• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• CHAPTER 1. Perverting the Gospel - The Ultimate Sin Against Humanity
• CHAPTER 2. The Gospel of Salvation - Part I - Faith and Obedience
• CHAPTER 3. The Gospel of Salvation - Part II - A Righteous Life by Faith
• CHAPTER 4. Regeneration: God's Creation of the Righteous
• CHAPTER 5. Sanctification: Set Apart for Righteousness
• CHAPTER 6. The Neccesity of Coming Under the Lordship of Christ - Part I
• CHAPTER 7. The Neccesity of Coming Under the Lordship of Christ - Part II
• CHAPTER 8. We Walk By Faith - Part I - Every Believer Overcomes the World
• CHAPTER 9. We Walk By Faith - Part II - Every Believer Takes up Their Cross
• CHAPTER 10. The Fallacy of the "Carnal Christian"
• CHAPTER 11. Bear or Burn: The Fate of the Fruitless in the Parables of Christ
• CHAPTER 12. Righteousness vs. Self-righteousness
• CHAPTER 13. Saint or Sinner?
• CHAPTER 14. Can a Christian Backslide?
• CHAPTER 15. Sin and the Misinterpretation of Romans 7
• CHAPTER 16. Examine Yourselves as to Whether You Are in the Faith

Clinging to a Counterfeit Cross

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Over 75 Online Commentaries

by James P. Shelly

CHAPTER FOUR

Regeneration: God's Creation of the Righteous

One aspect of the Christian religion that sets it apart from all other religions of the world is the doctrine of regeneration, i.e., the work of the Holy Spirit of God whereby the sinner’s heart is renewed and brought from a state of spiritual blindness and death to that of spiritual sight and life (John 3). Without this supernatural work of God in regeneration, Christianity devolves into nothing more than another belief system based on the traditions of men, on the rudiments and philosophies of the world — as though becoming a Christian were similar to that of becoming a Buddhist or a Hindu or some other religion. However, as Richard Baxter stated, “To be the people of God without regeneration is as impossible as to be the children of men without generation.”¹ Without God there is no “washing of regeneration and renewal” or indwelling of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5, Rom. 8:9), which would render the Christian life impossible. Believers are depicted in Scripture as branches attached to a Vine whereby they receive the power and ability to live the Christian life. A Christianity wherein God does not exist would be as absurd as though a branch could bear fruit though the tree did not exist. Thus, unlike man-made religions, which are viable and workable though there were no God, Christianity stands alone in that in both belief and practice it is entirely dependent on the intervention of the power of God Himself (2 Pet. 1:3, 4, Phil. 2:13, etc.).

Our primary aim in this Chapter is not involved with whether or not regeneration takes place prior to faith (Calvinism) or as a result of faith (Arminianism), but rather with the implications of the doctrine of regeneration which both views hold as being essential to our salvation.

According to Scripture, all those in their natural state, born of the flesh, of the seed of Adam, have an innate propensity to sin and are therefore habitually inclined to its practice; “For the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Gen. 8:21)and in Psalm 14:2-4,

The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one (see Rom. 3:11, 12).

We read in Jer. 13:23, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil.” In our natural state, we are no more capable of living holy and godly lives than the Ethiopian is capable of changing the color of his skin or a leopard its spots. All those outside of Christ are in the flesh and therefore “live according to the flesh” (Rom. 8:13). “The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:7-8). Thus, we find ourselves in a terrible predicament if left to ourselves. For God, throughout Scripture, requires that we live righteously before Him declaring in essence that we must change our “spots” or die:

Whoever is steadfast in righteousness will live, but he who pursues evil will die (Prov. 11:19).

Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more! (Ps. 104:35).

Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it (Isa. 13:9).

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish (Ps. 1:5, 6).

Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. The righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight, but the wicked falls by his own wickedness. The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the treacherous are taken captive by their lust (Prov. 11:4-6).

If a man is righteous and does what is just and right…executes true justice between man and man, walks in my statutes, and keeps my rules by acting faithfully—he is righteous; he shall surely live, declares the Lord God (Ezek. 18:5-9).

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived (1 Cor. 6:9).

For if you live according to the flesh, you will die (Rom. 8:13).

