Knowing Who You Are, Part 1 (Regeneration)

Colin Smith: You have been set free from sin. Look at these words and try to take them in. Many Christians don't grasp this. They immediately say, "Oh, well, you obviously don't know me. You don't understand. You see, actually, I sin and I fail in many ways, and I've obviously not been set free from sin yet." Paul says, "Wait a minute. You have been set free from sin." That's what he says.
Steve Hiller: Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith. And Colin, I think there may be a number of people who can identify with what they just heard. They say, "You tell me I'm set free from sin, but why am I still sinning?"
Colin Smith: Well, it's not me that says it. It's the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 6 and verse 22. He says to Christian believers, "You have been set free from sin." Now, he obviously doesn't mean that there's no sin in your life. We're all in that journey. But what he is saying is that while sin is your enemy, it is no longer your master. Big difference between being a prisoner to sin and being set free so you're able to take it on in the fight.
Steve Hiller: So, yeah, it sounds like that's exactly what you're saying here. We need to learn how to battle against and fight against that sin.
Colin Smith: Yeah, and if I always tell myself that I'm sin's prisoner, then I'm never going to put up a fight, because prisoners can't fight. But when you're set free, then you're in a position to engage in the battle. Understanding that is crucial to making progress in the Christian life.
Steve Hiller: Well, we want to see that today from God's Word. If you can, join us in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 as we begin a message, "Knowing Who You Are." Here's Pastor Colin.
Colin Smith: Now, we began last time by framing a question like this: The Bible says that the sinful mind is hostile to God. The Bible says that men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil, that by nature we are dead in trespasses and sins. Since the Bible says these things, how come that you or anybody else—how is it that anybody could be here today loving Christ, believing the Gospel, and wanting to be more holy than you are? How could that happen when by nature we're hostile to God, we love darkness rather than light, and we're dead in trespasses and sins? And we saw that the Bible's marvelous answer to that question is this wonderful truth of regeneration—that behind all believing, behind all loving the Lord Jesus Christ, behind all desires to be more holy than we are is a miracle of God's regenerating grace. And we're exploring this miracle, this marvelous work of the Holy Spirit to change us from the inside that the Bible calls regeneration. We saw that it is so great that the only other way in which the Bible uses this particular word in the New Testament is to describe the new heavens and the new earth. That's how great it is, and that is what God has done in you if you are a believer. So, regeneration then, if you're coming new into the series, what we're talking about is the miracle of God's grace in which He gives you new birth, new life, makes you a new creation, gives you spiritual life from the dead as you become raised with Jesus Christ. It is a change that happens in you by the Holy Spirit. It's not a change in what is happening to you; it is a change in the "you" to whom things are happening. And we gave this simple definition: that regeneration is the work of God by which He changes your soul so that with a new mind and a new heart you love Him and trust Him and follow Him freely. It's at the very heart, therefore, of what it means to become a Christian. And we took the first step on this journey last time when we saw that regeneration is God's work in us that births our work in Him. So that if you love God, if you believe the Gospel, if you want to be more holy than you are, the explanation is that you have been born again. You are regenerated by the Spirit of God. It is a miracle of His grace that is so great that it could only be compared to what will happen on the last day in the new heavens and in the new earth. Now, today we're going to take a second step and, moving further into this great subject, learn together that regeneration is a complete transformation that begins a continuing process. It is a complete transformation that begins a continuing process. I love getting feedback from the life groups, and already in some of the life groups as we're talking about these truths from the Bible, people are wanting to move on to talk about the continuing process. You want to talk about how I'm changing in an ongoing way. That's not what we're talking about here. What we're talking about here is the change that has happened in your becoming a Christian. That's what regeneration is, and I hope that that will become very, very clear for us as we look into the Bible today. See, your salvation involves both something that Christ has done and something that Christ is still doing: a completed work and a continuing work. What He has done is to give you new life, new birth, and we call that regeneration. What He is still doing is to make you