The Regenerated Man

 

From the moment our first parents’ fellowship was severed with their Creator, mankind has sought a way back. But God is holy, and fallen man unholy. How can unholy man ever be restored to fellowship with his holy Maker? Man must become sanctified.

But man is incapable of this transformation of himself. It must be a work of a benevolent God.

Sanctification is the act, or process, of acquiring sanctity, of being made or becoming holy. To be made holy is understood as: set apart for a particular use. In our case it is for the use of Yahweh that is in view. It is a gift given through the power of Yahweh to a person, or thing, which is then considered sacred or set apart in an official capacity within the Faith; in general, anything from a temple, to vessels, to days of the week, to the human believer (who willingly accepts this gift) can be sanctified. To sanctify something means to set it apart for a particular use in a special purpose or work, and to make it holy or sacred. Etymologically, the word sanctify derives from the Latin verb sanctificare which in turn derives from sanctus (holy) and facere (to make); thus, “to make holy.” 

Thus, one is sanctified with and by the Holy Spirit in the act of the New Birth (John 3:3-8).  The pattern chosen by Christ of the New Birth is taken from the natural process of conception and birth. In the realm of the physical human birth there is conception, the gestation period, the breaking of the water and the actual birth.  Jesus tells Nicodemus (John 3:3-8) that the spiritual rebirth was just that way.  Ergo, vv3-5 Born again. Grk gennēthei anōthen (St’s #‘s G1080 & G509 respectively) Lit.: generated from above. Anōthen may mean above or again. Jesus meant “above,” Nicodemus understood “again.” Verse 3 stands in contrast to v5, in that v3 has conception in view, while v5 speaks of the actual birth. The result of v3 is “seeing” the Kingdom of God, while the result of v5 is “entering” the Kingdom of God. One is conceived by the Word of God (1 Pet 1:23f), but one is born into the Kingdom through water and Spirit baptism respectively (vv5-8). See Acts 2:4, 38; 8:12-17; 10:45-47; 19:1-7; Mark 16:16; 1 Pet 3:21; Acts 22:16. Upon receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit, one receives the gift of sanctification. We call this “positional sanctification.” One becomes set apart for the worship and work of God. There is an ongoing work of sanctification wrought in the believer’s life by the continual communion of the Holy Spirit; this is called “experiential sanctification.” Then lastly there is “ultimate sanctification” when the believer stands redeemed in His presence. 

Three Phases of Biblical Sanctification 

1. Phase One: Positional sanctification signifies that every believer at the moment of Holy Spirit infilling acquires the status quo of being set apart in Christ Jesus (1 Cor. 1:2; Heb. 10:10; Col. 2:10). At the moment a person is immersed in the Spirit of Christ, he/she is entered into union with Christ; he/she shares all that Christ has and is; he/she is a partaker of the divine nature. “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.” (1 Cor 12:13). 
2. Phase Two: Experiential sanctification is the function of the spiritual life after salvation, which involves the believer’s spiritual growth (from baptism up to death or the rapture, whichever comes first) by means of the filling of the Holy Spirit and the grace apparatus for perception (Ephesians 5:26). The key to being sanctified in Phase Two is the proper use of John 17:17 (“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”) in learning Bible doctrine. This produces spiritual maturity. 
3. Phase Three: Ultimate sanctification is the status quo of every believer in his resurrection body in the eternal state (1 Cor 15:35-54; Phil 3:21; 1 John 3:2). We will be set apart unto God for all eternity, and are assured of living in God’s presence forever. 

All three aspects of the doctrine can be seen in 1 Corinthians 1:30-31, “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness (positional), and sanctification” (experiential), “and redemption” (ultimate): “31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”

Progressive Sanctification

Holy Scripture speaks of our salvation in the three tenses of past, present and future: 1. We have been saved (Eph. 2:8). 2. We are being saved (1 Cor. 15:2 ESV). 3. We will be saved (1 Cor. 3:15). All three are true. So, then, we may speak of Progressive Sanctification.

Past: We have been saved in spirit. We receive a revived spirit that is born again by the Holy Spirit (Ezek. 36:26-27; John. 3:5-8). In the New-Birth process our spirit becomes one spirit with the Holy Spirit: “… he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit” (1 Cor. 6:17). This is the natural course of events since the human spirit is but an extension of God’s Spirit right out of the gate at the time of creation (Genesis 2:7). The Apostle Paul echos this truth when he writes that there is but one Spirit (Eph 4:4). As a result, then, of the meshing of the Holy Spirit with its kindred nature, the believer’s spirit is awakened from its long sleep and begins the battle to regain the throne of the soul. But more than that, the human spirit is sealed and fully saved (Eph. 1:13-14, 2:6; cf. Col. 2:10). 

