How Bad are You?

If you are trusting in Christ for salvation do you know how greatly loved you are? The doctrine of the new birth or regeneration is the orthodox explanation of the greatness of God’s love for his children. As John Piper says, “The new birth is the act of being greatly loved by God.” But many of us do not know the magnitude of God’s love towards us because we do not understand why the new birth or regeneration is necessary.

How many times have you looked at another person and asked, “How bad am I, really?” The asking and answering of this question is a necessary step in understanding why regeneration is necessary and in being able to fathom how great the Father’s love is for us. So how bad are you? Here are ten answers from the Scriptures (there are more!):

1. You are dead in your sins. (Ephesians 2:1,4). You are a “horizontal corpse”.

2. You are a child of wrath. (Ephesians 2:3) By your very nature you are a child made ready by your sins to be justly deserving of God’s wrath.

3. You love the darkness. (John 3:19) You desire, long for, and hunger and thirst after the darkness.

4. You have a heart of stone. (Ezekiel 36:26)

5. You are unable to submit to God. (Romans 8:7) God has a holy pleasure and you cannot submit to his will.

6. You are unable to accept the gospel. (1Corinthians 2:14) The gospel is foolish to you and you do not understand why it is desirable.

7. You are unable to come to Christ as Lord. (1Corinthians 12:3) You shun the Lord of the universe as the delight and desire of your life from the heart.

8. You are a slave to sin. (Romans 6:6) You are in the shackles and bounds of sin.

9. You are a slave to Satan. (Ephesians 2:2). You are compelled and bound to follow him in the way of disobedience.

10. You have nothing good that dwells in you. (Romans 7:18).

These truths about who we are magnify the necessity of the new birth or regeneration. We do need help, we need to be brought from death to life. Therefore Jesus can say to a very religious man, you must be born again (John 3:7). A religious man will look to his own belief, obedience or love to God as an assurance of belonging to God. But a person who knows who they truly are will look to the greatness of God’s love and mercy toward him in the new birth. It is the Spirit who gives life (John 6:63) showing us the riches of his mercy and the greatness of his love in making us alive together with Christ (Ephesians 2:4-5). Understanding who we are necessitates more than a renewal or rejuvenation. Understanding who we are necessitates a new birth or regeneration. And it is the act of God’s sovereign grace in the new birth that magnifies his love toward his children.

What wonders are wrought in the garden of the King.
He transplants weeds from the dunghill, and makes them
to grow as lilies in the midst of his fair garden.
-Spurgeon, "The King's Garden"