that is, by the preaching of the Gospel. People do not cooperate in their new birth any more than they cooperate in their first birth. Understanding that people are brought forth (i.e., regenerated) in the exercise of God's will -- not their own -- and by the word of truth -- and nothing else (Jas 1:18) -- instructs us to not appeal to anything in the unbeliever as a natural person. If the nature of the new birth is spiritual, then appealing to something natural will not bring it about.

Some passages of Scripture that we’ve discussed in the series remind us of this (mouse over the references):

• Acts 16:14 – The new birth happened to Lydia (i.e., God’s opening her heart) on the heels of the preached Gospel message. The progression outlined in the passage is: speaking, listening, opening, responding. We must do ministry that reflects a knowledge of and a faith in this reality.
• John 1:12-13 – The new birth happens "not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Therefore, we must not attempt to preach the Gospel as if the will of the sinner is sovereign. We must preach the pure, unadulterated Gospel, knowing that it is by this that God has said He will sovereignly and decisively act when regenerating His people.
• John 6:44-45, 65 – We are not to attempt to preach the Gospel as if God was saving some sort of indiscriminate, unknown group of people. The elect are unknown to us, but they are fully known by God. So we are not to go out and appeal to people based on any worldly demographics, because it is by the spirituality that God gives them that their hearts are awakened to reality. So we should employ only that which is spiritual, and nothing that is natural or worldly.

The viewpoint that opposes my own speaks much of the "point of contact" between believers and unbelievers. Apologist Cornelius Van Til, in his My Credo, considers this idea:

[The synergist] assumes that unless one finds a point of contact with the natural man by way of agreeing with him on his false views of man and the world then one has no point of contact with him at all. Against this position, I maintain, with Calvin following Paul, that my point of contact lies in the actual state of affairs between men as the Bible tells us of it.

And that actual state of affairs is, very simply, that they are dreadfully and helplessly sinful, and will die in their sins apart from the living God who created them. Yet we as Christ's ambassadors have a solution to such a predicament. Boiled down, our point of contact is: "You’re sinful, just like all people are. But I have a message of repentance for the forgiveness of your sin."

To look for a point of contact with the unbeliever in the unbeliever’s notions of himself and his world is to encourage him in his wicked rebellion and to establish him in his self-frustration.

That is, if we seek to engage the unbeliever with methods that fire from the vantage point of the world (e.g., engage them with the kind of music they like, the kind of philosophy they operate with, the clothes they wear, the kind of places they like to hang out at, their psychological and emotional felt needs), we’re missing the point and are not practicing Biblical evangelism. Van Til says we're encouraging unbelievers in their wicked rebellion when we do this, and I agree with him. If we’re using these methods to engage the unbeliever from his vantage point, from his worldview, or on his terms, we are by definition not engaging the unbeliever from the worldview of Scripture, because they are necessarily different worldviews (cf. Rom 3:10, Rom 8:5-8).

So, attempting to get unbelievers to identify with Christianity, or find similarities between his own worldview and the Biblical, Christian worldview, is an exercise in futility. And it is precisely this ‘methodology’ that is championed by the Seeker-Sensitive / Church Growth movement as well as the Emergent / Emerging movement. Each brand of philosophy (which is really the same philosophy in different clothes) looks out on the vast majority of society and finds hoards of people not interested in going to church and not interested in Christ. And they wonder how they'll reach such people. And the idea is that since they've declared themselves "not interested," if Christians are to reach them, we can't just take the Good News of the Gospel to them. "They won't hear it," we're told.

And so the appeal is made on the basis of the worldliness of the unbeliever. If the unbeliever doesn't like hour-long sermons and big Bible words, the Seeker-Sensitive movement shortens sermons to 20-minute speeches on fixing your emotional problems and encourages you to leave your Bible at home. Before they'll even get in the door of the church, though, the Emerging movement tells us we've got to appeal to them on the basis of an affinity for exotic coffees, for punk rock music, for tattoos and piercings, for imported beer, for Ultimate Fighting. Once we can show them that Christians are like them -- that we're human and can like the same things that they like -- then they'll be interested in "trying Jesus."

The problem, of course, is that these "methods" are solidly contradictory to the message we have to give them. Appealing to the worldliness of the unbeliever -- whether it be shorter sermons or church in a coffee house -- is not how anyone gets born again. Because the agent of the new birth is not the "will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:13). Trying to massage unbelievers into "decisions for Jesus" is not the means of effecting the new birth. The means of the new birth is the preaching of the Gospel. And the Gospel has, is, and always will be necessarily and radically opposed to the unbeliever’s worldview.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote the following:

The glory of the gospel is that when the Church is absolutely different from the world, she invariably attracts it. It is then that the world is made to listen to her message, though it may hate it at first. That is how revival comes. That must also be true of us as individuals. It should not be our ambition to be as much like everybody else as we can, though we happen to be Christian, but rather to be as different from everybody who is not a Christian as we can possibly be. Our ambition should be to be like Christ, the more like Him the better, and the more like Him we become, the more we shall be unlike everybody who is not a Christian. (Introduction to the Beatitudes)

Christians misguided by homogeneity principles and a distorted understanding of contextualization fail to let at least one important concept rule their thinking: the glory of Christ is that He is not like the world. His own attraction to sinners was His Godliness, not worldliness – how much like His Father He was, not how much like the world He was. As Christians, then, -- as those who follow Christ -- we are called to be godly, not worldly, in order to ‘attract’ the world. Show unbelievers how much you are like your Savior, not how much you are like them.

