STUDY OF CHRISTIAN REGENERATION AND IDENTITY

OUTLINE BY JOHN KAUL

I. MAN WAS CREATED SPIRITUALLY AND PHYSICALLY

Genesis 2:7

II. MAN DIED SPIRITUALLY (SEPARATED FROM GOD)

Genesis 3 Ephesians 2:1 Isaiah 59:2

Romans 5:12 Romans 6:23

III. MAN IS BORN AGAIN THROUGH REGENERATION

John 3:3-8 Romans 6:3-11 Romans 6:23

2 Cor. 5:16-21 Galatians 2:20 Ephesians 2:10

Colossians 3:1-4 Colossians 3:9-10 2 Timothy 2:11-13

James 1:18 1 Peter 1:3-5 1 Cor. 15:20-26

IV. MAN BECOMES A NEW PERSON (IDENTITY)

Quotes from John Murray:

It is a mistake to think of the believer as both an old man and a new man or as having in him both the old man and the new man, the latter in view of regeneration and the former because of remaining corruption. That this is not Paul’s concept is made apparent here by the fact that the “old man” is the tense indicates a once-for-all definitive act after the pattern of Christ’s crucifixion. The “old man” can no more be regarded as in the process of being crucified than Christ in his sphere could thus be regarded.

Paul announces the definitive cleavage with the world of sin, which union with Christ insures. The old man is the unregenerate man; the new man is regenerate man created in Christ Jesus unto good works. It is no more feasible to call a believer a new man and an old man than it is to call him a regenerate man and an unregenerate. And neither is is warranted to speak of the believer as having in him the old man and the new man. This kind of terminology is without warrant and is but another method of doing prejudice to the doctrine which Paul was so jealous to establish when he said, “our old man has been crucified.”

Quote from W. H. Griffith Thomas

The old man ceased to exist at our regeneration, when it was “put off.” We are never exhorted to “put off” the “old man.” An exhortation to “put off the old man” would be tantamount to an exhortation to become regenerate.

Quote from David C. Needham

I really believe that the major reason this revolutionary truth never hit home with me was due to the fact that many Bible teachers automatically assume that all biblical truth falls into either of two big bins.

They call the first bin positional truth. That’s like our filter illustration. God sees something as true because He sees it through the filter of the death and resurrection of Jesus. As I stated before, there is a proper place for this idea. But if one is not careful to spot its limits he will find himself parroting the standard double talk that a person must see himself as “positionally” dead when in fact his old self is very much alive.

The other bin, experiential truth, is simply anything that is truth that I am consciously aware of in the process of living. Therefore as I read my Bible it is my task to decide whether the truth I am reading about is to be understood as being either “positional” or “experiential.”

But I am convinced there is a third classification which deserves the title actual truth. It involves facts which certainly are not positional and they may or may not be experiential.

Maybe an illustration would help. Let’s suppose a young girl possesses a very beautiful singing voice. Because her parents are fearful she will become proud, they keep telling her that she has a terrible voice, nobody would want to listen to it. Assuming that her parents must be correct, she carefully avoids singing where anyone might possibly hear her. Years go by. Silent years. Then one Sunday in a worship service she becomes so caught up in a melody that she forgets herself. With an overflowing heart she sings out, strong and clear, in full voice. Immediately the people around her cease their singing in order to hear this lovely, haunting voice.

“My!” they exclaim after the song. “You have a wonderful voice!”

“Oh no,” she stammers, embarrassed. “I, I know I have a terrible voice! Please forgive me. I’m sorry I bothered you with it. I’ll try to be more quiet.”

“No! Really your voice is beautiful, exquisite. Please sing more!”

This is what I mean by “actual truth.” All through those songless years this girl actually had a beautiful voice - that was the real truth. But it wasn’t experiential. And it certainly wasn’t positional (that is, a recording of someone else’s voice but with her name put on the label).

Many Christians assume that unless something is being experienced, it must be “positional” truth rather than actual truth. If I don’t feel a given truth from Scripture, I throw it into the positional bin. The Bible says I am a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). But I don’t feel like a new creation; it must be positional.

From the Burrow to the Sky

This crucial third classification, actual truth, is so very important to appreciate, maybe a more extended illustration will help to underline it. This one will require that you stretch your imagination with me a long way. Ready?

Let’s imagine that you are a bird who, by some strange series of events, was hatched into a family of rabbits. Your entire world was a rabbit’s world. You learned to eat rabbit’s food, you shared the warmth and security of a rabbit’s burrow, you played rabbit’s games. You considered yourself a rabbit. What reason was there for you to assume anything else? The rabbits gave you full acceptance as one of their own. Somehow your difference in appearance didn’t bother them. So why should it bother you? It was as though they really didn’t see any difference. This was home; this was life. Yes, there were those times, like when the dog chased you, that for an instant – just an instant – you flapped those strange appendages on your sides and almost thought you could fly. Sure, you hopped a bit differently than the others – but you got around as well as any of them. No, there was no question at all as to your identity; you were a rabbit indeed!

