Originally Posted by
harald
For instance, a person may read about the doctrines of grace over a period of months and even come to believe them without necessarily having experienced conversion. [Cameron]
Cameron, I hope I am not intruding. Just wanted to say you are right in the above thought. Holding all the right soteriological doctrine cannot profit a man unless the true God has genuinely converted him/her. I have read what you have written. And while I have not been in your situation I am able to symphatize with you. I mean, it appears pretty clear to me that you judge your former "conversion" most likely to have been spurious. And while I know not the details of your old experience some 4 years ago it does seem to me from the way you put some things in quotation marks (in your 1st post) that things were not as they should've been with that experience. It very much looks to me as though it was an experience which took place in a more or less free-willy context. Is this right?
As for "regeneration" myself nowadays prefer to talk using the word "quickening". Quickening is "mystical", in the sense that it is instantaneous (faster than the blink of the eye). It is direct or immediate, meaning when God the Holy Spirit "quickens" (makes alive spiritually) He does it all by Himself, apart from means or instruments. It is sovereign. The spiritually dead person who is to be quickened (i.e. the elect & redeemed/justified sinner) is entirely passive in quickening. He has absolutely no say whatsoever. And I dare say he does not even know the very moment it takes place within him. It is not a conscious "experience". Quickening is the very first act or stage on the part of God's Spirit when it comes to concretely "sanctifying" an already redeemed sinner for God and His exclusive use. At the point of quickening (Gr. zôpoieô - lit. "alive-making") God the Spirit sanctifies the sinner in the sense that He removes him out of a state of spiritual death, by breathing spiritual life into him. Quickening is the in-breathing of life, eternal & spiritual. This life or life principle is referred to as "spirit" by Christ in John 3:6 - "the thing having been generated/fathered/begotten of the Spirit is spirit".
An immediate consequence or corollary of quickening is heart circumcision. But logically quickening is the very first thing. Quickening and heart circumcision pave the way for (among other things) conversion (Gr. epistrophê, "a turning about"), through the gospel of the Christ according to Paul, in Holy Spirit power. Because of the fact that a true converson experience is conducted and orchestrated by the Divine Spirit it does not happen in a free-will context, like say involving some "decision for Christ", or some "sinner's prayer" scheme, or some "altar call" beguilement. Paul, when speaking on conversion of the Thessalonians in 1Thess. chapter 1, he uses such language there as "not in word only, but on the contrary, also in power and in Holy Spirit" (v. 5). The words "not in word only" condemns a mere notional "conversion" as empty. There has to be also "in power and in Holy Spirit". And inasmuch as Paul says "in Holy Spirit" it automatically excludes conversions that happen in a free-will context, because there is nothing of Holiness about such conversions.
Gospel conversion is an experience. An experience of God, an encounter with God. Many scriptures in Paul's epistles prove this. E.g. Gal. 4:9
9 But on the other hand presently, having come to experientially know God, yet rather, having been intimately known by God,
Paul was reminding the Galatians of their conversion experience, at which point they came to know God experientially. But Paul reminds them also, that this was an immediate reciprocal corollary of God first intimately knowing them. The verb here, "ginooskoo" (to know by close observation and/or personal participation, to know by/from experience), is the one used in both instances. In the first instance it is used of the Galatians. But in the second instance, when used of God, it would not make sense to render alike ("to know experientially"), so it must mean "to know intimately" (ginooskoo is the verb used when it says "And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn ...", Matt. 1:25, KJV). God made Himself known to them through close encounter, personally breaking into their mind's darkness like as the brightest ray of the sun. Some argue amiss that "known by God", refers to "foreknowledge". The word "to foreknow" is "proginooskoo", lit. "to know intimately beforehand" (the cognate noun is "prognoosis", lit. "intimate knowing in advance") . Here in this verse (Gal. 4:9) is no prefix "pro-". Meaning the "known by God" took place in their lifetime (cp. the "presently", Gr. NUN - "now", "presently").
It is significant that in this context Paul just in the previous verse, verse 8, uses another verb which is translated "knew" by KJV there. It is EIDOO. Whereas "ginooskoo" means "to know experientially" or "by close observation etc." EIDOO means "to see (with the mind)", i.e. "to perceive", "to understand", "to know perceptively". These former Galatian idol-worshiping "pagans" had formerly not even had a perceptive or mental knowledge of the true God. But "now/presently", Paul reminds them, they had come to know God by close observation, experientially, which was owing to God first intimately knowing them. And this their coming to experiential knowledge of God did not happen in a free will context, but in the context of Paul's gospel coming into them in power and in Holy Spirit.
Much more could be said about quickening, heart circumcision, and gospel conversion. My wish, Cameron, for you is that if indeed you lack that vital genuine conversion experience which only God is able to bring about, that He may grant it to you in due time. Not my will, but His will be done.
Harald
Bookmarks