I really enjoyed listening to this sermon titled "A Child of God in Christ" by Reverend Lloyd-Jones in which he outlines St. John's "tests of life" to determine whether or not someone has been regenerated, that is, born again. He also provides other scriptural references outside of the Book of John to determine whether or not someone has been born again. I provide below my commentary on the "St. John criteria." I would not say that this post will be comprehensive in its coverage of the indicators of regeneration but I believe it should provide some help to identify not just whether or not one has been born again but the condition of one's process of sanctification. That is to say I believe we can to a certain extent fulfill all the conditions below but not with the full affirmation of our soul, that there is still sanctifying work to be done before every part of our being can answer in the affirmative to these criteria.
The Tests of Regeneration of St. John (as presented by Martyn Llloyd-Jones)
The Reverend provides other indicators outside of the Book of John and so as I said I would very much recommend listening to this sermon (the first 20 minutes or so covers the tests if I recall correctly). I will say I think this is a (somewhat necessary) simplification of the signs of whether or not one is regenerated but a very useful starting point not just in our discernment of the spiritual nature of others but of course of ourselves. We must do as Paul says and test ourselves to see if we are truly in the faith.
The Tests of Regeneration of St. John (as presented by Martyn Llloyd-Jones)
- The person believes that Jesus is the Christ. I believe, and I think the Reverend would agree, that one can say "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God" and not actually believe what they're saying. I don't think it is impossible for nonbelievers to make this statement. So then what do we mean when we say this? God willing I think I plan to maybe break these all down further in future posts so I don't want to get into too much detail on these but here are what I believe are some indicators of true belief, full faith: 1) in the ability of Jesus Christ to heal, 2) in the ability of Jesus Christ to deliver one from any and all evils (demons, dangerous situations, etc.), 3) that Jesus Christ was incarnated (credit for this to the Reverend) in the flesh and wasn't just some spirit, 4) that Jesus Christ is the only begotten son of God, 5) that Jesus Christ is the mediator between man and the Father, 6) that Jesus Christ is our peace from the wrath of God, 7) that Jesus Christ's work on the cross provides us with eternal life, 8) that there is no other "Christ" either in the past, currently or in the future, 9) that Jesus Christ is God (credit to the Reverend for this) in all of its meanings (in particular co-equality). These are just some of the indicators but as you can see this testimony that "Jesus is the Christ" is more nuanced than it appears at first glance. As the Reverend says, it's more than "a mechanical statement."
- The person keeps the commandments. The Reverend calls this "doing righteousness" and I agree; I think what it means is one is justified by faith and not by the law. The person should particularly keep the two most important commandments: 1) Love the Lord with all of your being and 2) love your neighbor as yourself. Now I'll speak for myself and say I do not do these things, yet I would still say I'm born again, as I think this speaks more to the process of sanctification, a state of willingness vs. completion. One other note from the Reverend, the keeping of the commandments should not be burdensome but a delight. Again this is something I struggle with at times but I believe that as we can affirmatively do and delight in the commandments we will progress in sanctification.
- The presence of the Holy Spirit. The Reverend calls this the Spirit of Adoption but I think it's more than that. We should know that we are sons of God in Christ Jesus but I think there should be a working out of spiritual gifts as well. We are supposed to cast out demons, speak in tongues, pick up serpents, heal the sick and if we drink anything deadly it will not harm us (Mark 16:17-18). The Reverend goes into further detail on this and I definitely think the sermon is worth a listen.
- Love the brethren. We should love the brothers as our own flesh. What does this mean? There is much in the epistles to demonstrate the "signs" of love, some things that come to mind include: bearing each other's burdens, being of one accord, showing hospitality to strangers if they are also brothers in Christ, not quarreling with each other, encouraging each other and praying for each other to name some.