(Emphasis added in all the above).

We often hear in the church that since our salvation “is not of works” and we have Christ’s righteousness imputed to us in our justification, when we stand before God in judgment our own righteousness will be irrelevant to our acceptance with God. The deeds we practice in daily living are only relevant to our rewards in heaven and not heaven itself. However, in each of the foregoing passages, it clearly states that one mustbe steadfast in righteousness or perish; that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. Again, Jesus Himself said in John 5:28, 29,

Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment (emphasis added).

It should be clear to anyone with ears to hear that according to Christ only those who have done good will receive eternal life while those who have done evil will perish; “That is, they who are righteous, or they who have by their good works ‘shown’ that they were the friends of Christ.”² Matthew Henry writes of this passage,

Whatever name men are called by, or whatever plausible profession they make, it will be well in the great day with those only that have done good, have done that which is pleasing to God and profitable to others. The resurrection of the body will be a resurrection of life to all those, and those only, that have been sincere and constant in doing good³(emphasis added).

Peter says in Acts 10:34, 35, “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him” (emphasis added, NKJV). Again, it would seem clear, to the impartial mind, that if this verse is to have any meaning at all, it teaches that God only accepts those who fear Him and work righteousness (We are not addressing here the issue of whether or not the righteousness mentioned in these verses is meritorious, but whether or not it is essential to a man’s acceptance with God, irrespective of the source or means by which it is attained). These are not isolated passages. This same truth is expressed in a myriad of other passages and, without exception, those in reference to the final Judgment:

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil (Eccl. 12:13-14).

For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done (Matt. 16:27).

But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality (Rom. 2:5-11).

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil (2 Cor. 5:10).

(Emphasis added in all the above).

When Christ speaks of separating the sheep from the goats in Matthew 25:32-46, it is based on their deeds, what they had done whether good or bad:

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? …And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. …And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life (emphasis added).

The “good” or “righteous” are defined by their service to Christ evidenced by a compassionate heart toward those in need, not in the world primarily, but among the people of God. For He says, “you did it to one of these brothers of Mine.” Who are His brothers? “My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it” (Luke 8:21). They are His followers; the children of God as distinguished from the children of the devil (1 Jn. 3:10). The sheep and goats are a depiction of saints and sinners, the righteous and unrighteous, the faithful and faithless. The same truth is stated in the parable of the tares,

The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear (Matt. 13:41, emphasis added).

Here, those who are righteous in practice will remain in the kingdom of God, and all law-breakers cast out. Their status in this verse is based entirely on their behavior whether it be good or bad. In the parable of the net we read,

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace (Matt 13:49-50, emphasis added).

The net is the gospel which gathers all sorts of people out of the world who make a profession of faith in Christ. In the judgment the angels will sort the genuine from the hypocrite — the righteous from the lawless — the good from the bad. It is even as those in Matthew 7:21-23 who make a profession of faith but Christ says to them “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” In Revelation 22:12-15 we read,

And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last. Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie(emphasis added, NKJV).

And in Rev. 21:8,

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death (see also 1 Cor. 6:9-10, Gal. 5:19-21).

In Rev 20:11-13 it says,

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done (emphasis added).

Here the books are opened and all men are judged according to what they had done, whether good or bad. Albert Barnes writes,

Kings had their chronicles written (Est. 6:1) wherein people’s good or ill deeds toward them were recorded. But the image is one of the oldest in Scripture, and in the self-same words (Ex 17:14), ‘the Lord said to Moses, Write this, a memorial in a book’.…Both expressions are used, only to picture vividly to our minds, that our deeds are present with God, for good or for evil; and in the Day of Judgment He will make them manifest to men and angels, as though read out of a book, and will requite them. So Daniel had said (Dan 7:10), ‘the judgment was set, and the books were opened.’ And John says (Rev 20:12), ‘The books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.’⁴

Jesus says in Matthew 12:36, 37,

I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.

Words reveal the spiritual condition of the heart. A good heart speaks good things; a bad heart speaks corrupt things (Luke 6:45). According to this verse, a person will be justified or condemned based on whether or not their hearts are good or bad. This is the heart described in the parable of the four soils, “As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15) (see chapter 9). David says in Psalm 15:1-3,

O Lord, who may abide in Your tent?