Because, think about it: If they are attracted to you because you're like them, then really all they're attracted to is themselves. And you don't have to be born again to like yourself and your sin. And so even if they pray a prayer with you and come to church and start reading their Bibles and listening to Chris Tomlin, they could still be dead in their sins. But if they are attracted to you because you are like Christ, then it is truly His beauty that they see and want more of. And it is the spiritual sight of the beauty of Christ that we're after! Because the will of the Father is that everyone who beholds the Son, and believes in Him, will have eternal life (Jn 6:40).

So the theology of the new birth informs our evangelism. People are born again by the imperishable seed (1Pet 1:23), by the word of truth (Jas 1:18), by the word of Christ (Rom 10:17), by the preaching of the Gospel (1Pet 1:25). And so preach the Gospel to people. Conduct both your words and actions in the reality that appealing to what is natural in unbelievers will not move them one iota towards being born again. So appeal to the spiritual deadness of those you witness to, and offer them spiritual life by urging them to behold and believe in the Son of God.

But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.
- 1 Corinthians 2:14 -

1. The Theology of the New Birth
1.1. Man's Spiritual Death (Total Depravity)
1.2. The Dead Cannot See
1.3. The Wind Blows Where it Wishes: The Freedom of God and Irresistible Grace
1.4. Regeneration and Faith: Temporally Simultaneous but Logically Distinct

2. Implications for the Christian Life
2.1. God Grants What He Requires
2.2. The Impossible is No Longer Burdensome
2.3. The Means of Justification is the Means of Sanctification

3. Implications for Gospel Ministry
3.1. Introduction
3.2. Evangelism
3.3. Apologetics

Regeneration: Implications for Gospel Ministry

In the first section of this series on the doctrine of regeneration, we considered the theology of the new birth. We looked at man's spiritual death (or total depravity), and how that spiritual death manifests itself in the inability to see. We looked at the freedom and sovereignty of God in salvation, and we considered the ordo salutis.

In the second section, we considered what implications all that theology had for the way that Christians, who by definition have experienced that new birth, live their Christian lives. As the theology section taught us that getting born again is impossible, we rejoiced to learn that God Himself grants what He requires. We discovered the freedom that that brings, as what was impossible for us to do is no longer burdensome. And we recognized that the means of justification is the means of sanctification; that is, the way we get regenerated is the same way we become more like Christ. And so we concluded with a resolve to fight the fight of holiness in the Christian life on the level of spiritual sight.

The final section in this series considers the implications of the theology of the new birth for how we as Christians go about doing Gospel ministry. As Christians, we love God and desire that He get the glory and worship He is worthy of from all of His creatures, and so there's a burden in our hearts to see other people get saved. So we want the new birth to happen more and more. And the truths about the nature of the new birth teach us very much about how we go about evangelizing the world and trying to reconcile people to God through Jesus Christ (2Cor 5:20).

If it is the case that we cannot cause spiritual rebirth, we must employ only those methods that God Himself has declared He will use to regenerate His people. God will only bless the ministry or method of evangelism that comes from Him, that He Himself outlines and prescribes. And so we ask, "What is that? By what means does God sovereignly accomplish this glorious work called the new birth? By what means are hearts changed, souls awakened, eyes opened?" The Apostle Peter gives us the answer.

• 1 Peter 1:23-25 - for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. For, "ALL FLESH IS LIKE GRASS, AND ALL ITS GLORY LIKE THE FLOWER OF GRASS. THE GRASS WITHERS, AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF, BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER." And this is the word which was preached to you.

We have been born again of seed that is imperishable, that is, the living and enduring word of God. And this word of God is the word that was preached to Peter's audience. What word was preached to them? Answer: The Gospel! And what is that?

Here is a presentation of the Gospel by John Piper:

The Son of God came into the world clothed with human flesh as a God-man, lived a perfect life, and died in the place of sinners, so that all their sin is covered and it is finished! And the wrath of God has been absorbed in His suffering, and the guilt of man has been borne in His suffering, and a life of completed righteousness has been finished on the cross, which can be imputed to us, and the grave is empty … and now we can have eternal life because all of that – Christ’s birth, Christ’s life, Christ’s death, Christ’s absorbing wrath, Christ providing righteousness, Christ taking away guilt, Christ providing forgiveness of sins – all of that is offered freely to absolutely everybody who believes. For free. By faith alone, through grace alone, on the basis of the work of Christ alone, to the glory of God alone, as revealed in the Scriptures alone.

