Regeneration and Self-Denial

Excerpt of a message given by Paul Washer on Ezekiel 36:22-27 and Matthew 13:44

But self-denial, what it truly is, is this….and I’ve written it down. It’s the reality of a new creature, simply living out what he has become through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, living according to his new nature, doing the righteous deeds that he now loves, and putting off the sinful deeds of the fallen unregenerate flesh which he now hates. It is the willing and joyful response of the regenerate man whose mind has grasped something of God’s glory, something of the worth of Christ’s sacrifice and something of the greatness of the salvation that has been so freely given to him.

So we are not talking in self-denial about this grudging, horrid, popish type of thing, but this thing of a new creature who has been transformed by the power of God, has been given a new heart that loves and desires righteousness, has been given spiritual eyes so that when, first of all after being regenerate, opens those eyes and sees the beauty and the wonder of Christ, desires Him, and is irresistibly drawn to Him. I’m talking about a Gospel with power, a Gospel of power, and when you believe in a Gospel of power and the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, you no longer have to depend upon the arm of the flesh and all the silly little travesties and Ferris wheels that are built in the name of Jesus in order to attract people. It is not just a Gospel of truth, but a Gospel of power...

But when you grasp the power of regeneration, everything else begins to fall in place and until you grasp the power of regeneration, you cannot understand the doctrine and the calling to self-denial. Let me just give you an example of this before we read Ezekiel….another little definition I’ve written about man. Man is a fallen, radically depraved, spiritually dead, morally corrupt, sin-loving, God-hating creature. In the very core of his being, he is as opposed to God as the devil himself. He cannot change and has no desire to do so. He loves a lie and will do everything in his power to restrain and suppress any and every truth about God and the more he knows about God, the more he hates Him, because God is righteous and man is evil.

Now, how do you take something like that, how do you expect a creature like that to all of a sudden hear a Gospel message of self-denial and turn his back on absolutely everything he is and at all cost follow the Christ? How can you expect a man to take a journey of a thousand miles if he’s neither willing nor able to take the first step? And this idea of, well, as the brother put it, “Well, let’s get them saved and then gradually introduce them to salvation and to discipleship and to the call to self-denial.” But I want to tell you something. It is not any easier to coax a dead man to take one step than it is to coax him to take a million. If he’s dead, he’s dead. And within that is found the power of regeneration.

Because I, as a preacher, an itinerant, nothing, little preacher, because of my belief in the power of the Gospel and the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, I can look at the most defiled man on the face of the earth and tell him to forsake his mother, his father, his lands, his home, his own life, and I can expect that, out of the group of them, somebody’s coming out. I do not have to lay down the bar on the Gospel. I can bid men to come and die from the very moment I speak with them because I believe in the power of resurrection. Someone says, “How can you expect a man to do that?”

I say, “Well, let me answer that with another question. How can Ezekiel command bones to live? And how can Jesus cry out to a dead man and tell him to come forth?” Because salvation is not just some mere, tiny, puny, human decision. It is the supernatural work of God. I would submit to you that there is more power revealed in the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit in the life of one sinner than all the power revealed in the six days of Creation. We need to believe that; then, we don’t have to succumb to trickery and device. We’re not looking for missionaries. I see all kinds of boys go in front of me. I want one man who’ll take one open Bible, walk out in the middle of the town square, and preach until they kill him or someone comes out of there born again, because that’s all that’s required. The truth. The more we fill our lives up with all sorts of silly things, the less God’s power is going to be revealed in our lives.

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