The Claim in Summary
Michael Rood argues that:
- "Born again" is not yet a completed reality, only a future one
- Salvation is entirely future, not present
- To say "I am saved" isa presumptuous error
- We are only "begotten again," not yet "born again."
This sounds spiritually humble, but it is exegetically flawed and pastorally dangerous.
Q: Is there any biblical basis for distinguishing "begotten again" from "born again"?
A: Rood builds this on 1 Peter 1:3 "begotten us again to a living hope" and contrasts it with the future resurrection body. He's correct that the Greek anagennáō (ἀναγεννάω) can carry the sense of "begetting." However, this does not collapse salvation into a purely future event.
The problem is that Rood is conflating the glorification aspect of salvation with the whole of salvation. Scripture consistently presents salvation in three tenses:
| Tense | Reality | Key Texts |
|---|---|---|
| Past (Justification) | We HAVE BEEN saved | Eph. 2:8; Rom. 5:1; Titus 3:5 |
| Present (Sanctification) | We ARE BEING saved | 1 Cor. 1:18; 2 Cor. 2:15; Phil. 2:12 |
| Future (Glorification) | We WILL BE saved | Rom. 5:9-10; Rom. 8:23; 1 Cor. 15:52 |
Rood only affirms the future tense and entirely denies the past tense. This is not biblical balance, it is selective reading.
Q: What does Jesus Himself say about the present reality of the new birth?
A: John 3:3-7 is decisive:
"Jesus answered and said to him, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.'" John 3:3
But notice what Jesus says just a few verses later:
"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life." John 5:24
The Greek echei (ἔχει) is present active indicative "he HAS (right now, presently) eternal life." This is not a future promise only. It is a current possession.
John doubles down in his first epistle:
"These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life." 1 John 5:13
The entire purpose of 1 John is to give present assurance of a present salvation. Rood's framework would make 1 John 5:13 meaningless.
Q: Does "flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom" (1 Cor. 15:50) mean no one is saved yet?
A: This is Rood's strongest-sounding proof text, but he misapplies it. Paul's argument in 1 Corinthians 15 is specifically about bodily resurrection and glorification not about whether justification and regeneration are presently real.
Paul himself, in the same letter, writes:
"Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived... And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God." 1 Cor. 6:9-11
Past tense. Completed action. Washed. Sanctified. Justified. These are not future hopes; they are Paul's description of the Corinthian believers' present standing before God.
The "flesh and blood cannot inherit" passage speaks to the mode of entry into the consummated Kingdom requiring a resurrection body. It does not teach that regeneration, justification, and adoption are not yet real.
Q: What about Paul's language of adoption and the Spirit as a present reality?
A: Romans 8 is devastating to Rood's position:
"For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!' The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God." — Rom. 8:15-16
We are (present tense) children of God. Then Paul says:
"And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies." — Rom. 8:23
Notice: we already have the firstfruits of the Spirit (present possession), yet we await the redemption of our bodies (future completion). Paul holds both simultaneously. Rood only holds the second and denies the first.
The Holy Spirit indwelling the believer is described as a seal and down payment (arrabon ἀρραβών):
"In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it." Eph. 1:13-14
A guarantee/down payment presupposes that a real transaction has already occurred. You don't receive a deposit on something that hasn't been purchased yet.
Q: Is the new birth (regeneration) a present spiritual reality or only a future physical one?
A: Peter himself, the very author Rood cites for "begotten again," writes:
"Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God." 1 Peter 1:23
The word here is anagegennēmenoi (ἀναγεγεννημένοι) perfect passive participle: "having been born again." Completed action with continuing results. Peter says believers have already been born again through the Word.
Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3 that the new birth is a present requirement for entering the Kingdom — and in John 3:8, He compared it to the wind: invisible, mysterious, but real and present. The Spirit's regenerating work is not postponed to the resurrection.
Q: Doesn't the New Testament sometimes speak of salvation as future?
A: Yes, and this is where Rood picks up half the truth. Romans 13:11 says, "Salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed." Romans 5:9-10 speaks of being "saved from wrath" in the future. These are real future dimensions.
But the New Testament never uses future salvation language to cancel present salvation language. They coexist. Consider:
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God." Eph. 2:8
Sesōsmenoi (σεσῳσμένοι) perfect passive participle again. "You have been saved" past action, ongoing state. This is as clear as Greek gets.
Rood's error is hermeneutical: he takes the future tense of salvation and uses it to negate the past tense, rather than holding them in their proper theological tension.
Q: What are the theological dangers of Rood's position?
A: Several serious ones:
1. It destroys assurance of salvation. If no one is saved yet, then the pastoral comfort of 1 John 5:13, Romans 8:1, and John 10:28-29 is nullified. Believers are left in perpetual uncertainty.
2. It undermines justification by faith. If salvation is entirely future and contingent on resurrection, then what exactly does faith accomplish now? Rood's framework pushes toward a works-based perseverance that determines final salvation.
3. It misunderstands the "already/not yet" framework. New Covenant theology properly understands that the Kingdom has inaugurated in Christ's resurrection and will be consummated at His return. Present salvation is real. Future glorification is still coming. Both are true.
4. It reflects Rood's broader Hebrew Roots framework, which tends to diminish present New Covenant realities by over-emphasizing Torah observance and future fulfillment, often at the expense of the finished work of Christ.
5. It contradicts the Gospel itself. The Gospel (euangelion) is good news about what God has done past tense. If salvation is only future, the Gospel becomes a mere prediction, not a proclamation of accomplished redemption.
Q: What is the proper biblical balance?
A: The believer can and should affirm:
- "I have been justified" Rom. 5:1, past, completed
- "I am being sanctified," Phil. 2:12-13 present, ongoing
- "I will be glorified" Rom. 8:30 future, certain
- "I am born again" 1 Pet. 1:23; John 3:3-8 present spiritual reality
- "I await the resurrection of the body" 1 Cor. 15 future bodily hope
None of these cancels the others. To say "I am saved" is not presumption; it is faith resting on the finished work of Christ and the present witness of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:16).
Pastoral Conclusion
Michael Rood is correct that glorification is future and that we await the resurrection body. That part is good biblical eschatology.
But he overreaches catastrophically when he concludes that, therefore, no one is saved yet. This collapses the richness of New Testament soteriology into a single future moment and robs believers of the present assurance that Scripture explicitly intends them to have.
The believer who says, "I am born again, I am saved, I am a child of God," is not claiming to have their resurrection body yet. They are confessing the present spiritual realities accomplished by Christ's atonement, resurrection, and the indwelling Holy Spirit, realities that Peter, Paul, John, and Jesus Himself affirm with past and present-tense verbs throughout the New Testament.
"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Romans 8:1
Now. Not merely at the resurrection. Now.
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