Josh Benner

Category: Church

  • Theology 101: Understanding Regeneration

    Theology 101: Understanding Regeneration

    Regeneration (also referred to as being “born again”) refers to new spiritual life which God gives a person. The new regenerative life is what brings a person from spiritual death to spiritual life. 

    The Holy Spirit is immensely important in the work of the salvation of souls and in the work of God’s church. In Ezekiel 36, the prophet points to a future time of washing and renewal. In that passage, we see three stages of regeneration which the Lord brings through the Spirit. 

    First, the Spirit brings renewal 

    Ezekiel 36:25: I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.

    Ezekiel is in the Old Testament and he’s looking forward to a future time of cleansing that God would bring by means of the Holy Spirit. We live in that time now. When we are regenerated, it is a Spiritual cleansing which the Lord brings. 

    With the water, it’s easy to draw parallels to baptism. And in fact, the filling of the Holy Spirit is referred to as a baptism. 

    John 1:33. John the Baptist is speaking about Jesus and says: He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.

    It is a privilege which all Christians share, as we see in 1 Corinthians 12:13: For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body

    All believers in the gospel of Christ are filled with the Spirit. There’s no such thing as a Christian who does not have the Spirit. 

    Romans 8:9-10 is a great passage which communicates this idea: 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

    So we are baptized into the Holy Spirit. Water baptism then is a symbol of the regeneration and cleansing which comes through the Holy Spirit. Baptism does not bring salvation in itself. It’s an important and powerful outward symbol of an inward work which the Lord has done. 

    I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.

    What a powerful picture of God’s grace and renewal. 

    In Shakespear’s great play, MacBeth, there’s a scene where Lady MacBeth is overcome with grief and guilt for her murderous greed and ambition and she desperately tries to wash a blood stain off of her hands. 

    There’s no actual blood stain. It’s in her mind. But that’s the brilliance of the scene. Because we all have a stain of sin upon our hearts and lives that we cannot wash away on our own. It is God who brings the cleansing and renewal. 

    In Psalm 51, David too is ravaged by guilt and grief over a terrible sin he’s committed. His affair with Bathsheeba and him sending her husband Uriah to the frontlines in battle where he was killed. 

    David pleads with God: Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! 

    And in John 3:3, Jesus says: Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God

    He will then talk of the cleansing which accompanies regeneration. John 3:5-6: 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

    Water and Spirit. 

    To have faith is to have the Spirit and to have the Spirit is to be cleansed. 

    You have all sorts of rituals in the Old Testament. Washing is a powerful symbol of purity throughout various cultures and religions. 

    The washing that God gives through the Spirit is a cleansing of the human soul. 

    We see the language of this renewal again in Titus 3:4-5: when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit

    It is because of the mercy of God that we are made morally clean through the work of the Holy Spirit. 

    So through regeneration, God cleanses us. Through being born again, God cleanses us. 

    When Jesus says, “you must be born again,” that’s another fantastic metaphor for regeneration. 

    Because it is a new birth. You’re a new person in Christ. Also, the metaphors matters because we are regenerated as a one time event. 

    Jesus said that we must be born again. He did not say that we must be born again…and again and again. 

    It’s not that we are saved today, then we lose that, then we do better and we’re saved tomorrow. Many Christians believe that. It’s not a Biblical idea. 

    We’re sealed with the Holy Spirit as a guarantor of our salvation. 

    Ephesians 1:13-14: In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. 

    Second, the Spirit gives us a new heart 

    Returning to our passage in Ezekiel: I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

    Once again, what an incredible metaphor that the Bible uses. I assume it’s because of the Bible that the heart has become such a powerful symbol in our culture. Think about it for just a moment. 

    Someone who’s very kind if referred to as tender-hearted. Someone who’s unkind and unfeeling is called cold-hearted. When we’re really sincere, we say something is from the bottom of our heart. When we see an impressive athletic display, we say they played their heart out. Really difficult situations are seen as heartbreaking. 

    And there are lots more little phrases like that. It’s a powerful symbol in our culture that we see as being the seat of our emotions. 

    Because of regeneration, God gives us a new heart. Thousands of Americans wait on donor lists in need of heart transplants. Heart disease is annually the leading cause of death in America with more than 1 in 5 deaths coming from heart disease. 

    Our hearts don’t last forever. And certainly, the heart is important in the Bible. Love the Lord your God with all your…What comes first? Heart. 

    Quoting again from David in Psalm 51:10, he asks God: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me

    We cannot make our hearts pure. But the good news is that through regeneration, God does a heart transplant in us. He gives us a new heart and a new Spirit. So the Spirit brings renewal through cleansing, it is through the Spirit that we are given a new heart. 

