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Regeneration:
The New Birth, Changed Lives, and Sin In the Church

Chapter Four
The Consequences of Regeneration: Changed Lives and Sin in the Church

Because of the radical nature of the new birth any and all who are born again are inevitably characterized by life transforming change. This is a recurring theme of the Lord Jesus Christ and the New Testament authors. There is no confusion or hesitation in their minds as there seems to be in churches today. Of course, the evidences of the new birth are not perfect nor the same in every case. Christians are continually growing and maturing at different rates. Moreover, because of disobedience and the deceptions of Satan, there are periods of varying lengths in which the flesh and indwelling sin gains the upper hand. The fact of the matter, however, is that all believers are marked by specific changes and characteristics. Without them the salvation of a person may be questioned. A right doctrinal understanding of the gospel is not enough. A profession of trusting in Christ alone may be rooted in a deceived heart that intellectualizes the gospel with a non-saving faith (James 2:14-22). Over and over the New Testament warns of false professors: people who have the right intellectual faith, who claim and believe they are saved, but whose lives prove otherwise (Matthew 7:23). Paul’s word to Titus is just one example; he said, "They profess to know God but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed" (Titus 1:16). It is with purpose and design that the Bible clearly sets forth the characteristics and marks of the new birth. They distinguish the phony from the real or, as Paul says, the professors from the possessors.

The Principle of Likeness
It was the Lord Jesus Christ Himself who first asserted that there is a necessary connection between the new birth and an observable lifestyle change. His words addressed to Nicodemus are, "that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:7). The flesh, when used ethically in the New Testament, refers to human nature, bound and under the dominion of sin (Romans 8:6-9). Jesus says the flesh always produces the flesh. Human birth always produces another fallen sin-dominated nature. Jesus is stressing the fact that man cannot transcend and rise out of his own sinfulness. Always and in every case the flesh produces the flesh. None can and none will, apart form God’s intervention, escape this reality. Jesus goes on to speak of the work of the Holy Spirit when He says, "that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." The Holy Spirit, like the flesh, always produces after His nature and likeness. The regenerated person, born of the Holy Spirit, will himself be characterized by the qualities and characteristics of the Spirit. This too is inevitable with no exceptions. Jesus stated it clearly, "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit." In this sense the spiritual realm is no different from the physical. Like always produces like.

The Lord’s teaching here is the basis of the same teaching found elsewhere throughout the New Testament. The many references in Paul’s epistles where he gives warning to those who practice unrighteousness are examples (Galatians 5:21; 1 Corinthians 6:9). In Ephesians 5:5, 6 he warns, "For this we know with a certainty that no immoral or impure person or covetous man who is an idolater has an inheritance in the kingdom of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience." He says we are to "know with certainty and we are not to be deceived with empty words." Why such finality and certainty? First it must be pointed out that he is not teaching works salvation or that a person can lose their salvation. He would not contradict what he teaches so clearly elsewhere. He is simply reiterating what Christ first taught. Like always produces like. People who have an ongoing lifestyle of the sins listed have not been born again. Do not be deceived he says. They are not saved and never have been. Paul says they do not have an inheritance in the kingdom of God. The reference to the kingdom of God recalls the words of Christ to Nicodemus about not entering and not seeing the kingdom of God (John 3:3-5). Paul is not referring to rewards in the kingdom but to entering it. This is obvious for the alternative is not the lack of reward and degrees of inheritance but "the wrath of God coming upon the sons of disobedience."

Another example is from the book of Hebrews. The writer to Hebrews says we are to "pursue peace with all men and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14). The author is not talking about positional sanctification and holiness, for that is not something we pursue. It is given to us at salvation. He is simply stating that holiness must be demonstrated in a person’s life as a proof of salvation and the new birth. The on-going absence of holiness proves that a person has not been saved and therefore will not see the Lord. We seem to have here another allusion to the Lord’s words, this time from the Sermon on the Mount where He said, "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8). It can be seen that Paul and the author of the Hebrews reiterated and reaffirmed the basic principle asserted by the Lord Jesus Christ. "Whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit." Like always produces like. The birth of the Spirit produces the life of the Spirit. Without it there has been no salvation.

The Products of the New Birth
The clearest description of the evidences and marks of the new birth are in the first epistle of John. He describes a number of prominent features that characterize those truly born of God. John, using solemn words and speaking with certainty says, "Little children let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose that He might destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:7, 8). Once again we are warned not to be deceived about people who claim to have received Christ, but whose lives are marked by ongoing sin. John says they are still of the devil. To say that a person can remain continually in sin and be born again is to deny the very purpose and objective of Christ’s work. Christ appeared to destroy the works of the devil and the fundamental work of the devil is sin, for he sinned from the beginning. If a believer can go on in sin then Christ’s death and the new birth did not accomplish His purpose on their behalf, which is impossible. John says, don’t be deceived about this, words alone prove nothing, profession without proof proves nothing. A changed life and that alone proves whether a person is of God.