Who may dwell on Your holy hill?

He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness,

And speaks truth in his heart.

He does not slander with his tongue,

Nor does evil to his neighbor,

Nor takes up a reproach against his friend; (NASB, emphasis added).

Only those who walk with integrity and work righteousness are fit to abide in his kingdom and dwell in the heavenly presence of God which again lines up with what we read in Acts 10:35, whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him (NKJV).

So then, in light of the numerous passages throughout Scripture, it is unmistakably evident that living righteously before God is an essential aspect of our salvation. The reader can plainly see for his or her self that in these judgment passages God will evaluate the reality of our faith, based on how we lived — in righteousness or sin.

This brings us back to our dilemma. The intention of man’s heart, in its natural state, is evil from his youth and yetis required to live righteously before God or perish. To do so is likened to a leopard changing his spots. Many try to cover the spots with good deeds or wash them off with the “works of the law.” This is the error of legalism. “Though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me, declares the Lord God” (Jer. 2:22). Others imagine that because they profess to believe in Christ as their Savior God will simply turn a blind eye to the spots, looking only at the spotlessness of Christ, as they continue in their sin. This is the error of antinomianism or licentiousness (Jude 4, Rom. 6:1, 15). However, it is all to no avail. The leopard must change his spots and the Ethiopian his skin, and this can only be accomplished by the intervention of the supernatural power of God Himself through faith. “There is an almighty grace that is able to change the Ethiopian’s skin, and that grace shall not be wanting to those who in a sense of their need of it seek it earnestly and improve it faithfully”⁵ To live in heartfelt obedience to the spiritual law of God the natural man must become a spiritual man. He must be born again of the Spirit; Re-generated by God Himself. Jesus says to Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, in John 3,

Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter 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 marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.

And in verse 9 Nicodemus answered and said to Him,

How can these things be? Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?’

“The Jews had some general notion of the new birth; but, like many among Christians, they put the acts of proselytism, baptism, etc., in the place of the Holy Spirit and his influence: they acknowledged that a man must be born again; but they made that new birth to consist in profession, confession, and external washing.”⁶ Jesus reproves Nicodemus for his lack of spiritual perception of this fundamental teaching in Scripture that the burial of the old life in Adam and the entering upon a new spiritual life generated from above was essential to salvation. Even so, the Pharisees would see it as necessary for gentile converts but not for themselves as they were ignorant of their own need of “repentance from dead works and of faith toward God” (Heb. 6:1). Jesus is saying to Nicodemus in essence, “You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate [the heart], that the outside also may be clean” [the behavior] (Matt. 23:26). It is as God says to backslidden Israel, “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn” (Deut. 10:16) and “make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!” (Ezek. 18:31). To make a new heart and a new spirit we must become a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17, Gal. 6:15), created in Christ Jesus for good works (Eph. 2:10). It is not about reforming one’s behavior by keeping the letter of the law, but rather that of an inward transformation and change of character. We must have a new divine principle within that governs our thoughts and actions that they might be turned in a new direction; A principle that inclines us toward righteousness and away from sin. We must be born again “by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). It is as we read in Ephesians 4:22-24 “put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

So then, the solution to our predicament can only be found in God Himself, in that which He graciously performs and accomplishes on our behalf through faith. He says in Ezekiel 36:25-27,

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you [cleansing the inside of the cup and the plate]. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules [that the outside also may be clean] (emphasis added).

And in Deuteronomy 30:6,

And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live (emphasis added).

These are among the most exceptional promises in all of Scripture. It is the promise of a glorious and magnificent grace available to all that desire to be in a right relationship with their Creator. No matter how abominable, despicable, wicked, or filthy men may be, God freely offers them pardon, reconciliation and renewal. God says in essence, that all the necessary requirements needed for your salvation; a cleansing from all your sin so that your debt to Me is no longer charged to your account, and the righteousness that comes as the result of a circumcised heart, I Myself will accomplish in you that you may live. He says,

I will sprinkle clean water on you;

I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols;

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you;

I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh;

I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes.

I will circumcise your heart…to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.

