God the Holy Spirit, Mentor's Guide, MG14

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G O D T H E H O L Y S P I R I T

3. Regenerationmakes us alive but it does not automatically make us mature.

a. The image of birth suggests that conversion will need to be followed by steady growth toward maturity. Just as we are not born fully mature, so we are not reborn fully mature (1 Pet. 2.2). While we are sanctified (set apart for God) at conversion, we must grow up into Christ (Eph. 4.15, 2 Pet. 3.18).

Ministry Insight Taking care of

newborn Christians is like taking care of newborn babies. The new life comes as a miracle but it must be nurtured in order to stay healthy and to grow.

b. Key verse: 1 Pet. 2.2

4. The regeneration of individuals is part of a larger work of the Spirit to regenerate all things .

a. God’s plan of salvation in not just to save people from death but to set right everything that has been harmed, corrupted and destroyed. God is saving our planet and our universe and our salvation is a part of that much larger process.

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b. Matt. 19.28 - “I tell you the truth, at the renewal [ palingenesia = regeneration] of all things ” (cf. Acts 3.19-21; Rom. 8.19-24).

c. This regeneration of all things (that is, the entire created order) is prophesied in both the Old Testament and the New (see, for example, Isaiah 11.6-9 and Revelation 21.1-5).

d. This future regeneration of all things is an extension of the current work of the Holy Spirit who constantly preserves and renews all creation (Ps. 104.27-30).

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