Herman Bavinck on Regeneration in Christ

I recently finished reading Herman Bavinck's Reformed Dogmatics, Volume 3: Sin and Salvation in Christ. His treatment of Christ's person and work is biblically insightful, theologically orthodox and spiritually enriching. Bavinck places his discussion of christology (the doctrine of Christ) and soteriology (the doctrine of salvation) in the context of the covenants of redemption and grace (see here). He constantly draws attention to the trinitarian dimensions of God's saving grace. "All the benefits of salvation that the Father has awarded to the church from eternity and the Son acquired in time are at the same time gifts of the Holy Spirit." (p. 593).

Towards the end of the final chapter of Volume 3, entitled The Order of Salvation, Bavinck touches on the relationship between regeneration and union with Christ (p. 591f). There is sometimes a lack of clarity on this issue in Reformed Theology. Some argue that the Spirit's work of regeneration, or at least effectual calling, of which regeneration is a component, is what unites us savingly to Christ. John Murray argues for that view in his Redemption Accomplished and Applied, p. 165. Robert Reymond hardly says a word about regeneration and union with Christ in his New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith, p. 708-710. He concentrates almost solely on the proper ordering of regeneration and faith in the process of salvation. With more insight, others insist that regeneration is the work of God by which sinners are made alive in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Consider the words of Sinclair Ferguson 

"Every facet of the application of Christ's work ought to be related to the way in which the Spirit unites us to Christ himself, and viewed directly as issuing from personal fellowship with him. The dominant motif and architectonic principle of the order of salvation should therefore be union with Christ in the Spirit." (Sinclair B. Ferguson, The Holy Spirit, Contours of Christian Theology, IVP, 1996, p. 100).

In his discussion of the subject Bavinck makes careful distinctions between salvation decreed, salvation accomplished and salvation applied. For that reason he disagrees with the notion of 'eternal justification' (p. 591). Nevertheless, he is at pains to insist that all the benefits of salvation are have their foundation in the eternal counsel of God (p. 590). "Hence already in eternity an imputation of Christ to his own and of the church to Christ took place. Between them an exchange occurred  and a mystical union was formed that underlies their realization in history, indeed produces and leads to them"(p. 590).

This governing thought enables Bavinck to stress that all the blessings of the covenant of grace, granted to the church by God in eternity are bestowed by Christ, on the basis of his redeeming work. He asks, "How else could we receive the Holy Spirit, the grace of regeneration, and the gift of faith, all of which were acquired by Christ and are his possession?" Then the dogmatician says, "It is not therefore the case that we first repent or are reborn by the Holy Spirit and receive faith without Christ, in order to go to with them to Christ, to accept his righteousness, and thus are justified by Christ. But just as all the benefits of grace come to us from the good pleasure of the Father, so they now proceed from the fullness of Christ (p. 590)."

Regeneration, then proceeds from Christ, who unites his people to himself and gives them new life by his Spirit. This is not to say that the child of God is eternally regenerate any more than he is eternally justified. Bavinck acknowledges this, saying, "Yet just as earlier we made a distinction between the decree and its fulfilment, so here we must make a distinction between the acquisition and the application of salvation (p. 591). "The application of salvation by Christ is effected in this world of time as the Saviour gives life to those who were formerly dead in sin by his regenerating power. 

This emphasis on regeneration in Christ is also found in the Irish Articles (1615), the principal author of which was James Ussher. Article 33 reads, 

All God's elect are in their time inseparably united unto Christ by the effectual and vital influence of the Holy Ghost, derived from him as from the head unto every true member of his mystical body. And being thus made one with Christ, they are truly regenerated and made partakers of him and all his benefits.

In his series on Great Doctrines of the Bible, Volume 2, D. M. Lloyd-Jones has a chapter on A Child of God and in Christ. Arguing from Ephesians 1:3 and John 1:16 he reasons that,

 we are constrained to say that even regeneration itself...is, logically, an outcome of our union with Christ (p.103). You cannot be born again without being in Christ; you are born again because you are in Christ. The moment you are in Him you are born again (p. 106).

Reformed theology at its best has insisted in the words of the apostle Paul that in regeneration God "made us alive together with Christ" (Ephesians 2:5) by the power of the Holy Spirit. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Peter 1:3). 