We understand then that all that is required in our salvation is not of ourselves, not of our own merit or achievement, not of works, but rather it is entirely a gift from God (Eph. 2:8). It is a comprehensive gift; “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3). “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord’” (1 Cor. 1:30, 31).

We read in Luke 10:25-28,

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, ‘Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the Law? How do you read it?’ And he answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.’ And he said to him, ‘You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.’

Jesus says he answered correctly, and then says, “do this and you will live.” Do what? Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. When we compare Jesus’ statement with Deuteronomy 30:6 we find the same words, however they are accomplished as a result of God’s own actions; “I will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live” (emphasis added). The antithesis of this statement would be that if God does not circumcise the heart to love the Lord with all your heart you will die. Is not every Christian circumcised in heart (Col. 2:11) and is it not required that we love Christ with all our heart and soul according to the Lord Himself in Matthew 10:37-39; more than all other relationships, more than our own life, if we would be His followers? “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, etc. Did Jesus not also say, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me” (Jn. 14:21). Did Paul not say that God, “sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit?” (Rom. 8:3, 4, emphasis added). In other words, the promise of Deut. 30:6 is fulfilled in every Christian by this gracious act of God in regeneration which results in loving the Lord with all the heart and with all the soul that they may live, i.e., that they might inherit eternal life. So the question then is not “must we do this to live?” but rather “how do we do this that we might live”? In a parallel passage in Mark 12:34 Jesus said that the scribe answered wisely and responded with, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” The scribe was not far from the kingdom in that he had a proper understanding of that which was required of him but was not recognizing, at least at this point, the one thing necessary in order to obtain it, namely, regeneration. He was of that sect of Jews seeking to establish their own righteousness according to the flesh and had not yet submitted to the righteousness of God through faith. He was yet carnal and therefore inadequately suited for obedience to a spiritual law (Rom. 7, see Chapter 15). Only through faith and repentance could he receive a “new heart” and a “new spirit” that God might work in Him the will and ability to fulfill the spiritual law of Christ (Phil. 2:13), and thus the capacity to carry out the words of Christ, “do this and you will live.” Matthew Henry comments,

When Christ said, this do, and thou shalt live, he began to be aware that Christ intended to draw from him an acknowledgment that he had not done this, and therefore an enquiry what he should do, which way he should look, to get his sins pardoned; an acknowledgment also that he could not do this perfectly for the future by any strength of his own, and therefore an enquiry which way he might fetch in strength to enable him to do it: but he was willing to justify himself, and therefore cared not for carrying on that discourse, but saith, in effect, as another did (Matt 19:20), All these things have I kept from my youth up.⁷

The proper response of the scribe would be to recognize his need of an inward cleansing of the heart and such a conviction would naturally lead to repentance resulting in justification, and thus the reception of all the several aspects of grace in salvation — redemption, sanctification, and the indwelling and enabling power of the Holy Spirit of God, receiving the circumcision made without hands and thus acquiring the will and ability to fulfill the command “do this and live” “…that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Rom. 8:4). The IVP Bible Background Commentary says, “Paul’s point here is that whether the law brings life or death depends on whether it is written in one’s heart by the Spirit (Ezek 36:27) or practiced as an external standard of righteousness, which is unattainable by human effort (cf. 3:27; 9:31-32; 10:6-8).”⁸

Some take Romans 8:4 to mean, “that the justifying righteousness of the law might be imputed to us.” The JFB Commentary responds by saying,

Is it not unnatural to suppose that the apostle is still dwelling on justification, of which he had already treated so largely? And what is it that this verse conveys which had not been over and over again expressed, and, according to their own interpretation, once or twice said even in the preceding verses? Nor is it a wholesome thing, as we think, to be so very jealous of any expression that sounds like an assertion that Believers fulfill the requirements of the law? For, do they not do so? And is it not the express object of Rom 6, in the first part of it, to show that they do, and in the second to bid believers accordingly see that they do? That their obedience is not perfect is no more a truth than that it is a real and acceptable obedience through Christ.⁹

Adam Clarke writes,

That the guilt might be pardoned through the merit of that sacrifice; and that we might be enabled, by the power of his own grace and Spirit, to walk in newness of life; loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and our neighbour as ourselves: and thus, the righteousness, the spirit, design, and purpose of the law is fulfilled in us, through the strength of the Spirit of Christ, which is here put in opposition to the weakness of the law through the flesh¹⁰ (emphasis added).