He goes on to lament that so many people who call themselves Christians are trying to improve on that Gospel. They're trying to make the best news in the world better. But this news is so great that you can't improve upon it. He challenges us:

I’m gonna give you an opportunity right now to stand up and tell me something greater than the Gospel. … Something greater than the Good News of what Christ has achieved in His death and His resurrection, and His reign, His substitution, His bearing the wrath of God, His taking away sin, His providing perfect righteousness, all to be enjoyed by faith alone apart from works. Something better than that!

Any of you wanna take a shot? Something better than that?

Of course you don’t! Because make no mistake! This Gospel is the very sole power of God for salvation! And yet so many of us who bear the name of Christ are ashamed of the Gospel! Shame on us! Paul says: "I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes" (Rom 1:16). It is, and nothing else is!

So I along with Piper ask you: What is more glorious? What is better news? What is more worth telling people? And if nothing, why do we insist on doing everything we can to confuse the matter of evangelism?! We are to Preach. The. Gospel! We're not to interview people. We're not to "share our faith." Nobody cares about your faith! But the people whom God is drawing to Himself care about Good News for their weary, sin-laden soul. And we Christians are the only ones with that Good News. You let the Muslim, the Jew, the scientologist, or the atheist share their faith. But you, men and women of God, you go out and preach the Gospel!

With the Word of God shut up in you like fire in your bones (Jer 20:9), go into all the world and preach this Gospel! The pure, unadulterated, imperishable, cannot-be-improved-upon, living, and enduring Word of God. It alone is the power of God for salvation. By it, people are born again!

Because it is through the preaching of the Gospel that this miracle of the new birth happens, we must consider what implications the theology of the new birth has for the way we evangelize.

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.
- James 1:18 -

1. The Theology of the New Birth
1.1. Man's Spiritual Death (Total Depravity)
1.2. The Dead Cannot See
1.3. The Wind Blows Where it Wishes: The Freedom of God and Irresistible Grace
1.4. Regeneration and Faith: Temporally Simultaneous but Logically Distinct

2. Implications for the Christian Life
2.1. God Grants What He Requires
2.2. The Impossible is No Longer Burdensome
2.3. The Means of Justification is the Means of Sanctification

3. Implications for Gospel Ministry
3.1. Introduction
3.2. Evangelism
3.3. Apologetics

The Means of Justification is the Means of Sanctification

I've been making this point throughout the last few posts (in this one, this one, and this one), but I wanted to highlight it in its own post.

The key to much of what I've been talking about is seeing the continuity between how we get born again and how we become more like Christ. The Gospel is absolutely central in both our justification and in our sanctification. A lot of people treat the Gospel as if it's the message that we hear to get justified, but once we're saved we go on to something else for our sanctification. But the means of both are the same! The way we get justified is the same way we progress in sanctification.

This is what I mean: Having been awakened to life by the effectual grace called the new birth, and having been given eyes to see, in the moment of conversion we saw Jesus as infinitely more precious and infinitely more desirable than our sin. And we received Him as the treasure of our lives, putting our trust in Him to cleanse us from all our unrighteousness and to commend us to God on the basis of His righteousness alone. Nothing other than seeing Jesus caused that to happen. That's why Paul talks about our conversion as coming by the "light of the gospel of the glory of Christ" (2Cor 4:4).

What I’m saying to you is that just a few verses earlier, 2 Corinthians 3:18 teaches that we are sanctified – matured, grown, made more holy, transformed into the image of Christ – by the very same thing: by "beholding the glory of the Lord" (2Cor 3:18). As Christians, when sin presents itself to us and tempts us to believe its lies, we simply look to Jesus and see Him for who He is! And because the glory and the satisfaction of sin doesn’t hold a candle, we prefer Jesus, and so delight in obeying Him! This is God-glorifying obedience: when the worth of Christ is magnified by His people preferring Him over anything else in the world!

So the point is: As it is the seeing and savoring of the glory of God in Christ alone that saves us, it is the seeing and savoring of the glory of God in Christ alone that sanctifies us. So fight the fight of holiness in the Christian life on the level of spiritual sight. When you're tempted, fight with all your might to see your Savior in all His glory. It is the glory of the Lord that will transform you.

But we all, with unveiled face,
beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord,
are being transformed into the same image
from glory to glory.

- 2 Corinthians 3:18 -

1. The Theology of the New Birth
1.1. Man's Spiritual Death (Total Depravity)
1.2. The Dead Cannot See
1.3. The Wind Blows Where it Wishes: The Freedom of God and Irresistible Grace
1.4. Regeneration and Faith: Temporally Simultaneous but Logically Distinct

2. Implications for the Christian Life
2.1. God Grants What He Requires
2.2. The Impossible is No Longer Burdensome
2.3. The Means of Justification is the Means of Sanctification

3. Implications for Gospel Ministry
3.1. Introduction
3.2. Evangelism
3.3. Apologetics

The Impossible is No Longer Burdensome

Last Friday we began to look at some of the implications that this wonderful doctrine of regeneration has on how we live the Christian life. The main principle that I proposed there was that in the miracle of the new birth, God grants what He requires.

