Covenant Reformed News – January 2020 • Volume XVII, Issue 21
This article from Covenant Reformed News explains the doctrine of regeneration by distinguishing between two aspects: immediate regeneration (God's sovereign planting of new life by the Holy Spirit) and mediate regeneration (God's use of His Word to bring that life to manifestation in conscious faith and repentance). The author carefully exegetes 1 Peter 1:23, noting Herman Hoeksema's analysis of the Greek prepositions (ek and dia) that distinguish the seed of regeneration from the means of regeneration.
The Two Aspects of Regeneration We may biblically and helpfully distinguish two stages or aspects or senses of regeneration, also known as the new birth or our being spiritually begotten. First, there is immediate regeneration. At the very start of His applying to us the salvation the Lord Jesus purchased for us, God plants the seed of the new life of Christ in us sovereignly by the Holy Spirit and apart from any means. Second, there is mediate regeneration. Jehovah sovereignly uses the...