MARK 8:22\u201326<\/b><\/p>\n
He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man\u2019s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, \u201cDo you see anything?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
(Mark 8:23)<\/i>.<\/p>\n
When we use the word immediate<\/i> we think of something that happens instantaneously. This is not the precise meaning of the term immediate<\/i> as it is used in theology, however. Immediate<\/i> comes from im<\/i> (not) and media<\/i> (means). To say that regeneration is immediate is to say that God does it \u201cwithout means\u201d or \u201cwithout any intervening medium.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now in fact, regeneration is also instantaneous. It happens at a point in time in our lives, even if we are unaware of it. It is not a gradual process. Our awareness of our salvation, however, may be gradual. We have to distinguish between our conversion experience, or our awareness of conversion, and our regeneration. For some of us the awareness of salvation came very suddenly, and we had a \u201cconversion experience.\u201d For others of us the awareness of salvation grew gradually. In all cases, however, God\u2019s instantaneous act of regeneration came first.<\/p>\n
Spiritual Growth Uses Means<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
In Mark 8:22\u201325 we have a story that shows not regeneration but spiritual growth. When Jesus healed the blind man, He first spat in his eyes, after which the blind man could see, but only dimly. \u201cOnce more Jesus put his hands on the man\u2019s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly\u201d (Mark 8:25).<\/p>\n
Dead people don\u2019t ask for help, and thus God\u2019s regeneration of us had to be immediate, without any means, and totally His own action. Growth in the Christian life, however, is gradual, and God uses means for this. We must be involved in cooperating with these means if we wish to grow. We have to use the \u201cmeans of grace.\u201d These are the study of the Scriptures, prayer, attendance at worship, the sacraments, and fellowship with God\u2019s people.<\/p>\n
CORAM DEO<\/b><\/p>\n
The means of grace are God\u2019s appointed tools used by Him to foster further growth. Strength in one area alone creates imbalance in the Christian life. Who among your Christian friends has a strength in your area of weakness? Consult with them for practical advise you can implement today.<\/p>\n
For further study: 2 Corinthians 5:17\u201320; Ephesians 2:11\u201313<\/i><\/p>\n
WEEKEND<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MARK 8:22\u201326 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man\u2019s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, \u201cDo you see anything?\u201d (Mark 8:23). When we use the word immediate we think of something that happens instantaneously. This is not the … Continue reading “REGENERATION IS IMMEDIATE”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10987\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}