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The Forgotten Doctrine in Missions · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed Thinking. This is where we sift through
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sources, notes, articles, and try to make sense of it all,
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aiming to give you a clear understanding of important
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topics. And today we're diving into
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something really central, a truth Jesus himself said was
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absolutely essential for every single person.
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We're talking about the doctrine of the new birth, sometimes
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called regeneration. Yeah, that's right.
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Our goal today is really to unpack what the Bible means by
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this. You know, how does it happen?
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What kind of radical change does it bring about in a Christian's
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life? And also its historical impact,
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especially on missions, right? Exactly.
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And we'll also touch on why maybe it's overlooked or perhaps
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misunderstood in some circles today.
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We've got a range of sources here to try and give you a
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picture. OK, so let's get started.
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Where better to begin than with Jesus himself?
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John Chapter 3. That famous conversation with
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Nicodemus. Right, Nicodemus, he wasn't just
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an average person, he was a ruler of the Jews, a Pharisee, a
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really respected religious leader.
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Looked like he had it all figured out, spiritually
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speaking. But Jesus says to him, truly,
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truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the
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Kingdom of God. And then just a bit later,
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unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the
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Kingdom of God. Pretty direct.
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Incredibly direct and that statement, you must be born
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again. That wasn't just advice for
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Nicodemus. It wasn't like an extra credit
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assignment for the Super spiritual No, it applies to
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everyone. And the reason, according to our
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sources, is because the Bible describes our natural state,
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everyone's starting point, as spiritually dead, morally
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corrupt. Dead.
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That's strong language. It is.
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It means we're inherently bent towards disobedience.
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Our minds and consciences are well defiled by sin.
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Our hearts are described as deceitful, desperately sick.
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So because of that starting point, we all need this divine
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internal change just to even see God's Kingdom, let alone get in.
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Precisely. It's not something we can
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achieve ourselves or earn through effort.
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It's got to come from outside of us.
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OK, so if it's absolutely necessary, what is it?
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What is this new birth? How do the sources define it?
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They describe it as this really radical alteration, something
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promised throughout Scripture. It's the moment when God the
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Holy Spirit, using His Word as the instrument, takes a heart
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that's spiritually dead, corrupt, and literally brings it
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to life. Brings it to life.
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Yeah, and this act, this divine implantation of life, sets a
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person on a path that ultimately leads to glorification in
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heaven. You know that final state of
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being fully conformed to Christ. So it's not just like turning
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over a new leaf, it's actual life being put into something
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that was dead. Exactly.
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An implantation of spiritual life in a soul which is dead in
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sin. Think of it like, well, it's a
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supernatural act. A spirit wrought work is a
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phrase that comes up. Yes, entirely God's doing.
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It's not natural like physical birth, and it's not something
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humans can engineer or manipulate through techniques or
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willpower. You can't make yourself be born
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again any more than you could have caused your first
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birthright. It requires God's power.
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Truly supernatural work from start to finish.
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And what's interesting is how our sources trace this idea
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back. It's not just a New Testament
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concept, is it? Not at all.
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You see hints of this need for interchange even way back in
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Genesis, but then it gets more explicit.
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Think about Moses in Deuteronomy.
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Right, Deuteronomy 10.1 sees he tells the Israelites to
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circumcise the foreskin of your heart.
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Yeah, which must have been startling for people so focused
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on physical circumcision. It was pointing towards
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something deeper, an internal spiritual cleansing, a change of
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the heart itself. And God doesn't just command it,
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He promises to do it too, right later in Deuteronomy.
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That's key. Deuteronomy 30 verse 6.
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God promises I will circumcise your heart so that you will love
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the Lord your God with all your heart.
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It's a divine enablement. He will do what they can't do on
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their own. And then the prophets pick this
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up. Jeremiah talks about the new
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Covenant. Jeremiah 31 God says He'll put
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my law within them and write it on their hearts.
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Imagine that obedience flowing from an internal desire written
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right onto your heart, not just from external rules.
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That's a fundamentally different kind of relationship.
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And Ezekiel, he uses that striking imagery of hearts of
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stone and flesh. Yeah, Ezekiel is really vivid.
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He talks about God giving a new heart and a new spirit, taking
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out the heart of stone, that hard, unresponsive dead thing,
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and giving a heart, flesh, alive, soft, responsive to God.