Christ demands that we be born again (John 3:3, 7), and yet we have seen that this is impossible for us to obey. The dead do not give themselves new life. Then, in unspeakable grace, God Himself makes us alive (Eph 2:4-5). He brings us forth into new life in the exercise of His will (Jas 1:18). He causes us to be born again (1Pet 1:3). He grants what He requires.

Last time I exhorted you to see the genius of grace presented in this truth. God commands something of everyone in the world that is absolutely impossible for them to do, something that is only possible for God Himself to accomplish. This bows us low in humility and helplessness, and we become so dependent on the gifts of a benefactor outside of ourselves. Then, He Himself becomes our benefactor by granting the gift of new life, and in so doing He magnifies His sufficiency over and against our insufficiency.

Now, the point of this post (and the next) is that these truths about God granting what He requires for justification carry over into the realm of sanctification. The requirement that is placed on us as believers is no less impossible, even with a redeemed nature. Because our sinful flesh remains, the command to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and the command to love our neighbor as ourselves, are impossible.

And if I thought that the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ (2Cor 4:4) was a doctrine that only got me justified, I would be miserable as I sought to live the Christian life. I would go around clenching my fists, gritting my teeth, and resolving to never be angry again, or to never have a lustful thought again, or to never be impatient again, or to always love my wife like Christ loved the Church. And I would fail. And I would hate it. And I would soon grow hopeless.

But, praise be to God, because I am told that this same Gospel -- this same vision of the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ (2Cor 4:6) -- gets me sanctified, gets me transformed into the image of Christ (2Cor 3:18), well then I will know how to fight the fight of faith unto holiness in unspeakable hope and in gospel freedom!

The obedience that we are called to as Christians is indeed impossible (cf. Mt 22:37-40). But all my hope for progress in my sanctification hangs on this wonderful truth that my God graciously grants what He requires. This is where right thinking about the doctrine of regeneration intersects with the Christian life. We no longer seek to obey out of a principle of law. We don’t obey just because. God doesn’t require that of us. Instead of law, we’re under grace (Rom 6:14), and so His commandments cease to be burdensome (1Jn 5:3), and instead they become sweet (Ps 119:1-176).

The Bible says that for people who are born again by having their eyes opened to the Light of the knowledge of the glory of Christ -- by seeing Jesus as He actually is, namely supremely desirable -- that these people are no longer burdened by a list of demands (Col 2:13-23) by which we could never be justified (Gal 3:11, 21-22) or sanctified (Gal 3:3). But instead, grace causes us to delight in the law of God. Here's what Scripture says of us:

• Jeremiah 31:33-34 - "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
• Ezekiel 36:25-27 - Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.

Because obeying God's law from the heart is impossible for those who have a totally depraved, desperately wicked heart (Jer 17:9), God declares that He will grant His people a new heart and a new Spirit. And that Spirit in us will cause us to walk in His statutes and observe His ordinances. And that heart will have His law written on it, so that they will delight in it. Instead of God's law pressing on us from without, now God declares that the ministry of the Spirit (which is to glorify Jesus, John 16:14) will cause the law to be power from within.

The impossible is required of me. And because of this truth of bountiful grace that God grants what He requires, the impossible is no longer burdensome (1Jn 5:3).

And so the Christian life is lived by joyful obedience, not by burdensome duty. God not only is not pleased, but is dishonored, by the one who attempts to obey Him out of a sense of mere duty. Christ gets so little glory from that, because, in effect, we tell Him, "I know that what you say is good and right and godly, and therefore I should do it. And I'll do my best to do it if I have to. But I really don't enjoy obeying you. Your glory is not so compelling as to make my heart well up in delight as I see you when I obey you." Dear friends, is not your Savior greater and more pleasing and soul-satisfying than to be forced upon you begrudgingly?

Indeed He is. And so maturity in obedience in the Christian life comes from having your heart changed so that you see Him as beautiful and as pleasing as He actually is! And when you see Him, you love to do those things that your flesh once hated to do! That is how we progress in sanctification! We are more honoring and glorifying to God when we are so satisfied in Him that we delight to do what He commands us to do. He is glorified and made to look big and worthy and mighty when His people see His beauty and His pleasantness, and just because of that they obey Him gladly and joyfully.

The reason why obedience is impossible for me is because, left to myself, I can't see. But now God has shone in my dead heart the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. He has granted the spiritual sight that is necessary to see Him, to enjoy Him, and so to obey Him joyfully, with all of my heart.

The impossible is no longer burdensome.