Jonathan Edwards states,

In efficacious grace we are not merely passive, nor yet does God do some, and we do the rest. But God does all, and we do all. God produces all, and we act all. For that is what he produces, viz. our own acts. God is the only proper author and fountain; we only are the proper actors. We are, in different respects, wholly passive and wholly active…In the Scriptures the same things are represented as from God and from us. God is said to convert, and men are said to convert and turn. God makes a new heart, and we are commanded to make us a new heart. God circumcises the heart, and we are commanded to circumcise our own hearts; not merely because we must use the means in order to the effect, but the effect itself is our act and our duty. These things are agreeable to that text, ‘God worketh in you both to will and to do.’¹¹

We often hear, even from good and sincere men, that it is impossible, even on our best day, to love the Lord with all our hearts. In this sense, the phrase is thought to express a love that exhibits nothing less than that of perfect obedience in thought, word, and deed. If this was its meaning, they would be perfectly justified in what they say. However, when we look to Scripture, we find that the term is used in a different sense. God says of David, “My servant David, who kept My commandments and who followed Me with all his heart, to do only what was right in My eyes” (1 Kings 14:7, 8). Or King Josiah,“there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses” (2 Kings 23:25). It says of Hezekiah that He “did what was good and right and true before the LORD his God. And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, in the law and in the commandment, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart” (2 Chr. 31:20, 21) (all emphasis added). We see then the faithful are capable, in the Biblical sense of the term, of loving the Lord with all their heart. It is not speaking of perfection but of a single-minded devotedness and unwavering commitment to God. Having no other God besides Him — no other idols, persons, things, lusts, etc. that come before our faithfulness to Him. It does not speak of perfect obedience but of those characterized by a persistent obedience as a result of a whole-hearted commitment to God. Therefore, it is stated that God is “merciful” to “those who love Him and keep His commandments” (Deut. 7:9, NKJV). In other words, “those who love Him and keep His commandments” still require the mercies of God for their obedience is not without failings.John Gill writes,

To love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; which, though the duty of every man, is performed by none but those that have the grace of God; there is no love to God in the heart before this inward and spiritual circumcision of it: it is a fruit of the Spirit in conversion when the affections are taken off of other things, and set on Christ; when a man sees his sin and his Saviour, and the one is odious, and the other precious; when the blessings of grace are applied, and the love of God is shed abroad in the heart, which cause love to God and Christ…that thou mayest live; spiritually and eternally; for there is no spiritual life in the soul till the heart is circumcised, or, in other words, regenerated and renewed; then it is quickened; then a man lives a life of faith on Christ, of holiness from him, communion with him, and has both an open right unto, and meetness for, eternal life.¹²

Adam Clarke comments,

But what is implied in loving God with all the heart, soul, mind, strength, etc., and when may a man be said to do this?.... In a word, he who sees God in all things - thinks of him at all times - having his mind continually fixed upon God, acknowledging him in all his ways - who begins, continues, and ends all his thoughts, words, and works, to the glory of his name: - this is the person who loves God with all his heart, life, strength, and intellect. He is crucified to the world, and the world to him: he lives, yet not he, but Christ lives in him. He beholds as in a glass the glory of the Lord, and is changed into the same image from glory to glory. Simply and constantly looking unto Jesus, the author and perfecter of his faith, he receives continual supplies of enlightening and sanctifying grace, and is thus fitted for every good word and work.¹³

We must first be justified by the forgiveness of sin, cleansed by His shed blood, whereby we are made a suitable dwelling place, a holy temple, fit for the reception of the Spirit of Christ, that He might work in us the will to do His good pleasure, conforming us to the likeness and character of Himself. By the power of His regenerating grace, He can, and does, take those “accustomed to do evil” and transforms them with the result that they are now accustomed to do righteousness. As Jesus said in Matthew 12:33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good [the regenerate], or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad [the unregenerate]; for the tree is known by its fruit.” Even so, those born of the Spirit and those born of the flesh will be known by their works, whether they be good or bad, and will be judged accordingly. A judgment, not based on whether or not our good works outnumber our bad works, but whether or not we were made “good trees” by the gift of regeneration, through faith, even as the thief on the cross. John Gill writes,

