On his BaptistGadfly blog, brother Stephen Garrett wrote a post entitled, "Faith is Begotten". I enjoyed the article, especially the fair-minded way brother Garrett handled the subject that could be considered intuitive proof that "regeneration" precedes faith, as he even admits.
Brother Garrett's position is that the Scripture is not sufficiently clear to insist on a definite order, and that faith and regeneration ought to be conceived as concurrent, one depending on the other.
I am not quite sure if brother Garrett is aware of the predicament he is in. The advent of the Spirit in the heart, soul, and mind of man obviously must precede faith and repentance (else grace is denied in a true semi-Pelagian fashion), whether or not one insists that a man is regenerated only when he repents and believes.
So it appears that brother Garrett is hiding behind the term "regeneration", as even Charnock plainly states the the man-preached gospel is first Spirit, then life, which plainly grants the necessity of the Spirit's first, antecedent work before spiritual life and faith.
So, in regard to regeneration and faith both being the work and effect of the Spirit, they refer to that spiritual life effected by the Spirit, and there is no regeneration where there is no faith in Christ. However, the faith effected by the Spirit is the embrace of the person of Christ, which is the content of the gospel, not simply the letter of the propositions of the gospel. So, Charnock, like the LCF, is inconsistent in insisting on the propositions of the gospel as preached by man as requisite for Christ's revelation in regard to the effectual calling of adults, as John 3:3-8 does not consider a mentally incompetent person. It is more consistent to argue that the competent mental faculties of adults naturally embrace in faith propositional truth that is consistent with the rudimentary, spiritual acquaintance of His person (1 Cor. 2:9,10).
The fact that the effectual calling of adults under the sound of the gospel produces a faith that is more knowledgeable about the person of Christ does not establish that faith knowledge is propositional truth. It is the reality of the person of Christ to which gospel propositions refer that is faith knowledge, the propositions of language only refer to this experience - they are not that essential experience, though they are naturally embraced in those with mental competence, even as a person would naturally embrace descriptive language by a sports commentator of the visual experience of a sporting event.
Gospel propositions are not requisite for the spiritual experience of Christ, as John 3:3-8 make clear, and when the Spirit effects faith in the person of Christ where the gospel is being preached, the embrace of the propositions about Christ are the result of Christ being recognized in the propositions of the gospel, as the secrets of his heart made manifest (1 Corinthians 14:24,25). When adults are effectually called with the gospel, they embrace a greater degree of intellectual knowledge about Christ as a part of faith by the gospel than do those effectually called apart from the gospel as preached by man, which calling apart from the gospel plainly both Charnock and the LCF allow by the distinction of an "ordinary" and "extraordinary" effectual calling.
So, in essence, I agree with Garrett that being born of God is a state of being from which faith in Christ cannot be divorced, except in a logical sense that regeneration may refer to the Spirit's antecedent work which is only complete when faith in Christ is immediately effected, but the Spirit's work is plainly antecedent to faith as a cause is to it's effect. Also, the gospel, as preached by man, is not the fundamental object of faith in it's propositional structure to any of the elect, though the propositions that refer to the spiritual experience of Christ are embraced in mentally competent adults as any descriptive truth would be embraced by those experiencing the very experience described. It is Christ Himself that is the true object of Biblical faith.
No comments:
Post a Comment