This article is the sixth in a series designed to carefully consider the theological position against Calvinism taken by those who have signed what is called A Statement of the Traditional Southern Baptist Understanding of God’s Plan of Salvation (released in 2012). In short form, this document is commonly known as the Traditionalist Statement (TS) among Southern Baptists. Presently, comments will be made in response to Article 5 of the TS:
Article Five: The Regeneration of the Sinner
We affirm that any person who responds to the Gospel with repentance and faith is born again through the power of the Holy Spirit. He is a new creation in Christ and enters, at the moment he believes, into eternal life.
We deny that any person is regenerated prior to or apart from hearing and responding to the Gospel.
Luke 15:24; John 3:3; 7:37-39; 10:10; 16:7-14; Acts 2:37-39; Romans 6:4-11; 10:14; 1 Corinthians 15:22; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 2:20; 6:15; Colossians 2:13; 1 Peter 3:18
With careful reading, one should come away with some serious concerns after reviewing TS Article 5. This statement advocates a position known as synergistic regeneration whereby God only performs His regenerative work within a believer if that believer first responds to the gospel by repenting and expressing faith. This position is clearly at odds with Calvinism, which holds to monergistic regeneration, or the idea that regeneration is completely in the hands of God.[i]
In response to the theology stance above, Southern Baptists must be aware that it is in complete disagreement with Article 4 of BFM2000:
“Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God’s grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace.”[ii]
While the framers of TS claim to represent the majority position among Southern Baptists, this contention becomes dubious as one compares TS Article 5 with BFM2000 Article 4. According BFM2000, regeneration is the work of God’s grace alone that involves God’s work in the heart before conversion through the conviction of sin and a believer’s response of repentance and faith. Even more pointedly, BFM2000 expressly states that the human responses of repentance and faith are inseparably linked to God’s grace.
Given the clear wording of BFM2000, it would seem the Southern Baptists align more with the Calvinists in their understanding of regeneration than they do with the composers of TS. Since it is entirely possible that the TS framers may be taking on a role similar to that of Martin Luther by calling Southern Baptists away from an unbiblical theology, one must look to Scripture to make a final assessment in regard to regeneration.
Unfortunately, none of the biblical texts offered in TS Article 5 address the issue of whether or not regeneration depends upon a freewill response apart from the grace of God. Curiously (and perhaps sadly), the TS framers avoid the classic text (John 1:12-13) used to defend the method of the new birth. In his gospel, John states, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13).[iii] At the onset, it appears that John is saying that Christ’s salvific work (His regenerative effort) hinges upon the reception of human responders, but then he makes it clear that those who respond do so because God enabled them. To put this another way, no one who is regenerated or born-again (receives a new birth) becomes a truly saved person due to their own will; rather, those who are redeemed are saved by the will of God.
[i]While Calvinists deny synergistic regeneration, most affirm synergistic sanctification or the view that sanctification work of God coincides with the freewill responses of believers.
[ii]Baptist Faith and Message 2000, Available at: https://fbctlh.org/wp-content/uploads/The-Baptist-Faith-Message-for-web.pdf. This resource is available across the web, so if the link breaks a search for it will render another site that offers the same document.
[iii]Scripture reference is taken from NASB1995.