God will be the Judge, who is righteous, holy, just, and true; every man in particular will be judged; as the judgment will be general to all, it will be special to everyone, and will proceed according to their works; for God will render to wicked men according to the demerit of their sins, the just recompense of reward, eternal damnation; and to good men eternal life, not according to the merit of their good works, which have none in them, but according to the nature of them; such who believe in Christ, and perform good works from a principle of grace, shall receive the reward of the inheritance, which is a reward of grace, and not of debt. In other words, God will render to evil men according to the true desert of their evil deeds; and of his own free grace will render to good men, whom he has made so by his grace, what is suitable and agreeable to those good works, which, by the assistance of his grace, they have been enabled to perform.¹⁴

Elwell’s Theological Dictionary states,

Regeneration in Christ changes the disposition from lawless, Godless self-seeking (Rom. 3:9-18; Rom. 8:7) which dominates man in Adam into one of trust and love, of repentance for past rebelliousness and unbelief, and loving compliance with God’s law henceforth. It enlightens the blinded mind to discern spiritual realities (1 Cor. 2:14-15; 2 Cor. 4:6; Col. 3:10), and liberates and energizes the enslaved will for free obedience to God (Rom. 6:14, Rom. 6:17-22; Phil. 2:13)

The use of the figure of new birth to describe this change emphasizes two facts about it. The first is its decisiveness. The regenerate man has forever ceased to be the man he was; his old life is over and a new life has begun; he is a new creature in Christ, buried with him out of reach of condemnation and raised with him into a new life of righteousness (see Rom. 6:3-11; 2 Cor. 5:17; Col. 3:9-11).…Spiritual vivification is a free, and to man mysterious, exercise of divine power (John 3:8), not explicable in terms of the combination or cultivation of existing human resources (John 3:6), not caused or induced by any human efforts (John 1:12-13) or merits (Titus 3:3-7) … John insists that there is no regeneration that does not issue in spiritual activities. The regenerate do righteousness (1 John 2:29) and do not live a life of sin (1 John 3:9; 1 John 5:18: the present tense indicates habitual law-keeping, not absolute sinlessness, cf. 1 John 1:8-10); they love Christians (1 John 4:7), believe rightly in Christ, and experience faith’s victory over the world (1 John 5:4). Any who do otherwise, whatever they claim, are still unregenerate children of the devil.¹⁵

According to Scripture, it is those alone who are “born of the Spirit” that are referred to as God’s children. It is written in John 1:11-13 “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” We see then that only those who are regenerated are said to be the children of God. It says in 1 John 3:10, “By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.” Here again, Scripture makes it clear that the result of regeneration is a real, practical, personal righteousness carried out by the recipient. All others, without exception, are not simply weak Christians, but children of the devil. 1 John 3:1 says, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” Albert Barnes writes,

The world does not understand our principles; the reasons of our conduct; the sources of our comforts and joys. The people of the world regard us as fanatics or enthusiasts; as foolish in abandoning the pleasures and pursuits which they engage in; as renouncing certain happiness for that which is uncertain; as cherishing false and delusive hopes in regard to the future, and as practicing needless austerities, with nothing to compensate for the pleasures which are abandoned. There is nothing which the frivolous, the ambitious, and the selfish ‘less’ understand than they do the elements which go into the Christian’s character, and the nature and source of the Christian’s joys.¹⁶

Christ gave evidence as to His heavenly authority on earth by the miracles he performed. He raised the dead, caused the blind to see, made the deaf to hear, healed the sick, and enabled the lame to walk. Even so, in regeneration, Christ raises us from spiritual deadness to spiritual life. Heals our blind eyes that we might see the kingdom of God — our deaf ears that we might hear the words of the King —the disease of sin by cleansing and forgiveness that we might enter the kingdom — our lame limbs that we might walk in the way of the kingdom; Doing that which is pleasing to God. “So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy” (Rom. 9:16). Scripture tells us that in regeneration the Christian enters into an entirely new reality and sphere of being. The following verses use language that is in the past tense:

“We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin” (Rom 6:6).