The Holy Spirit’s role in awakening the god-spark (human spirit) is demonstrated by 1 Corinthians 2:8-3:3. This passage highlights the glory and necessity of the Spirit’s ministry to our spirits. For brevity we will only present vv12-15: “But we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit from God, in order that we might understand the things freely given us by God, which things we also are speaking, not in words taught by human wisdom, but taught by the Spirit, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things. But a soulish man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to know, because they are spiritually discerned. But the spiritual man discerns all things indeed.” These verses serve as the catalyst for Paul to explicitly declare in the following verses (3:1-4) that the believers in Corinth were soulish and fleshly instead of spiritual. This again proves a serious distinction between soul and spirit. It stresses our need to submit the soul to the spirit’s ability to receive from the Holy Spirit. 

Present: We are being saved in soul. Our minds are being renewed in knowledge after the image of our Creator (Paul writes in Romans 12:2, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” And again in Colossians 3:10, “And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:”), and we are in the process of obtaining the salvation of our souls as the outcome, E.g. Peter writes in 1 Peter. 3:9, “knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.” cf. James. 1:21, “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.” To which Paul agrees when he writes to the Corinthians, “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:1-2 ESV). 

Future: Currently, in our physical persons, we are outwardly wasting away, but we will be saved in body at the Resurrection when we will receive glorified, imperishable, spiritual bodies. Matthew records the words of Jesus: “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved”.  Paul explains it further:  “It will be like that with bodies that are raised from the dead. The body that is planted does not last forever. The body that is raised from the dead lasts forever. It is planted without honor, but it is raised in glory. It is planted in weakness, but it is raised in power. It is planted as an earthly body, but it is raised as a spiritual body.

“Just as there is an earthly body, there is also a spiritual body. It is written, “The first man Adam became a living person.” (Genesis 2:7) The last Adam became a spirit that gives life. What is spiritual did not come first. What is earthly came first. What is spiritual came after that. The first man came from the dust of the earth. The second man came from heaven. Those who belong to the earth are like the one who came from the earth. And those who are spiritual are like the heavenly man. We are like the earthly man. And we will be like the heavenly man.

“Brothers and sisters, here is what I’m telling you. Bodies made of flesh and blood can’t share in the kingdom of God. And what dies can’t share in what never dies. Listen! I am telling you a mystery. We will not all die. But we will all be changed. That will happen in a flash, as quickly as you can wink an eye. It will happen at the blast of the last trumpet. Then the dead will be raised to live forever. And we will be changed. Our natural bodies don’t last forever. They must be dressed with what does last forever. What dies must be dressed with what does not die. In fact, that is going to happen. What does not last will be dressed with what lasts forever. What dies will be dressed with what does not die. Then what is written will come true. It says, “Death has been swallowed up. It has lost the battle.” (Isaiah 25:8) “Death, where is the victory you thought you had? Death, where is your sting?” (Hosea 13:14) The sting of death is sin. And the power of sin is the law. But let us give thanks to God! He gives us the victory because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done.

“My dear brothers and sisters, remain strong in the faith. Don’t let anything move you. Always give yourselves completely to the work of the Lord. Because you belong to the Lord, you know that your work is not worthless.” 1 Cor. 15:42-58, NIRV 

These spiritual bodies of which we speak are not to be thought of as ghostly, but spiritual in the sense that they are physical bodies that have undergone glorification and made like unto the glorious body of Christ. The progression of sanctification begins in the spirit, emanates to the soul, and culminates in the body. (See the diagrams on pages 22 & 23.)

Most all pagan religions and philosophies had guessed at the immortality of the soul, but had never, in their most adventurous dreams, envisioned the body getting up and joining it. The resurrection of the body is the unique teaching of the Christian Scriptures and the exclusive Christian hope (see 1 Cor 15; Phil 3:10-11; Heb 6:2; 11:35 etc.). 

The Sanctification Work of the Holy Spirit

Line twenty-six of The Apostolic Creed, speaking of the work of the Holy Spirit, says, “Because of ... sanctification ...” So, let us consider the work of the Holy Spirit as it relates to sanctification.

