In the Lord making us born again by his Spirit (Jn. 3:3-8), are we passive or active therein? Classic reformed theology has answered: “Both”. We are passive in the first instant, but after that active, in repenting of our sins and trusting the Lord Jesus for eternal salvation.
Likewise, while being “born again” can refer to the Lord’s enlivening us so as to believe, it often in Scripture, and classic reformed theology, is spoken of as after faith, when we enter a fuller newness of life in spritual communion with Christ by means of receiving Him into our hearts through faith, He beginning to live in us, with all the blessings He brings (Rev. 3:20).
We ought to affirm and value all the truths we can about these things and not deny that man is in significant ways active and cooperative in regeneration, and that there is a newness of life in being born again by faith. We are not blocks and stones. Affirming these truths will help us walk closer with fellow Christians who see some of these things, though not all of them.
Grow in the Lord with these new pages of classic reformed resources:
‘On being Born Again as Subsequent to Faith, in receiving Christ & the Fullness of Life by Faith’