Scripture does not say that the old self is in the process of being crucified, as some have taught, but “was crucified” — past tense. The one who dutifully served the flesh in its various lusts and pleasures has died (Titus 3:3-5), being crucified with Christ. The fact that the “old self” is crucified does not mean there is no struggle with sin, but rather it is precisely when the war with sin begins. Our “old self” was at peace with sin, acquiescing to the will of the flesh as its master. The old self had no power or love of virtue to resist it and therefore was in need of the law to restrain it that it might be kept from impetuously indulging in its lusts. The fight commences when we are “set free” from the bondage of sin’s rule — Free from the tyranny of its government, “For sin will have no dominion (mastery) over you” (Rom. 6:14). The new governor is the Divine seed within that germinates a love for righteousness. The “new self” is now ashamed of the “old self” (Ezek. 36:31). The old self was darkness but is now no longer darkness (Eph. 5:8) yet we must cast off the “works” of darkness (Rom. 13:12) as we now “walk in the light” (Eph. 5:13) i.e., in the Spirit. We are no longer the “old self,” yet we must cast off and put to death the “deeds of the body,” that which characterized the “old self.” “For if you live according to the flesh [that which is accustomed to do evil] you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Rom. 8:13). [Again, it should be apparent to the reader that this verse is referring to eternal death since all men will die physically irrespective of the way in which they walk].

So then, the distinction now between the “old self,” and the “new self,” is that which governs the heart. The one is governed under the lordship of sin (old self); the other is governed under the lordship of Christ (new self). Those who are Christ’s have “crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5:24). The flesh once governed by its sinful passions and desires has been put to death in Christ. As J. R. W. Stott expressed it, “what was crucified with Christ was not a part of me called my old nature, but the whole of me as I was before I was converted.”¹⁷ Again, God says, “I will give you a new heart [a heart for God by faith] and a new spirit I will put within you [made alive unto God], I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh [the hardened heart of the old self] and give you a heart of flesh [the heart made willing]. I will put My Spirit within you [the Holy Spirit] and cause you to walk in My statutes [Phil. 2:13] and be careful to obey my rules” [1 John 3:9]. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17). The New Testament describes the Christians “new self” in various ways:

This is the consequence of the mysterious and powerful work of God carried out in every beneficiary of God’s grace. William Greenhill writes in his exposition of Ezekiel,

God’s Spirit will so alter our spirits, so transform, and renew them, that they shall be inclined to, and carried on in, the obeying of divine statutes. Before, they went on in the ways of sin, with strength, constancy, and delight; now they move with new strength, constancy, and delight in that which is good. This ‘new spirit’ bows the will to the law of righteousness, so that it obeys and commands well.¹⁸

This ‘new spirit’ is a great mercy, it is a renewal of the image of God in a man, knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness, Col. 3:10; Eph. 4:24. It is that which makes a man good, and acceptable to God; it was the Holy Ghost and faith that made Barnabas ‘a good man,’ Acts 11:24. Till a man have some new qualities in him, this ‘new spirit,’ he is flesh, displeasing unto God; John 3:6...‘that which is born of the Spirit is spirit,’ and so acceptable to God; then the tree is good, and the fruit good also, Matt. 7:17, 18. It is that which weakens and wastes sin in us; 2 Cor. 5:17, ‘If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation: old things have passed away;’ old customs, practices, principles, corruptions, they are decaying, the old leaven is purging out. It is the argument of God’s love in the covenant of grace towards a sinner and evidence that thou art in that covenant, to give this ‘new spirit:’ it is that which makes us honourable and glorious.... It is a choice comfort to the man that hath it, more than thousands of silver and gold, more than a world to him; no such comfort to him as this. It is life; Luke 15:24, ‘This my son was dead, and is alive again.’ The dead prodigal, when he had this ‘new spirit,’ had a new life, and this was a sweet, a great comfort to him, to his father, to others. It gives you title to the kingdom of heaven.¹⁹

