REGENERATION, IMMEDIATE

REGENERATION, IMMEDIATE The New Testament writers develop three metaphors to describe the mysterious work of God, which is regeneration. First, it is a birth. {John 3:3-8;John 1:13;1 Peter 1:23-25;1 John 3:9;1 John 5:1} Secondly, it is a creation, {Ephesians 2:10;2 Corinthians 5:17;Ephesians 4:24} the Divine act of speaking into existence that which previously did not exist. Thirdly, it is a resurrection, {Ephesians 2:1;1 John 3:14;John 5:24} the Divine act of giving life to one who is dead in trespasses and in sins. All three images demonstrate the immediacy of God’s work of grace in the soul. Does the baby play an active role in his own birth, or is he a passive party in the work of external factors? What about creation? Did man help God in the creation of the universe or was creation the work of God alone? What about resurrection? Can man raise the dead to life? Does the corpse play an active role in his own resurrection? No, God and God alone is active. He is the only Creator. Just as the universe is the product of special creation, not evolution, so the work of God in the soul is a work of Divine creation, not spiritual evolution. Further, only God can give life to the dead. He and He alone has resurrection power.