Does faith precede regeneration or does regeneration precede faith? Who cares about this question? You should if you care about living a God-centered life!
So What?
So, why does this question matter? It matters because underlying this question is our understanding of God; thus, our understanding leads to our practice of the Christian life.
If, for example, the answers prove God is a tyrant, then we will live in fear. If the answers prove that God has only one attribute, for example, grace, then we will live like the child with parents who threaten discipline but never follow through. However, if the answers prove God is grace and truth, then we should live by genuine faith like the woman at the well (cf. John 4).
Here are a couple more “so what” questions that I’ve heard after presenting this question to Christians. “I’m a Christian, isn’t that all that matters?” Yes, being a Christian is a matter of life and death. I think you’ll find, however, that the answers concern a God-centered life. “But, don’t we all just love Jesus?” Indeed, we do! I think you’ll find, however, that the answers will help you better appreciate the person, life, death, and resurrection of your Savior. “Isn’t this just a bunch of theological jargon?” It could be depending how we go about it. I think you’ll find, however, that the answers are central to how you practice the Christian life. Lastly, “Can we really know the answer since there is so much mystery?” Yes, there are certain things that God has left a mystery. I think you’ll find, however, that the gospel is not one of them. If God didn’t clearly reveal to us how the unsaved are saved, then we are in deep trouble!
The answers to this question will prove to be God-centered, Christ-exalting, and very practical to your Christian life.
Poll Results
Here are the poll results. As you can see, the results are nearly split with a slight advantage going to regeneration preceding faith.
Total votes: 78
Regeneration precedes faith = 51%
Faith precedes regeneration = 49%
Who is God?
Part of our answer must begin with our understanding of God so we can properly answer the question.
The Bible tells us that our God is One in essence and three in person: Father, Son, and Spirit. We believe in a Trinitarian God. He’s the One, True, Eternal God in three persons.
Our Father is the source and creator of all creation. As the wonderful Creator, He upholds and governs all things by His eternal counsel and providence. He is the Almighty God in whom we should place our trust because He proves to be a faithful Father: “…How much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! (Matt. 7:9-11).
Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He saves Christians from of our sins. Salvation can be found in no other: “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). God, our gracious Father, ordained and anointed Christ with the Spirit to reveal to us the will of God concerning our salvation. Jesus is our mighty Savior, saving us from sin and misery.
The Holy Spirit is no less God than the Father and Son. It is by true faith that the Spirit makes us partakers of Christ and all His benefits. The Spirit comforts Christians and shall be with us forever. Jesus claims, “And I ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever” (John 14:16).
God is not an invention of man as Sigmund Freud claimed. Rather Hebrews 11:6 tells us “He who comes to God must believe that His is.” We believe by faith in the Word of God that the Father, Son, and Spirit are gloriously equal and majestically co-eternal.
Our salvation is, therefore, first and foremost a Trinitarian work.
God’s Holiness and Our Sin
We worship One God in three persons that is described using many attributes. God’s holiness is one attribute that’s relevant to our question. “I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy… (Lev. 11:44). He has many other attributes, such as His sovereignty, authority, self-existence, transcendence, justice, omniscience, etc., but I chose holiness because we must look at our question in light of His holiness and our sin.
God is pure holiness. Nothing about Him is tainted. Nothing about Him is flawed. Nothing about Him is sinful. God is holy.
There is none holy like the LORD (1 Sam. 2:2).
Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness (Exod. 15:11).
We on the other hand — are not holy. It’s why we need a Savior — a holy, perfect Savior. Jesus is that Savior.
We [Christians] have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 John 2:1).
As non-Christians our lack of holiness is called sin. We are dead in our sin. We are unregenerate.
In light of our question and our unsaved, unregenerate state, take note of how Paul orders salvation in Ephesians 2. What precedes what? Does God regenerate the unsaved enabling them to repent and believe by faith or do the unsaved repent and believe by faith and then God regenerates them?
Prior to each section of Scripture, I provide a brief summary in italics.
