I never said that regeneration is something we do. I still don’t see anywhere in the scripture where one is born again before they believe on the gospel. Read the following.
Nicodemus was not born again in John 3.
Jesus said the Spirit of truth was dwelling WITH believers in John 14 and WOULD BE ( future tense) in them. The Spirit in dwelling in the sense that He would be in and abide in and baptize believers into Christ would not come before the blood of the New Covenant was shed and until Christ was also GLORIFED.
John 7 said the Holy Spirit had not yet given. (John 7:39).
The Spirit of Truth was dwelling with believers in John 14. There were instances when the Spirit would be upon believers. He would be in them and would dwell in them forever after Jesus was glorified.
Regeneration can only mean importation of new life , a spiritual resurrection as a precursor to our future bodily resurrections, earnest of our inheritance.
Being born of the Spirit, born again happens when the Spirit indwells a believer forever. According to Jesus’ Words, this gift was not given until after He was glorified.
The Spirit was given and rested upon men as the fulfilled a specific office in the Old Covenant. NICODEMUS WAS still under the old covenant, for the blood of the New Covenant had not been shed
As well, the prophets said that one of the marks of the New Covenanant would be that God would write His Law on our hearts and put His Spirit to live in us forever. This is the New Covenant in Jesus blood, that was ratified by His blood and consummated on the day of Pentecost
I am somewhat dumbfounded by your insistence of a verse that says we are born again before we understand the Gospel. Many things that believers have come to know, is a culmination of verses that help paint a particular conclusion. This is spiritual discernment. If I insisted on a verse of Scripture to prove many Truths, I would still be in the dark about a great many things. For instance:
1) Show me a verse of Scripture that says that God is a Triune God. Triune is not in Scripture.
2) Show me a verse of Scripture that says Christ was the God-man.
3) Show me a verse of Scripture that says there is going to be a Rapture. Rapture is not in Scripture.
See my point? Many things we know because we discern them from many verses, OT and NT alike.
I don't know why you remarked on Nicodemus in John3, I never said he was saved or a present believer. Indeed he was rebuked by Christ because of his lack of knowledge about the new birth because he was supposed to be a teacher of Israel. I am beginning to think you are not giving my posts a careful read and due consideration.
I gave a clear and concise explanation of what Regeneration was and was not, yet you then brought up the subject of the indwelling of the Spirit. What does this have to do with the new birth? The indwelling of the Spirit, in believers, is unique to the church age, as you pointed out; however, the indwelling of the Spirit is a completely different subject and has nothing to do with the new birth. Once again I say, the new birth is a work of the Holy Spirit upon the elect individual, at the appropriate time appointed by the Lord. This takes a spiritually dead person and breaths life into their spirit. Now possessing a living, working spirit, that person can hear and be effected by the Gospel message. The indwelling of the Spirit comes when the person believes upon Jesus Christ and they are then sealed. One must make the proper distinction between Regeneration and Conversion - Regeneration
enables Conversion but Regeneration
is not Conversion.
Then you brought up Pentecost. The Holy Spirit came not only to dwell in believers but also to empower the young Church. Everyone who was in the room, as a believer, had already been regenerated, otherwise they would have not been true believers. Christ gave the disciples a foretaste of this coming event in John 20:22.
It seems to me that you are mixing up terminologies. Regeneration is one act, indwelling is another act, sealing is yet another act, just as being Baptized in the Spirit, is still another act. Baptism in the Spirit is a collective act and is not done on Individuals. The Jews were baptized first, then the Gentiles. But this is getting off topic.
Regeneration or being born again, is the work of the Holy Spirit upon whom He was sent. When the person is born again, they are "passive" according to the "voice" of the Greek word. This means they are the recipients of the Birth but in no way had any part to play in it. The Holy Spirit acts upon the individual and what God sends is received. An individual so acted upon, could no more stop it from happening, than they could leap from the earth to the moon. This is God's Sovereign act of Election being poured out upon the individual in time.
If you do not believe that regeneration comes before hearing the Gospel, then you are left with one difficult problem. I pose it as a question that I would like for you to answer.
When the Gospel is preached to a large group, what is the determiner that makes some believe, while others do not? In other words, why is the Gospel "effectual" in some and falls upon deft ears in others?
