Does Regeneration Cause Faith?

Faith is a gift from God in the sense that He has given mankind the ability to believe. We are then responsible for how we exercise that gift.

Awesome title picture

I've been really struggling to understand this, I'm confused and it seems to me like someone started following man even though we are supposed to follow Jesus.

I don't agree with Calvinism so what is there? I don't know what denomination I'd be? Is there any one who has followed Christ comparing everything to scripture?

Why can’t faith and regeneration be an indivisible unity, two (notionally different, but in action identical) aspects of the same thing - that thing being, the process of conversion ? Maybe each one is impossible without the other. STM that to single out either of them as prior in time or in action to the other, is unrealistic, and raises (needless ?) problems. 
The whole debate sounds very like the debate over faith and works - in both cases, a pair of things is separated artificially, that are separable, not in reality, but only as concepts.
Maybe the absence from Scripture of a systematic treatise On Faith and Regeneration, crossing all the T and dotting all the Is, is a hint that Faith in Christ and Regeneration in Christ cannot be divided, but belong to each other and in each other.
Do Arminians & Calvinists differ on this ?

This video (the first 33 minutes) is a great basic overview, from a provisionist, of the way a provisionist and a calvinist sees this issue or regeneration and faith. As Dr Flowers said, 101. Tis' truly a great resource!

Thank you so much for this video, really good, appreciate the time gone into this.

How do we interpret this verse in Acts, seems to me that it talks about those that had been chosen or elected "first", and then "second" they believed.
I would love to hear your thoughts.

Acts 13:48
48 When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.

Regards

Sowing the seed the word of GOD comes first which produces faith

If grace comes before faith, why can’t regeneration be recognized as that grace?

Two things: 1. You should stop and take a breath now and then, and speak a bit slower. So that your message can sink in. 2. The quality of your camera is not good. It makes the whole sermon to look old and a bit unprofessional.

👏 👏👏 amen! The balance is needed. When I left the Kenneth Copeland camp, I thought Calvinism was the only alternative!! I was scared for a minute but then found your channel and I thank God for it. :)

This is a great video.

Awesome material! Thanks professor!

Calvinism is confusing.

I’ve heard of the “Law of First Mention”. If understood correctly, interpretation is best served by where a text is first mentioned in scripture is used to come to a correct conclusion.

If so, Genesis 2:16-17 is the 1st mention that man will die if they ate the fruit. Genesis 3:1-5 is first mention of the discussion between Eve and Satan about what happens if you eat of the fruit in the midst of the garden. Genesis 3:6-7 is first mention of the First Couple eating the fruit and it says they knew they were naked and sewed fig leaves to cover it. In Genesis 3:8 is first mention of how they heard God walking in the midst of the Garden. It also says they hid themselves from Him. Genesis 3:9-13 is first mention of God talking to them about this new situation and them listening to Him. Crickets from Augustinianism.

So...how is it there’s no first mention in this text of God opening their ears to hear Him walking in the garden? Or first mention of God opening their eyes to see their nakedness? Of first mention of God regenerating them to know they were to hide from Him? If they are dead, how can this be? If anything, all of mankind is more aware of God’s presence more now than ever due to the fall!! How can they hate Him as the Calvinist would say if they can’t “know” Him in deadness?

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How is it if you look at the Bible big picture you see God creating man. No mention of man’s inability. That first couple made a costly decision on their own. God intervened to make good of a bad situation-a miracle. Same thing happens to the first family He chose, Abraham and Sarah. They started out right but chose to do wrong. Again God intervened to bring about good-another miracle. Then we get Jesus! The church was the new blessing to all the earth but we see she’s not perfect yet either. God is going to intervene again-the miracle of all time!!! But if I’m not mistaken, aren’t those in the Battle of Armageddon actually those who will know who they are fighting(actually Him they are fighting. We’ll just come dressed up in battle array to look purdy)? Like the angels in Heaven, man will try to defy and defeat God one last time?

