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TomFL
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DEFINITION OF REGENERATION
The word regeneration (Gk. paliggenesia) appears only twice in the New Testament. Once it is used eschatologically, “of the renewing of the world in the time of the Messiah” (Matt. 19:28), the second usage is “of the rebirth of a redeemed person” (Titus 3:5). Regeneration should be distinguished from conversion.
Conversion refers to the response of the human being to God’s offer of salvation and approach to man. Regeneration is the other side of conversion. It is God’s doing. In regeneration the soul is passive; in conversion, it is active. Regeneration may be defined as the communication of divine life to the soul … as the impartation of a new nature … or heart … and the production of a new creation.
Succinctly stated, to regenerate means “to impart life.” Regeneration is the act whereby God imparts life to the one who believes.
Paul P. Enns, The Moody Handbook of Theology (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1989), 338.
The word regeneration (Gk. paliggenesia) appears only twice in the New Testament. Once it is used eschatologically, “of the renewing of the world in the time of the Messiah” (Matt. 19:28), the second usage is “of the rebirth of a redeemed person” (Titus 3:5). Regeneration should be distinguished from conversion.
Conversion refers to the response of the human being to God’s offer of salvation and approach to man. Regeneration is the other side of conversion. It is God’s doing. In regeneration the soul is passive; in conversion, it is active. Regeneration may be defined as the communication of divine life to the soul … as the impartation of a new nature … or heart … and the production of a new creation.
Succinctly stated, to regenerate means “to impart life.” Regeneration is the act whereby God imparts life to the one who believes.
Paul P. Enns, The Moody Handbook of Theology (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1989), 338.