Regeneration

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules (Ezekiel 36:25-27).

Regeneration is the sovereign work of God in the life of a sinner, where he changes their hearts, gives them a new life and brings them to faith in Jesus Christ for salvation (John 1:12-13; 3:3,5, Ephesians 2:1)

In the phrase “I will” appearing about six times in the text, we notice the restoration of Israel was solely a work of God. In an earlier verse, God told Ezekiel, “…It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name …” (v23). God acted in the interest of Israel “for the sake of [His] holy name”. Everything God does is to his glory alone (Rev 4:11). No room for boasting in ourselves (Eph 2:9). The grace of God strips us off of all avenues for boasting in ourselves.

Notice how God says he will “sprinkle clean water [on rebellious Israel]. This is a picture of cleansing from sin. “you shall be clean from all your uncleanness.” Like the Israelites, humans by nature are people in captivity to sin. We need cleansing and restoration.

And only God does this through the work of the Holy Spirit working faith in us and giving us a new life— Regeneration —by changing our hearts and indwelling us by his Spirit. , we contributed nothing to our salvation. It is all a work of God. Regeneration or “born again” (John 3:3;5) can only happen by the work of God through the Holy Spirit.

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