Albert Barnes sums it up well,

The new man refers to the renovated nature. This is called in other places, the ‘new creature, or the new creation,’ and refers to the condition after the heart is changed. The change is so great, that there is no impropriety in speaking of one who has experienced it as ‘a new man.’ He has new feelings, principles, and desires. He has laid aside his old principles and practices, and, in everything that pertains to moral character, he is new. His body is indeed the same; the intellectual structure of his mind the same; but there has been a change in his principles and feelings which make him, in all the great purposes of life, a new being. Learn, that regeneration is not a trifling change. It is not a mere change of relations, or of the outward condition. It is not merely being brought from the world into the church, and being baptized, though by the most holy hands; it is much more. None of these things would make proper the declaration, ‘he is a new man.’ Regeneration by the Spirit of God does.²⁰

An essential feature in this change is, a readiness to forsake all sin, and all pursuits that are inconsistent with a holy life. This enters of course into the change, for it is a change from sin to holiness. The past life is now seen to have been unholy, and it becomes the purpose of the soul to abandon all that is offensive to God. And this love of sin, and of sinful pursuits, is not abandoned now merely because it is commanded to be; it is the preference of the heart to do it. The renewed heart renounces these things as a matter of course, and at any sacrifice…. No proposition can be clearer than that a man who is not willing to forsake his sinful pursuits can have no evidence that he is born again…. The same remarks are applicable to the world, to its pleasures, its gaieties, its vanities. In the case of a true convert to Christ, the theatre is forsaken, not because it is a matter of express injunction in the Bible, but because it ceases to interest the mind. The changed heart becomes interested in other things, and in the superior relish for the pleasures and hopes of religion: the pleasure once found in such amusements is extinguished of course. So to a mind truly converted and made to taste the happiness of communion with God, the pleasures of the ball-room and the brilliant party cease to allure and charm. To such a mind it is not mere command which requires the forsaking of ‘the pride, pomp, and vanity of the world;’ it is not mere conscience which keeps from an indulgence in such pleasures; it is not the mere apprehension that pain will be given to the friends of piety, and dishonour reflected on the church — though all of these things will influence the mind; it is, that the relish, the love for such things is lost. The heart has become attached to nobler and more elevated pursuits, and has learned to find pleasure in that which now satisfies the soul…. The heart has become dead to such pleasures; and to mingle in them now with relish and satisfaction would be far more difficult than it would have been before to forsake them — nay, would be impossible…. I need only advert to one other essential characteristic of this change: it is, that there is a readiness to devote all to God, and to do his will. The question asked by Paul at his conversion was, ‘Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?’ and the same question substantially is asked by everyone who becomes a Christian.… It is the beginning of true religion in the soul. It leads to simple dependence on Christ for salvation. It is attended by a new interest in religion; a new pleasure in its services; a new relish for the Bible and for prayer; new love for Christians, new plans of life; as well as with a readiness to forsake all that God hates, and to devote the life to his service in any sphere to which, by his Spirit and his providence, he shall direct.²¹

It is quite apparent that the character described as the “new self” in this chapter would seem to be relatively rare in the professing church today. A large majority of churchgoers have put their faith in “another gospel” and thus the Spirit has been quenched and the truth that sets men free has been exchanged for a lie that leaves them in bondage. The term “born again” is reduced to a mere cliché rather than the profound, glorious life-changing power of God in salvation as witnessed and experienced by every genuine believer in the true gospel of Christ. It is a sad day when the gospel has been so perverted that many believe that any insistence on obedience is essentially evil and “of the Devil,” somehow diminishing the glory of God’s grace, when in truth it is the entire purpose of God’s grace (Titus 2:11-14). We find, throughout Scripture, that nothing on this earth dishonors God more than a sinful people called by His name. If according to the shorter catechism, man’s chief end is to glorify God, then the chief end of the gospel is to produce a holy and righteous people. For we are told by His beloved Son Himself, “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples” (John 15:8). Therefore, we find in the doctrine of regeneration, the Father takes the necessary means wherein His own glory is assured in that He takes a bad tree incapable of bearing good fruit (Luke 6:43), transforms it into a good tree that bears fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life (Rom. 6:22). If we profess to be Christians and yet live a life not characterized by the “good fruit” of righteousness and holiness, we have yet to receive “the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” and are indeed clinging to a counterfeit cross.

CHAPTER FIVE
Sanctification and Growing in Righteousness