Talking about regeneration

Louis Berkhof offers a typical definition of regeneration in Reformed systematic theology:

"It is in its most limited sense a change that occurs in the sub-conscious life. It is a secret and inscrutable work of God that is never directly perceived by man... Regeneration is that act of God by which the principle of new life is implanted in man, and the governing principle of the soul is made holy." [Emphasis original - Systematic Theology, p. 469].

This definition captures some important aspects of the doctrine, especially that regeneration is a monergistic act of God of which man is the passive subject. But even in Berkhof's extended discussion of regeneration he fails to incorporate certain vital features of the Bible's witness. Here is an attempt to sketch an outline of the biblical doctrine of regeneration.

I. The need for regeneration

We need to be born again because in our first birth we were born dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1). In that state the mind of the sinner is incapable receiving and submitting to God's truth (Romans 8:7). The heart is wicked and incapable of loving God, (Jeremiah 17:9). The will is enslaved by sin and incapable of obeying God (John 8:34). We can do nothing to raise ourselves out of this spiritual death. We cannot even respond to the message of salvation.

II. Regeneration in the Old Testament

Using a variety of language, Old Testament Scriptures speak of God giving life to those who were dead in sin. Deuteronomy 30:6, Ezekiel 36:25-27. When true faith and godliness was found among Israel as the Old Testament people of God we see the fruit of the Lord's regenerating work. The Old Testament looks forward to the advent new covenant, Jeremiah 31:33 in which the Lord will write his law on the hearts of all his people.

III. Regeneration is a gracious act of the Triune God

In systematic theology regeneration is often attributed almost exclusively to the work of the Holy Spirit. But the New Testament stresses the trinitarian character of the new birth. This follows from the principle that the external acts of the Trinity are undivided. When any one person of the Trinity acts the other two are also involved. Accordingly, while we are born of the Spirit, John 3:5, regeneration is also the activity of the Father, Ephesians 2:4-5, who works by the resurrection power of the Son, 1 Peter 1:3. So, we might say that regeneration is the act of God's sovereign grace by which the Father brings the sinner to new life in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.

IV. Regeneration in relation to other aspects of salvation

Reformed theology tends to discuss the application of redemption in terms of the ordo salutis, or the order of salvation. In such terms, regeneration is usually described as the first link in the "golden chain" of salvation, followed by conversion, which involves repentance and faith. It needs to be said here that the ordo is not so much a chronological order as a logical one. Logically a person needs to be made alive to enable them to repent and believe the gospel. Romans 8:30 is perhaps the closest we come to a biblically sanctioned order of salvation. But the ordo salutis is not the organising principle in the New Testament's presentation of the application of redemption. That distinction belongs to union with Christ. It is only in union with Jesus in his death and resurrection that the sinner is made alive, Romans 6:4, Ephesians 2:4-7, 1 Peter 1:3. By the power of the Spirit the Father brings the sinner into union with Christ, the source of new life and salvation. While Berkhof cites texts that speak of regeneration in relation to union with Christ, he makes little of the point, concentrating rather on the relative positions of regeneration and effectual calling in the ordo salutis. While consideration of the ordo is not without value, it should not be allowed to displace the New Testament's emphasis on union with Christ. In him we are born again, justified and glorified.

V. Regeneration and the Word of God

It is often assumed that Reformed theology teaches immediate regeneration, that the new birth is the result of the Spirit working directly upon the soul of the sinner at the subconscious level. It is taught that while this usually happens in a context where the word of God is proclaimed, the word is not to be regarded as an instrument of regeneration. The New Testament does sometimes attribute being born again to the work of the Spirit without mention of the word, John 3:5-8. But other Scriptures add the qualification that we are born again through the word of God, James 1:18, 1 Peter 1:23. The teaching of such texts must be taken into account as we seek to formulate a doctrine of regeneration that does justice to the witness of the whole of Scripture. The Third and Fourth Main Points of Doctrine of the Cannons of Dort are instructive here,

Article 17: God's Use of Means in Regeneration
Just as the almighty work of God by which he brings forth and sustains our natural life does not rule out but requires the use of means, by which God, according to his infinite wisdom and goodness, has wished to exercise his power, so also the aforementioned supernatural work of God by which he regenerates us in no way rules out or cancels the use of the gospel, which God in his great wisdom has appointed to be the seed of regeneration and the food of the soul.

VI. Regeneration and the future

While in a sense the new birth is something that happened in the believer's past, more fundamentally regeneration is an anticipation of the future renewal of all things. The word "regeneration" is only used twice in the New Testament. Once the word is found on on the lips of Jesus, where the reference is clearly eschatological, Matthew 19:28. And once we find it in the writings of Paul, Titus 3:5, where again the context has a future orientation, (Titus 3:4-7). Regeneration is an act of new creation, 2 Corinthians 5:17. It is the resurrection of the inner life ahead of the future resurrection of the body, Romans 8:10-11.

