Titus 3:5 and the theory of Baptismal Regeneration.

[DeaconDean]

Titus 3:5 in the Greek New Testament reads:

"ouk ex ergwn twn en dikaiosunh a epoihsamen hmeiV alla kata to autou eleoV eswsen hmaV dia loutrou paliggenesiaV kai anakainwsewV pneumatoV agiou,"

The words I'm concerned with here are:

"loutrou" "paliggenesiaV" "anakainwsewV"

The New Analytical Greek Lexicon by Wesley J. Perschbacher lists these three words as being:

"loutrou" -genetive, singular, neuter, noun.

"paliggenesiaV" - genetive, singular, feminine, noun

"anakainwsewV" - genetive, singular, feminine, noun.

Since these words all are in the genetive case, they express possession.

So what possesses these genetive words?

Is it the "autou" or the "pneumatoV"?

I am assuming that since "pneumatoV" here is listed as genetive, singular, neuter, noun, that the genetives are all attributed to Him (the Spirit).

God Bless

Till all are one.

 

[revelation2008]

sorry but are you trying to understand whats mean : "he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; "???

 

[DeaconDean]

sorry but are you trying to understand whats mean : "he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; "???

Well, I know the obvious answer to that, but what I was trying to find out was since these three words are in the genetive case, they could be Attributive Genetives, or they could also be Possessive Genetives because the "washing of regeneration and renewal" are attributed to the Holy Spirit only, or the ability to "washing of regeneration and renewal" is possessed only by the Holy Spirit and that the word here for "washing" does not literally mean to "wash" as in water.

There is a running debate that ther are two separate actions taking place in Titus 3:5.

The washing of regeneration refers to water baptism.

And the renewal is the action of the Holy Spirit.

And I believe that both actions are the work of the Holy Spirit.

God Bless

Till all are one.

 

[BrotherDave]

...the ability to "washing of regeneration and renewal" is possessed only by the Holy Spirit and that the word here for "washing" does not literally mean to "wash" as in water.

There is a running debate that ther are two separate actions taking place in Titus 3:5.

The washing of regeneration refers to water baptism.

And the renewal is the action of the Holy Spirit.

And I believe that both actions are the work of the Holy Spirit.

God Bless

Till all are one.

Your understanding is correct ! Baptism for the remission of our sins is God's act as He baptizes us with the Holy Spirit; that is, He cleanses us of our sins. In John 3, Jesus declares that we are to be born again (the better translation is "born from above") of water and the Spirit. The Bible shows us that it is the water of the Gospel (Eph 5:26). For example, Jesus told the Samaritan woman in John 4:14:

But whosoever drinketh the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.​

And in John 7:37-38:

In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.​

That water of which we are to drink and which flows from the believer is the Gospel as it is applied by the Holy Spirit to the life of the individual He is saving. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). The Word of God is the Gospel which we must hear as a prerequisite for salvation. Another example is in Acts 10 where we read of the conversion of Cornelius. After he had been converted, he was baptized in water.

The command to be baptized in the Spirit is an action which only God can do. I Corinthians 12:13:

For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.​

We are baptized, (washed of our sins) when we become saved. The cleansing of our sins places us into the body of believers which God also speaks of as the body of Christ. Only God can wash away sins, and He does so as He applies the water of the Word to our lives(1 Peter 1:23).

Unfortunately, many believe that because someone has been baptised with water this means they are saved or is a requirement for salvation. This is very similar to the problem of circumcision (Acts 15:1,24). This ceramonial law pointed to God cutting off our sins, circumcision of the heart (Ro 2:28,29).

To believe we have to do something to become saved is mixing works with grace. Salvation is by God's grace alone.