Oct 5, 2008

Dagg on Regeneration

"Faith is necessary to the Christian character; and must therefore precede regeneration, when this is understood in its widest sense. Even in the restricted sense, in which it denotes the beginning of the spiritual life, faith, in the sense in which James uses the term, may precede. But a faith which exists before the beginning of spiritual life, cannot be a living faith. Yet some have maintained that faith produces love. This opinion is of sufficient importance to demand a careful consideration." ("Manuel of Theology" _ Section IV - "Regeneration")

http://www.freegrace.net/library/dagg/bk7c3.html#sec4

I take Dagg to mean that when a man is born again he is at that moment possessed of a living faith, and that a man cannot be said to be regenerate who is still impenitent and unbelieving.

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