Conversion and Regeneration Soteriology Conversion and Regeneration

Conviction It is apparent that the salvation of the human soul does not just occur ___________. There is a preparation of both heart and mind. Apart from the human element in which a caring believer communicates the _________ by some means to the unsaved, there is the necessary work of the Holy Spirit. He is the ________ of conviction and the Word of God is the _________. (John 16:7-15) Reprove - “to convince.” In most contexts where it is found, the meaning is “to convict, refute, confute.” Our Lord used this very word when challenging the Jews about His own integrity. (John 8:46) In essence, He says, you have made charges against me – ________ them! Of course they could not convict Him of ______ wrong doing. The Holy Spirit does not have that difficulty when addressing the hearts of men. We are _________ with no reasonable doubt. The Holy Spirit convinces lost men of ________.

Human Attempts to Remove the Offense of Sin Generalization – Rationalization – Minimization – Because we sin both by nature and by _________ we are forced to recognition of the fact that we are sinners.   Further, the Holy Spirit calls attention to God’s holy standard – righteousness. Seeing the ___________ righteousness of Christ calls attention to the fact that fallen man does not possess ______ personal righteousness. (Rom. 3:10) Finally the Holy Spirit presses the _________ of sin. Judgment against sin is just and right. Sinners must perish in their sin. The condemnation of sin with the consequences to follow breaks the ________ of the human heart bringing man to the realization of his _______ before God.

How does the Holy Spirit do this necessary preparatory work How does the Holy Spirit do this necessary preparatory work? He utilizes the Word of God. (1 Pet. 1:23; Jam. 1:18) It is the Bible that communicates the good news that Christ died for our sins, rose again, and lives forever as the Savior of all who will come to God by Him. (Heb. 7:25) Conversion Salvation is ______ a process! There is no logical sequence of the component parts of the wonderful, almost mysterious work that God does when a person is saved. To inject human logic for the sake of creating an intellectually tenable conception of this work of God is to add to Scripture as well as to produce a ___________ approach to evangelism. Conversion is a two-sided coin. On the one side is ____________ and on the other is _________. The grand theologian of the New Testament, Paul articulated just that. (Acts 20:17-21) You will note that both repentance and faith are _____________. It is God that we have offended with our sin. It is His laws we have broken, His authority we have refused, and His truth we have ignored. Repentance is about a __________ change of mind and heart _________ Him.  

Repentance Intellectual element – (Psa. 51) Emotional element – (1 Cor. 7:9,10) Volitional element – (Rom. 2:1-4) ______ men are commanded to repent (Acts 17:30). Part of our Lord’s last instructions to His disciples ________ His resurrection was that they should _________ repentance. (Luke 24:46-49)

Faith pistis = to believe The other side of the coin of conversion is faith. Faith is not __________ gymnastics; that is convincing oneself of something different from previous belief. Faith in its own right is a work of God in the human heart and is declared to be the _______ of God. (Eph. 2:8 ) pistis = to believe This is a transitive verb, meaning that it must have an _________. Faith is not subjective; it is objective. We must believe __________or something. Because we believe something to be the truth, we ______ accordingly. Because we have believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31), we are trusting Him and Him alone for our eternal salvation.

Like repentance there are aspects of faith Like repentance there are aspects of faith. The _____________ element of faith requires the acquisition of _________ derived from revelation. The emotional element of faith is found in the human __________ to the truth received. The volitional element of faith is the ___________ of the heart to God. (John 1:12; Rev. 3:20) Similar to the work of the Holy Spirit in repentance He is the agent using the Word of God as the _________ , faith is produced by the Word of God. (Rom. 10:13-17 ;Acts 4:1-4) As the Holy Spirit convinces men of sin, righteousness, and judgment, He also convinces them of the ________ of the Bible. Repentance and faith means turning _______ sin and turning ______ God (repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ). (Acts 26:19,20; Acts 3:19) Regeneration We know from Ephesians 2 that all men prior to conversion are spiritually _______. This does not mean that they are completely _______________ so that they unable to respond to spiritual issues. Many respond quickly but in the negative, rejecting the truth and the Savior. Spiritual death occurred as the result of the ______. (Gen. 2:16,17)

Descriptive Terms for Regeneration What is death? Dying is __________. (Rom. 6:23; Eph. 2:1) Because of spiritual death and separation from God It is impossible for fallen man to have a relationship with God except that the death is __________ to life. Hence man who was generated by __________ must be regenerated by a _____ creation. (2 Cor. 5:17) The impartation of life to a spiritually dead individual is a work of God alone. It attends belief in Christ and occurs _________________ with conversion. (John 3:15,16 ; John 10:10; Tit. 3:5-7) Descriptive Terms for Regeneration Born Again – John 3:3,7; 1 Peter 1:23 Born of the Spirit – John 3:8 New Creature – Galatians 6:15 Alive from the Dead – Romans 6:13 Quickened us together with Christ – Ephesians 2:5 Passed from Death unto Life – John 5:24 Born of the Spirit – John 3:8 Born, not of Blood, nor of the Will of the Flesh, nor of the Will of Man, but of God – John 1:13  Begotten us Again unto a Lively Hope – 1 Peter 1:3

This work is instantaneous and ___________ This work is instantaneous and ___________ .  Regeneration is an absolute _________ . Salvation in Jesus Christ gives life and _____________ to a fallen creature. The imagery of birth is important because every new believer begins as a _______. Though he is very much alive, he has very much to learn and much growing to do. (1 Pet. 2:2,3; Heb. 5:13)