When I look at all scripture, I see this ebb and flow of man doing bad and God taking those bad decisions and turning them into good conclusions.

If this is all predetermined, wouldn’t God be guilty of deception in the majority of scripture? I mean He makes it looks like we’re free to choose but we’re actually not free to choose. I could see the title on Time magazine: The Deception of God!!

Amazing how he uses John 1:12 to talk about regeneration without going to the very next verse which actually tells us how we’re born again! he is either very ignorant of the scriptures or he is being deceitful, I hope it’s the former

A little strange the way he keeps calling faith “filthy in Gods sight”. Seems to oppose 1 Peter 1:7 where our faith is called “more precious than gold”.

Calvinists flip the following verse, John 20:31 “and by believing you may have life through his name”. It seems like twisting Scripture.

It seems that You need faith to Repent, faith to Believe in Jesus, faith to be baptized, Faith to receive the Holy Spirit. Faith cometh by hearing the word of God. Conversion is a turn around, it is a human act. to make a turn around. you need to make a turn around. We are commanded to Repent, Believe, be Baptize and Receive. the Holy Spirit. 4 stages of human Action. The act of turning.

God also grants us Repentance, Faith is not of ourselves it is a gift from God. , it is God who washes my sins in baptism, it is God who pours out The third person of the Trinity. the Holy Spirit on Me. God's Acts.

Arminian and Calvinist stress only one thing but the truth is that it is neither it is cooperation between God and man.

Regeneration is a Process. We are commanded to do all the above. God Grants Repentance, gives faith to believe, washes us clean, and pours out his Holy Spirit. it is not one or the other,
There is an order in entering into the Kingdom of God. Repent, Believe, Be Baptized, Receive the Holy Spirit.

Regeneration is not instantaneous happening, it is a process.

Liberals emphasize Repentance, Evangelicals Faith alone, Sacramental churches emphasize Baptism, and Pentecostal churches emphasize Baptism in Holy Spirit. As ways how you become a Christian. You need to have the whole truth. You need all 4. Faith being the key to it all, faith that encompasses all, faith that allows for repentance, faith to believe in Jesus. and faith that receives baptism and the Holy Spirit.

You receive the Holy Spirit, you believe in Jesus, you repent to the Father. We should not tell unbelievers to receive Jesus but rather the Holy Spirit.

preach repentance to the nations, preach the gospel with persuasion, how shall anyone believe if it is not preached, Baptize them in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. They Apostles were told to wait for the Holy Spirit.

Paul reminds us that we repented and turned from idols. , that we believed that we were baptized and that you died and were buried with Christ. did you receive the Holy Spirit by faith or works of the law.

Most texts on repentance are texts about commands to repent man converting turning, imperative. Faith is more often text about God giving one faith, Baptism is mostly about what God does, The Holy Spirit is mostly all God's work. we just receive.

John 3:16 is written to believers.
God is a Righteous God.
God has shown us his love by respecting our choices. God has done all to persuade us to come to him. God provided a way of salvation. God wants all to come to salvation but God knows that it will be a minority that accepts the message.
We should not preach For God so loved the world to unbelievers but rather that God is a Righteous God,that repentance and confession with God you are a sinner.
Trust in Jesus. Receiving the Holy Spirit. All through faith we must turn to God.

You do not receive Jesus, You have faith in Jesus, you receive the Holy Spirit. This is part of the problem with the modern version of the Gospel.
Repentance and the Kingdom of God was preached by Jesus and the Disciples, God's righteousness. God's love was not preached. That is not to say that God is not love. God's love is conditional and unconditional in some cases.
2 Gospels were written for believers John and Matthew , and 2 were written for unbelievers. Luke and Mark. John does not mention repentance. It was written to Non Jewish believers so they could understand that Jesus is God, that it is essential to believe in him as such. It is so they continue believing. This was a counter to some of the doctrines coming into the church that Jesus was not fully God.
Hearing the word of God Causes faith,
Salvation is not a lottery. We are not lucky ones it is not chance. We are saved by grace. We are confronted with the law, and our need to repent. Not because God Loves us but because God is just, Good, Holy and completely Righteous do we come to the Lord in faith. God is love which encompasses all that is Good. Let's be thankful that God loves us to show us the errors of our ways and that God provides a way to make us righteous, so we can have fellowship with God and can be in God's family. As it is we are outside of God's family. The unsaved are not adopted yet into the family of God.

