REGENERATION (Gk. paliggenesia, “a being born again”). The spiritual change wrought
in man by the Holy Spirit, by which he becomes the possessor of a new life. It is to be
distinguished from justification, because justification is a change in our relation to God,
whereas regeneration is a change in our moral and spiritual nature.
The necessity, in the one
case, is in the fact of guilt; in the other, depravity. They coincide in point of time and are
alike instantaneous, and thus are both covered by the general term conversion, as that term is
popularly and loosely applied (see Conversion). Still they are distinct in that the one is the
removal of guilt by divine forgiveness, and the other is the change from the state of depravity,
or spiritual death, to that of spiritual life.
Regeneration is also to be distinguished from
sanctification, inasmuch as the latter is the work of God in developing the new life and
bringing it to perfection, whereas the former is the beginning of that life.
See Sanctification.
Regeneration is represented in the Scriptures principally by such terms as “born again,”
“born of God,” “born of the Spirit” (see John 3:3–13; 1 John 3:9; 4:7; 5:1; 1 Pet. 1:23). There
are also other forms of expression of deep significance with reference to the same great fact
(see Ezek. 36:25–26; Eph. 4:22–24; 2 Cor. 5:17; Col. 3:9–10).
The work of regeneration is specially ascribed in the Scriptures to the Holy Spirit (see
John 3:5–8; Titus 3:5). This is in full accord with the whole tenor of special revelation in
representing the agency of the Spirit in the economy of salvation. (See Holy Spirit.)
Regeneration by baptism, or baptismal regeneration, has been a widely prevalent error.
This is due in part to an improper use of the term. A proselyte from heathenism to the Jewish
religion was said to be “born again.” A corresponding use of the term crept into the early
Christian church. Those who received baptism, the initiatory rite of church membership, were
said to be regenerated; but this was probably without any intention of denying the deeper
work of the Holy Spirit.
It was only a loose and improper way of indicating the change in a
man’s external relationship. And it is proper to say that some of the advocates of the
baptismal regeneration in the Church of England still use the term in this sense and make a
distinction between regeneration as effected by baptism and the great work of spiritual
renewal. But the error has its broader basis in an unscriptural idea of the character and
efficiency of the sacraments. And thus it is held not only by Roman Catholics but also by
many Lutherans and many in the Church of England. (See Sacraments.)
BIBLIOGRAPHY: A. Kuyper, The Work of the Holy Spirit (1941), pp. 293–332; J. F. Walvoord,
The Holy Spirit (1965), pp. 128–37.
Unger.
in man by the Holy Spirit, by which he becomes the possessor of a new life. It is to be
distinguished from justification, because justification is a change in our relation to God,
whereas regeneration is a change in our moral and spiritual nature.
The necessity, in the one
case, is in the fact of guilt; in the other, depravity. They coincide in point of time and are
alike instantaneous, and thus are both covered by the general term conversion, as that term is
popularly and loosely applied (see Conversion). Still they are distinct in that the one is the
removal of guilt by divine forgiveness, and the other is the change from the state of depravity,
or spiritual death, to that of spiritual life.
Regeneration is also to be distinguished from
sanctification, inasmuch as the latter is the work of God in developing the new life and
bringing it to perfection, whereas the former is the beginning of that life.
See Sanctification.
Regeneration is represented in the Scriptures principally by such terms as “born again,”
“born of God,” “born of the Spirit” (see John 3:3–13; 1 John 3:9; 4:7; 5:1; 1 Pet. 1:23). There
are also other forms of expression of deep significance with reference to the same great fact
(see Ezek. 36:25–26; Eph. 4:22–24; 2 Cor. 5:17; Col. 3:9–10).
The work of regeneration is specially ascribed in the Scriptures to the Holy Spirit (see
John 3:5–8; Titus 3:5). This is in full accord with the whole tenor of special revelation in
representing the agency of the Spirit in the economy of salvation. (See Holy Spirit.)
Regeneration by baptism, or baptismal regeneration, has been a widely prevalent error.
This is due in part to an improper use of the term. A proselyte from heathenism to the Jewish
religion was said to be “born again.” A corresponding use of the term crept into the early
Christian church. Those who received baptism, the initiatory rite of church membership, were
said to be regenerated; but this was probably without any intention of denying the deeper
work of the Holy Spirit.
It was only a loose and improper way of indicating the change in a
man’s external relationship. And it is proper to say that some of the advocates of the
baptismal regeneration in the Church of England still use the term in this sense and make a
distinction between regeneration as effected by baptism and the great work of spiritual
renewal. But the error has its broader basis in an unscriptural idea of the character and
efficiency of the sacraments. And thus it is held not only by Roman Catholics but also by
many Lutherans and many in the Church of England. (See Sacraments.)
BIBLIOGRAPHY: A. Kuyper, The Work of the Holy Spirit (1941), pp. 293–332; J. F. Walvoord,
The Holy Spirit (1965), pp. 128–37.
Unger.
