By: T.C. Lo; May 10, 2022
Many Christians (including some evangelicals) think they must have faith before they can be born again (or regenerated). This is wrong theology. The Bible teaches that “REGENERATION PRECEDES FAITH.” It means one must FIRST be born again by the Holy Spirit before one can even acquire the saving-faith. However, this FIRST is not a chronological or temporal FIRST, but a logical FIRST. Chronologically (i.e. in real time), regeneration and faith occur simultaneously. To emphasize the correctness of the time-order, may I further say in another way, “faith cannot precede regeneration.” This assertion is based on the fact that faith is God’s gift given to the already-regenerated by which they can be justified. Hence, the phrase “justification by faith alone” is the shorthand statement for our redemption. I frankly can find no evidence in the Scripture anywhere which shows the contrary, that a person can believe the gospel apart from grace. Faith is never presented as product of our unregenerated human nature. In fact, this truth is self-evident, because almost every person who is to be baptized, testifies publicly by saying something like this: “Because of such and such event, I was moved by the Holy Spirit, and I decided to be baptized.” When one said, “I was moved by the Holy Spirit”, one has already admitted that salvation is initiated by God.
The Scriptural passages and verses that support this concept are listed below. Some of these scriptural quotations speak of the Holy Spirit’s direct, effective, and active regeneration of sinners. Some verses speak indirectly of man’s spiritual “inability” to respond to God, thereby pointing to the need for God to first intervene in our redemptive process. Yet, some verses are less obvious that they demand us to put them in the light of all other passages for deeper contemplation before we can begin to understand them.
Psalm 14:2
Ezekiel 36:26-27
John 1:13; 3:3-8; 6:37, 44, 63, 65
Acts 11:18; 16:14
Romans 6:6, 17, 20; 8:9-15
1 Corinthians 2:12; 2:14; 12:3
Ephesians 2:1-5, 8-9
Philippians 1:29
1 Thessalonians 1:4, 5, 9
2 Timothy 2:25
Titus 3:5
James 1:18
1 Peter 1:3, 23
1 John 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1