• Romans 15:16 “That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.” 
• 1 Peter 1:2 “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.” 

Just as the Apostle Paul described the condition of the soulish man (that one ruled by his soul) in 1 Corinthians 2:12-15 (which we reviewed earlier in this chapter), and Romans 7:14-25 (which we discussed in chapter five), we will now read his description of the spiritual man (the one governed by his spirit) who has yielded himself to the sanctification process of the Holy Spirit. Of such a man Paul writes: 

“Those who belong to Christ Jesus are no longer under God’s judgment. Because of what Christ Jesus has done, you are free. You are now controlled by the law of the Holy Spirit who gives you life. The law of the Spirit frees you from the law of sin that brings death. The written law was made weak by the power of sin. But God did what the written law could not do. He made his Son to be like those who live under the power of sin. God sent him to be an offering for sin. Jesus suffered God’s judgment against our sin. Jesus does for us everything the holy law requires. The power of sin should no longer control the way we live. The Holy Spirit should control the way we live.

“So don’t live under the control of sin. If you do, you will think about what sin wants. Live under the control of the Holy Spirit. If you do, you will think about what the Spirit wants. The thoughts of a person ruled by sin bring death. But the mind ruled by the Spirit brings life and peace. The mind ruled by the power of sin is at war with God. It does not obey God’s law. It can’t. Those who are under the power of sin can’t please God.

“But you are not ruled by the power of sin. Instead, the Holy Spirit rules over you. This is true if the Spirit of God lives in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Christ. If Christ lives in you, you will live. Though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life. The Spirit does this because you have been made right with God. The Spirit of the God who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you. So the God who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your bodies. He will do this because of his Spirit who lives in you.

“Brothers and sisters, we have a duty. Our duty is not to live under the power of sin. If you live under the power of sin, you will die. But by the Spirit’s power you can put to death the sins you commit. Then you will live.

“Those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. The Spirit you received doesn’t make you slaves. Otherwise you would live in fear again. Instead, the Holy Spirit you received made you God’s adopted child. By the Spirit’s power we call God Abba. Abba means Father. The Spirit himself joins with our spirits. Together they tell us that we are God’s children. As his children, we will receive all that he has for us. We will share what Christ receives. But we must share in his sufferings if we want to share in his glory.” (Romans 8:1-17, NIRV)

Apostolically Speaking,

Bp. Jerry L Hayes, D.D.

The Genealogy of Jesus

 Matthew's Genealogy of Jesus

The Book of Kells

The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 2 Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren; 3 And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram; 4 And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon; 5 And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; 6 And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias; 7 And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa; 8 And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias; 9 And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias; 10 And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias; 11 And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon: 12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel; 13 And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor; 14 And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud; 15 And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob; 16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. 17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations. (The Apostle Matthew 1:1-17)

Luke's Genealogy of Jesus

And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli, 24 Which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi, which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Janna, which was the son of Joseph, 25 Which was the son of Mattathias, which was the son of Amos, which was the son of Naum, which was the son of Esli, which was the son of Nagge, 26 Which was the son of Maath, which was the son of Mattathias, which was the son of Semei, which was the son of Joseph, which was the son of Juda, 27 Which was the son of Joanna, which was the son of Rhesa, which was the son of Zorobabel, which was the son of Salathiel, which was the son of Neri, 28 Which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Addi, which was the son of Cosam, which was the son of Elmodam, which was the son of Er, 29 Which was the son of Jose, which was the son of Eliezer, which was the son of Jorim, which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi, 30 Which was the son of Simeon, which was the son of Juda, which was the son of Joseph, which was the son of Jonan, which was the son of Eliakim, 31 Which was the son of Melea, which was the son of Menan, which was the son of Mattatha, which was the son of Nathan, which was the son of David, 32 Which was the son of Jesse, which was the son of Obed, which was the son of Booz, which was the son of Salmon, which was the son of Naasson, 33 Which was the son of Aminadab, which was the son of Aram, which was the son of Esrom, which was the son of Phares, which was the son of Juda, 34 Which was the son of Jacob, which was the son of Isaac, which was the son of Abraham, which was the son of Thara, which was the son of Nachor, 35 Which was the son of Saruch, which was the son of Ragau, which was the son of Phalec, which was the son of Heber, which was the son of Sala, 36 Which was the son of Cainan, which was the son of Arphaxad, which was the son of Sem, which was the son of Noe, which was the son of Lamech, 37 Which was the son of Mathusala, which was the son of Enoch, which was the son of Jared, which was the son of Maleleel, which was the son of Cainan, 38 Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God. (Luke the Evangelist, 3:24-38)

The Family Tree of Jesus of Nazareth

And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli, ...