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And he also says God will put his Spirit within people,
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enabling them to obey Ezekiel 11 and 36.
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Right. It's about a complete internal
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remaking God intervening to change the very core of a
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person. So the Old Testament really sets
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the stage, showing the need and the promise that the New
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Testament comes along and clarifies, fulfills it both.
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Really it affirms all this, but with, you know, even greater
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clarity because of Christ. Paul, for example, in Titus 3.5,
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calls salvation the washing of regeneration and renewal of the
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Holy Spirit. Regeneration is a washing, a
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cleansing by the spirit. And he talks about believers
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being a new creation that's second Corinthians 5.1 time
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Galatians 6.15. Not just patched up, but made
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entirely new. A radical break from the old
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self. And Peter, he links it directly
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to Christ's resurrection. Yeah, first Peter 1.3 believers
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are born again to a living hope through the resurrection of
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Jesus from the dead. Our new life is tied to his
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victory over death. And Peter also mentions the
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instrument, how it happens. Crucially, yes, he says.
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It's through the living and abiding Word of God.
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That's first Peter 1.23. And James says something similar
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to. James 1.18 God of his own will,
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He brought us forth by the word of truth.
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So you see this consistent testimony.
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It's God's act through His Spirit, using His Word,
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resulting in new life, a new creation.
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OK, that helps define what it is.
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Now what about what it isn't? Because there seem to be a lot
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of misconceptions. Definitely.
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The sources are quite clear here.
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New birth is not just saying a specific prayer or walking down
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an aisle in a church service or raising your hand.
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Those outward actions might happen, but they aren't the
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thing itself. Right, they can be expressions
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of an inward reality, but often the source is warned these
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actions can become man centered formulas.
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They can lack that supernatural reality, maybe even feel
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manipulative, focused on getting a decision rather than seeing
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God bring life. Like trying to engineer
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something that only God can do. Pretty much.
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It can resemble some of the issues in 19th century
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revivalism where the focus shifted to humane techniques
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rather than divine power. It ends up being hardly
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supernatural at all. And you mentioned the Barna
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Group's definition earlier. How does that fit in?
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Well, Barna is a well known research group studying faith
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trends. They often define born again
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Christians as people who say they've made a personal
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dedication to Jesus Christ that's still important and
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believe they'll go to heaven. OK.
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What's the critique of that definition?
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The sources argue it's really lacking.
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It doesn't mention who Jesus is God, It doesn't talk about what
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he did, his death, his resurrection.
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It doesn't describe the nature of new life in him, that radical
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change in relation to God and sin.
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So it focuses mainly on a subjective experience and a hope
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for heaven. Yeah, without grounding it in
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the objective work of Christ and the reality of God's judgement
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on sin and the need for deep conviction.
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And the stats based on that definition can be misleading.
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Very much so. Varna's own data shows a
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significant number of people fitting their born again
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criteria don't actually hold basic biblical beliefs or shaped
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evidence of a changed life. It suggests many people think
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they've had this experience but maybe haven't grasped the
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reality of regeneration. That's sobering.
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It points to why understanding this doctrine properly is so
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vital. Which brings us to the next
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point. Why is it sometimes called a
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forgotten doctrine today? Well, there's direct evidence.
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Unfortunately, sometimes it's outright denial.
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Really. Even in evangelical circles.
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It happens maybe more in academic writing, but you'll
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find authors who say things like there is no such thing as
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regeneration, or that the Bible doesn't teach a permanent change
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in the hearts of the elect that directly contradicts the
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passages we've just looked at. Wow.
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But more common than outright denial is redefining it.
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Exactly. Redefining it, superficially,
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reducing it to those external actions we talked about signing
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a card, making a profession without the corresponding inner
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supernatural change. It strips the power right out of
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it. Making it seem like something
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controllable, something humanly achievable.
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Right. And perhaps even more common
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than denial or redefinition is just ignoring it, especially,
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the sources suggest, in some modern missions, thinking and
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practice. How so?
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How does it get ignored in missions?
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Well, some influential voices may be focused on practical
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strategy, sometimes suggest downplaying deep explanation of
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Scripture, or even argue against direct preaching or teaching of
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the Bible in certain contexts. But didn't Paul say faith comes
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by hearing the word Romans 10? Precisely how can they hear
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without a preacher? When you sideline the Word, you
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sideline the Spirit's primary tool for bringing about new
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birth. That makes sense.
