A snippet from Packer.
Regeneration is birth; sanctification is growth.
In regeneration, God implants desires that were not there before: desire for God, for holiness, and for the hallowing and glorifying of God’s name in this world; desire to pray, worship, love, serve, honor, and please God; desire to show love and bring benefit to others.
In sanctification, the Holy Spirit “works in you to will and to act” according to God’s purpose; what he does is prompt you to “work out your salvation” (i.e., express it in action) by fulfilling these new desires (Phil. 2:12-13). Christians become increasingly Christlike as the moral profile of Jesus (the “fruit of the Spirit”) is progressively formed in them (2 Cor. 3:18; Gal. 4:19; 5:22-25). . . .
Regeneration was a momentary monergistic act of quickening the spiritually dead. As such, it was God’s work alone.
Sanctification, however, is in one sense synergistic—it is an ongoing cooperative process in which regenerate persons, alive to God and freed from sin’s dominion (Rom. 6:11, 14-18), are required to exert themselves in sustained obedience. (J I Packer)
The graphic is from www.monergism.com
Soli Deo Gloria
Amazing God.
What an amazing God, who poured His love on me. And treasures the
broken and makes them whole! Our deliverer!
Phil b
Bits ‘n’ pieces
First up is a video from the Lionier conference.
Light & Heat: A Passion for the Holiness of God: 2011 National Conference.
Dr. Sinclair Ferguson explains what it means to confess our faith in one
who is fully God and fully man and what it means that this Jesus was crucified
for our sins.
Well worth the watching!
Phil b
Blues Alive!
Here we have a web site that I stumbled across surfin. If your a blues fan like myself
you will love it. You can sample different artists music and listen to Christian blues
radio station (now, becoming one of my favourites).
Christian Blues (plus radio station)
http://www.christianblues.net/s/scripts/default.asp
Phil b