increasingly like the Lord Jesus Christ, and we usually refer to that as sanctification. Probably just worth noting for a moment that sanctification is sometimes used in the New Testament of a completed work—1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 11, "you were sanctified"—but usually sanctification is used in the Bible to speak of a continuing process in which God is making us more like Jesus by the Holy Spirit. Now, I want us to see how these wonderful gifts that are ours in Christ relate together so that we understand just how great our salvation in Christ really is. So, just to get you thinking here, let me give you a simple, even trivial analogy. Karen and I enjoyed a wonderful day last Monday. It was my birthday, and so we celebrated in style. Now, I could simply tell you, "Hey, we had a wonderful day last Monday." Or I could unpack that and I could tell you what it was that made it a wonderful day. So, I'll do that since I started. We went to the inn at Lake Geneva. We sat on a little balcony looking out over the lake, which was remarkable really because it was cold and wet, and we sat on this little balcony in our overcoats. Only a British couple would do this kind of a thing, you have to understand, and we enjoyed every minute of it. We had a marvelous dinner, we opened a pile of cards and of gifts, our sons called on the phone and remembered, and when we got home, there was a voicemail from the pastoral staff singing "Happy Birthday." That's a great day, that really is, and there were many things that made it great. Now, the Bible says that God has given us a great salvation. What is it that makes it great? Well, I want you to think of it this way: there's what He has done for us, and there's what He has done in us. There's what He has already done, and there is what He continues to do. And as you think of the extent of the greatness of the salvation that is ours in Christ—all the pieces that make it great—you'll begin to have a clearer view of just how wonderful everything that is yours in Christ really is. Think of it this way: Christ's completed work for us, we call justification. It is the marvelous gift by which He forgives us freely so that we can say, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ, Romans chapter 5 and verse 1. You contribute nothing to that, and it is not a process. It is a gift. His blood was shed, and you are justified completely through Jesus Christ by His shed blood. It's a done deal. Christ's continuing work for us, the work He's still doing for us, we usually refer to as His intercession. Christ is for you, not only on the cross 2,000 years ago, He's for you now at the right hand of the Father. He always lives to make intercession for us, that's Hebrews 7 and verse 25. That's why you can have confidence to live the Christian life, whatever you're facing, because the Lord Jesus Christ is alive and right now He's for you. That is how you can be sure, since your life is in His hands, that His purpose for you will be worked out and that you will have everything that you need. Thank God for His completed work of justification and His continuing work of intercession for you in Jesus Christ. But then beside that, the Bible speaks not only of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ but what God does in us by His Holy Spirit. And Christ's completed work in you, His work in you that's complete, is called regeneration. That's what this series is all about. His continuing work in you is called sanctification. Now, I want us to understand the difference between these two and to see how they relate together. It's very important in how we live the Christian life. And the truth is, folks, that most Christians are much more familiar with the continuing process than they are with the complete transformation. So, many of us are very comfortable saying in the life groups, "God is changing me." But some of us are very uncomfortable, very hesitant, and very fuzzy when it comes to saying, "God has changed me." We're not sure we can say that. That's why we're studying regeneration. Your first instinct is to say, "Well, you know, I've surely got a lot more changing to do. I'm a work in progress and I haven't arrived yet." What that means is you're talking about sanctification. You've tuned into the continuing work of change that the Holy Spirit does. You understand that well; you see it: "I've got a long way still to go." But what many of us have not grasped well is the completed work that the Holy Spirit has done in us: regeneration.
Steve Hiller: You're listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith in a message from 2 Corinthians 5 called "Knowing Who You Are." We have to pause right here, but we'll get back to the message in just a moment, so I hope you'll stay with us. If you ever miss a broadcast, you can always come and listen online. Our website is openthebible.org. There you can stream the program or download an MP3 for free. You can also listen on demand through the free Open the Bible app, which you'll find at your app store, or again, our website is openthebible.org. If you joined us late, we're in 2 Corinthians 5. Back to the message. Here is Pastor Colin.