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
- 2 Corinthians 3:18 -

For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.
- 1 John 5:3 -

1. The Theology of the New Birth
1.1. Man's Spiritual Death (Total Depravity)
1.2. The Dead Cannot See
1.3. The Wind Blows Where it Wishes: The Freedom of God and Irresistible Grace
1.4. Regeneration and Faith: Temporally Simultaneous but Logically Distinct

2. Implications for the Christian Life
2.1. God Grants What He Requires
2.2. The Impossible is No Longer Burdensome
2.3. The Means of Justification is the Means of Sanctification

3. Implications for Gospel Ministry
3.1. Introduction
3.2. Evangelism
3.3. Apologetics

The New Birth and the Christian Life: God Grants What He Requires

In the most recent official post in this series on the doctrine of regeneration, we wrapped up the section on the theology of the new birth. We looked at man's spiritual death (or total depravity), and how that spiritual death manifests itself in the inability to see. We looked at the freedom and sovereignty of God in salvation, and we considered the ordo salutis. Below is a summary of that section.

1. All people are born spiritually dead (Rom 5:12-21; Rom 3:10-18; Eph 2:1-3; Col 2:13; Ps 51:5; 58:3).
   
2. That spiritual death manifests itself in the inability to see Jesus Christ as He actually is (John 3:3; John 1:4; Mt 13:13-14; Deut 29:2-4; 2Cor 4:3-6).
3. Therefore, to have any fellowship with God (i.e., to be saved from the just punishment of God's wrath against our sin), we must be born again. Nothing short of an entire new birth will save us (John 3:3, 5; Rom 14:23; Is 64:6).
   
4. This work of regeneration is entirely the work of God; it is not dependent upon anything in man (John 3:8; Ezek 36:25-27; Ezek 37:1-14; Jas 1:18; 1Pet 1:3; John 1:12-13).
   
5. Our faith in Christ does not effect (or cause, or bring about) our regeneration. Believing is the result of our regeneration (1Jn 5:1; Ac 16:14), which is granted by the Father (John 6:37, 44-45, 65) through the ministry of the Holy Spirit (John 3:8).

So that was the section on the theology of the new birth.

But there’s a good, practical question that all of that sovereignty-of-God theology raises. And that is: How can Christ command us to be born again if regeneration is entirely a work of God? That is, Jesus tells Nicodemus that to see and enter the kingdom of heaven, he must be born again. But it's impossible for Nicodemus to do anything about that, because regeneration is entirely a work of the Spirit of God. How can God require something of us that is impossible for us to do?

It is in answering this question that we get into real implications of this wonderful doctrine of regeneration for the Christian life. How does this teaching that seems so basic, so foundational, so “beginning-of-Christianity” affect our day-to-day experiences as Christians? How does it help us battle sin? How does it help us obey Christ?

Well, I kind of preempted a lot of what I'm going to say in the coming posts in the final "God is the Gospel" post last Friday, in which I unpacked how understanding the relationship between justification as seeing Christ and sanctification as seeing Christ empowers the Christian fight for holiness. Understanding that post is the key to understanding the three posts in this section of our study on regeneration. If you haven't read that one, I encourage you to do so.

But today I want to stand on that post, and now just go a bit beyond it. So I asked the questions, "How does understanding the doctrine of regeneration help us battle sin and obey Christ?" and "How can God require things of us which are impossible for us to do?"

The answer is: God grants what He requires. Consider some passages of Scripture that bear out this theme (mouse over the references).

• Jeremiah 24:7 – Yahweh requires whole-hearted devotion from Israel, which they've demonstrated over and over that they cannot do. So Yahweh grants Israel a heart to know Him.
• Jeremiah 31:33-34 – Because it's impossible for God's people to obey Him whole-heartedly via the Law (which He requires), He grants that the Law be put within us, and He writes it on our hearts.
  
• Ezekiel 36:25-27 – Again, because we can't obey from the heart as He requires, He will grant us new heart and a new spirit and will cause us to walk in His statutes.
• 1 Chronicles 29:10-16 – David tells God that all things are His, and so any worship or honor that he could offer is only that which is produced and given by God Himself. He grants the means to worship as He requires.
  
• Romans 11:36 – All things are from Him (granted by Him), and all things are to Him (required by Him).

Augustine, who struggled mightily with sexual sin before his conversion, when contemplating that God commands us to be pure, put it this way: "On your exceedingly great mercy rests all my hope. Give what you command, and then command whatever you will."

Augustine had such hope that he could say to God, "Command whatever you want! Whatever you require, I'm OK with that! As long as you give what you command. As long as you grant what you require!"

And so God can command people to be born again, even though rebirth is entirely a work of the Holy Spirit, because God has always, does now, and always will grant to His people what He requires of them. And because both our justification and our sanctification is a matter of spiritual sight, we see the same principle of God granting what He requires in our fight for holiness as well.

Do you see the genius of grace, here? By commanding something of everyone that is impossible for them to do, God magnifies our helplessness and inability related to our spiritual condition (which we've already looked at in regards to justification, but which is also true of us in regards sanctification). And because He commands only what is possible for God Himself to accomplish, He magnifies Christ’s (His own) sufficiency and fullness of glory. By granting what He requires, God presents Himself as All in all! He places us in our proper position, as needy beggars (Mt 5:3) eager to receive from His hand. Then, as our benefactor, He becomes sweet to us as He grants what He requires.

