They were saved after they believed the gospel.
God saves those who believe the gospel by regeneration; they are not regenerated in order to believe the gospel.
1Co 1:21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
Tit 3:5 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 Ghost;
Look the bible teaches faith is a gift from God and that regeneration precedes faith.
1 Corinthians 4:7
7 For who sees anything different in you?
What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?
Romans 12:3
3For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as
God has allotted to each a measure of faith.
Galatians 5:22-24
But the
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires
Ephesians 2:8-9
8For by grace you have been saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves,
it is the gift of God;
9not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Ephesians 6:23
Peace be to the brethren, and love
with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1:29
For
it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him
2 Peter 1:1
Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have
obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
1 Timothy 1:14
The grace of our Lord was
poured out on me abundantly,
along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
(
faith is given out by God along with his grace)
Acts 18:27 - When he arrived, he greatly helped
those who through grace had believed
(
it is through God's grace that people believe)
Acts. 13:48 As the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of God.
As many as were appointed to eternal life, believed.
Regeneration: In English, the word
generate means to bring into existence; cause to be; produce.
Re-generate basically means again.
So, it means to bring into existence again.
paliggenesia: regeneration, renewal
Original Word: παλιγγενεσία, ας, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: paliggenesia
Phonetic Spelling: (pal-ing-ghen-es-ee'-ah)
Definition: regeneration, renewal
Usage: a new birth, regeneration, renewal. properly, the coming of
new birth because "
born again";
regeneration.
Thayers-
παλιγγενεσία- properly,
new birth, reproduction, renewal, recreation . Commonly, however, the word denotes
the restoration of a thing to its pristine state, its renovation, as the renewal or restoration of life after death.
When God created Adam, Adam was spiritually alive. When they sinned in the garden they died spiritually.
This is what it means when Paul says we
were (past tense) dead in sins. We were regenerated and brought back to spiritual life (that man was originally created with).
Ephesians 2:4-5- But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions
Colossians 2:13
When you were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our trespasses,
Paul says:
(
1 Corinthians 2:14 ) But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
The natural man is a spiritually dead person who is unsaved. He
does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, and he
cannot know them. Why? Because they are spiritually discerned.
Then in the next verse Paul says:
(
1 Corinthians 2:15) But he who is spiritual judges all things . . .
The word "judges" there basically means to sift, to examine, to decide rightly.
The question is, how does a natural man who does not accept the things of the Spirit of God become spiritual so that he can sift, examine or decide rightly?
The answer is that God must through His Sovereignty do it.
Most people think that the person must first accept Christ first, and then God will regenerate them. But this contradicts what Paul says in
1 Corinthians. 2:14 above. In order for a natural man to accept Christ, he would have to understand and accept the things of the Spirit of God. Paul says this does not and cannot happen.
hope this helps !!!
