The Language of Salvation: Discovering the Riches of What It Means to Be Saved

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The Language of Biology

From Death to Life

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

2 Corinthians 5:17

In theology, a term may become a catchword for biblical teaching even though it is not regularly used in Scripture. We have such a term with regeneration. Some readers may find it surprising I begin here. Would it not be wiser to initiate a discussion about biblical salvation by sticking to common biblical terminology?

The Greek word palingenesia (palin: again, and genesia: to bear) means new genesis or return to existence.¹ Before the Greek word genesia was employed by the biblical authors to signify a spiritual rebirth, it was used in everyday Greek to refer to birthdays.

Palingenesia is found two times in the New Testament to signify regeneration (Matt. 19:28, Titus 3:5). Yet, in Matthew the word refers to all things in general and not the matter of personal salvation, so we have just one reference in which palingenesia is used precisely for individual salvation. Despite this fact, it is an appropriate word to use when speaking of Christian salvation. The beauty of regeneration is that it is an umbrella term for several biblical concepts. New creation, rebirth, and born again are all encompassed in the idea of regeneration, and repentance and conversion only make sense in the context of regeneration.

You are either spiritually dead or you are alive. Those who are regenerated have moved from death to life. This is the fundamental way to articulate biblical salvation.

Reborn Misunderstanding

The quintessential passage for regeneration is found in the conversation Jesus had with Nicodemus.

Jesus answered him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born? Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ (John 3:3–7)

Nicodemus misunderstood Jesus and was limited to thinking in fleshly categories. The same may be true in particular Christian circles today. I am fearful that we have thrown around the term born again in such a sloppy manner that we have lost the power of the phrase.

An example can be seen in the definitions used by the religious pollster George Barna: "‘Born again Christians’ are defined as people who said they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today and who also indicated they believe that when they die they will go to Heaven because they had confessed their sins and had accepted Jesus Christ as their savior. Respondents are not

asked to describe themselves as ‘born again.’"²

There is something unsatisfactory about this broad definition.³ I fear that once the understanding of born again is watered down to this level, any measurement of who constitutes this group becomes of little use. Those who believe they are born again according to this definition may find the actual requirements of Jesus to be far more stringent, and they may be fooling themselves into believing they are genuinely among the regenerated.⁴

In Namibia, the African country in which I served as a missionary and seminary professor for fourteen years, a strange development has taken place in its Christianity. To be born again is tied to certain groups or denominations, normally those of a charismatic or Pentecostal flavor. I would ask Christians from mainline denominations if they were born again and I frequently received utter shock or outright laughter. What, me, born again? No way!

A young lady who wanted to learn more about the Bible came to our seminary and I suggested she take Old and New Testament Survey. When she told her Christian mother and siblings what she planned to do, they were aghast. You aren’t going to become one of those ‘born agains’ are you? they asked. The simple desire to know more about God’s Word was met with opposition.

I fear that evangelicals around the world have begun to similarly misunderstand the dramatic nature of what it means to be born again. That misunderstanding finds its root in the misapprehension of another key Christian concept: sin and its effect.

Spiritual Cancer

Every person has a sickness, a disease that results in spiritual death, thus making regeneration necessary. If no such illness existed, we would have no need to speak of regeneration or rebirth or being born again.

During the presidential race that took place in the early 1990s between George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton, there was a famous line from Clinton’s side that bluntly summed up the reason why, according to Democrats, Bush didn’t get it. It’s the economy, stupid. Theologically speaking, the same could be applied to any system of salvation that does not take into account the problem of sin. It’s sin, stupid.

It is not uncommon to find Christians who shun discussions about sin. Theirs is a desire to be positive. The power of positive thinking preachers actively eliminate all talk they deem damaging to a person’s self-esteem or that could cause people to think lowly of themselves. However, it does little good to tell a man standing on the rails oblivious to the oncoming train that he should ignore the existence of trains and instead concentrate on positive things, so as to not damage his tender ego. When the train eventually arrives, it will be more than his ego that is ruined in the collision.