Leighton, you keep referring to False Gospel giving, False teaching/doctrine giving people as "friends".

Would you please give your viewers 1 or 2 verses or passages from the New Testament Epistles, addressing the Body of Christ "not under law but under grace", that teach that someone giving a False Gospel or False teaching/doctrine is our "friend".

Teaching that one is regenerated/born again before even hearing about and believing in Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sins and salvation is False, this is a False GOSPEL. When one teaches that one having FAITH in Jesus is "working for/earning salvation" this is a False GOSPEL.

Neither the Apostle Paul, Apostle Peter, Jude, (nor Jesus addressing Israel under the Laws of Moses for their righteousness in the Gospel accounts of his coming to Israel alone, etc.) say or exhort friendliness, infact, as you know, condemnation is applied. Everyone claims they are giving scriptures that say or teach what they claim but we've yet to hear scripture for friendliness towards those teaching FALSE doctrine, including a False Gospel.

There is, also, no scripture in the New Testament Epistles where "how to be saved", under Grace not laws, is explained/taught that requires: "acknowledging one is a sinner" "and" believing in Jesus for attaining forgiveness of sins and salvation. Only by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ is one forgiven of their sins and saved, including all that ramifies because of belief in Jesus.

The Gospel tells one Jesus died for his or her sins, etc. The Gospel of one's salvation presumes the one to be a sinner, consistent with God's breathed words.

Thank you, Dr. Flowers for your work. The clarity you provide here is extremely helpful. The obligation v.s. character distinction in terms of God’s grace was especially helpful. Furthermore, despite how hard Reformed folks try to argue it, the Bible shows that faith is not a work!

Still amazed that this is even a discussion.
Calvinists.... Please.... Just stop 🤦‍♂️

NOPE!

Believing or coming to the reality that you are a sinner and already condemned to Hell. Then trusting by faith in who Jesus is and what he has done to give you forgiveness and new life being born again of a new spirit.

This is a really good video.

Calvinists confuse revelation with regeneration.
It is true that no one can believe until God gives revelation of the sin nature in light of His holiness which drives the sinner to Christ for refuge.
In other words, unless the Holy Spirit reveals to sinners how offensive sin is and they can see their sin as God sees it. They will never need Christ. This is called revelation not regeneration. That is why preaching has to be with unction. That is why God has to send the Holy Spirit in revival. That is why Jesus didn't send his disciples to preach before they were endued with the Holy Spirit and told them to go wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father.
On the other hand, people can be given revelation and resist it, which also happens in revival. Such case was Aaron Burr, the wayward grandson of Jonathan Edwards, also known as the man who killed Alexander Hamilton. He resisted the Holy Spirit during time of revival. He was under conviction of sin but told God," If you leave me alone I will leave you alone". His conviction went away and was forever lost, never again had any desire for Christianity.

My faith in God preceded my salvation. This is my anecdote. But I will say, after my salvation, I did get a huge boost of faith, akin to an injection of adrenaline. And through the process of sanctification, it's continued to grow.

Titus 3:5-8 - He saved us, not by works which we did in righteousness, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that having been justified by His grace, we would become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God will be intent to lead in good works. These things are good and profitable for men.

