The Three R’s

(but not reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic)

...I remember an old friend of mine once saying, “Ah! you preach the three R’s, and God will always bless you.” I said, “What are the three R’s?” and he answered, “Ruin, redemption, and regeneration.” They contain the sum and substance of divinity. R. for ruin. We were all ruined in the fall; we were all lost when Adam sinned, and we were all ruined by our own transgressions; we are all ruined by our own evil hearts, and our own wicked wills; and we all shall be ruined, unless grace saves us. Then there is a second R. for redemption. We are ransomed by the blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish and without spot; we are rescued by his power; we are ransomed by his merits; we are redeemed by his strength. Then there is R. for regeneration. If we would be pardoned, we must also be regenerated; for no man can partake of redemption unless he is regenerate. Let him be as good as he pleases; let him serve God, as he imagines, as much as he likes; unless he is regenerate, and has a new heart, a new birth, he will still be in the first R. that is ruin. These things contain an epitome of the gospel.

From the sermon “The Bible” (March 18, 1855) in Sermons of the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, of London; 1869, pp. 36-37

Regeneration, Menno Simons

14. Regeneration
Do you think, beloved, that the new birth is nothing else but that which the poor world hitherto has thought it to consist in, namely immersion in the water or the saying of the words, "I baptize thee in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost?" No, dear brethren, no. The new birth consists verily not in water nor in words, but it is the heavenly, quickening power of God in our hearts which comes from God and through the preaching of the divine word, if we accept the same by faith, touches, pierces, renews and changes our hearts, so that we are converted from unbelief to faith, from unrighteousness to righteousness, from evil to good, from carnality to spirituality, from the earthly to the heavenly, from the evil nature of Adam to the good nature of Jesus Christ (419a; II:215a). -- Menno Simons, His Life, Labors, and Teachings, John Horsch, Scottdale, PA: Mennonite Publishing House, 1916, p. 246

Them that believe

What do baptismal regenerationists have in baptism that we don't already have by faith? 

According to the Bible "them that believe":
  1. Are given power to become the sons of God, John 1:12.
  2. Have the righteousness of God, Romans 3:22. Cf. Romans 5:1.
  3. Are the seed of Abraham, Romans 4:11.
  4. Are saved, I Corinthians 1:21. Cf. Hebrews 10:39.
  5. Are given the promise, Galatians 3:22. Cf. Rom. 4:13; Acts 2:38-39