Scripture gives us the order of how a man is regenerated by the Holy Spirit:
Ephesians 1
12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
1. Hear the gospel of your salvation, the gospel of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ for sins.
2. Trust/believe that gospel for salvation
3. Holy Spirit seals you for the day of redemption which is the adoption as a child of God(Romans 8:23, Ephesians 1:5), being conformed to the image of Christ. Your soul is made a new creature that's waiting for the body to be redeemed. The redemption is a future thing.
Ephesians 1
12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
1. Hear the gospel of your salvation, the gospel of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ for sins.
2. Trust/believe that gospel for salvation
3. Holy Spirit seals you for the day of redemption which is the adoption as a child of God(Romans 8:23, Ephesians 1:5), being conformed to the image of Christ. Your soul is made a new creature that's waiting for the body to be redeemed. The redemption is a future thing.
Reformed theology would teach differently in that regeneration precedes faith and repentance. The natural man cannot respond to God because he is spiritually dead and unable to respond to him. This response is enabled by a "spiritual resurrection"...which is as real as raising someone from the dead.
Read Ephesians 2 in this regard.
Additionally, I John 5:1 says :
I John 5:1 5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.
In other words, the CAUSE of belief is that the person has been born of God or regenerated.
I would view regeneration as different than the sealing of the Holy Spirit which occurs after salvation.
Your view is a reflection of the Arminian view except an Arminian theologian would explain that God provides "prevenient grace" for the person to make the response. The "prevenient grace" view basically is a substitute for regeneration as I've described it..that regeneration precedes faith. However the "prevenient grace" view has no basis Scripturally. I would call it the "Scotch tape" of Arminian theology..it is a doctrine that has been created to mask an obvious deficiency in Arminian theology.
So, I agree that your view describes what most Arminians think except you omitted the prevenient grace part. The question I would have for you, is, how does a spiritually dead man become resurrected in order to respond to the gospel message? Roman Catholics would say that he isn't really spiritually dead, but he's extremely sick, and can still make that choice. Arminians would rely on the prevenient grace view. Reformed theology would teach the regeneration view.
And, as I have said, I have no issue with peaceful Arminians. It's more those who slander and call Reformed theology Satanic that I have issues with.
It's also important to realize that Reformed people believe the exact same number of people will be saved as Arminians..the real question is, why? With the Reformed person, it is totally about God's grace, and God selects to save specific individuals. With the Arminian position, it's about the person making the right choice, and the opportunity for salvation is universal.
One of the slanders I have heard from some individuals is that Reformed people believe a smaller number of people will be saved..not true. They believe the exact same number will be saved, the only issue is why. It seems like people would read a little before they would make such claims.
I'm not talking about the person I'm responding to...just making some comments about the hostile detractors I initially created the thread to address.