This should give us tremendous hope and freedom as we seek to live the Christian life in increasing conformity to the will of God, the image of Christ. The obedience that we are called to as Christians is indeed impossible (cf. Mt 22:37-40). But all my hope for progress in my sanctification hangs on this wonderful truth that my God graciously grants what He requires.

The impossible is required of me. And because of this bountiful grace, the impossible is no longer burdensome (1Jn 5:3).

But that's for next time.

For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given You.
- 1 Chronicles 29:14 -

1. The Theology of the New Birth
1.1. Man's Spiritual Death (Total Depravity)
1.2. The Dead Cannot See
1.3. The Wind Blows Where it Wishes: The Freedom of God and Irresistible Grace
1.4. Regeneration and Faith: Temporally Simultaneous but Logically Distinct

2. Implications for the Christian Life
2.1. God Grants What He Requires
2.2. The Impossible is No Longer Burdensome
2.3. The Means of Justification is the Means of Sanctification

3. Implications for Gospel Ministry
3.1. Introduction
3.2. Evangelism
3.3. Apologetics

Regeneration and Faith: Temporally Simultaneous but Logically Distinct

Last time, I discussed the freedom of God in salvation. Namely, man is neither the decisive determiner of who is born again, nor the initiator of his new birth. God, and God alone, is the sole agent working in the miracle of regeneration.

Now, discussions about monergism and synergism, Calvinism and Arminianism, God's freedom and man's freedom, etc., usually bring up the question of the ordo salutis, or the order of the events of salvation. Some people wonder if faith is the cause of regeneration, or if faith is a product of regeneration. Which comes first? In other words, are we born again because we believed, or do we believe because we have been born again?

The synergist’s answer is that faith precedes regeneration. We believe in Christ, and then are born again based upon our faith in Christ. I hope, from what I've presented over these past two weeks, that it is obvious to you all that this view does not accord with Scripture.

The monergist’s answer is a bit more complicated. The Bible teaches that regeneration and faith are temporally simultaneous, but regeneration logically precedes faith. Now, what does that mean? It means that in terms of a chronological, time order, there is no distinction between regeneration and faith. No time passes between the new birth and faith. There is no possibility of someone being born again but not having faith yet. Neither can someone have faith without first having new life (which is the synergist’s error).

But they are logically distinct. We would say that the new birth logically – not temporally – comes before faith.

Using the illustrations provided by the text of Scripture itself, we can see that the implications of such passages require this position.

The illustration of being born again is such a wonderfully precise illustration. Understanding that the Lord Jesus Himself describes regeneration in terms of being re-born, I ask: Does a baby have life and then breathe, or does he breathe and thereby have life?

It’s really impossible to separate temporally. Breathing is the definition of being alive. So temporally we don’t separate the two. But logically, do you breathe and then become alive? No. Because before you do anything you have to be alive. So it is with faith. The definition of a person who is born again is a person who believes the Gospel of Christ, but you must be granted life before you believe.

As we have seen, Jesus also describes not being born again as blindness. Following Jesus' own illustration, I ask: Are you given the gift of sight, and then see, or do you see and thereby gain sight? And even further, which happens first: The opening of one’s eye, or the perception of light?

Same thing here: it’s impossible to separate these events temporally. The definition of having open eyes is perceiving light. The definition of sight is being able to see actual things. So temporally we don’t separate the two. But logically, do you see and then get the gift of sight? No. Because seeing in the first place logically depends on being granted the ability to see. So it is with faith. The definition of being born again is seeing, but you must be granted the gift of sight before you actually see anything.

There are also Scripture passages that speak directly to this issue.

The ESV translates 1 John 5:1 correctly: Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been (passive perfect) born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.

This verse teaches that faith is the result of having been born of God. Everyone who at this present time believes (present tense), has been -- in the past -- born of God.

If it was the other way around, and faith caused our new birth, this verse would have to be rendered: "Everyone who is born of God has believed that Jesus is the Christ." Another option would be, "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ will be born of God." But neither of those alternatives is the case.

Another passage of Scripture which speaks directly to this issue is in the narrative of Lydia's in Acts 16:14. It says, "[She] was listening, and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul." Lydia's heart was closed. If left to herself, she would not have responded to the things spoken by Paul. Then, in the grace of regeneration, God opened her heart. Now that her heart was opened, she then responded in faith. It was not the other way around. The text does not say, "She responded in faith to the things spoken by Paul, and then the Lord opened her heart." This is another text, then, which affirms an ordo salutis consistent with monergistic regeneration.

And thus ends the doctrinal/theological section in our series on the new birth. Here is what we've gone over so far.

1. All people are born spiritually dead (Rom 5:12-21; Rom 3:10-18; Eph 2:1-3; Col 2:13; Ps 51:5; 58:3).
2. That spiritual death manifests itself in the inability to see Jesus Christ as He actually is (John 3:3; John 1:4; Mt 13:13-14; Deut 29:2-4; 2Cor 4:3-6).
3. Therefore, to have any fellowship with God (i.e., to be saved from the just punishment of God's wrath against our sin), we must be born again. Nothing short of an entire new birth will save us (John 3:3, 5; Rom 14:23; Is 64:6).
   