John describes six prominent features and characteristics of the new birth. First, the believer practices righteousness. John says, "If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him" (1 John 2:29). Righteousness means to do the right. For the Christian doing the right is doing God’s will, particularly as outlined in Scripture. It is doing as Jesus says, "the will of My Father in heaven" (Matthew 7:21). Doing the right is as much an attitude as an activity. It isn’t simply a matter of externals such as church attendance, Bible study or even public worship. The Pharisees excelled at these. It’s a matter of the heart. A person who is born again submits to and does the will of God from the heart. These qualities are lacking in many who go through the motions in the church today. Next, they do not practice sin (1 John 3:9). They also love God and fellow believers (1 John 4:7). They continue to believe in Christ (1 John 5:4), and the evil one, Satan, does not touch them (1 John 5:18). It must be restated that these are general characteristics. There are periods when sin gains the upper hand. However, they ebb and flow as they grow and develop to become the general direction and characteristic of the life. If they permanently cease, then the person was never saved to begin with. For example, John, referring to sin, says, "No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him and he cannot sin, because he is born of God" (1 John 3:9). Clearly John viewed sin as losing out in the end to the more dominant force of the new birth and righteousness. He is not saying that the seed of God within the Christian cannot go on sinning but the Christian can. This is to miss the point. He is speaking of the children of God and the children of the devil being obvious (verse 10). He is talking of things noticeable. His point is to give a test by which to judge the reality of the new birth in a concrete and obvious way, and the most obvious feature of the new birth is that a person cannot continue in sin. John also states that a person cannot continue on in sin. John also states that a person who is born again continues to believe that Jesus is the Christ. He says, "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God" (1 John 5:1). The present tense indicates that the belief is ongoing and continuous. The new birth cannot be reversed, so faith, as a fruit and mark of the new birth, cannot cease. A person who once believed and then renounced it had a faulty non-saving faith to begin with.

The Peril of a False Faith
The reality that we must come to grips with is that people can practice a pseudo-righteousness. They can have a false faith. However, it is exposed by the fact that they eventually abandon it for a life of sin. Only regeneration supplies the dynamic that enables the believer to continue on in righteousness through a lifetime of trial and affliction. The Scriptures continually warn us of this. John said, "They went out from us but they were not of us; for if they had been of us they would have remained with us but they went out in order that it might be shown that they are not all of us" (1 John 2:19). The apostle says it was only their final departure that proved they were not of God to begin with. This was the case with Judas. No one but Christ ever suspected that he was not real. He was even put in charge of the money. Judas himself thought he believed in Jesus in his own distorted way. Judas is the ultimate example of a false believer who comes to Jesus still cherishing his own sin and with his own agenda. When Christ does not meet his expectations, he either renounces Him or simply no longer follows Him. The true believer, on the other hand, is typified by Peter. When offered the chance to abandon Christ he said, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (John 6:67). It is the ongoing perseverance in righteousness, and the heart's submission to Christ and His word that demonstrates whether a person is of God. John could not say it any clearer, "By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious. Anyone who does not practice righteousness (persevering lifestyle) is not of God, neither the one who does not love his brother" (1 John 3:10).

The peril of a false faith is all the more alarming when it is a church leader. The New Testament warns and gives examples of this as well. John, for example refers to the man Diotrephes (3 John 9). He was an imminent leader in the church. Diotrephes, however, was a man who John says, "loves to be first among you" and as a result he continually opposed apostolic authority. In John’s words, "he does not accept what we say" (3 John 9). In today’s terms, he would be a person who refuses to submit to the authority and commands of Scripture and to those whom God has put in authority over him. Because this man’s behavior was habitual and continual John considered it a distinct possibility that he was unregenerate. John, with reference to him, said, "Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God" (3 John 11). How many are there like this in today’s churches? Men and women who in their heart resist and detest authority but who outwardly go along with the program. Often these present day Diotrephes go on into positions of deacons, elders, and pastors. If this occurred in apostolic times and ministry, are we so naive as to think that it does not occur in evangelical churches today?

The ongoing pattern of a defiant, insubordinate spirit to Christ’s authority, as represented by the apostles and Scripture, led John to the conclusion that Diotrephes was not of God. It did not matter to John if he was a leader in the church, understood all the doctrines, could teach or lead in impressive congregational prayer. We all struggle with pride. That is not the issue here. This man continually took on spiritual authority. It was the unbroken pattern of his life. Therefore, the venerable aged apostle had grave doubts about his soul. Remember John was one of those who had been duped by Judas. He remembered well the tell-tale signs in Judas’ life. The obsession with money and power that was cloaked by a supposed concern for the poor. His irritations with Jesus over this strong teaching on repentance, sin and judgment. These same characteristics were in Diotrephes.

The message and call for discernment in the church today is clear. People may know the Bible, know doctrine, even understand the gospel while their heart knows nothing of submission to Christ and His interests. The church must wake up to this reality in it’s midst. The church must no longer glibly and casually assume that people are saved, even leaders, when their lives are so conspicuously void of those things that Scripture says mark those who are of God. The words and tests of Christ and the apostles must set the standard. This was the case in the early church. It was the case during the Reformation and during the Great Awakening. It must once again set the standard today.