Colin Smith: Today, I want to give you seven scriptures that clearly speak of the completed work of Christ in a Christian believer. And you may like to note these and to ponder them. What I want you to notice is that in every case, the language is of a completed change, something that has happened. You ready to go then? Seven scriptures. Here we go. Number one: 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 17, the verse that we read earlier. "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come." Now, notice the language. He doesn't say if anyone is in Christ, he is becoming a new creation. It's not "the old is going away and the new is gradually forming in me." If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone; the new has come. There is no process here. No process. It's a done deal. It is something that has happened in its entirety, and it's true of you if you are in Jesus Christ. It's true of every Christian. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. This amazing transformation has happened to you. The old has gone in you; the new has come. This is what we're trying to understand from the Bible and get a better grasp of—what has happened, not what's still to happen, what has happened already. Number two: Galatians chapter 2 and verse 20. Again, notice the definitive language. "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." This is Paul speaking. He says this is what has happened. Didn't just happen to him; it's what's happened to every Christian believer. This is the truth about you as a Christian believer. If you're in Christ, you have been crucified with Christ and you no longer live, but Christ lives in you. That's what the Bible says about you. Number three: Colossians chapter 3 and verses 1 to 3. Colossians 3:1-3. "Since you have been raised with Christ"—notice not "since you hope to be one day raised with Christ"—"since you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God." Again, notice the language. This is what has happened to you. If you're a believer, you have been raised with Christ. That's why you love Christ; that's why you believe the Gospel. Because you were dead in your trespasses and sins, but you're not now. Something's changed. New life from the dead. This is what the Holy Spirit has done for you. And later he says, "You died, your life is now hidden with Christ in God." Now, of course, there's something for us to do here, as there is in fact in all of these texts—setting your hearts on things above. We'll come back to that in a few moments. But the way that you do that is first by taking in the miracle of what God has already done in your life. You have been raised with Christ. It's happened. Number four: 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 19. "Do you not know," Paul says. So there were some Corinthians who also struggled to understand regeneration and needed to be taught this doctrine. He says, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit?" So many Christians who are talking about, "Well, I want to receive the Holy Spirit," and Paul is saying, "Don't you understand that if you're in Christ, your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit? He lives within you. He lives within you, and you have received Him from God." If you're in Christ, the Holy Spirit lives in you. He is with you, and His presence is what gives power that makes the Christian life possible. That's why it's so important to know this. Number five: Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 8. Again, we're noticing the definitive language each time. No process. "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord." Wonderful statement. He doesn't say you have light; he says you are light. Your very nature was dark—you said men love darkness rather than light—but your very nature has changed. You are light because Christ now lives within you. You are light—that's regeneration. So live as light—that's sanctification. You see the continuing process? You can't live as light unless you are light. Regeneration: the completed change that gives rise to a continuing process. Number six: "You have been set free from sin," Romans chapter 6 and verse 22, "and you have become slaves to God. The benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life." Now, boy, for many of us, this is a great text. In fact, for all of us, a great text to underline these words: "You have been set free from sin." That's what Paul says about you as a Christian believer. "You have been set free from sin." Look at these words and try to take them in. Many Christians don't grasp this. They immediately say, "Oh, well, you obviously don't know me. You don't understand. You see, actually, I sin and I fail in many ways, and I've obviously not been set free from sin yet." Paul says, "Wait a minute. You have been set free from sin." That's what he says. And he's writing to Christians, to ordinary Christians like us. Sin is still your enemy; sure, you fail in many ways, as I do. But what he's saying is that sin is no longer your master. You are no longer sin's prisoner. You are no longer chained. You are no longer under the authority of this old slave master because you are set free by Christ. You can put up a fight against temptation, and that is why there is hope for you. That is why there is hope—because you're in a new position. You're not a prisoner. You've been set free. You're able to put up a fight when temptation comes. Number seven: 1 Peter 1 and verse 23. "You have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable through the living and enduring Word of God." Here's what's happened: you have been born again. Now, think of the language here. You can't be a little born, can you? You can't be half-born. You're either born or you're not born. The language is of a completed transaction. Either this has happened or it has not