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What else gets ignored? Prayer is another big one.
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Strategies might focus on cultural adaptation, meeting
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needs which are good, but sometimes there's very little
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emphasis on pleading with God to do the impossible, to bring
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spiritual life out of death. Treating missions like it's
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mostly a human endeavor. Yeah, like a natural work driven
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by our plans and efforts, rather than a fundamentally
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supernatural one requiring God's power.
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There's often little talk of the Word as the sword of the Spirit.
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And if you view it that way, things like language learning or
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deep theological teaching might seem secondary.
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They. Could end up seeming peripheral.
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Yeah, even though the Spirit uses the living and abiding Word
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spoken and understood to regenerate hearts.
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So how do we know this is really a decline?
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How can we tell we're missing something?
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One way is historical contrast. When you look back at periods
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where the church was arguably healthier, more vibrant in
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evangelism and missions, you often find this doctrine of the
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new birth was absolutely central.
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But comparing now to then shows us what's lacking.
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Kind of like knowing you're sick because you remember what it
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felt like to be healthy. History can be a diagnostic tool
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here. OK, so let's get back to the
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how. How does this new birth happen
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according to God's design? Who is the agent?
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The agent is crystal clear. God the Holy Spirit.
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It's that Spirit wrought work. He's the one who takes the dead
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heart and makes it alive. Jesus told Nicodemus you must be
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born of the Spirit. Yes, that which is born of the
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Spirit is Spirit. The source of this life is
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divine spiritual. It's God himself putting his
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Spirit within people, as Ezekiel prophesied.
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And it's based on God's mercy, not our merit.
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Titus 3 again. Exactly.
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He saved us according to his own mercy, by the washing of
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regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.
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It's God's initiative, his gift. So the Spirit is the agent.
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What's the primary instrument he uses?
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The word of God, Peter says. We're born again through the
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living and abiding word of God, James says.
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By the word of truth. And this happens typically
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through the proclamation, the preaching of that word.
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Yes, that's why Paul calls the Word the sword of the Spirit.
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It's the tool God uses to penetrate hearts, convict, and
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bring life. Preaching isn't just sharing
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information. It's the event through which the
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Spirit often chooses to work. Regeneration.
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Paul's questions in Romans 10 make so much sense in this
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light. How can they believe if they
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haven't heard? How can they hear without
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someone preaching? Right.
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And historical figures understood this.
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William Tyndale, the Bible translator, he got it.
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He said something like when the gospel is preached, it opens our
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hearts, gives us grace to believe, puts the Spirit in us.
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He saw that direct link between the preached Word and the
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Spirit's work. Absolutely.
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The Spirit works through the Word.
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That pattern is consistent. Now, is there something that
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often comes before the new birth itself?
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Yes, the sources point out that very often this supernatural
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work is preceded by a genuine conviction of sin.
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Not just feeling bad, but a deep awareness of falling short
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before God. Exactly.
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A profound sense of your own sinfulness, your unworthiness,
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your desperate need. This often comes when God's law
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and judgment are clearly proclaimed, reminding you that
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you're accountable to a holy God.
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The Spirit uses the Law to show us our need for the gospel.
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David Brainerd's testimony comes up here again.
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It does. He talked about that sudden
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sense of my danger and the wrath of God that hid him before he
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found peace, that conviction, that brokenness over sin.
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It prepared him, in a sense, to receive the balm of the gospel.
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It highlights that natural state again, spiritually dead, corrupt
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hearts, deceitful and sick. We need to see the sickness
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before we seek the cure. Well put.
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It underscores our need for God's intervention.
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So it all comes back to God's initiative, His sovereign will,
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His mercy. Peter says God caused us to be
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born again through Christ's resurrection.
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James says it was of his own will.
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That's right, It's crucial to understand we don't make the
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decision in order to be born again.
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Rather, God grants the new birth, which then enables us to
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truly believe and repent and follow Christ.
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God acts first. OK, so if it's fundamentally
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God's supernatural work, what does that mean for us,
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especially in evangelism or missions?
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What's our role? It means our primary posture has
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to be 1 of dependence. It means we absolutely must
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dedicate ourselves to prayer. We plead with God to do what
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only He can change hearts, bring life from death, create a new.
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Because the results we long for, genuine conversions, are
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entirely the Spirit's work. Utterly.
