Demons, Fear, and Regeneration
STATEMENT
In response to stating that a man having “fear of God” is evidence of being born again, one person wrote:
Dear Brother, by your logic the demons are also regenerated because they tremble before God, which shows that they have a fear of God. (James 2:19) Further, you have someone who does not believe in Jesus saved, and yet the Bible says that the wrath of God abides on the one who is not a believer in Jesus. (John 3:36)
RESPONSE
I am certain that many might harbor this objection. Consider the following…
Dear Brother, by your logic the demons are also regenerated because they tremble before God, which shows that they have a fear of God.
There is not a single text in the bible that speaks of the regeneration of demons. In fact, what we find in scripture is that the devils have no savior - "For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham." (Hebrews 2:16) Since devils have no savior, they likewise have no atonement, no regeneration, and no gospel. It is the clear testimony of scripture that the devils do in-fact believe a great deal of truth regarding God (James 2:19). But it is the wildest of conjecture to believe that any truth that a devil embraces could be a message of eternal salvation, because there is no message of salvation for them. It follows that your assertion regarding the salvific ramifications of demonic belief is not supported by scripture or logic. Neither is it my position.
Further, you have someone who does not believe in Jesus saved, and yet the Bible says that the wrath of God abides on the one who is not a believer in Jesus.
Job was a believer in Christ apart from ever having heard his name or the truth of the explicit NT gospel of I Corinthians 15:3-4 (Job 9:2). He possessed vital faith in the one true and living God given to him by sovereign grace. He had it in spite of his lack of specific gospel knowledge. The same can be said of all of the OT saints because the gospel was not explicitly revealed to them at that time (Ephesians 3:5). As a result, I have no trouble believing that Cornelius had the same, like-precious faith as Job, but unlike his OT counterpart, we see that he was blessed with a knowledge of the truth through the subsequent preaching of Peter. To say that a man who lacks explicit gospel knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ therefore does not KNOW Christ in a real and vital sense, is a ludicrous assertion in light of the OT (Hebrews 11).
- Elder Daniel Samons
FOLLOW UP STATEMENT
Dear Brother:
I never said that demons were regenerate. I merely took your argument that said that having a fear of God was proof of regeneration. Since the demons fear God, and since you say that having a fear of God is a proof of regeneration, then it is you who must affirm that demons are regenerate.
Yes, Job and the truly saved Old Testament saints believed in the coming of Jesus the Savior. But, they did not get that revelation apart from Gospel preaching. Did not Paul say that the Gospel was preached to them AS IT IS TO US? (Hebrews 4:2) Why do you disagree with this testimony. Do you believe that the Gospel was preached to the Old Testament people as it is to us? Why do you disagree with the apostle who said - "how shall they hear without a preacher?"
Do you believe that the wrath of God abides on the one who does not believe in Jesus? Do you believe that all who obey not the Gospel will be punished with everlasting destruction? (II Thessalonians 1: 8-10)
I too believe in sovereign grace. But, let me ask you - were you converted to the Gospel by sovereign grace?
FOLLOW UP RESPONSE
You make several statements. Let me take them one-by-one…
I never said that demons were regenerate.
Nor did I assert that this was your position. You pressed that position upon me by claiming it was a by-product of my logic. My answer demonstrated that the notion of demon regeneration is unscriptural, illogical, and therefore is not my position, neither is it a logical ramification thereof.
I merely took your argument that said that having a fear of God was proof of regeneration. Since the demons fear God, and since you say that having a fear of God is a proof of regeneration, then it is you who must affirm that demons are regenerate.
Embedded in this line of reasoning is an enormous and erroneous presupposition which you press upon me – namely, that the bible’s testimony regarding man in his natural state must of necessity also apply to demons. Men are not demons and thus not all things said of men are true of devils. The bible’s testimony is abundantly clear that man in his natural or unregenerate state has “no fear of God.” (Romans 3:18, Psalm 36:1) It follows that any man who fears God is therefore not an unregenerate man, but a man who is born again. This observation has direct bearing on the question of Cornelius’s state prior to Peter’s ever preaching the gospel to him. Since he is said to be “a devout man, and one that feared God” (Acts 10:2) and since we know that the natural man has no fear of God, the fact that Cornelius feared God proves that he was not a natural man, but a regenerate man and thus already in possession of eternal life prior to Peter’s ever having spoken so much as a word of gospel truth to him.
All that said, the bible’s testimony regarding a devil’s capacity of belief is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from the bible’s testimony regarding unregenerate men. Fallen angels are said to “believe and tremble” (James 2:19) regarding some orthodox truth, which no natural man is able to do, since natural man has no fear of God. So it is important to solidify the following points:
The bible’s statements regarding man apply to man, not to devils.
Unregenerate men have no fear of God. (Romans 3:18)
Devils, though fallen, do fear God. (James 2:19)
Therefore, I do not affirm that demons are regenerate because they “believe and tremble,” because the precept that regeneration is required for one to fear God applies to men, not to devils. By rightly dividing the bible’s statements regarding men from those regarding devils, one avoids the crass and illogical assertion regarding demonic regeneration that you would have me wear.
Yes, Job and the truly saved Old Testament saints believed in the coming of Jesus the Savior.
It is evident that Job did not know the Lord Jesus Christ by name and that he did not know the explicit gospel of the NT as represented by I Corinthians 15:3-4, else he would have no basis for having said, “I know it is so of a truth, but HOW should man be just with God?” (Job 9:2) Indeed the explicit NT gospel (I Corinthians 15:3-4) is the answer to that very question. There is no doubt that he believed some truth and that he feared God, but to say that he knew the name of Jesus Christ and the contents of the explicit NT gospel is a completely unsubstantiated projection.
