What Is the New Birth?
If you have prayed to be saved, you will definitely want to find out what just happened to you. Maybe you feel like you are floating on air. That’s great but be sure to come back down to earth eventually and load up on some deeper understandings.
Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3
All scripture citations are from the English Standard Version (ESV) unless otherwise noted.
Let Godly Curiosity Awaken!
If you just prayed the prayers for how to get saved?, you may be wondering, "What just happened to me?" That's a great question and it would take a lot more words on my part and
will take a lot of living on your part to do justice to it. No need to wonder, "How can I be born again?" That's already happened! Like a young child, you will be experiencing a true awaking of curiosity, especially in terms of the divine things which extend endlessly into the vast Mystery of God.
You are now a learner for life! Your best teachers for this are the Word (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit.[1] All a primer like this can do is give you pointers. For instance, you have probably heard that being saved means being born again. But what does that mean?
Major Elements of the New Birth
The Lord has packed a lot into His answer to our prayer for salvation. You have been spiritually reborn—raised to new life by faith in Jesus Christ and by the gift of the Holy Spirit. It would be very easy to miss most of it and only go with the few things you may have felt or been shown. Here are some of the main items that may have escaped your notice:[2]
1) You Were Spiritually Dead
Did you even know that? I sure didn't! In the moment of conversion, God brought your spirit to life by putting His Spirit within you and reconnecting you with Himself.[3]
2) You Have Been Sealed to God
Your spirit was joined to the Holy Spirit who came to live within you as a "guarantee" of good things to come.[4]
3) You Received a Heart Transplant
The heart you had was self-centered, deceitful, and corrupt in God's eyes, so He also placed a new heart within you. This heart is entirely good, just like that of Jesus.[5]
4) You Were Dead in Your Sins
That’s how deep the separation from God had become. Through your faith in Christ, God was fully able to cover your sins and cleanse you with the Blood that Jesus shed on your behalf.[6]
5) You Have Been “Justified”
God not only forgave you your sins, He also separated you from them. This is called justification. Because of your faith in Jesus, you have been given a standing or status with God that you don't deserve and could never earn. He has chosen to treat you with high favor, just as if you were a sinless child in His eyes.[7] You may indeed have sin in you, but you are not your sins!
6) You Have Been Liberated
You were under the oppression of an invisible kingdom. You may have thought you were simply living on earth, but you were also held in bondage spiritually under the power and control of an invisible enemy operating in another realm contiguous with the earth. In the moment of conversion, you were translated out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son.[8]
7) You Were Blind
There was a veil over your heart that obstructed your mind and kept you from “seeing” the resurrected Lord of all creation, Jesus Christ. That veil has been removed, allowing you to see Christ with eyes of faith. The eye of your heart has been enlightened and your lost spiritual sight has been restored.[9]
8) The Image of God Has Been Restored to You
You had been created to both carry and reflect God's Image, but you had lost the vision. Now that His True Image has been restored to you as you behold God in the face of Jesus Christ, you are able to carry His Image in your heart and more truly reflect His Image by your life. This is what transforms you.[10]
9) You Have Been “Reborn” As a New Creation
All things have passed away; many new things have come.[11] You will still have plenty of your old ways, thoughts, and feelings left to deal with—these haven’t been eliminated—but you have been given a new power to overcome them.
10) You Are Now a Child of God in the Family of God
You were isolated from the family of faith, but now you have been adopted, "brought near" and made a member of Christ's Body on earth and in heaven.[12]
11) Get Your Space Suit On for This One
You have been raised and are now seated with Christ in heavenly places. Clearly this is spiritual, not physical, however, that doesn't mean it is any less real. A part of you is seated with Christ, sharing in His authority.[13]
12) You Are “in Christ” and He Is in You
Your new life will only work properly as you trust yourself entirely to His love and leadership. As you trust and obey, He leads you into the life you both desire.[14]
Believe it or not, there’s more: The gifts of God are too numerous to enumerate, which makes searching things out in His Word an adventure. Walking with God is like a treasure hunt with the clues scattered all over scripture.
Our "new birth" is really quite a marvel! There are two fascinating perspectives you will want to "see" before heading on to the next big question. Take a quick look at "How was I born again?" Then go on to explore just how God saves us.
Prayer
Father, thank You! I had no idea that You would be doing so much for me! Help me to grow in knowing how great Your salvation truly is. Help me stay grateful for all that You are doing to save me for heaven and to bring heaven’s way of life into my life now.
On to the Next Question!
How was I born again? First, there is the question "What just happened to me?" That's quite a long list! Then, comes trying to figure out how it happened. With this, we're poking our heads into a mystery, but Jesus dropped some "bread crumbs" to inspire our thinking.
Free Downloads
pdf How Can I Get to Heaven? (26-page eBook) (438 KB)
pdf What Is the New Birth? (this article) (168 KB)
Endnotes
[1] Jesus is known to us as both the Eternal Word and the Living Word: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. John 1:1-2, 14. The Holy Spirit is our Teacher: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” John 14:26
[2] But when the goodness and loving-kindness of God our Savior to man [as man] appeared, He saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but because of His own pity and mercy, by [the] cleansing [bath] of the new birth (regeneration) and renewing of the Holy Spirit. Titus 3:4- AMP
[3] This is called regeneration and it is God’s answer to the spiritual death which came on all of us due to Adam’s sin: “And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them.” Ezekiel 11:19
[4] 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, to the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:13-14
[5] Ezekiel 11:19 (Note #3 above). Be on guard, however: The old heart still lurks in the shadows, seeking to overthrow you in a heartbeat.
[6] Although our former condition of spiritual death (due to Adam’s sin) was not our fault, we are responsible for the spiritual death our sins produced in us: And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked. Ephesians 2:1-2. How can I be born again? God’s solution is the Blood of Christ: In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us. Ephesians 1:7-8
[7] For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Romans 3:22-24
[8] He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13-14
[9] The most important truth about our universe is that it is centered in Jesus Christ, our Creator, Savior, and Lord. Yet neither science nor reason can probe this FACT for it is hidden from us by an invisible enemy due to Adam’s sin and requires a work of God to reveal it to us: And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God... For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:3-6
[10] Will power and good intentions cannot change you. Only this: And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18
[11] Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17-18
[12] But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ... So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. Ephesians 2:13, 19
[13] And raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:6
[14] I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Galatians 2:20 AMP