Faith is required for salvation through the washing of regeneration (Titus 3:5).
No one gets born again then afterwards comes to have faith that leads to salvation. That's backwards and illogical. Someone who has experienced the new birth the Bible speaks of cannot not know that, just like a woman cannot not know that she had been pregnant (whether she was aware of it or not), before giving birth to a child!
You get the point, but this analogy is far from silly.
1 Peter 1:23
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
Faith comes by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17). The word of God is a seed (Luke 8:11) and when planted in a good and honest heart (Luke 8:15) it bears the fruit of a new life in Christ standing on the pillars of righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:24), not ongoing sin.
Romans 10:13-17
13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” 14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” 17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
And keep these in mind about calling on the name of the Lord to be saved:
Isaiah 55:6-7
6 Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts;* Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.
2 Timothy 2:19
Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from unrighteousness.”*
*That's repentance.
Reminder:
2 Timothy 4:3-4
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
A tree is known by it's fruit as Jesus taught (Matthew 7:15-20, Luke 6:43-45, Matthew 12:33). So, on the tree that you find this myth of regeneration happening before faith, you also find salvation by faith alone excluding works or deeds of faith (James 2:14-26), no repentance with deeds worthy of repentance (Acts 26:20) being the square one for a relationship with God, or possibly repentance (some unbiblical definition) coming after regeneration also, living a sin / repent / sin / repent lifestyle forever and claiming eternal security or Once Saved Always Saved, with a dubious "Once Saved" part to begin with, and speaking of sanctification while willful sin goes on. These are teachings of demons (1 Timothy 4:1).
Repentance is a change of mind about both God and sin. And a change of mind by itself means nothing if action does not follow. If you are driving on a road going South and decide to go North for whatever reason, you have to actually stop and turn around or take an exit somewhere and re-enter the road in the opposite direction. So, in repentance, what we do is a turn toward God to be faithfully obedient to Him out of love going forward, and that's simultaneously a turn away from sin, which is disobedience to God. As sad as it is, this is a teaching that many won’t receive as the apostle Paul prophesied that it would be in these last days (2 Timothy 4:3-4). If that’s you, please stop and think about what you just read. Another example: You got ready to go see someone and the person calls you to tell you that he won’t be there, so you change your mind about going to see that person. Then you don’t still get in your car and drive to that person’s house. Do you? What you DO proves whether or not you have really changed your mind about going to see that person at the moment. Otherwise, it can be said that you have not changed your mind at all. Or it can also be said that you have not believed the person when he told you that he wouldn’t be home. Apply that to God dealing with people now. God said, "The way of sin leads to death, repent!" Notice that God's message has two parts. The first part is an announcement or a revelation: "The way of sin leads to death." And the other part is a commandment: "repent! (if you want to live)" Now "just believing" the announcement and doing nothing won’t save a person. That's faith without works, which is dead (James 2:14-26). And "just changing one's mind" about not going on the way of sin anymore won’t save a person either, until that person actually fully surrenders to God's will and turns around and starts going the opposite way of sin/rebellion/disobedience to God. Then God will know that such person has believed his word and repented. So, believing that repentance is "just a change of mind" out of the Greek word ‘metanoia’ and ignoring what the Bible plainly teaches about God calling people to repent, to return to Him, to forsake their evil ways and learn to do good, is believing in something else than what the Bible calls repentance! There are eternal consequences for rejecting God's truth in favor of a lie. What do you do that proves you have changed your mind? What have you changed your mind about that you call your repentance? God cares (Acts 26:20; Matthew 3:8). You should, too.
Isaiah 1:16-20 16 “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, 17 Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow. 18 “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land; 20 But if you refuse and rebel, You shall be devoured by the sword”; 0For the mouth of the Lord has spoken it0. Isaiah 55:6-7 6 Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. James 1:21-22 21 Therefore, putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness [that's repentance], receive with humility the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word [that's faith], and not only hearers, deluding your own selves. If repentance is just a change of mind, conversion (a change of course) is also implied.
Acts 26:19-20 KJV 19 Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: 20 But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
Acts 26:19-20 NHEB 19 "Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 but declared first to them of Damascus, at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the non-Jews, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.
Acts 26:19-20 NIV 19 “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. 20 First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.
