Key Verse: "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
- John 3:3 KJV
Regeneration is a work standing alone and distinct from
all the other operations of the Divine Spirit. It is to be carefully
distinguished from conversion, adoption, justification, and sanctification;
and yet must be regarded as forming the basis and the spring-head of them
all. For instance, there can be no conversion without a principle of life in
the soul; for conversion is the exercise of a spiritual power implanted in
man.
There can be no sense of adoption, apart from a renewed nature; for
adoption confers the privilege only, not the nature of sons. There can be no
comforting sense of acceptance in the Beloved, until the mind has passed
from death unto life; nor can there be the smallest advance in a conformity
of the will and of the affections to the image of God, while there is
lacking in the soul the very root of holiness. Faith is a purifying grace,
but faith is only found in the heart "created anew in Christ Jesus." There
must necessarily be the spiritual renewal of the whole man, before the soul
can pass into an adopted, justified, and sanctified state. Reader, ponder
seriously this solemn truth.
Are you Saved?
