Have You Really Been “Born Again”?

Are you really born again? Religious people often speak about the New Birth and “born again Christians.” What does the Bible say is involved in this spiritual rebirth? Does it require hearing, learning, and believing the gospel (faith)? What role do obedience and baptism play? What are the “water” and the “Spirit” in John 3:5? Are you really “born again?”

One of the most common expressions used by some sincere religious people is “born again”: “born-again Christians,” “born-again believers,” etc. The way the expression is used sometimes makes one wonder whether folks really understand the Bible meaning of the term.

In this study, let us consider exactly how a person is “born again”

How does a person know whether he has been born again? Is it possible to think we have been born again when we really have not been? Some will reply that, to be born again you must accept Jesus as your personal Savior. But how does this happen? What does the Bible say?

Must One Hear the Gospel?

1 Peter 1:22-25 – We are “born again” by the incorruptible seed, which is God’s word (v23), the gospel preached to you (v25). When a person is born physically, he becomes a child in a family. When one is born again, he becomes a spiritual child of God, a member of God’s family. This process is similar to the birth of animals or the reproduction of plants. Birth is the product of seed that is planted, germinates, and produces a new organism. Spiritually, the seed by which we become children of God is God’s word (cf. Luke 8:11). This is planted in men’s hearts when they hear the gospel. If they then believe and obey the gospel, they become “born again” as Christians. (Cf. James 1:18; 1 Cor. 4:15.)

Galatians 6:7 – But seed reproduces after its kind. “Whatever a man sows…” So, one must be sure that the seed (message) he hears and believes is really the true gospel. If one plants the wrong seed in his garden, he will not grow the kind of plant he wants. And if one accepts some a spiritual message that is different from the gospel, he would not really be born again, even though he might think he had been.

Must One Believe the Gospel?

John 1:12 – To have the power or right to become a child of God (“born again”), one must believe in Jesus. A popular tract entitled “Have You Been Born Again?” says, “The moment a lost sinner repents of his sins and trusts Jesus as the only One who can save Him [sic], he is born again.” But note that the Scripture does not say that believing immediately makes one a child of God. It says that believing gives one the right or power to become a child of God. I once bought a ticket to a college football game, but the weather turned out so bad I did not go. The ticket gave me the power to enter the stadium, but did not automatically make me a spectator. Other things had to happen afterward. We often receive letters saying we have been approved for charge cards (or a loan). The approval gives us the power to get the card, but that does not mean we automatically have the card. Other things have to happen. So, faith gives you the power to become a child of God, but by itself it does not automatically and immediately make you a child of God. Other things still have to happen afterward.

https://gospelway.com/salvation/need_forgiveness.php