Why do so many people want to avoid the topic of sin? Perhaps it is because a proper, biblical recognition of the plight of humanity yields a realization that there is not one spiritually acceptable thing about us. This perspective is loathsome to those who prefer a loftier view of humanity.

In Paul’s discourse in Romans 3:10–18, this is the verdict when it comes to the evaluation of sin and its effects on humanity:

"None is righteous, no, not one;

no one understands;

no one seeks for God.

All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;

no one does good,

not even one."

"Their throat is an open grave;

they use their tongues to deceive."

The venom of asps is under their lips.

Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.

"Their feet are swift to shed blood;

in their paths are ruin and misery,

and the way of peace they have not known."

There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Incredibly, the majority of Paul’s quotations in this passage come from the Psalms, that book in the Old Testament most liked by Christians for its feel-good messages and power to lift us up when we are down. Paul gathers these Old Testament quotations to make a comprehensive point that serves as the crowning argument begun in the first chapter of this epistle.

That argument follows a straightforward path. The wickedness of humanity has caused sinners to suppress the truth of God’s existence as found in his creation. We have a hypocritical propensity to judge the sins of others while ignoring our own failings. Despite knowing the truth, humanity under the power of sin is unrepentant and unwilling to turn from its evil. Jesus concurs:

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. (John 3:19–20)

Paul continues the argument in Romans by saying that the Jews disobeyed the law of Moses while the Gentiles violated their own consciences. In every measurable way, the conclusion comes up the same. Everyone is under sin and its power. The problem is universal, and no one escapes it.

In the Romans passage above, we see sin’s damning effect. Sin has destroyed the ability of sinners to perform acts that are righteous and good. Both their character and their conduct are corrupt. In turning from God, their feet are swift to shed blood. The absence of the fear of the Lord results in creatures who are worthless.

However, no matter how much we read the Bible, virtually none of us is willing to admit that we are this bad. Self-righteousness is the common ailment of all humanity. When we read this indictment of sinners, our natural tendency is to think that Paul is referring to somebody else.

We ignore in our own lives the list of atrocities enumerated by Paul earlier in Romans 1. Because we have never committed murder, we think it fair to overlook the hatred in our hearts. Because we have never stolen, we think it reasonable to ignore our motives driven by greed. We may not slander, but we often gossip. We may not boast, yet we still harbor pride in our souls. We have become so adept concentrating on the sins of others that we ignore our own. The really nasty sins are the ones performed by those people. We have placed price tags on iniquity, and our sins receive the bargain values. Is it any wonder why self-deception is a real possibility when a sinner is under the deadening power of an unregenerate soul?

The realization of humanity’s utter corruption smacks human pride to the core. It is why wicked sinners can suppress the truth readily evident in God’s creation (Rom. 1:18–20). Spiritual destitution is not pretty, but instead of sugarcoating our plight, God gives us the straight talk. We are corrupt to the core and nothing but a new beginning can cure us. It is not as if all we have is a gangrenous appendage that must be removed. The entire carcass is riddled with the cancer of sin. The whole body needs to be discarded in order for a new one to be raised up.

A spirit of humanism is still alive and well today, but unfortunately it is also flourishing in many of our churches. This is why secular concepts of self-esteem and self-reliance have so easily infiltrated Christian circles. As surely as Adam and Eve were inclined to recast the words of God to their own liking, sinful human beings are similarly inclined today. We hear talk of the spark within or some phrase that implies humanity has the ability to reinvigorate and revive itself. In certain Christian circles there is an implied pull yourself up by your spiritual bootstraps attitude. Humankind is spiritually dead, but we will have none of that talk. The fruit does not kill but rather gives genuine life. And the serpent still lisps the same lie today: We are not spiritually dead, and if we sincerely try harder, God will approve of our efforts.

When I was growing up, I had the distinct impression that regeneration came after conversion. After I had repented of my sins and converted, then I would become born again. I had a faulty impression that a dead person could first repent and turn to God and then enjoy regeneration. How wrong I was.