And then one day someone came by and said to you, “By the way, did you know that you are a bird? A real bird? A bird who was built to fly?”

“What? A bird! Ridiculous. I know who I am – I’m a rabbit!”

But this someone was very persistent. You couldn’t hop away from him. Day after day he was there to remind you, to taunt you with a new identity. Not that the idea lacked fascination. But it was so . . so cross-grain to everything you’d been taught. And you’d been comfortable being a rabbit.

Persistence finally won, however, and this someone began to teach you to exercise those strange flappers (wings, he called them). He spun all sorts of stories, tantalizing stories, about birds. Birds in flight . . . soaring him above trees . . . with the dogs below.

Gradually you found yourself wondering, Could it really be? Perhaps a rabbit could be carried aloft by a bird – a big bird or – or perhaps one could hop so high and so far that it would almost seem like flying. But to really BE a bird . . ?

Then at last that momentous day arrived and that someone led you high up to a bluff overlooking the rabbit world far below. This was the moment. You hopped right to the edge. With a most contagious shout your companion cried, “Now! You ARE A BIRD! Jump! Fly!”

And you jumped. Flapped. You fell for a moment that seemed forever. And then . . . you flew! You soared. Higher and higher. With the sound of wind swishing through your feathers you cried, “I am a bird, I am a bird! I can fly!”

A silly story? Of course it is. But please – don’t miss the point. How many sincere Christians having willingly accepted and adjusted to a fake personal identity during their life as believers? Their concept of themselves was that really they were just like anyone else in the world. Just human. And fundamentally sinful. Therefore, to be a dedicated Christian was to somehow say “No” to nes essential nature in order to say “Yes” to a God who was contrary to that nature. To say “No” to what one really wanted in order to say “Yes” to what God wanted.

“Fly? Oh no. I can’t fly. It’s not my nature to fly. But I willingly submit to be carried on the wings of the Holy Sprit.”

With massive relief it was so good to know that when God looked their way they were always hidden behind Jesus (remember the filter?) They were saved from that unspeakable embarrassment of being identified as rabbits and not birds after all. It was the Holy Spirit that was the “bird,” not themselves. But if that were so, how would they ever go to heaven? Well, somehow (though you won’t find it in the Bible) at that moment of death God would change their nature from sinner to saint – from rabbit to bird. Or maybe, if that’s not the way God does it, He would simply and eternally remove at last all individual “selves” and heaven would just be Jesus! Of course, if that were true, then they would be “non-selves” – non-persons. But who wants to think that far anyway? Somehow it would all work out.

Christians, are you listening, thinking? What does the Bible say? Who do you think you are? Is the Spirit right now bearing witness with your spirit that you are a born one of God? Do you hear His convincing voice?

Contrary to much popular teaching, regeneration (being born again) is more than having something taken away (sins forgiven) or having something added to you ( a new nature with the assistance of the Holy Spirit); it is becoming someone you had never been before. This new identity is not on the flesh level, but the spirit level – one’s deepest self. This miracle is more than a “judicial” act of God. It is an act so REAL that it is right to say that a Christian’s essential nature is righteous rather than sinful. All other lesser identities each of us has can only be understood and appreciated by our acceptance and response to this fact.

But awareness of identity only brings us to the threshold. Through the door now opened in front of us, the ultimate issue becomes not identity, but meaning or purpose in life based upon this awareness of biblical self-identity. This discovery of meaning alone is the adequate foundation upon which one can confront sin and build a life of holiness.

SECURITY IN CHRIST

Given the facts presented in this outline, if we are born again and have truly become someone new in Christ, then we cannot possibly become someone else. There are many well-intentioned Christians out there that will use verses or passages in the Bible to suggest that you can fall out of salvation. This simply is not the truth. They have either not studied the issue sufficiently or do not understand the passage they are referring to and then take it out of context. In addition to the facts I have just presented illustrating our new birth in Christ, I am also listing the following biblical references.

Romans 6:9 1 Cor. 3:15 2 Timothy 2:11-13 1 Pet 1:3-5

If you are still confused about your security in Christ or want to study the issue of “faith” vs “Works”, I highly recommend a book by Zane Hodges (Dallas Theological Seminary) titled “Gospel Under Siege”.

The book by David C. Needham, titled “Birthright” is what I quoted out of above. I highly recommend this book as well if you are interested in finding out more about meaning and identity in your Christian life.