There are several very important ministries the Spirit of God conducts in the lives of all who are believers. No exceptions. In fact, without the Spirit of God performing these spiritual operations, one cannot be a believer. They are all supernatural and cannot be accomplished in any other way apart from the gracious intervention of the Holy Spirit. Included among these supernatural realities, without which no one can be a Christian, are these: regeneration, baptism, sealing, and indwelling. Each of these is a purely spiritual phenomenon. There is no water in this baptism. No tape in the sealing. The regeneration and indwelling are, likewise, spiritual. The physical body is not regenerated, nor is the physical body indwelt by the Holy Spirit. His Spirit baptizes and indwells our spirit.
A text clearly teaching spiritual regeneration is found in Titus, chapter 3. It says, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” Let’s focus on the “washing of regeneration,” and immediately upon hearing “washing,” some are very quick to plunge into water. But, this is a mistake because, while water baptism clearly has its place in the Bible, this is not one of them. Water is, however, a very legitimate metaphor for cleansing because this what water does. Water can and does cleanse the body. But, our bodies are not the problem. The problem lies where water cannot reach. No amount of sprinkling, immersion, pouring or effusion can penetrate to where the real problem lies. It is in the non-physical human spirit that every person possesses. Our problem is inside of us, and only God can get inside of us. This He does when one comes to a personal faith in Jesus Christ. Upon believing, the ever-present Spirit of God comes inside our very being and spirit and does something that no other entity can accomplish.
Titus tells us, in chapter 3, that we are regenerated and renewed by the Holy Spirit. We know what it means to generate something. It means to “begin” something. Our words “genetic”, “genes”, “generation”, and even “Genesis”, the first book of the Bible called the Book of Beginnings, are related to this word. To “regenerate” means to “begin again” or to “renew the beginning”. It’s a “spiritual do-over”. It is all about spiritual life because, prior to our believing in Jesus Christ, we were dead…spiritually dead toward God. Then, we are regenerated, regened spiritually, and made alive within ourselves and alive toward God. It’s also called being “born again”. It’s characteristic of all who are believers. No exceptions…and it is a spiritual dynamic provided only for those believing. No exceptions. The Spirit of God regenerates… Titus, chapter 3.
Published by