    Third, the Spirit enables us to follow God’s law 

    The gospel changes lives. When we’re born again, that doesn’t mean that we never struggle, it doesn’t mean we’ll never sin. But we are forgiven. 

    We aren’t perfect but we’re declared righteous because of the righteousness of Christ. But true recognition of sin, true faith in Christ, that changes a person. And it’s often especially noticed when an adult comes to faith. 

    If you have a child who’s grown up in the church and always had faith as part of their life, that’s an incredible blessing. And there certainly is a moment when faith becomes more real to a person, where their trust truly is in the gospel. 

    But when you have someone who’s an adult and gone years of living their own way, pursuing their own interests and desires, and Jesus comes into their life, there should be fruit of that. Not all at once. It’s not saying a person suddenly never has any areas where they struggle. It’s a process. We’ll talk more about that next week. But when the light of the gospel truly takes root in a person’s heart, it causes a change.

    It’s like you suddenly see the world through a different set of eyes. It’s like in the Wizard of Oz where the story goes from sepia to color. And the reason why there are changes and sudden changes is again due to the Holy Spirit and the process of conversion. 

    The Spirit enables us to follow God. 

    We certainly see that idea in Ezekiel 36:27: And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules

    It is the Spirit of God working in us which enables us to follow the will of God. When God works in a person’s life, and transforms a person to love him and love him and enables a person to follow his commands, that is miraculous. 

    In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2)

    That same Spirit who was in the beginning, part of creation, and who hovered over the waters dwells every single person who is a Christian and who believes in the Good News of Jesus Christ. 

    How amazing is that! 

    And it’s not because of us. It’s because our God is a good God. 

    Consider Ezekiel 36:22: Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. 

    God’s works of grace are not because we were deserving. God ultimately makes grace available because of his character, because of his goodness, because of his faithfulness to the promises he had made, and for the sake of displaying his own divine glory and greatness. 

    Yes, God loves us. But it’s not because we’re lovable but because God is loving. And so through the gospel, through the work of Christ on the cross, we are forgiven and justified. But what separates real faith, what separates the believers from the pretenders is regeneration. 

    In his systematic theology, Louis Berkhoff says: 

    “Regeneration consists in the implanting of the principle of the new spiritual life in man, in a radical change of the governing disposition of the soul, which, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, gives birth to a life that moves in a Godward direction.”

    Numerous passages in the New Testament talk about the work that God does in the life of a believer. 

    1 Corinthians 2:14-16: The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. 

    God works through us. We don’t regenerate ourselves. We don’t cause our own Spiritual growth. We participate in the work which God is doing in us but we don’t cause it. I hope that makes sense. 

    In Philippians 2:13, Paul puts says: it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. 

    God works in us. New birth, being born again changes a person. 

    While it is through Christ that we are forgiven, justified, and given eternal life; we see that the Spirit is involved in bringing new life – specifically through cleansing us, through indwelling us, through causing a change in our heart, and by enabling us to live for God. 

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  • Accountability isn’t judgmental, it’s Biblical: why the church needs standards

    Accountability isn’t judgmental, it’s Biblical: why the church needs standards

    Over the last few weeks, Jerry Falwell, Jr had a very public suspension from Liberty, during which time he revealed an affair his wife was having. Falwell resigned, then said he didn’t, then resigned again, bashed the university. This was the culmination in a long series of personal and moral failings from Falwell.

    But what’s interesting when a prominent Christian has significant moral failings exposed, is the excuses I see online. I see comments on news articles and blogs where people will ask “and you’re perfect?” “I guess you never sin?”

    Ironically, that is a self-defeating proposition. Judging people for having moral opinions is in fact a moral opinion where you’re being judgmental!

    But what’s more, the idea that it’s somehow especially loving, or pious, or enlightened to show indifference to sin is not a Biblical idea.

    Just for quick reference:  if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness (Galatians 6:1). As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear (1 Timothy 5:20). My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins (James 5:19-20). Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another (Proverbs 27:17).

    We should be gracious. We should want to see people repent and restored. We should want to see broken people’s lives changed.

    But we should not ignore sin. Because when we do, we allow predators to run roughshod in churches and Christian organizations under the guise that that’s “loving.” It isn’t. It’s not loving to the sinner who needs people who love them and care enough to point them to truth and righteousness. And for powerful people, it’s not loving to others in their ministry or organization who can suffer and be victimized by unscrupulous morals and sin.

    Yes, there needs to be grace and forgiveness, but there also needs to be accountability. And sometimes there need to be consequences for a person’s actions. Leading churches, ministries, Christian organizations is a sacred privilege, not a right.

