Johannes Maccovius, Theological Distinctions XIV.
James Dodson
Chapter XIV
Of Regeneration
I. Regeneration is considered one way with respect to its first moment, another way with respect to its progress.
With respect to its first moment, man is merely passive; with respect to its progress, he cooperates with God.
II. Regeneration is perfect as to its parts, not as to degrees.
This distinction is of the greatest use; for the words “perfect” and “entire” often occur, yet these do not denote perfection of degrees, but of parts.
III. “Perfect” or “entire” is sometimes taken as opposed to hypocritical, and sometimes as opposed to imperfect.
When the godly are called perfect, they are to be understood as perfect in the first sense, not the latter.
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IV. Regeneration is not given perfect in this life, but is finally obtained in the separation of the soul from the body.
This is clear from those whom the day of the Lord will find living; for before they are caught up to meet Christ, they will be changed. By the separation of the soul, when the soul of the faithful is dissolved from the body, it is regenerated, and so is transferred to God.
V. When in the Decalogue we are commanded to love God with the whole heart, the powers understood are not those which are imperfect in the regenerate, but such as they ought to be.
The Papists wish to infer from this that man can perfectly worship God, because, they say, he has the powers. Response. God does not require from man only what he has, but also what he ought to have. Therefore the Decalogue does not show what man can do, but what he ought to do, and to what he is divinely obligated.
VI. The renewed or regenerate do not sin with a full will, but with a reluctant and broken will.
Hence in Scripture they are said not to give service to sin; likewise, not to sin. But the case of the unregenerate is different. For they present their members as instruments of unrighteousness, and give service to sin.
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VII. Regenerate believers sin not from malice, but from infirmity.
There are some who laugh at this. And it is asked whether infirmity, of which a man himself is the cause, can be excused. Response. Certainly not. But when we speak thus, we do not mean that acquired infirmity, but that infirmity which the faithful man resists as far as he can, and while resisting, sometimes succumbs.
VIII. Sin remains in the regenerate while they are in this life, but it does not reign.
It dwells, but does not reign. For in Romans 7 it is said to dwell; in Romans 6 it is said not to reign in the regenerate.
IX. In the regenerate, the flesh is stronger than the Spirit in evil; the Spirit is stronger in virtue.
Theologians compare the flesh to Goliath, and the Spirit to David.
X. The Spirit is superior to the flesh, not because it always conquers, but because it always renews the battle, and at last conquers in the end.
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The flesh sometimes conquers the Spirit, but it conquers in such a way that the Spirit immediately renews the battle, and at last conquers—not indeed by its own strength, but in Christ Jesus, in whom we are more than conquerors, as in Romans 8. Theologians are accustomed to say: the flesh often wins the battle, but the Spirit wins the war.
XI. One and the same man, with respect to the same faculties, is regenerate and flesh.
Insofar as he is regenerate, he is called the new man; insofar as he is unregenerate, he is called the old man.
XII. The regenerate man is perfect in this life in desire and wish, but not in the thing itself.
That is, man indeed desires and wishes for perfect regeneration, but he does not obtain it in the thing itself.
XIII. Degrees of regeneration are given in this life, not only in themselves, but also in the subjects.
One is more regenerated than another; hence adults are more regenerated than infants.
XIV. The struggle against sin is twofold: either of the flesh against the Spirit, or the reverse.
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When we bring forward the struggle from Romans 7, “the Spirit against the flesh,” the Arminians say that the same struggle is found in unregenerate men; but ineptly. For in them the flesh shrinks from sinning, not from love of virtue, but from fear of punishment. But where the flesh struggles with the Spirit, it is certain that this is done both from fear of punishment and from love of good and love of God.
XV. It is one thing to take someone captive; another thing to hold him captive.
The flesh takes the spirit captive, but does not hold it captive, because it continually renews the battle.
XVI. It is one thing to be subject to sin; another thing to be a servant of sin.
To be subject is nothing other than to be liable, which also befalls the regenerate. But to be a servant of sin is not only to be liable to sin, but also freely to offer oneself to sinning, and to fulfill the lusts of the flesh as the laws of a commander; and this belongs to the unregenerate.
XVII. Faith is of one kind habitual, of another actual.
Habitual faith is part of regeneration; actual faith is the effect of habitual faith.
XVIII. Regeneration is a real act of God.
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It is called real so that it may be contradistinguished from justification, which is a moral act.
XIX. Regeneration is the work of God alone.
Because regeneration requires no less power than creation. But creation belongs to God alone. Therefore.
XX. Regeneration never ceases in the regenerate.
For those who are born not of flesh nor of blood, to them He gave power to be called the sons of God. John 1.
XXI. The regenerate in this life are partly carnal.
This rule is found in 1 Corinthians 3. Hence this distinction: some are wholly carnal, such as unregenerate men; others are partly so.
XXII. Regeneration, with respect to the first moment, occurs in an instant.
Theologians are accustomed to distinguish regeneration from justification in this: namely, that regeneration occurs all at once and wholly at one time, whereas justification does not occur all at once and wholly at one time.