4. This work of regeneration is entirely the work of God; it is not dependent upon anything in man (John 3:8; Ezek 36:25-27; Ezek 37:1-14; Jas 1:18; 1Pet 1:3; John 1:12-13).
5. Our faith in Christ does not effect (or cause, or bring about) our regeneration. Believing is the result of our regeneration (1Jn 5:1; Ac 16:14), which is granted by the Father (John 6:37, 44-45, 65) through the ministry of the Holy Spirit (John 3:8).

1. The Theology of the New Birth
1.1. Man's Spiritual Death (Total Depravity)
1.2. The Dead Cannot See
1.3. The Wind Blows Where it Wishes: The Freedom of God and Irresistible Grace
1.4. Regeneration and Faith: Temporally Simultaneous but Logically Distinct

2. Implications for the Christian Life
2.1. God Grants What He Requires
2.2. The Impossible is No Longer Burdensome
2.3. The Means of Justification is the Means of Sanctification

3. Implications for Gospel Ministry
3.1. Introduction
3.2. Evangelism
3.3. Apologetics

The Wind Blows Where It Wishes

The Freedom of God and Irresistible Grace

Last time, as we considered one of the most foundational aspects of one of the most foundational doctrines of the Christian faith, I ended the post talking about the moment of conversion -- that moment when spiritual life is given to a dead heart. The eyes of your heart are finally opened, and you can finally evaluate reality as it is, and not how it looks to someone who's blind. Namely, you see sin as disgusting and repulsive as it is, and more importantly you see Christ as He is: gloriously compelling and supremely desirable. And you prefer Him over your sin.

I wrote about that event very carefully in the following string of sentences. I want to repeat these because they get at another foundational aspect of this wonderful doctrine of regeneration. I said, "And because you finally see Him, He is so sweet to you. You love Him! You can't resist Him!"

You can't resist Him.

I want to jump off of that to address something really crucial. Remembering Piper's quote, I want those who are truly born again to exult in what has really happened to them. Because it's true that many who are indeed born again don't know the nature of this new birth. And as he says, "It is a good thing to know—so that Christ can be honored for the fullness of his glorious work, and so that people can enjoy the assurance of being the objects of that miraculous act."

What I spoke about last time -- and what I sort of recapitulated above -- is why we Calvinists describe the new birth as Irresistible Grace. It's not because somebody forced it down our throat, but because the grace that we were given was grace that opened our eyes so that we could actually see the gloriousness and pleasantness of Christ and the total absence of any gloriousness or pleasantness of sin! And so seeing rightly, we can never choose anything but Christ! It’s not against our will… at that point. It’s that our will has been changed [by grace] to want what we now see as most desirable!

Grace is irresistible because Jesus is irresistible!

Calvinism & Arminianism

But do you know what? There is a teaching that is very popular in evangelicalism -- perhaps more popular than the one I just laid out -- called Arminianism. And Arminianism teaches that grace is resistible. They almost certainly wouldn't articulate it this way, but essentially they teach that God can open your eyes enough that you can see Jesus for who He is and that you can see sin for what it is, and that you could still choose to remain in sin. And many people that we know – many people in our churches, and many teachers, and bible study leaders, and apologists that we like to listen to – believe this. And they are wrong, dear friends. They're wrong.

But the reason they say this is because they say that God chooses to "respect" our "free will." Now, I know why they want to say that. But love for them and love for others requires that we explain why that is unbiblical.

First of all, God is not a respecter of persons (Ac 10:34, KJV) that He would respect our "free will." Instead, the Scriptures teach that God chiefly regards Himself in all He does. Ephesians 1:11 says that God "works all things after the counsel of His will."

Secondly, our will is not free, nor has it been since Genesis 3:7. It’s in bondage to sin (spiritually dead, remember?). So this is not even an issue of human autonomy. It’s not about whether or not we have a choice. The issue is: You can see now! You can see Christ for who He is! To say that we can see this Christ and choose anything but Him demeans His Glory. And so this is not a minor issue. This is not just some abstract, impractical, heady, theological discussion. The glory of God is at stake. And we want to glorify God in everything (1Cor 10:31; Eph 3:21). We need to get this right!

Monergism & Synergism

Now these two views – that I referred to as Calvinism and Arminianism – really have more precise names than that. (Because both of those theological systems involve more than a view of regeneration.) The view of regeneration consistent with Calvinism is called monergism, which is a big word that means “one agent is working.” Synergism, on the other hand, is the opposing view which encompasses many theological 'camps.' Synergism just means that there is more than one agent working, that there are multiple agents working in cooperation with each other.

So, which one is the right view? Is regeneration monergistic or synergistic? Well, back in John 3, when Jesus tells Nicodemus that he has to be born again to see the kingdom of God, Nicodemus asks Jesus how it’s possible for a man to be born again. "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?" In response to this, Jesus says, most interestingly, "The wind blows where it wishes."

