A Christian friend asked me recently how he could be sure he was born again. He knew it was important to be born again, because Jesus said it was a must.
“Jesus answered Nicodumus saying, Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3
“Do not marvel at my telling you, You must be born again.” John 3:7
Some people have wonderful experiences of turning to Christ and finding their lives transformed. This is common among people who have lived a good part of their life away from God. The comparison is quite obvious once they experience new life through Christ.
But among those raised in Christian homes, believing in God since their young years, they do not have an “I have been transformed” experience.
My friend was in that situation, raised in a Christian home and feeling a love for God since his youngest years. So he wondered if there was something wrong that he did not feel some elation and wonder at being ‘born again’.
Being ‘born again’ is the experience of being made right with God and having God’s Holy Spirit come into our heart and living there. At that moment our ability to relate to God is turned on, because we are God’s child. Our sensitivity to spiritual things is awakened and we have a new hunger to experience more of God.
Along with that comes the wonderful experience of being forgiven, loved, welcome in God’s house, clean and given a new destiny. We may not be clearly conscious of each thing, but we know something is new and it’s good.
We get that experience by a spark of faith within us. We hear the Good News (Gospel) message of God’s love and of salvation offered through Christ. We learn that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, came to earth to die for our sins and we choose in our heart to trust Jesus.
Our faith in Christ triggers God’s grace released to us and we are saved, born again, forgiven, made God’s child and our Christian life is instantly started.
“By grace you are saved through faith. It is not your doing. It is the gift of God” Ephesians 2:8
Faith comes into your heart by hearing the Gospel message about Christ.
That doesn’t mean you will always embrace that faith. The enemy wants to keep you from putting your faith in Christ and he speaks into your mind a number of things designed to frustrate your step of faith.
There may be doubts, or feelings it is wrong to abandon the beliefs of your family, or that connecting with God will disrupt your life, and so on. These are attempts by the devil to make you step away from faith.
I have met people who had an internal struggle for years, feeling the pull of God’s love and their need to put faith in Christ, while there is another pull of pride, fear, self-will, obligation or other things, keeping them from taking a step of faith.
As a child, going regularly to church, I knew I needed to put my faith in Christ to be forgiven of my sins and be able to enjoy eternity in heaven with God. But to my childhood mind all the Christians seemed terribly stern and unhappy with the life of religious duty. I thought it would be good to enjoy life, then become a Christian not long before I died. I thought I would then have the best of both worlds.
So I understand how we can know the truth, but still hold back from giving in to God.
When we do step over the line, so to speak, accepting that we have faith in Christ and letting God rescue us through the sacrifice of Jesus, we experience being born again.
Note that the wonderful new birth of Christianity isn’t actually done by us. Jesus tells us we are born again by the Spirit of God, not by us creating something new inside us.
“Jesus answered, Assuredly I tell you, no one can enter God’s kingdom unless he is born of water and the Spirit. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” John 3:5,6
There are two ways to be born. Each human is born by another human. You were born in a sack of fluid, so born of water. When you become a Christian you are born by the Holy Spirit making your spirit alive within you.
You don’t control either birth. Your parents caused your natural birth. The Holy Spirit creates your spiritual birth.
Those who hear about Jesus and put their faith in Him as children enjoy being born again, but may not recognise the transformation in the same way an older person would. They have much less experience of the emptiness of this world.
So that’s why my friend, raised in a Christian home, could not identify a time of being ‘born again’. He knew he loved God and He was moved at times with the wonder of God’s awesomeness. That came out of his tender childish spirit, born again by the Spirit of God.
For those who have been raised in church, who also might wonder “Am I Born Again?” let me help you.
If you believe in your heart and confess your faith with your mouth you are saved. So that includes being born again and all the others blessings of Christianity.
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9
You can say right now, “I believe God raised Jesus from the dead, and I confess Jesus as Lord.” God sees your heart toward Him and your desire to be saved and be God’s child. He may already know you as His child, despite you being insecure about that. Or right now He will welcome you into His family. Either way, you are Born Again.
The important thing from you is your choice to put your faith in Jesus. You can do that as a child choosing to love God, or as a sinner praying the ‘Sinner’s Prayer’ at a grand crusade. You can pray a prayer off a piece of paper or just encounter God in a private moment when you give in to Him.
What God sees is your heart. He sees your heart toward Him and your trust in Jesus for your salvation. So whether your actions are formal or messy, public or alone, it is your faith in Christ that opens God’s storehouse of grace and pours salvation onto you.
And, yes, my friend, You Are Born Again!
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