It Is Not a Cooperative Effort

Virtually every religion is based upon human effort. In Islam, for example, one’s salvation is determined by five pillars upon which the Islamic faith is built.

1. The confession of faith ( kalima ): There is no god but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet.

2. Prayer five times a day

3. Fasting in the holy month of Ramadan

4. Charitable giving

5. A pilgrimage ( hajj ) to Mecca, if possible, once in a person’s lifetime. ⁵

Devout Muslims believe that in religiously following these pillars they will have the hope of attaining eternal life. In many respects, salvation is quite simple in this system. A confession of faith and a few good deeds is all it takes.

In Roman Catholicism, there is a similar reliance on human effort, albeit more nuanced. This system of salvation can be summarized in five steps:

1. Salvation involves becoming righteous like God. The basic assumption is that God cannot accept you unless you are righteous.

2. This righteousness can be obtained through works of merit given by God.

3. Individuals want to have these merits count towards their salvation.

4. Christ earned this merit, which the priest can access through the sacraments.

5. By partaking of the sacraments, individuals become more righteous and able to perform good works that increase their righteousness.

There is a mutual effort in Catholic salvation, a God helps those who help themselves approach. God does his gracious part through the sacraments, while sinners via their own good works cooperate in the process. There can be no question that at the end people can say they have contributed to their salvation.

All the religions of the world have spiritually dead people trying to save themselves. Even some self-professed evangelicals believe they are going to be saved because of their good works. This was driven home to me a few years ago during a Bible study at an evangelical church in Windhoek. About twenty-five young people were there. The simple question was asked, Why do you think you will go to heaven when you die? One after the other spoke about the good things they had done, or the bad things they had avoided. Just one spoke about faith in Jesus and his own inability to get to heaven any other way. Yet every person was a professed evangelical Christian.

Worship and the Language of Regeneration

Some believers operate under the principle that as long as they pray, read their Bible, and tithe, God is obligated to give them what they want. Many Christians approach worship this way as well, seeing their two hours spent every Sunday morning as worthy of divine remuneration. However, once we realize that we are dead and bring nothing to God that he does not already have—Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine (Job 41:11; also Rom. 11:35)—we recognize that even in worship, we are the ones who must receive from God.

Jesus announces an incredible truth, one that even the chosen people of God, the Jews, had failed to grasp. Salvation can never come about by human effort, because salvation involves something that transcends fleshly ability. This is why it can only be by grace. Salvation via human effort must inevitably be by merit, an earned salvation. But as we will see in the next chapter on justification, no such possibility exists.

Dead Flesh

We are not dealing with whole or healthy humans who then attempt to save themselves through their works of righteousness. As unbelievers, we are dead in [our] trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1). There would be no demand for rebirth or regeneration if we were still spiritually animated. Jesus’ words would be nonsensical. Why the need to be born again if you are already alive? The formulation birth—still alive—rebirth makes no sense. But birth—death—rebirth does. Only that which is already dead must be born again.

What spiritual deadness implies is the inability to positively respond to God’s call. A person must be born of the Spirit to make spiritual choices. Paul writes in Romans 8:7–8,

For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

There is both an inability and an active hostility toward the will of God in unregenerate humanity. The corpse cannot do anything pleasing to God. Its power solely exists in the ability to do evil and as such, it can never please God. Paul communicates much the same thing in his letter to Titus, where he says that unbelievers are unfit for any good work (Titus 1:16).

In Romans 8, Paul envisions two kinds of people, those who have been given life by God’s Spirit, and those who still remain dead in their sins. There is no third option. Either a person is dead or regenerated, controlled by the sinful mind or controlled by the Spirit. Paul uses the word flesh ten times in the span of seven verses (3–9), plus three more instances in verses 12–13. When he speaks of those who live according to the flesh, we see the intimate connection between Paul’s teaching and that of Jesus to Nicodemus. Sinful flesh continues to produce sinful flesh; it can never please God. God is exclusively pleased by works performed through the power of his