Justified But Not “Born Again”

Can you be justified but not “born again”? Some say it’s possible. Oneness Pentecostals attempt to reconcile their view of Acts 2:38-is-the-New Birth with the traditional understanding of justification by faith alone in Christ alone. To do this they say a person can be justified, but not yet born again. Several connected to schools in the UPCI have developed an approach that a person is justified by faith, but still must follow the UPCI Acts 2:38 formula to be born again. For those who believe the traditional view of justification, this is obviously inconceivable. But in some strange way, the UPCI sees this as a solution to the differences between their view of Acts 2:38 and those who believe salvation is by faith alone in Christ.

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The Bible teaches that one is born again when the Holy Spirit transforms one’s heart from unbelief to faith. The New Birth is necessary because the unbelieving heart is dead in sin. The heart must be made new to receive and believe the Gospel. The Bible teaches that God gives us a new birth when He alone (unilaterally = from God’s side) revives our dead heart based on His sovereign power and grace. When we are born again we experience a “spiritual resurrection into a new sphere of life.” [T.C. Hammond, In Understanding Be Men, p. 147.] We become alive to God. God plants a “new principle of life” in our souls. This fulfills the ancient promise through the prophet:

I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 19:11 NIV)

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. (Ezekiel 36:26-27 NIV)

God puts his Spirit within us and gives us a new heart when we are born again. This must happen before a person has the power to believe or respond to God. This is what Jesus taught:

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:44 NIV)

Why? Those dead in sin cannot respond or believe. If a person is not born again, they cannot be justified because they are dead in sin -- they cannot, and do not, desire to believe:

You were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. (Eph. 2:1,2 NIV).

To read the rest of the article go to Justified But Not "Born Again"?

You might also wish to read What is Justification by Faith? and What Makes You Right with God? and Will the Real "Justification by Faith" Please Stand Up!

NOTE: A more expanded study of this subject can be found in my paper “Can the Gospel Be Fractured?”

Does Acts 19:5-6 Prove Acts 2:38 is the New Birth?

“Paul asked questions like ‘Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? Read Acts 19.” Doesn’t this show that Paul believed that Acts 2:38 was the New Birth?

This does not prove that Paul taught or practiced Acts 2:38 as the UPCI believes it.

A closer look shows that the situation in Acts 19 is not so simply explained. When Paul visited the men in Ephesus, he tested whether they had heard about Christ by asking them if the Holy Spirit had come to them. It was the Holy Spirit that always opened hearts to believe the Gospel (cp. Caesarea, Lydia, et. al.). It was the Holy Spirit that came on those who believed the Gospel. If they knew about the Holy Spirit, then they would necessarily know about Jesus and the Gospel. When they said they had not heard about the Holy Spirit, Paul knew that they were not believers in the Gospel. At that precise point, Paul preached the Gospel to the Ephesians by explaining to them that they should “believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” (Acts 19:4 NAS). This is what Paul told them to do. He did not tell them they would not be saved unless they were baptized. He did not teach them that the real secret was to be baptized with the formula “in the name of Jesus” only. He did not tell them they needed to prove they had the Holy Spirit by speaking with tongues. None of that was necessary because Paul did not believe or teach those ideas. He told them they needed to believe in Jesus – the one that John, their leader, preached about.

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Later when Paul spoke his final words to the elders of the Ephesian churches, he reconfirmed the priority of the Gospel to them by restating his mission: “that I may finish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.” (Acts 20:24 NAS). Paul could have told them, “Keep preaching baptism in Jesus name.” or, “Don’t ever let go of speaking with tongues as the initial evidence.” But he never even hinted at those notions. He reminded them that the center of his ministry – the ministry by which God brought them into the Church – was the “gospel of the grace of God.”

To best understand how Paul truly understood the events of Acts 19 we need only to read his words in Ephesians 1:13 (NAS): “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation-- having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,” The sequence of events as Paul states them is simple. The Ephesians heard the “gospel of your salvation” and then believed. When they believed they were “sealed in Him [Christ] with the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit opened their hearts to believe the Gospel, and then he sealed them into Christ. There were not sealed because they spoke with tongues. They were sealed with the Holy Spirit when the believed the Gospel.

The picture of what happened in Ephesus is very evident when you read all the Ephesians texts together in their proper historical order: First, Paul preached to them to “believe . . . in Jesus.” Next, Paul exhorted the Ephesians about the centrality of the “gospel of the grace of God.” Finally, Paul reminded them in an epistle that they had received the Holy Spirit at the time they believed the Gospel. There is no mention of a specific form of water baptism or of any necessary evidence such as speaking with tongue. There is not even a hint of these doctrines. But, the idea of believing the Gospel – faith alone in Christ alone – is central and conspicuous to Paul teaching about salvation.