So this idea of irresistible grace brings up the issue of divine sovereignty and human responsibility. And in this passage, Jesus makes it plain that this act of regeneration is entirely a work of the Spirit, conditioned upon absolutely nothing about us.

John 3:5-8 - Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into 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 be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit."

In other words: The Spirit (which, in Greek, is the same word for breath or wind) doesn’t submit to any man. He is not subject to the will of man, but blows where He wills! The wind blows where it wishes. Jesus is teaching that the miracle of regeneration is just that: a miracle. We don't cause ourselves to be born again any more than we can make the wind blow. We indeed must be born again, but this new birth is not of ourselves, it is a gift of God (Eph 2:8).

The question this all comes down to is this: Are we free, or is God? Does the Spirit submit to our will, or do we submit to His? Does the Spirit blow where He wishes, or where we wish?

Consider these passages (mouse over the references):

• Ezekiel 36:25-27 – God says, "I will" five times. In these three verses, there are eight active verbs where God is the subject. There are no active verbs where man is the subject.
• Ezekiel 37:1-14 – We’re dry bones. The point of Ezekiel’s hesitance to answer the question about whether they can live shows that he thinks they can’t live, but struggles to say something can’t happen in front of an omnipotent God.
• Acts 16:14 – God opened her heart to respond, which was otherwise closed.
• James 1:18 – His will is exercised and He brings us forth.
• 1 Peter 1:3 – He causes us to be born again according to His great mercy.
• John 1:12-13 – Not of the will of man, but of God. Also, notice the backwards progression: Children of God <-- Receive Him <-- Believe in His name <-- Born of God.
• John 6:44-45, 65 – None come unless drawn by the Father, which means the people who don’t come are not drawn. The Father “gives” the elect to Christ. And their identity as the elect – a specific group of people known by the Father – is further testified to by John 6:45, in which Jesus quotes Jeremiah 31, thereby identifying those who come to Christ as the elect of the New Covenant.
  

A word about this verse. The word translated "draw" in verse 44 is far from an ineffectual wooing. It's the Greek word helkō, which means to drag, as one hauls in a fishing net (John 21:6, 11), as one draws a sword from a sheath in the midst of battle (John 18:10), as angry men who just lost their money drag a foreigner before their court (Acts 16:19), and as Jewish men drag a traitor out of their city, intending to kill him, believing that he preaches against the Law of God and has defiled the holy place (Acts 21:30).

Apart from Him, You Can Do Nothing

We often quote John 15: "Apart from me you can do nothing." What does that actually mean? Can we do nothing? At least we recognize that we can do nothing good. Nothing of spiritual significance. But do we really believe that? Specifically, do the implications of the truth of that verse control our theology of humanity's natural condition as it relates to our theology of evangelism?

Let me ask you this, Christian. Considering this verse – "Apart from me you can do nothing" – I ask you, Can we believe apart from Jesus Christ? I don’t mean, "Can we get to heaven without Jesus Christ." We’re all going to agree with a resounding, "No!" to that one. What I mean is, can we as sinful human beings, come to a point in our lives and in our understandings, where we can, without already having Jesus and the Holy Spirit, decide to put our faith and trust in Jesus or accept Him as our Lord and Savior?

I’m going to assume that the answer to that is no. So what I think we’d all agree upon is that it takes a work of the grace of God for anyone to believe in the Gospel. So the question is: What is this grace like? Who receives this grace? There are two possible answers: 1) Everybody, 2) Only those who believe, the elect.

If everybody receives this kind of general grace, why doesn’t everybody believe? If God determines that He will give every human being throughout history enough grace that they can make the choice to believe in or reject Christ, why doesn’t every single recipient of that grace (i.e., everyone) believe in the Gospel? If we’ve all received the same grace – the same kind of grace and the same amount of grace – what is the difference maker in salvation? Ultimately, the answer must be something in us.

But if the nature of this grace that we receive is an effectual, efficient, powerful, effective grace, then we must say that the only people who receive it are those who believe. Now, remember! They don’t receive it because they believe. That’s backwards. They only can believe by this grace. This grace has to come before belief, otherwise John 15 isn’t true and we can do something apart from Him. So if the only people who receive it are those who believe, we must say that the determining factor is the grace, and the results are the believing. Faith is a result of having received a special, effectual grace from God.

That grace is called the new birth, or regeneration. And just as a baby’s will is not consulted before being born, so are we born again, "not of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:13).

1. The Theology of the New Birth
1.1. Man's Spiritual Death (Total Depravity)
1.2. The Dead Cannot See
1.3. The Wind Blows Where it Wishes: The Freedom of God and Irresistible Grace
1.4. Regeneration and Faith: Temporally Simultaneous but Logically Distinct

2. Implications for the Christian Life
2.1. God Grants What He Requires
2.2. The Impossible is No Longer Burdensome
2.3. The Means of Justification is the Means of Sanctification

3. Implications for Gospel Ministry
3.1. Introduction
3.2. Evangelism
3.3. Apologetics