We were saved according to His mercy through regeneration and being born again by the Holy Spirit. He justified us so that we would become heirs. In speaking of “heirs” both here and elsewhere, Paul (as well as James, James 2:5, and Peter, 1 Peter 3:7) makes reference to Roman law; no one does anything to become an heir, rather, it is an inheritance through the grace of the one who dies, bestowed upon individuals of his choosing (cf. Romans 8:16-17, Galatians 4:1-7). Belief is a fruit of that regeneration whereby the regenerated individual leads in good works that are good and profitable. The practice of good works through faith is for the purpose of keeping the individual from falling back into the “weak and worthless elemental things” to which he was once enslaved (cf. Galatians 4:8-11); faith is “walking by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16), in order that one will not carry out the desire of the flesh; it is not a condition within man that God looks for before He will save them.

You really are making a big difference Dr. Flowers. Thanks. And praise God.

No scripture that points toward rebirth before faith are you kidding me John 3

Leighton, I believe in provisionism just like you, but I don't believe John 1:12 is meant to be used as an evangelistic tool. John is talking about when Jesus was on earth, that those who received Him (His own people, the Jews, and literally receiving Him into their homes etc.), were born of God. Ever since the heavens received Him out of sight, we are told to believe in the Lord Jesus and "receive" the Holy Spirit.

There's even 2 types of descriptions for the blood of Christ in Calvinism: Sufficient for all, efficient for the elect. You make a great point about all the dualistic theological containers calvinism creates in order to explain away any contrary scriptures to their neatly packaged system.

Maybe I'll use this video in a Livestream to help my friends understand Calvinism. That's if you give me permission to review it. What do you say?

Maybe I'll just cover the article in a Livestream. If that's alright with you

It is hard to not think this is purposefully wrong on the part of the calvinist. There is far too much evidence against their claim of regeneration preceding faith to think otherwise. It is an agenda to push man down and make them feel less than for some reason. I just have to know they cannot be this ignorant of the scriptures to believe that genuinely

Leighton is assuming that Calvinists think we regenerate ourselves

Our faith is like a filthy rag?

This is written to the unregenerate person, and that answers the question.
2 Timothy 3:15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

It all comes down to the attitude that you bring to the Scriptures.

We treat "salvation" as though everyone knows what it is. If I understand the NT usage of the word and its variants, salvation is multifaceted - justification, sanctification, and glorification. Whenever the word or its variants are used we should note the context because that can identify which kind of salvation the author is discussing. This is very important to understanding, for example, Eph 2:8,9. In that case, Paul is talking about salvation from being a child of wrath, e.g. our past sinful life. He does not have eternal life in view in that context. Because salvation is ambiguous people frequently conflate the different aspects of it.

The humbling yourself, and ability to see God somewhat clearly, is the effect of grace. Nowhere in the Bible does it say it initiates grace. God responding to it is taking part in creation. How could an all knowing God spontaneously react. It doesnt even make sense of you hold the Biblical definition of God.

The Bible is SO CLEAR that faith precedes regeneration - it is stunning and shocking and appalling that anyone can believe the exact opposite.

You continue to ignore and pervert the question of from where does faith originate. You insist it is intrinsic to man. Eph. 2:8-9 says otherwise, that it is a gift from God. Also, if Jesus died for everyone then, why did Jesus say only those whom the Father draws can come to Him? Why did Jesus plainly teach He does NOT pray for everyone but, only for those the Father has given Him? How does a dead man do anything, come to Jesus, believe, or anything else? You teach false doctrine.

I am relatively new to this channel. But so far this has been to best and clearest explanation of the crux of the issue. So thankful for you. I have always struggled with the picture of God painted by Calvinists. He seemed more like Allah than YHWH. This is the LORD I read about in His word! 🙌🏻

So, these folks who believe the Calvinism way, have they truly been saved?

It's hardly an exaggeration to say that those individuals professing calvinistic beliefs have done as much or more damage to the profession of true Christianity than any seeker sensitive or prosperity preaching ever has.

One day we will look back and see how Calvinism inverted the word of God

This is one of your best podcasts. It's rich with Biblical truth. God bless you, Leighton!