The Decisional Regeneration

Any attentive observer of reality today discovers two ways of proclaiming the Gospel. Most of the time we hear talk of God as a kind of benevolent Santa Claus willing to help anyone who wants to save themselves through their own decision. This way of considering the Gospel is called "decisional regeneration," because, like "baptismal regeneration," it places salvation exclusively and decisively in the hands of the human being.

This interpretation of the Gospel contrasts with the ancient proclamation of God's grace that truly redeems the sinner because it conceives of their salvation as an entirely divine work from beginning to end.

The two approaches represent two distinct ways of understanding human beings (totally sinful or partially sinful), absolutely dependent on God or only partly so. The plan of salvation is conceived either as something God does or as something carried out by both man and God, placing the decisive emphasis on human agency rather than divine. "Decisional regeneration" believes that faith is fundamentally man's contribution to his own redemption, while the old Gospel of the Reformation, and of the Bible (Eph. 2:8), taught: "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God."

In one case, all glory for the salvation of sinners is given to God; in the other, this praise is divided between God and man.

The Bible is unequivocal in this regard. Already in the distant times of the old Covenant, we hear the confession of the prophet Jonah, sent to Nineveh as an evangelist: "Salvation is of the Lord." And Jeremiah has preserved for us the cry of Ephraim: "Turn me, and I shall be turned, for you are the Lord my God" (Jer. 31:18), which expresses the total powerlessness of human beings in the face of all the misguided messages that appeal to "decision" as the basis of salvation. We need God, we depend on Him, and the biblical message invites us to cast ourselves into His arms and trust in His mercy alone.

In this excellent treatise, James Adams clearly explains the true meaning of biblical regeneration and how the Gospel is to be preached and accepted, in total and absolute dependence on the triune and holy God. Christianity is experiencing times of crisis. And evangelical Christianity is no exception. Unfortunately, there is much confusion surrounding something that ought to be very clear, crystal clear, the testimony of the Gospel.

As Jaime Adams rightly points out, Christ did not use ambiguities: the new birth is a work of God, not a human work. Regeneration is a change that takes place in us, but it is not we who achieve it, neither by our efforts nor our merits. However, the sound from many pulpits is uncertain in this regard, as is the theology and religious experiences of many churches.

The children of God, Scripture teaches, "are born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:13). Nevertheless, the "decisional regeneration" that a large number of communities practice today, despite being one of the most recent errors historically speaking, presents the Gospel as the possibility of self-regeneration.

We joyfully welcome the publication of this brief, but substantial and profound, work by Jaime Adams for what it represents not only as a refutation of serious errors, but also as a positive exposition of evangelical truth. It is a book we need. As the introduction points out, understanding Christ's teaching on the passage from death to life is a matter of life or death.

We must evangelize according to the model that Jesus Christ left us and in accordance with His teachings. God save us from the supposed anthropocentric evangelization that seeks nothing more than to accumulate "decisions" through purely psychological methods.

The following pages will help the reader become aware of the current reality: what is preached in many churches does not promote authentic biblical spirituality, nor reverence, nor humility, nor consecration to God and service to one's neighbor. The supposed "regenerating decision" regenerates nothing, and it is urgent to return to the pure Gospel of grace, the message that gives all glory to God. Soli Deo gloria.