Calvinist Flyswatter

Spurgeon on New Birth

SPURGEON ON BORN AGAIN
BY FAITH by Stephen Garrett

"This change is often described as a birth. See the third chapter of the Gospel of John, which is wonderfully clear and to the point: 'Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.' This birth is not a birth by baptism, for it is spoken of as accompanied by an intelligent faith which receives the Lord Jesus.

"Turn to John 1:12, 13: 'But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believed on his name: which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.' So that believers are 'born again' and receive Christ through faith: a regeneration imparted in infancy and lying dormant in unbelievers is a fiction unknown to Holy Scripture."

This is very clear. Those who say that Spurgeon never affirmed that faith preceded regeneration, or opposed the idea, should recant after reading these words. He plainly says that believers are "born again through faith" and "receive Christ by faith."

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posted by Bob L. Ross @ 9:18 PM