    What about “not judging?”

    A person might say but what about where Jesus says: “Judge not, that you be not judged” (Matthew 7:1)? And doesn’t he also say “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?“(Matthew 7:3)

    But just a couple of verses later, Jesus also says “first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:5).

    Given the numerous Biblical passages which talk about pointing out sin and restoring sin, and encouraging people to personal holiness, the point of that verse isn’t that you should never have a moral opinion (which isn’t possible). The point isn’t about having a constant disposition of judgment, self-righteousness, comparison to others, and looking for faults. It’s not a command against thinking that immoral behavior is bad and that people (especially professing Christians) should live to a higher standard.

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  • War criminal to Christian: the power of the gospel

    No matter how sinful a person is, there is no one who’s beyond the saving grace of Christ. No matter how far from God is, there is no one who’s life can’t be changed. That’s the power of the gospel.

    I first learned the story of a man named Comrade Duch in Lee Strobel’s book “The Case for Grace.” Duch passed away in Cambodia on Wednesday at the age of 77. His story is incredibly compelling.

    Duch had been part of the tyrannical Khmer Rouge movement that was responsible for millions of deaths in his homeland in the 1970s. Specifically, Duch had been the head of S-21 prison camp where thousands of Cambodians were interrogated, tortured, and killed. Of roughly 20,000 people who were imprisoned at S-21, there were only 12 known survivors.

    In 1995, Duch had had a dramatic conversion to Christianity under the ministry of Christopher LaPel, a Cambodian who had lost relatives at the infamous S-21 camp. At the time, LaPel had not known Duch’s identity, but he would later say in interviews  “Before he received Christ, he said he did a lot of bad things in his life,” LaPel recalls. “I don’ know if my brothers and sisters can forgive the sins I’ve committed against the people.”

    Duch became an avid student of the Bible, eventually became a lay pastor. He worked with the Christian relief agency World Vision in the late 90s. In 1999, a journalist tracked Duch down and connected him to the atrocities in Cambodia.

    Duch admitted his guilt.

    In his confession and apology, Duch said:
    I would like to apologise to all surviving victims and their families who were mercilessly killed at S-21. I say that I am sorry now, and I beg all of you to consider this wish. 

    Duch was one of the few leaders of the Khmer Rouge to admit guilt for his crimes against humanity. After being convicted for his crimes in 2010, Duch spent the rest of his life in prison.

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  • The positive and encouraging message isn’t always the message we need

    The positive and encouraging message isn’t always the message we need

    It’s interesting to me to consider the popular Christian music. It’s almost always easy listening.

    I was looking at some of the slogans for popular Christian radio stations.

    Perhaps the biggest in America, K-Love, which plays on 440 stations “positive – encouraging.”

    The River, which is the Christian radio station in Columbus, “uplifting and encouraging.” Smile FM, which is a popular station in Michigan says “positive hits.” Air1 which plays on 123 stations in 43 states: “positive hits.” Joy FM which is in Florida “helping you find joy.” Way FM “uplifting, upbeat, real.”

    There’s no Christian radio stations that advertise as being “convicting and sanctifying.” None advertise as being “sackcloth and ashes.”

    Now there’s nothing wrong with being positive, there’s nothing wrong with being encouraged.

    But is that the way Christians are always supposed to feel? Our society likes the easy listening message. The American church likes the positive and encouraging message.
    But we come to the second of the Beatitudes, in the Sermon on the Mount, and it’s: “blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

    Life verses

    I think of popular life verses people pick. Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”

    Or Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord.”

    PROVERBS 3:5-6

    TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART,
    AND DO NOT LEAN ON YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING.
    IN ALL YOUR WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM,
    AND HE WILL MAKE STRAIGHT YOUR PATHS.

    Positive, encouraging verses.

    There are churches where there’s almost this pressure on people to always be smiling, happy, positive.

    Because we like a positive, encouraging culture. But what about when you’re not doing well?

    Is a church to be another place where a person has to put up a front? Or is it a place where people can be honest?

    Now I’m not saying we should be unkind or rude to one another. But sometimes people are hurting. And there’s no virtue in white-knuckling it when you’re struggling.

    Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
    Church is not a place that’s primary mission is positivity and encouragement.
    It’s preaching Christ crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2).

    And in studying God’s word, the primary goal should not always be the easy listening, K-love, positive and encouraging message.

    Because blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

    The first of the Beatitudes is “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

    And that is for the person who realizes that they are nothing and have nothing to offer God, to warrant favor, to merit grace, to earn heaven. And the blessedness is realizing that the grace of God is your only hope.