VII. The signs of regeneration

Limiting ourselves to 1 John and the "tests of life" we find in that Epistle, there are a number of evidences that a person has been born again. a) Faith in Jesus Christ, 1 John 5:1. b) Obedience to God's commands, 1 John 2:3-5. c) Love for God and his people, 1 John 3:14, 5:1-2. d) The witness of the Spirit, 1 John 3:24. Where there is no evidence of the above in a person's life it is doubtful that they are truly regenerate.

Systematics needs to work harder at incorporating the different features of the Bible's doctrine of regeneration.

Mediate Regeneration

Some concluding thoughts (see also here and here) on Stuart Olyott's article in the Banner Magazine for December 2009 entitled Where Luther Got It Wrong - and Why We need To Know about It. I especially want to focus on his claim that the doctrine of "mediate regeneration" as he calls it will be the ruin of gospel work in the UK. Why does he take issue with the idea that the Word is the instrument by which the Spirit brings a person to new life in Christ? We start with his proposed definition of the new birth,

"Regeneration is a supernatural enlightenment of the human soul brought about by the direct and immediate energy of the Holy Spirit working within that soul. There is nothing 'mediate' about it. It is not brought about by some influence or instruction from outside, but by the implanting of new spiritual life inside." (p. 26)

This statement is typical of what might be found in the standard works of Reformed systematic theology. Olyott stresses the unmediated character of regeneration in order to safeguard the sovereignty of the Spirit. He wants to avoid any suggestion that the Word inhrently contains the Spirit's saving power. But is it right to suggest that regeneration is ordinarily an immediate act of the Spirit apart from the instrumentality of the Word? Part of the problem is that the discourse of systematic theology is not always the same as that of the Bible itself. Systematics in its drive for conceptual clarity can sometimes ride roughshod over the differing nuances of the biblical material. Regeneration, or being born again is sometimes described in the Bible as a work of the Spirit without mention of the instrumentality of the Word. The classic passage is John 3:3-8. But this is not the whole story. Other texts attribute the new birth to God working by his Word, James 1:18, 1 Peter 1:23. Olyott is aware of this and addresses the issue in his article. He suggests (p. 28) that these verses are "not [about] the act of germination (where new life comes into being) but to the moment of birth (where a new life becomes visible)." But I'm not sure that such a distinction can be justified. Biblical writers use a variety of terminology to refer to the same saving event. In the Gospel According to John Jesus speaks of being "born again" (John 3:3, 8), Paul writes, "if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17), he teaches that the dead in sin are "made alive" (Ephesians 2:5), and uses the language of "regeneration" (Titus 3:5). In each case Scripture is referring to God's great work of bringing the dead in sin to new life in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Also, take Peter's teaching on the new birth in his First Epistle. In 1 Peter 1:3, we read that "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ...has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead". This stands in parallel with what Paul says in Ephesians 2:4-5, where God makes those who were dead in sin alive together with Christ. In neither case is the Word explicitly mentioned as an instrument of regeneration. However, Peter uses the same Greek word in 1 Peter 1:3 (translated "begotten again" NKJV) and 1 Peter 1:23 (translated "born again" NKJV). Note that in the latter text we read, "having been born again... through the word of God". The word is the "incorruptible seed...which lives and abides forever". This "word" is identified with the gospel that was originally preached to Peter's readers, 1 Peter 1:23-25. For Peter the Word of the gospel is clearly the means by which God begets us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Reformed systematic theology needs to be revised to take this fact into account (see John Murray's attempt to do this in The Collected Works of John Murray Volume 2, Banner of Truth Trust, p. 196-198).

Now, Olyott knows that regeneration ordinarily takes place in the context where the Word of God is proclaimed (p 27), but he denies that the Word is the means by which the Holy Spirit regenerates people. But from what we have just seen in 1 Peter, the gospel does not simply provide the context in which the new birth takes place. We are born again "through the word of God". Of course, this does not mean that the Word in itself contains the saving power of the Spirit. The Word is only an instrument of the regenerating power of God. But it is just that. Is regeneration any the less a monergistic act of God if he uses his own Word to bring those who are dead in sin to new life in Christ by the power of the Spirit?

