Justification is at best an argument of logic…without Regeneration.

Chase is an intern serving here with us and doing a great job. He is out on the town every day sharing Christ with Muslims with tireless exuberance. I love it. We review his discussions with Muslims about Christ each evening. One of his conversations is especially instructional for all of us who care about the lost understanding the Christian life. Here’s how the conversation went (putting two hours in just a few lines):

Chase: “Since we can’t work our way to God (human depravity) God put all our sin upon Christ (imputation) and offers us the free and total forgiveness of sin (justification)!

Ahmed: “But if God forgives all of our sin, past, present, and future, then we would live however we want! There would be no breaks on sin. Islam offers a solution. Man fears God and fears hell until the final judgement when God judges all men weighing their works!

Chase: “No! After God forgives sin we are so thankful that we want to obey God out of love and appreciation not fear of hell.”

Ahmed: “That is not how it works! God is merciful but we have to work to earn his mercy. That is why He sent us Mohammed and the Quran to teach us the straight path.” 

It was a stalemate. One, using logic, determined that one lives a moral life out of love and thankfulness. The other, using his own background of logic, argues that one serves God better when he is taking a test to prove himself. Both are right…using logic. How many of us can disagree with the Muslim that the unregenerate man works harder when he knows he is being tested? How many of you have found that your kid works harder the night before he has to cram for a test?

Really forgiveness of sin makes no sense without the twin doctrine of regeneration. What if God forgave man but did no regenerate him? It would be a free-for-all disaster of men who love to sin having a new license to sin! If we don’t preach regeneration in the same breath that we do justification, the Muslim will continue to reject an idea that seems so illogical. In fact, the sinfulness of Europe and America (the biggest producer of porn in the world) prove his point about Christians (since he assumes all the inhabitants of Europe and America are Christian).

The Muslim, like Nicodemus, needs to hear that God only promises not to remember our sin when he gives us a new heart, puts us in his family, and fills us with the Holy Spirit! That new heart now quickened by God has new desires that are not innate in man whether or not he is forgiven. This is a completely new person that does not resemble at all the man of sin of the old nature. That brings us to my favorite verses in the Old Testament: Jer. 31:31-34

31  Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, That I will make a new covenant 

With the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 

32  Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers 

In the day that I took them by the hand 

To bring them out of the land of Egypt; 

Which my covenant they brake, 

Although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: 

33  But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; 

After those days, saith the Lord, 

I will put my law in their inward parts, And write it in their hearts; 

And will be their God, And they shall be my people. 

34  And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, 

Know the Lord: For they shall all know me, 

From the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: 

For I will forgive their iniquity, And I will remember their sin no more. 

So when you preaching the forgiveness of the cross to the Muslims, don’t forget to mention the new life in the resurection to help your argument make any sense at all. Without both, there is no spiritual understanding because the Holy Spirit is not present. Without both, there is just a self centered desire to have sin forgiven, not a new and perfect relationship with Christ.

The Muslim will not have a logical response to the indwelling Spirit of God in the believer. Islam does not have a contradicting argument for that one. God with us (Immanuel) is fully explained by God in us (I Cor. 6:19).

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2 Responses to Justification is at best an argument of logic…without Regeneration.

  1. johnpgrasty says:

    I’m pretty sure you meant to have Jeremiah for the reference rather than Ecc.–unless your Arabic Bibles are drastically different than ours.

    Great extension of the argument. Paul seems to be contending for the same understanding in Romans 6.

  2. admin says:

    You are right! In Arabic the word is “Ermia” so I had an “e” in my mind…or maybe I just made a mistake =)

    Thanks!