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Our plans, our strategies, our efforts, they're secondary.
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They must never replace that deep reliance on the Holy
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Spirit. We partner with him but he does
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the regenerating work. All right, let's shift now to
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the results. What happens after someone is
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born again? What are the radical effects?
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Well, first and foremost, you get a new heart and a new
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spirit. That dead, Stony heart is
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replaced with a living heart of flesh.
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God puts His own spirit within you, remaking you from the
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inside out. And this isn't just behaving
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better, it changes your actual desires.
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Yes, it goes deep. It addresses the appetites, Paul
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says. Those belonging to Christ have
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crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
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Your fundamental orientation changes.
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You start wanting different things.
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You stop offering yourself to sin and start offering yourself
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to God. Exactly.
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Brought from death to life, now living for righteousness.
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It's a radical shift in your deepest inclinations.
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And this is the foundation for ongoing growth for
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sanctification. Absolutely.
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The new birth is the starting point, The Fountainhead for all
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Christian growth and becoming more like Christ, Martyn Lloyd
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Jones said. Christians become children of
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God, Something happens to them. There is real transformation.
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It's not just a one time event, but the beginning of a process.
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Right, the apostle John puts it strongly.
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No one born of God makes a practice of sinning.
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God's seed abides in him. He cannot keep on sinning
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because he has been born of God. That doesn't mean sinless
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perfection, now does it? No, not in this life.
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But it means the dominant pattern, the direction, the
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desire of your life changes. You hate the sin you once loved.
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You're actively fighting it. Empowered by the Spirit, you're
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being changed from 1° of glory to another.
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God starts a good work and He will complete it.
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It also gives you a totally new identity, doesn't it?
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Completely. You become a new creature, a new
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creation in Christ. Paul's words again.
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Old things have passed away. Behold, the new has come.
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And this can mean letting go of your old identity, even things
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you were proud of, like Paul did.
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Yes, Paul counted all his religious achievements, his
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pedigree as loss as garbage. Compared to knowing Christ and
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having this new life, your primary identity becomes one who
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is born again by God as his child.
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And your whole perspective shifts how you see God,
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yourself, the world. Dramatically, you see God
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differently, not just as judge, but as your reconciled father.
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JC Rile described it so well. Being born again means a new
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mind, a new heart, new views, new principles, new tastes, new
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affections. New likes, new dislikes.
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New fears, new joys, new sorrows, new love to things once
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hated, new hatred to things once loved, new thoughts of God,
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ourselves, the world, the life to come, and salvation.
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It's a total inner revolution. Wow.
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And this new heart leads. It's to loving God's law.
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Yes, because God writes His law on that new heart.
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His Spirit causes you to want to walk in His ways.
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You consent to the law, you love it inwardly, you desire to obey
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it, and you grieve when you fail.
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And the fear is replaced by love.
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A love for God reenters the heart, a love that casts out
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fear, and this love naturally extends to others who share that
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new birth. Everyone who loves the father
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loves whoever has been born of him.
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Exactly. You become part of this
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incredible family, brothers and sisters in Christ, adopted
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children of the same father. It creates a unique bond.
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This new life also gives power, power to overcome the world.
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Yes, John says. Everyone who has been born of
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God overcomes the world, and it creates an outward impulse too.
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Towards missions. Towards service, definitely, the
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sources suggest a spontaneous question arises in the
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regenerate heart. Lord, what will you have me do?
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You want to live for him? Serve him.
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And often that leads to wanting others to know this new life
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too. Very often that desire to live
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for dying men, to obey the command to go into all the world
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and preach the gospel. This kind of transformed
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character born out of regeneration is seen as vital
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for any kind of leadership, especially in missions.
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That's a perfect segue into the historical impact.
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How has this doctrine fueled mission specifically?
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Let's start with Tyndale again. Right, William Tyndale.
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Why did he risk everything, capture execution to translate
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the Bible into English? Because he was utterly convinced
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that it was through hearing the gospel in their own tongue that
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the Spirit would open hearts, give grace, and bring people
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from death to life. He had to get the Word out there
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because it was the instrument of new birth.
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His understanding of regeneration fueled his
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dangerous work. Amazing.
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What about the Great Awakening? That whole period of revival in
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18th century America was largely driven by this idea of the new
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birth re emerging with power in places where it maybe become
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just a formality or was poorly understood.