The Evangelist Luke give us the genealogy of Christ from Mary through David to God. Luke opens his genealogy by writing: “And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli.” Actually, Joseph was the son-in-law of Heli, since Heli was the father of Mary. The difference between Luke’s genealogy and that of Matthew (Mt 1:1-17) is clearly set forth here; Matthew has Jacob as the father of Joseph (Matthew 1:16). Matthew’s list follows the Davidic covenant (Psalms 132:11-17; Jeremiah 23:5; 33:15; Zechariah 3:8; 6:12) through David’s son Solomon down to Joseph. In that Jesus was the adopted son of Joseph, he inherited all rights as a legal firstborn. He, therefore, had a legal claim to the throne of Israel through his father Joseph by adoption. Luke, on the other hand, stresses the genealogy of Christ through Mary, back to David through David’s son Nathan (verse 31). While Matthew shows Jesus to be the son of Abraham (Matthew 1:1), thus the national Messiah and king of Israel, Luke does not stop his record at Abraham but continues on to Adam and ultimately to God (verse 38). Luke’s clear intent is to show Jesus to be the Son of God and the universal Savior. All of the Gospels speak of the universality of Christ’s mission, but Luke makes it his main theme.

The Christology of Luke’s Genealogy

Jesus says of himself, “I am the root and the offspring of David” (Revelation 22:16). The imagery is that of a (family) tree, of which Jesus declares himself to be both the root and offspring (or branch). The dual nature of Christ is portrayed in this imagery and demonstrated in Luke’s genealogy: This is true in that the root of David’s family tree is shown to be God (v38) and the offspring (branch) is shown to be Jesus (verse 23). Thus, by Jesus’s self identification of being both the root and offspring of David’s genealogy, Jesus is declaring Himself to be both the son of David (i.e. man) and David’s God.

Challenges of the Genealogy

First, neither Matthew’s nor Luke’s list of generations is complete. At times one is said to be the son (or father) of another when they may be several generations removed. Secondly, many persons had more than one name which may appear in one list by one name and in another list by yet another. Thirdly, one may be said to be a son, or father, of another when they would not be so by blood but by law. Fourthly, the greatest challenge presented by the two genealogies of Jesus (Matthew 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-38) is the appearance of the same two names, Salathiel and Zorobabel (Matthew 1:12; Luke 3:27) in both list at a juncture that seems impossible. Finally, the fifth challenge (not found in the New Testament lists, but are extant in Old Testament listing) is that Zorobabel is said to be the son Salathiel (Ezra 3:2, 8; 5:2; Ne 12:1; Hag 1:1, 12, 14; 2:2, 23; *Matthew 1:12; *Luke 3:27), but also the son of Pedaiah (1 Chr 3:19).

The reader will see that the five challenges listed above will be sorted out in the revelations that come to us through these genealogies.

Revelations Within the Genealogies of Christ

Matthew divides his list from Abraham to Christ into three sets of 14 generations a piece (Matthew 1:17). For the Apostle to do this he had to skip over some generations to keep his number to a very neat and purposeful fourteen. (So when Matthew says that so-and-so begat so-and-so, it may have been a grandson or a great grandson in view). I say purposeful because Matthew’s theme is to introduce Jesus as the King of Israel - the son of David. The number fourteen is the number of David’s name in the science of gematria. Gematria turns names into numbers and numbers into names. The Hebrew had no separate set of symbols to represent numbers, but used their alphabet. The name David, in Hebrew, is spelled דוד: transliteration: dvd. The three letters have a numerical value of 14: D (4) + V (6) + D (4) = 14. So in manifesting Jesus as the son of David, Matthew uses the devise of gematria to covertly establish the theme for his book. In that he has 3 sets of 14 would not be lost on his readers (he wrote for and to the Jews) for they would see in the number 3 a confirmation that the number 14 was very intentional since 3 is the biblical number of confirmation. For Matthew to achieve his last set of fourteen generations he included Mary thus showing the validity of genealogical descent of covenant prerogatives through a woman (see Genesis 3:15). Mary was the daughter-in-law of Joseph’s father, Jacob, ergo, Jacob's daughter by law. One should remember this, in that we are far from finished with the “female factor.  From vv2-6 Matthew takes the reader from Abraham to king David. Here we see the Abrahamic covenant manifested. In vv6-11 the reader is taken from David’s son Solomon to Jechonias (Jechoniah). In these passages the Davidic covenant is in view. Finally in vv12-16 Matthew introduces the generations from Salathiel to Jesus, and in doing so the new covenant is proclaimed.

