Editor’s note: The Christian Post Opinion Page has published two countering views on Calvinism. To read the opposing view in the piece titled “Want to know a secret? You’re saved before you know it,” click here.
Which came first: the chicken or the egg?
If you are a Christian who believes in the Creator-God, the answer to that age-old question should be clear. Yet that dilemma has been posed for centuries as a true mystery.
Another dilemma that has been posed for centuries but should be quite clear to every Bible-reading Christian is this: Which comes first, faith or regeneration?
Before you say, “Who cares?”, let me point out that the reason this is of significant personal consequence to all Christians is that if we get this wrong, we start down a path that leads to an unbiblical god and a hopeless corruption of the Gospel. This is important!
Salvation
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8).
All Christians will agree that regeneration and faith are two components of the salvation process, yet in Ephesians 2:8, perhaps the most well-known biblical exposition of salvation by faith through grace, regeneration is not even mentioned. Why not?
Regeneration
All Bible-believing Christians agree that regeneration is biblical. Scripture is clear that regeneration — that is, the “born-again” experience — is a sovereign act of God, through the Holy Spirit, without which no one is saved.
“Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God’” (John 3:3).
Indeed, every verse that speaks of a person’s heart being opened, or being “born of God,” or being “brought forth,” or becoming a “new creation,” or being given a new heart, is a reference to the wonderful, sovereign act of God in regeneration.
However, regeneration has no power. Regeneration is the result of divine power, not the source.
“[Jesus] saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal (regeneration) by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).
Regeneration, then, is simply a state of spiritual renewal brought about through the power of the Holy Spirit. By contrast, let’s look at what the Bible says about faith.
Faith
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).
By that definition, everyone has been given the gift of faith — that is, simply the ability to be assured, convicted, confident — that is, to trust in something and/or someone, even when unseen. Gravity comes to mind.
Furthermore, it seems that faith is a gift that God “gives away,” that is, entrusts to us to invest in the things and/or the people we choose. It is our faith to do with what we will.
We can nurture and invest our faith wisely in the things recommended by God, or we can foolishly misappropriate and “shipwreck” our faith. Either way, it is our faith. Thus, when Jesus laments, “O you of little faith,” it is not a critique of the quality or quantity of the divine gift, but of the person’s misapplication of it.
This is why we are exhorted throughout the New Testament by those who have experienced the blessings of trusting in the promises of God to invest our God-given gift of faith wisely in Jesus. When we do so, generic faith becomes salvific faith — that is, a faith with the power to save.
“… Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…” (Acts 16:31).
Faith and power
Throughout the Bible is an unmistakable pattern of faith followed by divine power.
“By faith, Sarah received power to conceive” (Heb 11:11). “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death…” (Heb 11:5). “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down…” (Heb 11:30).
And notice the power of faith when Jesus is in view:
- There is spiritual and physical healing: “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well” (Matthew 9:22).
- There is justification: “God will justify … through faith” (Rom 3:30).
- There is adoption into God’s family: “For in Christ Jesus you are all children of God, through faith” (Galatians 3:26 ).
And finally,
- There is regeneration: “God… cleansed their hearts by faith” (Acts 15:8-9).
In the above-referenced verse, faith brought about regeneration, not the other way around.
Dilemma solved
So, let’s connect the dots.
Saving faith is a gift kindled by the word of God/the Gospel (Rom 10:17). Faith gives us access to the power of God (Rom 5:2). We receive the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus (Gal 3:14). The Holy Spirit is the agent of regeneration (Titus 3:5).
This is why we’re told, “the outcome of your faith [is the] the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:9), and “Your faith has saved you” (Luke 7:50). We’re never told, “the outcome of regeneration is salvation,” or “regeneration has saved you.” And nowhere are we told, “the result of regeneration is your faith.”
Faith precedes regeneration. Always. For everyone.
Why is this important?
Here’s how getting the order of salvation wrong leads to a corruption of biblical truth and a serious defilement of the Gospel.
Regeneration is a sovereign act of God. If regeneration produces faith, as some sadly teach, God becomes the root cause of unbelief. No act of God, no regeneration. No regeneration, no faith.
This means that every person who dies in unbelief is condemned, not because of a misapplication of their faith, but because they were never enabled by God to believe. Simply put, if regeneration precedes faith, there is no “good news” for most of humanity. If regeneration precedes faith, simply being born is an eternal curse of hopelessness for most people.
Final thoughts
Fortunately, the Bible is clear. Faith in Jesus precedes regeneration. If a person dies in unbelief, it’s because they simply “refused to love the truth and so be saved” (2 Thes 2:10). That is, they consciously misappropriated their faith, rejecting the grace provided to them by the God who “wants all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:4).
Regeneration has no power to save. Regeneration does not result in faith; regeneration is a beautiful result of faith.
Oh, by the way, about the chicken-and-egg thing? The chicken came first.
John Chipman currently serves as a Teaching Pastor at The Spoken Word Christian Church in Rancho Santa Margarita, California. Prior to joining the staff at The Spoken Word, John faithfully served as a chaplain in the Orange County Jail Ministry. He is the author of God’s Elect: The Chosen Generation and publisher of the Christian blogsite Bibleinsights.net