REPENT GENUINELY
You need to repent genuinely. That's the basis for the forgiveness of your past sins, that is, the sins you have committed up to the point of deciding to live a new life that is pleasing to God, no longer one where you seek to please yourself and your flesh and continue to sin (1 Peter 4:1-3). If you ever come to a point where you truly regret having sinned against God, then you will stop sinning against God. When you turn to God, you turn away from sin; that’s repentance and conversion (Acts 3:19). Turning to God that way is also the key to answered prayers (Isaiah 59:1-2, 1 Peter 3:12). And what you come into is a relationship with God that is like a marriage. You need to approach it like a person who gets married would completely turn away from past partners. Sin is supposed to remain in your past (like a past partner) once you come to God. The relationship with sin gets broken off in repentance. Read Romans 6:1-11. Sin is then not what you love anymore. You love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength (Mark 12:30), and you obey Him precisely because you love Him (John 14:15, Galatians 5:6, 1 John 5:3). You don't give in to sin unless you have been double-minded about serving God faithfully from the start (see James 4:8). In other words, you were not actually prepared and ready for that "marriage," or to "give your life to God." So, go back to the square one of your repentance followed by faithful obedience to God (faith) out of love going forward (Acts 20:20-21, James 1:21-22). God's grace will empower you (Titus 2:11-14).
At the heart of genuine repentance is what the Bible calls "godly sorrow." Read what the Scriptures say about that and repentance and salvation in 2 Corinthians 7:10. You don't need a whole lot of knowledge about these topics. Just ask God to lead you to see sin as He sees sin, especially your own sins that you have committed against Him. You need to be sorry about your sin in the same measure that God is hurt/offended when you sin. Once your heart is broken and contrite about sin, then you will want to no longer be on the earth and be on the "wrong side" of Almighty God, completely despising the sense of his love to the point of sending his only Son to die so that you could have a shot at eternal life and not perish. You need to fear Him and that will be wisdom to you leading to salvation.
Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Psalm 34:18 The LORD is near unto them that are of a broken heart; and saves such as be of a contrite spirit.
Proverbs 3:5-7 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Matthew 10:28 And fear not them who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.
This message is an answered prayer for a simple way to explain to this generation what God's call to repentance is. Received 3/06/2017. For a sticker with this message click here.
Anyone who is tempted to say "There is no one righteous; no, not one" (Romans 3:10) should know that this word does not apply to born again Christians who are new creatures in Christ. Saying "there is none righteous" out of context wipes the righteous off the map.
So, a person who believes in "There is no one righteous; no, not one" is true for him/herself should also agree with the following declarations:
Romans 3:11 --->I understand nothing. I do not seek after God.
Romans 3:12 --->I have turned aside. I am an unprofitable servant who will be cast into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (cf. Matthew 25:30). I do not do good.
Romans 3:13 --->My throat is an open tomb. With my tongue I have used deceit and still do. Viper's poison is under my lips. It was like that before I got saved and it's still like that after I became a "born again Christian." I am deceiving everybody.
Romans 3:14 --->My mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. It was like that before I got saved and it's still like that after I became a "born again Christian." I am deceiving everybody.
Romans 3:15 --->My feet are swift to shed blood. It was like that before I got saved and it's still like that after I became a "born again Christian." I am deceiving everybody.
Romans 3:16 --->Destruction and calamity are in my path. I am walking on the broad way that leads to destruction (cf. Matthew 7:14); I have never entered in by the narrow door to the constricted/narrow way that leads to eternal life (cf. Matthew 7:13).
Romans 3:17 --->I have not known the way of peace. So, when Jesus says, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God" (cf. Matthew 5:9), He is not talking about me.
Romans 3:18 --->There is no fear of God before my eyes. So, I am not wise because God has said, "The fear of the LORD--that is wisdom. And to turn from evil is understanding" (Job 28:28).
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Romans 3:10-18 10 As it is written, "There is no one righteous; no, not one." 11 "There is no one who understands. There is no one who seeks after God. 12 They have all turned aside. They have together become unprofitable. There is no one who does good, there is not even one." 13 "Their throat is an open tomb. With their tongues they have used deceit." "Viper's poison is under their lips;" 14 "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness." 15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood. 16 Destruction and calamity are in their paths. 17 The way of peace, they have not known." 18"There is no fear of God before their eyes."
That passage in Romans 3 is a quote from Psalm 14 (it's talking about fools who say in their heart that there is no God): 1 The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt. They do abominable works. There is none who does good. 2 The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who are wise, who seek after God. 3 They have all turned away. They have together become corrupt. There is no one who does good, no, not one. 4 Have all evildoers no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread? They do not call on the LORD. 5 There THEY ARE UTTERLY TERRIFIED, FOR GOD IS IN THE GENERATION OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 6 You would frustrate the plans of the lowly, but the LORD is his refuge. 7 Oh that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion. When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people, may Jacob rejoice, may Israel be glad.
If you are inclined to, make every effort to present yourself approved to God, an unashamed workman who accurately handles the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15), and don't mind challenging things that you have believed that are false.
