From the MLJ Archive

How does God remove sin and make a person new? In this sermon on regeneration, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains that it is the result of the work of God’s Holy Spirit applying the work of Christ to the hearts and minds of those that are called according to His will. When people are granted the gift of God’s grace by the work of the Spirit, they are transformed and renewed. They are new creatures and part of the new creation that Christ has brought and will bring. The transformation that is brought about by regeneration does not change the substance of people, but it renews their minds and gives them new desires. These new Spirit-gifted dispositions result in a new life. This is the life of the Christian who seeks to love God and their neighbor. It causes them to love new things that they once despised, and it causes them to hate old things that they once loved. This is brought about by the sovereign work of God in the life of sinners that He chooses to renew and adopt into His family. This work cannot be directly perceived, nor can it be understood fully, but it is the beginning of the new life. It is a rebirth that wholly and completely reorients the will and desires of a once sinful people. It is the fountainhead of the new life in Christ.