Regeneration and Faith

One of the fundamental points of Reformed Theology is the position that regeneration precedes faith. One of the primary disagreements with Reformed Theology from the rest of Christianity is that regeneration precedes faith. It is the standard belief, as long as you're not Reformed, that anyone can come to faith and that faith is the prerequisite for regeneration.

Me? I can't figure this out at all. When I read, "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience" (Eph. 2:1-2), I take that to mean that people who are outside the faith are dead in sin. I don't want to be uncharitable, but it's really hard to be kind and still figure out what it means to be dead in sin if your not actually dead in any real sense whatsoever. "Well," I've been told, "it means that you're spiritually dead." Okay. I'm fine with that. And, of course, if we're right, "spiritually dead" would be supported in Scripture. Is it? I think so. Jesus said, "It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing" (John 6:63). Paul said, "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God" (Rom. 8:5-8). He told the Corinthians "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor. 2:14). That, really, is what is intended by "spiritually dead." It's not that the person has no knowledge or awareness of God (Rom. 1:19-20). It's that they are spiritually dead to the point of being unable to "accept the things of the Spirit of God" or "to understand them." (If you don't like the term "unable" in that last sentence, take it up with Paul. He's the one who said, "not able." He's the one who said they do not because they cannot.) So it would seem that the Bible is not silent on the topic. People who are "in the flesh", not yet born of God, "natural Man", are spiritually dead, incapable of (spiritual) profit, hostile to God, incapable of understanding the things of the Spirit.

So ... if you're spiritually dead, how do you have a spiritual event like faith? I don't understand the alternative. If you accept "spiritually dead" as the condition of human beings before being born again, in what possible sense can they set aside their hostility toward God, understand the the things of the Spirit of God, and come to faith (which is profit)? While both the Reformed and those who are not of the Reformed camp want to affirm the Bible as true, I cannot figure out how this one is even a point of contention. If humans are spiritually dead, it seems absolutely obvious that the first thing that has to happen before they can set aside their hostility, grasp the Gospel, and come to faith is that they first become spiritually alive. Thus, regeneration would have to precede faith.

Now, I don't know anyone on the Reformed side who would argue that there is a time delay. Everyone I've ever heard on the topic affirms what appears to be obvious. Faith follows immediately upon regeneration, so that the person experiencing it would never be able to tell that regeneration preceded faith. It's just the moment that "the light goes on", that "I finally got it."

But I'm not arrogant enough to believe I cannot be wrong. If someone can explain to me the mechanism by which a person can set aside their hostility to God, understand the things of the Spirit of God, and come to faith all before being regenerated and still agree with the Scriptures above, I'll be glad to listen. God knows I'm not perfect in my understanding. I'd like to know how flesh doesn't profit if it can actually provide the single thing required to be saved -- faith. I'd like to know how someone can place their trust in someone they naturally abhor. I'd like to know how someone can accept the things of the Spirit of God when Paul says they are "not able". If you can figure out how to make all that fit, I'm interested.