Covenant prerogatives had to be transferred from Solomon’s lineage to Nathan’s because God rejected Jechonias (also called: Jechoniah, Jehoiachin, and Coniah) and his descendants from the Davidic covenant (see Jeremiah 22:24-30 also see Zach 12:12). This necessary transfer was accomplished by the migration of a woman from Nathan’s lineage to that of Solomon’s; most likely the wife of Salathiel (also called: Shealtiel). This particular female would be a descendent of Neri: (Lk 3:27) thus making Salathiel the son-in-law of Neri. The precedent for this type of listing is established in Luke 3:23 where Joseph is said to be the son of Heli: when in truth he was the son-in-law by his marriage to Mary. Therefore, Zorobabel would be the grandson of Neri on his mother’s side. Through this process Zorobabel, who is of great importance to the Davidic covenant (he is identified with the Messiah; Haggai 2:23 cf Jeremiah 22:24 and especially Zechariah 3:8 where he is called “The Branch”; also see the prophets Haggai [Hag 2:21-22] and Zechariah [Zech 4:6-7]) would be considered the descendant of David through Nathan. Thus, God maintains the curse on Jechoniah (Jeremiah 22:24–28) while fulfilling his promise to David that his seed would occupy the throne forever (Ps 132:11-17). (It is an interesting side note that both Solomon and Nathan were sons of Bathsheba - 1 Chr 3:5.)

There is another move away from the male bloodline of Jechoniah after Zorobabel which most likely took place with Zorobabel’s daughter, Shelomith (1Chr 3:19). Here she holds the place in the genealogy of her family; which would never be the case (certainly not normative) unless her name was necessary to maintain the family line. This “Female Factor” would be in harmony with the theme of gynecological redemption being provided through the “seed” of the woman (see Genesis 3:15) and, which would shed light on why, to this very day, the Jewish religion recognizes ONLY the offspring of a Jewish woman as the heir to Jewish prerogatives. This is to say, one must have a Jewish mother to be a Jew. Ergo: an offspring of a Jewish man and a Gentile woman would not be a Jew, but the offspring of the gentile man and a Jewish woman would be a Jew. This is seen in Acts 16:3 where Paul had Timothy circumcised. Timothy was the son of a Gentile father and a Jewish mother.

Zorobabel (Luke 3:27) was born in Babylon, but returned to Jerusalem as governor (Zachariah 2:2); all accounts but one list him as the son of Shealtiel (the New Testament - Salathiel). The one challenge to this is found in 1 Chr 3:19, where he is said to be the son of one Pedaiah. Now we know that Pedaiah was the brother of Salathiel (vv17&18). It is thought by most that Salathiel died before siring any children to continue his name, in which case his brother enter into a levirate (brother-in-law) marriage ( Deut 25:5; Ruth 2:20) with his widow and sired Zorobabel in behalf of his dead brother Salathiel. This is the only scenario that would allow both brothers, Salathiel and Pedaiah to be listed as the father of Zorobabel.

Conclusion

In this way, the Lord God renewed the covenant promises to Zorobabel that he had withdrawn from his grandfather Jechoniah (Jeremiah 22:24-30). See Jeremiah 23:5-6; Zechariah 3:8; Haggai 2:7-9; 2:20-23 compared to Jeremiah 22:24 with Haggai 2:23. Zorobabel is called “The Branch” (Jeremiah 23:5-6 cf Zachariah 3:8); the “Signet Ring” (Seal) (Haggai 2:23); along with the High Priest, Joshua, he is called the “Anointed” which would be “Christ” in Greek. Thus, Zorobabel is the renewed type of the Messiah. Yahweh had maintained His curse on the blood line of Jechoniah and remained faithful to His covenant with David.

Apostolically Speaking

Bp. Jerry L Hayes, D.D.

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