happened. And to Christian believers, he says, "Here what is true of you: in Christ, you have been born again." It's happened. Drawing this truth together that runs all the way through the New Testament: regeneration is Christ's completed work in you. It is not a process. It does not happen in stages. That is what makes it different from sanctification, which is a process and does happen in stages. Think of it this way: you can be a little in love. Anyone ever been a little in love? But you cannot be a little married. You're either married or you're not, right? Okay. Now, sanctification's like being a little in love—it kind of grows, progresses. Regeneration's like being married—you either are or you're not. Does that help to make it clear what the distinction is here? A completed transaction that gives rise to a continuing process. So, I want us to get this in our minds because it's critical to our understanding of the Christian life. And I do want to show you how it is in just a moment's time. Regeneration is the completed transformation, the work of God's Spirit that begins the continuing process that we call sanctification. The great truth of sanctification that many Christians understand well is that God is changing me. Thank God for that. The great truth of regeneration that most Christians do not understand well is that Christ has changed me. And we need both these truths. And I want to show you in just a moment what happens if you grasp the one and not the other. And the answer is: you become spiritually exhausted. We'll see how. Now, that's the learning bit. Now, we've got to get down to some practice. I want you to see how the wonderful truth of regeneration functions in the life of a Christian believer. You say, "Okay, we spent nearly 20 minutes thinking about this. What's the point? What's the use? What's the value of me knowing this? How does this truth work in the life of an ordinary Christian person like me?" Well, I want to point you to three ways in which this wonderful truth functions in the life of a believer—three ways in which it's really useful to you. Here's the first: regeneration is the root of all growth in your Christian life. It is the root of all growth in your Christian life. Very simply, if you want to grow, you have to start with life. Dead things don't grow. Put a stone in the ground, it's a stone in the ground. Put a seed in the ground, different thing. So regeneration, because it is God bringing us to spiritual life by the Holy Spirit, is the root of all growth in the Christian life. Regeneration is the life that grows in sanctification or, to use a different kind of analogy, regeneration is the engine that drives all progress in the Christian life.
Steve Hiller: You're listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and really a great look today at some of the scripture passages that really talk clearly about Christ's completed work in us. You know, if you've come to know Jesus as your personal savior, these things that Pastor Colin has been preaching about are true of you. And if you've not come to know Jesus as your savior, but you'd like to talk with someone about that, I hope you'll contact us here at Open the Bible. Our number is 1-877-OPEN-365. We have staff members who would love to talk to you about this. Again, our number is 1-877-673-6365. As you give a gift of any amount this month, you're going to receive a copy of Pastor Brad Wetherell's book called *Saved to Sin No More*. And Colin, who is this book for?
Colin Smith: Well, it's really for every Christian who wants to make progress in his or her battle against sin, and that's surely got to be everyone who knows and loves the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, I think one of the greatest struggles that we have is just discouragement. And the doctrine of union with Christ is the most encouraging truth that I know in all of the Bible. Faith unites us to the Lord Jesus Christ so that His presence is in us through the Holy Spirit. And when Christ is in us, there's something of the power and the peace and the joy of the Lord Jesus that's actually in us too. And when that's the case, it makes what would have been impossible for us on our own possible because His power and His presence is with us. So, getting hold of what it means to actually have Christ in us and for us to be in Him—that's union with Christ—is going to be the most encouraging thing for moving forward in the battle against stubborn sins that often defeat us.
Steve Hiller: Well, we'd love to send you a copy of this book. Again, it's called *Saved to Sin No More*, and it's our thank you for your financial support this month. You can give a gift online at openthebible.org or when you call 1-877-673-6365. It might be easier to remember as 1-877-OPEN-365, or again, our website is openthebible.org. For Pastor Colin Smith, I'm Steve Hiller. Thanks for listening and I hope you'll join us next time. This program is a listener-supported program of Open the Bible. At Open the Bible, we're grateful for like-minded organizations committed to sharing the Gospel around the world. And to that end, I'd like to commend the work of Global Fingerprints. You know, in the book of James, God calls us to help orphans in their distress. That's a clear command, but it's not always clear how we should obey it. And this is where Global Fingerprints comes in. Through Global Fingerprints, you can sponsor a vulnerable child to help meet their physical needs and ensure they hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I want to commend Global Fingerprints to you. They're focused on equipping the local church to care for children, and where there is no church, they help to plant one. If you'd like to help a vulnerable child, you can find more information on Global Fingerprints at our website, openthebible.org/gf. That's openthebible.org/gf.