Yes!

Does being born again precede faith? Let’s see what Scripture teaches. 1 John 5:1 says, “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.” This verse links together regeneration (being born of God) and faith in an enlightening way. The relationship between the two is seen in the English translation (LSB), but it’s even clearer in the Greek text: Πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ Χριστός ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ γεγέννηται. The Greek term ὁ πιστεύων is a present participle that means “believe.” In this form, it means “who believes,” with the implication from the present tense that such belief is a present and continuous activity. The person John has in view presently and persistently believes that Jesus is the Messiah. Because this Greek verb is a participle preceded by the article, it functions as a verbal noun and the subject of the verb γεγέννηται. This term is the main predicate of the clause, and it means “to be born.” As the predicate, it predicates something about its subject, the one who believes. But what does it predicate about the believer? The verb is a perfect passive indicative. The passive voice indicates the believer has been acted upon by another subject, in this case God, as the prepositional phrase makes clear. The indicative means that John is making a statement of fact, and this represents reality, not possibility or a hypothetical. The perfect tense indicates a past, completed action with ongoing present results. It’s nearly impossible to express this concept succinctly in English because our verbal system is so different from the Greek system. The real gold comes in understanding the relationship between the participle (who believes) and the predicate (has been born). If being born of God followed faith, or to put it another way, faith preceded regeneration, we would expect the participle (who believes) to be in the aorist tense and the main verb in the present tense. That would read, “Everyone who has believed that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” But the text says, “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.” This distinction’s importance cannot be overstated. John’s logic demands regeneration (being born of God) to precede faith (believing that Jesus is the Christ). The Greek text cannot be read any other way. This verse definitively shows that the biblical order of salvation is regeneration->faith. Or, as Jesus put it, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3).

The word "foreknown" in Romans 8:29 has nothing to do with God foreknowing what people would do in the future. Notice what the verse says: "For those WHOM He foreknew..." Paul is not saying what God foreknew but whom God foreknew. The difference is massive. God determined to have a redemptive relationship with the elect before the foundation of the world. He knew us in a saving way before we were ever created. His foreknowing us was not based on our choices but His will. What assurance comes from knowing God loves us because He chose to love us before creation! We love, because He first loved us.

Let’s be real. The doctrines of grace have been around since Genesis 3:15.