Sinclair Ferguson comments helpfully on this,

"For the New Testament writers, however, there is not hint of a threat to divine sovereignty in the fact that the word is the instrumental cause of regeneration, while the Spirit is the efficient cause. This is signalled in the New Testament by the use of the preposition ek to indicate the divine originating cause (e.g. Jn. 3:5; 1 Jn. 3:9; 5:1) and dia to express the instrumental cause (e.g. Jn 15:3; 1 Cor 4:15; 1 Peter 1:23).

"Since the Spirit's work in regeneration involves the transformation of the whole man, including his cognitive and affective powers, the accompanying of the internal illumination of the Spirit by the external revelation of the word (and vice versa) is altogether appropriate. Since faith involves knowledge, it ordinarily emerges in relationship to the teaching of the gospel found in Scripture. Regeneration and the faith to which it gives birth are seen as taking place not by revalationless divine sovereignty, but within the matrix of the preaching of the word and the witness of the people of God (cf. Rom. 10:1-15). Their instrumentality in regeneration does not impinge upon the sovereign activity of the Spirit. Word and Spirit belong together." (Contours of Christian Theology: The Holy Spirit, Sinclair B. Ferguson, IVP, 1996, p. 125-126).

The big issue then is not "mediate regeneration". It is how we construe the relationship between Word and Spirit in the preaching of the gospel. I have enormous respect for Olyott and agree with the main burden of his piece. He is right to point out that Spirit's power is not so tied to the Word that the Word in effect contains the saving power of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is sovereign and his use of the Word is subject to variation as he pleases. We cannot therefore take his power for granted. Rather, we need to plead with God that the proclamation of the gospel of Christ will be accompanied by the empowering presence of the Spirit, Acts 4:31, 1 Corinthians 2:1-5. Failure to grasp this will lead to preaching being seen as little more than a well-delivered exposition of the Bible. Such an outlook will indeed have a damaging effect on gospel work in this country. The New Testament presents an altogether more dynamic picture of the relationship between Word and Spirit in preaching. The Spirit’s empowering presence enables preachers to proclaim the Lord Jesus with boldness, liberty and life-transforming effectiveness. His presence makes preaching an event where the God of the gospel is encountered in all the fullness of his grace and power. That is the crying need of the church and the world today. We should give God no rest until we know more of what it means to preach the gospel with the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.

The Irish Articles on Regeneration and union with Christ

James Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh (1625-1656),
principal author of The Irish Articles (1615)

In the bumper issue of The Banner of Truth magazine for August-September 2008, Michael Haykin devoted an article to "Regeneration and Faith, according to Two British Confessions". The first was The Scottish Confession of Faith (1560) and the second The Irish Articles (1615). The definition of regeneration in the latter Confession really grabbed my attention. Haykin stresses the anti-Arminian polemic in the Articles. But what impressed me was that the new birth is not treated simply as link in the chain of salvation. It is subsumed under the heading of union with Christ. Note the allusions to John 6, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 2 & Titus 3.

Of the communicating of the grace of Christ.

32. None can come unto Christ unless it be given unto him, and unless the Father draw him. And all men are not so drawn by the Father that they may come unto the Son. Neither is there such a sufficient measure of grace vouchsafed unto every man whereby he is enabled to come unto everlasting life.

33. All God's elect are in their time inseparably united unto Christ by the effectual and vital influence of the Holy Ghost, derived from him as from the head unto every true member of his mystical body. And being thus made one with Christ, they are truly regenerated and made partakers of him and all his benefits.

I think that is a most helpful definition of the biblical doctrine regeneration. We are born again as Christ unites us to himself by the power of the Holy Spirit. But this aspect of the new birth is seldom given the emphasis it deserves in Reformed theology. Both Louis Berkhof and Robert Reymond seem so keen to locate the place of regeneration in the ordo salutis (order of salvation), that union with Christ hardly gets a mention. (See Berkhof's Systematic Theology p. 465ff & Reymond's A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith, 1998 edition, p. 708ff). Sinclair Ferguson shows us a more excellent way,

"Every facet of the application of Christ's work ought to be related to the way in which the Spirit unites us to Christ himself, and viewed directly as issuing from personal fellowship with him. The dominant motif and architectonic principle of the order of salvation should therefore be union with Christ in the Spirit." (Sinclair B. Ferguson, The Holy Spirit, Contours of Christian Theology, IVP, 1996, p. 100).

See also my review of Gary Brady's recently published, Being Born Again.