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Figures like Whitefield and Edwards.
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George Whitefield preaching outdoors to massive crowds about
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the necessity of being born again, Jonathan Edwards, whose
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powerful preaching brought deep conviction of sin, paving the
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way for regeneration, and the tenants Gilbert and William.
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They started log college. Yes, specifically to train
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ministers who understood and had experienced this reality of new
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birth. They knew you couldn't lead
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others to it if you hadn't experienced it yourself.
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And David Brainard, again, his personal experience directly led
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to his work. Absolutely.
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His own journey through conviction and regeneration gave
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him that burning desire for the Native American tribes he worked
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among to experience the same spiritual life.
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His journals are full of prayers for God to work supernaturally,
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reflecting his deep understanding that only God
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could grant new birth. It seems this was foundational
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for institutions too, like Princeton Seminary.
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Very much so. Archibald Alexander, the
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founder, deeply believed that the most central event in the
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world is the birth of an immortal soul.
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That conviction about regeneration shaped the
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seminaries focus. And it had a huge missionary
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impact. Astonishingly so.
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In its first 50 years, about 1/3 of Princeton Seminary graduates
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went out as missionaries to Africa, China, all over, because
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they understood the core need was spiritual regeneration and
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they were equipped to preach the word that brings it.
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It's a powerful connection. Any other examples?
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Thomas Chalmers in Scotland is another great 1.
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He was a minister, smart, respected, but initially, by his
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own account, he had an experience regeneration herself.
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He had a person transformation. Yes, he came to see that peace
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wasn't found in trying to do this and live, but simply in
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believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
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That personal experience of new birth completely changed his
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ministry. And that had ripple effects.
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Huge effects His teaching and preaching became filled with
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this reality and from his ministry came men like Alexander
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Duff, who went on to have a massive impact on missions in
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India. It shows how one person's
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regeneration can spark global movements.
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So there's this pattern experience new birth, feel
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compelled to share it that question.
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Lord, what will you have me do? Often gets answered with Go
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preach the gospel. It seems to be a natural
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outflow, a desire born from the new life itself.
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OK, bringing this all together, what are the big implications
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for us today for contemporary missions for individual
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believers? Well first it's a challenge for
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self examination. Everyone, including ministers,
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missionaries, church leaders needs to honestly ask, have I
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truly been born again? Have I experienced this
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supernatural change myself? Because history shows it's
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possible to preach it without possessing it.
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Sadly, yes, leading to superficial ministry, maybe even
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burnout because you're trying to give what you don't have.
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And it impacts our view of leadership character.
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Absolutely, if Newber is if the source of holiness and growth,
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then character that reflects genuine conversion isn't just
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nice to have, it's non negotiable for leadership,
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especially in missions. We shouldn't lower the bar just
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because the context is difficult.
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True conversion produces spiritual life.
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What about our methods then, if it's supernatural?
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It drives us back to prayer. Deep, dependent, persistent
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prayer. Pleading with God to do what
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only He can do. Change hearts, bring life from
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death. The results are His work.
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Our plans are useless without His power.
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So less reliance on strategy, more on supplication.
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Maybe a better way to put it is that our strategies must be
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saturated with and secondary to our reliance on the Spirit
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through prayer. And the instrument he uses.
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The Word of God. This means an absolute
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dedication to proclaiming God's word is paramount.
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The primacy and glory of preaching shouldn't be
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compromised or downplayed in missions.
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That's the spirits chosen sword. Which pushes back against trends
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that minimize teaching or preaching.
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Directly, if we believe regeneration comes through the
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word, we have to be committed to faithfully explaining and
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proclaiming that word. And finally, this understanding
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helps us evaluate different approaches to missions.
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It does. It forces us to reject
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approaches that you know, maybe neglect A biblical conversion,
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dismiss the need for prayer, avoid preaching, or compromise
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with non Christian practices like allowing converts to
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continue worshipping false gods. Or fail to establish the church
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under Christ's Lordship. Right, we have to hold firm to
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the core message Jesus gave Nicodemus.
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You must be born again. That's the non negotiable
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center. So here's something to think
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about as we close if the new birth really is the source, The
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Fountainhead of genuine Christian character and
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effective missions, what areas in our own lives, or maybe in
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our churches, need a fresh look through this lens?
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What does it really mean for you listening right now to be born
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again and to live out that new reality day by day?