Regeneration

Of all the words used to describe what happens when a person trusts Christ, regeneration may be the one that gets the most attention and the least clarity. Yet it describes something every believer has experienced: the moment God gave you new spiritual life. Understanding it rightly matters, because how we explain the order of events in salvation shapes how we present the gospel to everyone else.

What Regeneration Means

To regenerate is to generate again, to bring to life a second time. The Bible’s more familiar way of saying it is to be born again. Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:3, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Every person is born physically alive but spiritually dead, cut off from God by sin. A second birth is needed, and it is a birth of the Spirit. John 3:6 says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Nothing we do can accomplish this. Titus 3:5 says, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;”

Regeneration is God’s work from start to finish. We do not birth ourselves into the family of God, any more than we chose our first birth.

What Happens at the New Birth

When a person trusts Christ, God makes him a new creature. Second Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” The Holy Spirit takes up residence in the believer, and he is sealed. He is given spiritual life that is truly his, and a new relationship with God as his Father.

This new life is permanent because of what it comes from. First Peter 1:23 says believers are “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” A birth cannot be undone. The seed that produced it is incorruptible, so the life it gives cannot perish.

Which Comes First: Faith or the New Birth?

Here we come to a question that divides sincere believers. Some teach that a person must be regenerated before he can believe. The reasoning goes like this: because the unsaved are spiritually dead, and the dead cannot respond, God must first give life to a person, and only then will that person be able to believe. In this view, faith is the result of the new birth rather than the condition for receiving it.

The reasoning sounds careful, but it does not match the order Scripture gives. Let’s look at what the Bible actually says.

Scripture places believing first, and life as the result. John 1:12-13 says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Those who receive Him are given the right to become God’s children, and the birth that follows is of God, not of human effort. Galatians 3:26 agrees: “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”

The promise of life is attached to believing. John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” And John 5:24: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” Notice the order. He hears, he believes, and he passes from death to life. John 20:31 gives the purpose of the whole Gospel: “…that believing ye might have life through his name.”

The unsaved are told to believe. When the Philippian jailer cried out, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Paul did not tell him to wait for the Spirit to regenerate him first. Acts 16:31 records the answer: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” The command to believe is given to the lost, because the lost are able to answer it.

The sealing follows believing. Ephesians 1:13 says, “…after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,” Hearing, believing, then sealing. Romans 10:17 adds, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

But Aren’t the Unsaved Dead?

They are, and Scripture does not soften it. Ephesians 2:1 says, “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;” The question is what that death means. It means separation from God, and it means a person cannot save himself or make himself righteous. It does not mean he cannot hear and answer the gospel when God calls.

God has not left the lost to themselves. John 16:8 says the Holy Spirit “…will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:” and John 12:32 records Christ’s words, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” The sinner does not climb out of death by his own strength. He responds to a God who is already reaching him, and in that response, which is simply trusting what God has done, he is given life. That is why salvation is by grace: the receiving of a gift is not a work.

Some will point to 1 John 5:1, “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God:” and argue that the believer’s being born of God comes before his believing. But the verse names two things that belong together in the believer without telling us which one God does first, and the same writer plainly places believing before life in John 1:12 and John 20:31. Scripture is consistent with itself.

What This Means for You

If you have trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, you have been born again. You did not earn it, and you cannot lose it. You were not left waiting for some hidden event to occur before you could be saved, and you do not need to wonder whether you were among those God chose to give life. The offer is to “whosoever,” and you received it.

It also means we can offer the gospel to anyone with full confidence. We do not need to guess who has been regenerated. We simply tell them what Christ has done and call them to trust Him, knowing that everyone who does will be given new life.