Regeneration and Conversion

When we hope to write about regeneration and conversion, it is not my intention to give a deep theological explanation, but more of a practical nature with the help of the Lord. I hope that I may write in all simplicity about this subject, which is of the greatest importance for all of us.

The ways of the Lord are different with all His children, but will it be well, we must be born again. The steps in grace may be different in the life of God’s people, but we all must come to the knowledge that we have sinned against a holy, righteous, but also a well-doing God in thoughts, words, and actions.

Of course there is a great difference in knowing these things with our mind and experiencing them under the administration of the Holy Spirit. To know and to experience are different, but we may not say that they oppose each other. The Lord uses His Word to instruct the sinner for the first time or by renewal. Here it is applicable: unknown is unloved. He who has no intellectual knowledge of God, of his misery, and of the necessity of deliverance from Scripture, will not be active with it internally. But we must also say, that without internal labor we still go lost despite knowledge of the Word. Only under the administration of the Holy Spirit this historical knowledge must be sanctified to instill true faith. Then we begin to comprehend the meaning and content of our confession, which was only theory before.

Rev. A.M. Den Boer is pastor of the Netherlands Reformed Congregation of Sioux Center, Iowa.

When we may experience this by the grace of God, then it will become a wonder to us, that the Lord has dealt with us, such a sinner and fool. Now we learn our spiritual ignorance and must ask: “Lord, show me the way I must go.”

Our experience must be according to God’s Word, because everything that is not according to Scripture will not be validated by God. I am afraid that many deceive themselves when speaking about regeneration and conversion.

We can divide regeneration into two parts: First, the narrow sense, which is the quickening, the making alive of the spiritually dead sinner. This is the work of the Lord only. Secondly, we can speak about regeneration in the wider sense, as it is worked out in man by the Lord. This is the consequence of regeneration and how it becomes visible in man.

Regeneration is clearly spoken of in the Five Articles against the Remonstrants, approved by the Synod of Dordt in 1618-1619. We read in Head 3 & 4, Article 12: “And this is the regeneration so highly celebrated in Scripture, and denominated a new creation: a resurrection from the dead, a making alive, which God works in us without our aid.”

What is the fruit of this regeneration? We find the answer in the same article: “Whereupon the will thus renewed, is not only actuated and influenced by God, but in consequence of this influence, becomes itself active. Wherefore also, man is himself rightly said to believe and repent, by virtue of that grace received.”

Regeneration contains:

a. the quickening of the sinner, and

b. the renewal of the life

Of the renewal of life, our Belgic Confession states in Article 24: “We believe that this true faith being wrought in man by hearing the Word of God, and the operation of the Holy Ghost, does regenerate and make him a new man, causing him to live a new life, and freeing him from the bondage of sin.”

When we compare what is written in the Canons of Dordt and the Belgic Confession, then it is evident:

a. that regeneration in the narrow sense, the quickening of the dead sinner, coincides with the implanting of faith, before the sinner is able to believe;

b. that regeneration in the wider sense, which is the fruit of the new creation and resurrection of the dead, follows after faith is given.

There is no objection against stating that conversion reveals regeneration. Conversion is then the fruit of regeneration in the narrow sense. This fruit of regeneration will become visible immediately. It is deceiving when we believe that a converted person can live for years and years in sin, before regeneration is revealed. There can be much strife in the life of man, but the fruits become visible.

In regeneration man is totally passive, it is the sole work of the Lord, but, by the work of the Lord, man becomes active. So we find regeneration in God’s Word described sometimes as passive: “But (ye) are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls” (1 Peter 2:25), and sometimes in the active sense: “A great number believed and turned to the Lord” (Acts 11:21).

The cause of regeneration and conversion is God and not man, who has no power to do it, nor a desire for it. The Lord says: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the LORD of hosts” (Zech. 4:6b).

Man is dead in sin and trespasses; we are not able to quicken ourselves. As a dead person cannot do anything, so it is with the spiritually dead man. The Lord Jesus said: “No man can come unto Me, except the Father, which has sent Me, draw Him.” So the moving cause of our regeneration and conversion lies in God’s love, grace, mercy and favor.

To get a better understanding of the nature of regeneration it is necessary to write what it is, but also what it is not. Most of the time it is easier to speak in the negative sense, hence, we will try to explain that much can resemble the work of God which is not of God.

It is deceiving when we believe that a converted person can live for years and years in sin, before regeneration is revealed.

1. All who have received the sacrament of baptism are not born again, as it is supposed in many churches today. These people never think of the example of Simon the Sorcerer, who was baptized, but God’s Word does not say anything good of him: “For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bonds of iniquity” (Acts 8:23). The devil also has his followers among Christians. Baptism is a privilege, but no ground for eternity.

2. Being born again is not inherited by children from parents. One may receive a good, religious upbringing, so that he knows the Bible from the beginning to the end, but this does not automatically produce regeneration. Being reared in the truth can restrain a person from much sin, but it does not change the heart. A wolf is still a devouring animal, though it be in a cage. Joash the king of Judah was a religious King as long as Jehoiada, the High Priest, was alive, but after the death of his protector, he went another direction — away from the Lord.

3. Regularly we find in God’s Word, but also in the practice of daily life, that people come to a remarkable change in their life. They turn from a worldly, wicked life to a more moral life, which is a great privilege, but not enough for eternity. The outside of the cup is cleansed, but even with the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees we cannot exist before God.

4. It is possible that a person with a wounded conscience or with impressions of death and eternity, may seem to possess the work of the Lord. The hypocrite can possess several outward marks which we find also in the life of God’s people, and still miss the administration of the Holy Ghost. A person whose conscience is awakened, although lacking saving grace, can have great sorrow in conscience. Think of Pharaoh, Judas, Simon the Sorcerer, but none of them brought forth fruit to salvation. They are as a tree that blossoms in the spring, but in the fall there is no fruit on it. When there are deep impressions and fearful moments in our life, but it does not go further, then it is still the sorrow of this world. Those sorrows are a foretaste of hell.

A well-known example is Esau who shed bitter tears, but he did not find a place of (true) repentance, although he sought it (Hebrews 12:17). We all know the parable of the seed, whereof a part fell on the stony ground. It sprang up fast, but it withered away when the summer heat came. It can even go further, as we find in Hebrews 6:4-6a: “For it is impossible for those who once were enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good Word of God and the power of the world to come, if they fall away, to renew them again unto repentance.”

This common work of the Holy Ghost leaves us separated from God. It does not drive us out to Christ. It lacks the special enlightening of the Holy Ghost.

For this time we will leave our topic, but we hope to come back at a later time to it, the Lord willing. But allow me to ask: Do you have experiential knowledge of these things? Let us examine ourselves. This is a serious subject. May the Lord grant us a hearing ear and an understanding heart. May there be serious examinations of heart among us, that we may know how matters stand between God and our soul. We may have a form of godliness, a name to live, and make a show in the flesh, and yet not be born again. What will it avail us when we have to appear before God, if we are destitute of the finished work of Christ?

If we are born again and taught of God, we have Christ formed in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, the hope of eternal glory, which hope is an anchor, sure and steadfast.

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