Hope and HolinessSample

Do You Not Know?— Regeneration: The Creation of the Gospel

Key Question: How does knowing you are regenerated by the Holy Spirit enable and empower sexual purity?

There are two aspects by which regeneration is to be understood: re-creation and purification. Both constitute the total change that occurs in a sinner’s heart when the Holy Spirit raises him from death to life, delivers him from the domain of darkness, and transfers him to the kingdom of God’s beloved Son. In re-creation, the Holy Spirit, through the announcement of the gospel, sovereignly and graciously raises to life in Christ those who are spiritually dead. In Ephesians 2:4–5, Paul writes,

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.”

In short, the Holy Spirit re-creates in newness of life, as Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:17,

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

Regeneration also entails purification, whereby the Holy Spirit purges our inner defilement. I suspect Paul begins with this emphasis because he addresses sexual immorality, which defiles both body and spirit. Because nothing unrighteous or unclean will enter God’s kingdom (1 Cor. 6:9–10; Rev. 21:27), the unrighteous must be spiritually cleansed to enter the kingdom. The “you were washed” wording stresses the removal of dirt and refers to the inward, spiritual cleansing of the filth of past sins. . .

“Do you know that you have been washed, brought to life by the Holy Spirit?” Regeneration is the basis of and power for obedience (cf. Ezek. 36:25–27). It is not a moral makeover but a whole new identity—a resurrection (Eph. 2:5–6), ex nihilo creation (2 Cor. 4:6). Regeneration brings an eternal cleansing, a particular blessing for all who are held captive by regret and shame from sexual failures.

Prayer: Almighty God, our heavenly Father, thank you for the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit, who is the Lord, the giver of life. Help us know that we are new creations in Christ so we might live a life of holiness based on our new identity in Him through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.