But, they did not get that revelation apart from Gospel preaching.
We have already established that Job did not have the explicit gospel of the NT as defined by I Corinthians 15:3-4. I believe you will be hard pressed to demonstrate from scripture that Job either owned a bible or heard a gospel preacher.
Did not Paul say that the Gospel was preached to them AS IT IS TO US? (Hebrews 4:2)
He most certainly did. But the term gospel means “good news.” While it is true that the OT Israelites were preached “good news” regarding their deliverance into the promised land, and that they had “good news” in the form of types and shadows of the OT law and sacrificial form of worship, it is likewise a matter of absolute certainty that while the subject of this “good news” is Christ, the content of their “good news” was typical in the OT period rather than explicit as it is in the NT era. Stated more plainly – none of them knew the “good news” as Paul defined it in I Corinthians 15:3-4 – “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” Indeed Paul himself affirms that these explicit gospel truths were not revealed to the OT saints. Consider:
“How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) WHICH IN OTHER AGES WAS NOT MADE KNOWN unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel.” (Ephesians 3:3-6)
It is certain that the OT saints did not have the explicit NT gospel of I Corinthians 15:3-4 revealed to them in their time. To assert that they did is to take a ham-handed approach to what is meant in scripture by the term “gospel” and to project the explicit revelation of the NT upon the lives and minds of the OT saints in a way that directly contradicts the testimony of the apostle Paul (Ephesians 3:5).
Why do you disagree with this testimony? Do you believe that the Gospel was preached to the Old Testament people as it is to us?
While the subject matter of the gospel delivered to the OT saints was the same, the content of the gospel message delivered to the OT saints was radically different. That said the explicit gospel of the NT (I Corinthians 15:3-4) was not revealed to the OT saints. (Ephesians 3:5) One must rightly divide the term “gospel” and be careful not to recklessly project NT revelation back upon the OT saints, particularly when their own testimony was that they did not know the gospel in the explicit NT sense. (Job 9:2) So I do not “disagree with this testimony,” rather, I insist that we take care to mind the great disparity in content between the OT gospel and the explicit gospel of the NT.
Why do you disagree with the apostle who said - "how shall they hear without a preacher?"
Paul’s answer to that question is “But I say, have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.” (Romans 10:18) Paul is quoting Psalm 19 – “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.” Paul regarded the handiwork of God as a preacher, and on this basis he makes the case that even those OT have heard something.
Do you believe that the wrath of God abides on the one who does not believe in Jesus?
I believe that this text (John 3:36) is teaching that one who is an ABJECT unbeliever in Christ, a non-elect and unregenerate man, has the wrath of God abiding upon him. This cannot be true of the elect unregenerate man because all of the elect are “in Christ” by covenant from before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4-5) and this covenant is the result of God’s everlasting love for his people. Thus his loving purpose is ever and only their eternal salvation from eternity and not one of wrath or condemnation toward them, else they would not be of the elect nor would they be saved.
More to the point, I believe that the OT saints, as well as Cornelius at the time of Acts 10:2, were all regenerate believers in the true and living God. Since Jesus is God, it is evident that such men had a vital and living faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It does NOT however, mean or imply that they knew the name of Jesus Christ, nor does it mean that they knew or understood the mechanics of their eternal salvation as described in the explicit Gospel of the NT. (I Corinthians 15:3-4) To assert that they did is a projection, not the testimony of scripture itself.
Do you believe that all who obey not the Gospel will be punished with everlasting destruction? (II Thessalonians 1:8-10)
It is evident that those whom Paul has in mind in that text are clearly headed for everlasting destruction. They are said to “know not God” and “obey not the gospel” and I do not doubt that this is an accurate description of these individuals. That said, it is illogical to use this text to establish that everyone that “obey’s not the gospel” is therefore one that “knows not God.” The gospel demands our obedience to the precepts taught by the Lord Jesus Christ. To the extent that we continue to commit sin in our lives we can all be said to be disobedient to the gospel. (I John 1:8) It follows that while all who “know not God” likewise “obey not the gospel,” the converse is not true. There are those who “obey not the gospel” as a result of remaining sin (I John 1:8, John 18:27) who nevertheless DO know God and will live with him in glory some day (Matthew 16:16-17).
I too believe in sovereign grace. But, let me ask you - were you converted to the Gospel by sovereign grace?
The gospel IS the message of salvation by sovereign grace. I do not believe there is any such thing as gospel conversion apart from the belief that one is saved by the sovereign grace of God and “not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy.” (Titus 3:5) I believe that God chose a people before the foundation of the world and covenanted to save them (Ephesians 1:4-5, John 17:2), that He sent his Son to die for their sins (John 10:11) and not for the sins of anyone else (v26), that Christ died according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures (I Corinthians 15:3-4), that because of sonship, God regenerates His chosen people in time (Gal 4:6), that except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3), and that it is for this reason that the gospel is attended by the promise that those who believe this message HAVE eternal life (John 6:47) and they shall never perish (John 10:28), and that the gospel admonishes those who believe to walk in gospel obedience through baptism and discipleship (Acts 2:38) and to present their bodies as a living sacrifice as their reasonable service (Romans 12:1).
That is what I believe. As to whether that rises to the standard of being “converted by the Gospel of sovereign grace” you are at liberty to determine.
- Elder Daniel Samons