Theology School

In Ephesians 2:1, Paul wrote, “and you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins”.So, Job said that we are filthy and Paul said that we are dead. I John 3:8 tells us that we belong to the devil:“He that committeth sin is of the devil”. We can see from this that man is in desperate need of help. He is filthy, dead, and has the devil. To be spiritually dead refers to separation from God; it does not mean to be physically dead

How and why do we come to Christ? Considering the history and standpoint of Theology, the answer is not an easy one. Many answers have been provided and they deal with the Biblical doctrine of grace.

In one sense, we can speak of the gift of the Spirit as the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. It was then that He came to do His great work, which He continues to do. When we talk about the gift of the Spirit, we refer to the moment we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and were given the Holy Spirit.

The gamut of Christian experience is the product of the Holy Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit; all the virtues, so beautifully expressed in Christian life, are really the fruit the Spirit produces within a Christian life. You can see that even our sanctification is a product of the Spirit.

The Spirit comprises the third period. The Father planned it, the Son executed the program of redemption, and it is the Spirit who is now administrating that program.

God’s saving work does not end with our salvation from hell; this is only the beginning. In His great covenant within the Godhead, God has determined Himself, and the Son has agreed and the Spirit has agreed. He decided to send the Son to perform the work of redemption, and to send the Holy Spirit in for all whom He wished to save.

It is written in John 3:8, “…so is every one that is born of the spirit”. A person who is born-again, or regenerated, is one who is spiritually past-less; meaning that our past is wiped out and there is nothing but the future for us.

Regeneration is non-experiential. Although we notice when new-birth occurs, we do not experience it. You realize at one moment that you are dead, and the next moment that you are alive; but all you experience are the effects of it. You have joy and thanksgiving; you are enlightened; you begin to read and understand the Bible; you come to know God.

The One plants the seed and the Spirit is the agent. Jesus said, “…so is everyone who is born of the Spirit”. The Word is the instrument. God causes regeneration, performing it through the Spirit by means of the Word. He does it through His own will, as noted in the book of James.