Regeneration and Education                                                              

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A major ingredient that has become insignificant and even opposed by contemporary public education in the American schools is the Reformed understanding of the element of “regeneration.”   Regeneration can be understood as being in contrast to the blank slate understanding, which is that each child is equally endowed, and it is the responsibility of the government, culture, and society to program each child respectfully.  Regeneration inserts another element, since the Bible teaches that Christians are “new creations in Christ Jesus,” and this sets up a distinction, yes even a division as to the how and what is learning.

Regeneration when united with education points to a mind change, the development of positive characteristics within oneself, and expanding it all to a channel of learning that regards God and all his creation with special reverence.  Certain segments of our society would be horrified to even suggest God in Christ provides a central motivating, power, and directive for the learning process, as it would for them be a gross violation of the so-called doctrine of the separation of church and state to say that.

Regeneration is being changed from our natural personages to being altered into new creations in Christ Jesus.  It is understood from the Reformed teachings in Christianity to be the spiritual work of God in a believer’s life.  It means that God brings Christians to new life from a previous state of subjection to the decay of death. It is the awakening of one’s mind to the mind of God in Christ whom we know through the indwelling Holy Spirit, and as such has definite implications in respect to learning and education.

John Calvin stated: “all who are clothed with the righteousness of Christ are at the same time regenerated by the Spirit”, as this regeneration is the “secret operation of the Holy Spirit.” (John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion).  Calvin did not teach baptismal regeneration.

Pelagianism in contrast to Calvinism teaches that people are born pure, with God’s spirit already at work in their lives from birth, making the need for spiritual regeneration from a previous sinful state irrelevant.  This is the pattern of the modernist theology that sees regeneration as more a matter of education than spiritual renewal controlling the learning process. For the Pelagian it all starts with a clean slate with each individual mind, as for them there is no such thing as total depravity, as to them each individual is innately good, only having to realize to him or herself a more complete life and world in and of themselves and their environment.

From the Reformed understanding regeneration is a mind change, not just the acquisition of new knowledge. It is not determined by one’s environment, but individually realized by one’s relationship with God.  Isaiah 26:3 “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trustiest in thee.”   Hebrews 8:10 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord; I will put my laws into their minds, and write them in their hearts: and I will write them in their hearts: and I will be their God, and they shall me my people.”

Learning from the Reformed focus is not just between one’s mind and the acquisition of knowledge, but it is the realization of knowledge within one’s own mind combined with the enlightenment of the indwelling Holy Spirit and the awakening to new knowledge and understanding in this context.

Colossians 2:3 speaks about the new life in Christ, as it says that in him “are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”  The personal relatedness to God in the learning process is a vital part of what regeneration means from the Reformed understanding.

Regeneration is evidenced through the development of positive characteristics. Deuteronomy 4:40 says,  “Thou shall keep therefore his statues, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou may prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God gives thee, forever.”

A child trained in biblical principles and God’s way of life will avoid recklessness, violence, immorality, and rebellion against authority that often lead to all other types of adverse problems.. The understanding of that “thou may prolong thy days on the earth,” I feel, not only speak general to longevity, but also relates to the stability of a nation, for nations that follow God’s guidelines for family relationships and for the directives of God in families are much more stable than those that do not, since the family is basic to the society.

I Corinthians 2:11-13 says:  “For what man knows the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?  Even so things of God knows no man, but the Spirit of God.  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God’ that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.  Which things also we speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost teaches; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.”

The positive union that can exist between education and regeneration amplifies the channel of learning, developing from these roots, when God is recognized and revered in this process.

Psalm 19:1 that says, “The heavens declare the glory God, and the firmament shews his handiwork” sets a stage for learning!

John 1:1 & 14 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Words was with God, and the Word was God…And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld the glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

Education is very much tired with the use of words, and humanity itself is transformed from animal limitations by the use of languages.   Other animals have limited languages of types, but the human species has a much more extensive use of languages and the power of word, suggestive of the teaching from Scriptures that God in the beginning was the Omniscient (all knowing) Creator.  And Jesus Christ being revealed as the Word of God only affirms this relationship.  To deny this puts a great limitation of what knowledge really is all about.

Regeneration is related to life, and it can become a channel to truly enhance learning and should draw Christians in particular to respect and truly regard God’s creation.

Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” This scripture does not tell how God did this, but only that he did this—basically that matter coming from energy was not by chance, but by the will of Almighty God.

In the first two chapters of Genesis the account is given that God created the universe, the earth, and all living things, then man and woman, and pronounced them all “good” (Genesis 1:25) and “very good” (1:31).  The Bible depicts God conferring inherent value to nature itself. And in this early part of the creation story, we find the origin of man’s responsibility for nature in God’s commands to Adam.

From the two accounts in Genesis 1 and 2, God declares man’s responsibility to “subdue” and have “dominion” over the earth and its creatures (Genesis 1:28), but also he is to “work” (or “till”) and “keep” the Garden, and by extension, nature (Genesis 2:15). According to Strong’s concordance the Hebrew word for “work” in this passage means to use, and the word translated “keep” means to guard, to protect, and to preserve. Thus from the very beginning God expected man to use the products of nature for his sustenance, but also to be responsible in that use and to preserve the life-giving systems and creatures of the creation.

The events of the great flood in Genesis 6-9 also provide insight into God’s early view of creation. In order to preserve part of the creation, part of Noah’s responsibility was gathering some of every animal “kind” into the ark (Genesis 6:19). After blotting out all life on earth, God “remembered Noah and all the beasts” on the ark (Genesis 8:1) and made the flood subside. After the flood, God is very clear, and emphasizes repeatedly that his covenant to never flood the whole earth again is with “the earth” (Genesis 9:13) and “every living creature” including Noah and his offspring and all animal life as well (Genesis 9:8-11). Indeed, “every moving thing that lives” was given to mankind for food (Genesis 9:3), and a high view of creation established by God through covenant relationship would ensure a balance of “using” and “keeping.”  The messages of the flood story are that God will judge sin, and he will deliver his people, when they follow his directives. God is concerned not just about humanity, but all his creation.

There is a spiritual soul to knowledge and learning, a cognitive heartbeat. Zechariah 12.1 states that “the Lord … formed the spirit of man within him.”  The soul is the life, but the spirit is mental reality of a person.  The conscience, the intuition, the communion, and the cognition are all parts of the human experience, and all various ways participate in the educational process.

Regeneration is God’s process of re-creation in time and space, setting the stage for the eternal transformation when the redeemed will be change into eternal glory in God’s presences,  and then “we shall know even as we are known”  not just in part in the here and now.  This is the culmination of all education in the Reformed understanding from knowing it not just in the natural sense, but through the lens of regeneration to our transformation into spiritual bodies in God’s presence eternally.

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by Joe Renfro, Ed.D., Educational Columnist, Radio Evangelist, Retired Teacher and Pastor, 5931 West Avenue, Lavonia, Georgia 30553,  706-356-4173, joerenfro@windstream.net

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