The above is the 11th in the series of 16 short video clips from RC Sproul that I have been commenting on in my blog. In this video he tries to explain and justify Reformed or Calvinistic theology of “regeneration” (that regeneration precedes faith), as distinguished from what he calls modern Evangelicalism’s mass appeal to “make a decision, come forward, exercise faith, and then you will be born again”. It is one of the longer of the short 16 video clips. It is just under 5 minutes long, and the transcript of it is as follows:
“Recently a book was published by David Hunt, you know, in which he gives a comprehensive critique of Calvinism; and on the front cover of that book there is an endorsement by Tim LaHaye in which he said, This may be the most important or significant book of the 21st century! I thought, Wow! If it is a refutation of biblical theology, it could be the most significant book of the 20th century! And I opened it up and looked at the first page, and there is my name, right at the beginning. And Dave Hunt tells in here that he really wasn’t eager to plunge himself into this debate until he began to realize everywhere he goes, he is bumping into Reformed theology; and he mentions me, and he says RC Sproul is teaching this stuff on the radio across the nation five days a week. And then if you turn the page, he talks about an encounter he has with a pastor; and the whole dispute is over the question of the order of salvation: which comes first, faith or being born again; because if there is anything that is unique to Reformed theology, it is the idea that regeneration or rebirth precedes faith; that is, it is a logical precession, not necessarily a temporal one. But the chicken and the egg here: regeneration comes first, and then faith.
“And that flies in the face of the whole history of modern Evangelicalism, and the appeal in mass evangelism: make a decision, come forward, exercise faith, and then you will be born again; whereas we take the position that in our natural state, we are dead in our sins, we are in a state of spiritual death; we are what the Bible calls in a state of the flesh; and we are told that the that which is born of the flesh, Jesus says is flesh; and Jesus also says the flesh profits nothing. And Luther commented on that passage, and saying, that that nothing does not mean a little something!
“And so the idea here is, as Jesus said to Nicodemus, unless a man is born again. Now that is, the word “unless” suggests something that has to happen first, a necessary condition. He says “unless” a man is born again, he can’t even see the kingdom of God, let alone enter it. But we have a whole generation now who believes that unregenerate people can see the kingdom, can choose the kingdom, can believe in Christ, can enter into a saving relationship, while they are still dead in their sins and trespasses.
“Doesn’t anybody ever read the second chapter of Ephesians when Paul tells us that is while we are dead, while we are in that state of impotence, of moral inability, that Jesus describes in John: no man can come to me, that is nobody has the power, nobody has the ability to come to me, unless the Father gives it to him. And without that gift, that Paul again in Ephesians 2 says, is the gift by which we are quickened by the Holy Spirit, so that the very faith that is born in us is the gift of God, it is the result of the Spirit having changed our heart.
“Let me say it another way, until God the Holy Spirit changes the disposition of my soul, I will never have faith in Christ, I will never embrace him, I will never decide for him in any redemptive way, I will never truly choose him, because my heart is still bound up in sin, and that has to change. And I think a lot of the confusion here has to do with a misunderstanding of the word rebirth or regeneration.
“We tend to think of rebirth as the whole new Christian life, rather than the very first step; and in Reformed theology we tighten that down, and we say, No, the first step is the initiative of God, the work that the Holy Spirit performs in our hearts to change our minds, to bring us to Christ, to bring us to faith. And so we say that has to happen first, just like Paul says: one can plant, another can water, but only God can bring the increase. And so that is where the real collision point is, whether man can believe out of the flesh, or whether God has to change that heart before we believe.”
The highlighted passage in the last paragraph identifies his main point. His main theological point is that man in his natural state is “spiritually dead;” that in his corpse-like state he is incapable of seeing or recognizing, let alone responding to anything from God; and that he needs to be “regenerated” first by a unilateral act of God (independent of anything that he could do, or any contribution that he could make towards it himself), to be able to see and recognize the things of God; and thus to believe or exercise faith, and be saved.
In other words, in his theology regeneration, and thus faith and salvation, is entirely a unilateral act of God over which man has no control, and to which he has no contribution to make. And he contrasts that with modern Evangelicalism’s “mass appeal” movement, and: “make a decision, come forward, exercise faith, and then you will be born again,” culture. The video contains many other subtleties and nuances (most of them incorrect), which would be too tedious to attempt to unpack, analyze, dissect, and give a detailed response to; so I will confine it to the above two concepts.
So which one is right, the popular Evangelical mass appeal movement; or the Reformed and Calvinistic one which he has outlined, and which he adheres to? The answer is that neither of them is correct. The Bible teaches neither. It teaches something different. The Bible teaches that faith comes by “hearing the word of God”:
Romans 10:
17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
If “hearing the word of God” comes first, then “regeneration” can’t be the first thing that precedes faith. So how does “hearing the word of God” generate faith? These verses explain how:
Luke 24:
49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high [to preach the gospel].
Acts 1:
8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
1 Corinthians 14:
24 But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all:
25 And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.
1 Thessalonians 1:
5 For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.
So the biblical answer is that when the gospel is preached by those directly sent from God (not by Evangelicals or Calvinists), it is preached by the power of the Holy Ghost, and therefore it is accompanied by the convincing power of God, which carries conviction, or bears witness to the heart of those that hear, that the words spoken are true, and came from God. Those who hear then have a choice to either receive that witness and be converted, or else to harden their hearts against it:
Hebrews 3:
7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
• • •
14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
Hebrews 4:
7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Those who hear then have the option to receive the witness, or harden their hearts against it, as some did:
Acts 6:
10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.
Acts 7:
51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
If the Holy Ghost can be “resisted,” then they can’t be corpse-like dead. A corpse can’t “resist” anything. But if they choose not to harden their hearts, but receive the message, then faith is generated, resulting in conviction and conversion, leading to baptismal regeneration and the gift of the Holy Ghost, where the final renewal and regeneration of the Spirit takes place, when they become “new creatures” sanctified by the Holy Ghost; the old man of sin having passed away, and they begin to live in newness of life to God.
Romans 6:
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
2 Corinthians 5:
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
That is the correct biblical doctrine of regeneration. It is neither the same as the heretical Calvinistic one that he is advocating, nor the same as the equally false Evangelical one that he is criticizing. And the idea that man is corpse-like dead, and unable to respond to God, or do anything righteous is equally false. The Bible teaches that light of Christ is given every man who comes into the world, without exception:
John 1:
9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
Romans 1:
20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
If they are “without excuse,” that means that enough light and discernment has been given them to perceive and know, by the Spirit of God, of the existence of God, “from the things that are made”. And the Bible teaches that all mankind, without exception, are capable of knowing good, doing good, and being good, and thus be approved by God and be saved:
Acts 10:
34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:
35 But in every nation [and religion] he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.
Romans 2:
6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:
8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
11 For there is no respect of persons with God.
12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;
13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
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