    The second of the beatitudes flows from the idea of the first. For a person who realizes how small they are before God and their utter need and dependence on God, that in seeing sin, there is blessedness in that.

    In the first case, you realize that God is your only hope.

    In the second, it’s having a greater sense of the state from which God redeemed you.

    Blessed are those who mourn.

    That word. “Blessed.” It’s one of those theologized and churchy words. Another way to translate it would be fortunate are those who mourn” or “happy are those who mourn.”

    And abundant, supernatural heavenly blessing for those who mourn.

    Part of what the beatitudes are doing is showing us that the values of heaven are not the same as the values of this world. In fact, it’s a set of values that are utterly incoherent to our world.

    Perhaps none of them more starkly displays the difference in the values of heaven and earth than the second of the beatitudes. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

    That’s not the K-love message. That’s not the positive and encouraging message.

    And that’s ok.

    In fact, I hope you don’t always leave encouraged.

    That’s not saying I want you to be discouraged. That’s not to say I want you feeling hopeless. That even when a text hits us hard, that we might rejoice all the more because of the hope that we do have in Christ.

    But in studying the Bible, I hope there are times when the weight of God’s word eviscerates you.

    There should be times where you’re convicted because of it. Times where you reexamine your life, your heart, your decisions, your motivations because of it.

    There should be messages that ring in your heart long after the benediction.

    But again, not to be left in total despair, but to be worshipful and rejoicing in the tremendous grace that Jesus gives.

    And that might not always be cheery and positive. Because we’re sinful people. And for a thoughtful Christian, sometimes we get hit by stark realities about ourselves and our hearts as we study his word.

    Originally published on March 6, 2019

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  • Liberty to have independent investigation in wake of Falwell resignation

    Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

    This week, Liberty University announced an “independent inquiry” into the university’s former president.

    I remember will Bill Hybels resigned from Willow Creek, a megachurch in suburban Chicago in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations. I remember earlier this summer when Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in California announced an independent investigation into there former pastor in the wake of massive failures of leadership when he allowed one of his children (who had admitted sexual attraction to minors) to continue working with the youth program.

    Liberty will do an independent investigation. But they had let Falwell run roughshod and embarrass the university time and again. Even before last month’s explosive reports about multiple affairs from Falwell’s wife and allegations that Jerry Falwell was very much aware of the affairs, he had done several things which should have led to the university removing him from leadership.

    For Falwell, the independent investigation will be “a thorough investigation into all facets of Liberty University operations during Jerry Falwell, Jr.’s tenure as President, including but not limited to financial, real estate, and legal matters.”

    Obviously there’s nothing wrong from learning from mistakes. But in the wake of scandals in the evangelical world, the “independent investigation” seems to be the flavor of the month.

    The basics of what goes wrong in these situations aren’t great mysteries. You have highly influential leaders who help to raise or maintain the high profile status of a church (or institution). And because of the charisma and skills (and ability to generate revenue) of the leader, they largely go unchecked.

    Instead of organizations needing to do independent investigations as damage control, what churches and Christian colleges need to do is to do the right things in the beginning. In other words: have systems to keep leaders accountable

    People are sinful. That should never be a surprise. But that’s why Christians need other Christians. Knives sharpening knives. You need leaders who are accountable and where there are honorable people who know them and who know their struggles. You need people who love the leader. But who don’t excuse or look away from, or justify sin. That isn’t love. What you need is people who love the leader enough to where they can speak into difficult situations and point out patterns of sin in the hopes of bringing restoration. And you need it an an environment where those friends can lovingly confront the leader without being punished or harassed for it.

    Without that, many more independent investigations will be needed, because the sinfulness of the human heart isn’t going away.

    I think about many of the popular evangelical leaders who have fallen from grace in recent years. For at least some of them, I do wonder how different things could have been had they been surrounded by people who cared enough to sometimes say the difficult things.

    In 1948, as he was coming to national prominence, Billy Graham and his close ministry associates signed the “Modesto Manifesto” where they had the forethought to hold themselves to a set of standards regarding sexual morality, finances, interactions with local churches, and publicity. Part of what developed from this meeting was the famous “Billy Graham Rule” where Graham would not travel with, eat lone with, or spend time alone with a woman who was not his wife.

    Their agreement worked as non of those men was ever legitimately accused of a moral failing.

    And certainly the greatest set of standards for Christian leaders is found in the Bible.

    Titus 1:6-9 says:
    if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. 

    1 Timothy 3:1-7 says:
    The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. 

    While Falwell wasn’t a pastor, nevertheless, those would have been good standards to still demand from the president of America’s largest Christian university.

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