We are dead in our sins as non-Christians (2:1-3): “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”
God makes us alive in Christ (regenerates us) and we respond by faith (2:4-9): “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
We produce fruit as Christians (2:10): “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Eph. 2:1-10).”
When we understand our Triune God, His holiness, our sinful condition, and the order of salvation described here in Ephesians 2, we are left with at least one question: Can an unsaved person — “dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked” — repent and believe by faith if God doesn’t enable them to do so?
I would suggest that you really spend some time with Ephesians 2. We often skip right to or even memorize verses 8 and 9 and for good reason. But in their context, we find we, as unsaved people, were dead and unable to repent and believe by faith. God had to do something for us so we could repent and believe by faith.
One strong argument against faith preceding regeneration is also found in this passage. If faith precedes regeneration, the act of faith would be counted as something we did on “[our] own doing” and, thus, it would be counted as “works.” If regeneration precedes faith, however, we would indeed have no room to “boast.”
Summary
- We are dead in our sins as non-Christians (2:1-3).
- God makes us alive in Christ (regenerates us) and we respond by faith (2:4-9).
- We produce fruit as Christians (2:10).
Can we objectively agree — as non-Christians, “dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked,” God had to somehow enable us to repent and believe by faith?
Here’s R.C. Sproul’s answer to the question.
Regeneration is the divine work of God the Holy Spirit upon the minds and souls of fallen people, by which the Spirit quickens those who are spiritually dead and makes them spiritually alive. This supernatural work rescues that person from his bondage to sin and his moral inability to incline himself towards the things of God. Regeneration, by being a supernatural work, is obviously a work that cannot be accomplished by natural man on his own.
Conclusion
By way of practice, even if you don’t agree quite yet, consider this. You were dead in your sins (unable to repent and believe). God in His mercy sent His Son to live the life you couldn’t live, die the death that was necessary to satisfy God’s wrath against your sin, and rose from the dead granting you eternal life.
Being dead, however, you never thought to look, think about, or even care about what your beautiful Savior did for you. And then one day, God gave you ears to hears and eyes to see. Suddenly you realized the truth. Suddenly you had the ability to repent of your sin. Suddenly you could believe by faith. What happened that day? Did you suddenly get smarter? Did you suddenly understand the truth more deeply? Why did you suddenly respond to the Gospel?
We will look at this passage more next time, but here’s the answer. The context of John 3 finds Jesus teaching Nicodemus, what He taught me, and what I’m explaining to you: “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). The Spirit came upon you and enabled you to repent and believe (regeneration). What a gift you’ve been given — for by grace you were saved.
Just think for a minute that God saved you from the pit of Hell — all the sin, all the death, all the misery, all your deadness as a non-Christian! He did that for His glory and your benefit — and all you had to do is respond by faith. He gave you His Son, and His Spirit gave you the ability to repent and believe. It’s a Trinitarian work — and we respond by faith to the Good News of the Gospel.
*Your regeneration preceded your faith so that you could live a life of true gratitude to the Father who preordained your salvation, to the Son who lived the perfect life, shed His blood, and rose for your salvation, and to the Spirit who enabled you to repent and believe and secured your eternal life. It, thus, becomes a life of Trinitarian worship because if God didn’t regenerate you before your profession of faith, you would still be wallowing in your sin and misery.
Rejoice in the Good News of the Gospel because it’s an everyday joy!
John says
Well said Dan. Appreciate your zeal for God’s glory and sovereignty. Perhaps you’ve already read “Redemption Accomplished and Applied” by John Murray. He covers this issue in depth. Keep up the great work!
Soli Deo Gloria! John Tucker aka ThePreachingLawyer on Twitter.
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Joseph Barr says
Absolutely regeneration before faith. Dan you sound a little like RC Sproul. Thanks
Joseph Barr @spay1neuter2
Cinda Marturano says
https://www.amazon.com/Faith-Not-Sight-Order-Salvation/dp/1596384433
Cinda Marturano says
I recommend an addition to the order of salvation article you finely write here. Rich Gaffin’s book “By Faith not by Sight”. Keep going well in the Lord to bless others in their faith growth.