What is Regeneration?⤒🔗

The shortest definition is only two words: New birth.

The longer definition is this: Regeneration is the work of the Holy Spirit, where He brings spiritually dead people to life. He makes us alive to the things of God. He conquers the power of our old nature, and brings to birth a new nature, so that we are spiritually a new creation. He gives us a hunger, a passion, for who God is.

This is a hugely important doctrine to learn (and doctrine is just a word that means 'truths that are taught in God's Word'). Why is it huge? Well, first thinking in the long term: No regeneration = no eternal life. Jesus tells Nicodemus in John 3 that if you're not born again, there is no way you can see the kingdom of God. But not only for heaven in the future, regeneration also affects us now: if we can't see the kingdom of God, we can't see the King now! Not really see Him. Not spiritually see Him. So we're not going to really be trusting and believing in Him. Then everything we do – like reading the Bible, praying, listening to sermons or going to Young Peoples – everything like that – will seem boring, no fun, unimportant. And so instead of the joy that Christians receive when hearing about something like Jesus Christ rising from the dead, without this regeneration, you feel nothing. Or very little. And you'll think very little of it. Regeneration means eternal life in the future, and a real Christian life now.

How Do You Get It?←⤒🔗

The Bible makes it clear that the new birth is something that God does: it's a work of God – it's not something that we can make happen on our own. Every single human being comes into this world dead in their trespasses and sins, and so we come into this world an enemy of God. We all need to be raised from death to life. The Bible tells us that this is a work of the Holy Spirit in particular.

How do you know when it happens? The moment that God brings a dead sinner to life is just that: it's a moment. It happens in an instant. For some people it's dramatic, they can identify the moment. For some people it's not so dramatic – it can seem like a process, even though we know that it's not a process. But in the end, however the experience was for you, this is always true: when we are regenerated, we become alive to the realization that Jesus Christ died on the cross, and was raised from the dead for sinners like us. You begin to love the things that God loves, and you begin to hate the things God hates. You begin to run away from the things you used to run toward, and toward the things that you used to run away from. You become interested in things that you had never been interested in before – spiritual things.

Biblical Truths about Regeneration←⤒🔗

• Regeneration is necessary (John 3:3 & 7)
   
• Regeneration is the beginning (Ephesians 2:4 & 5)
   
• Regeneration is sovereign (Acts 9:4-5a)
   
• Regeneration is immediate (John 11:1-46)
   
• Regeneration is a mystery (John 3:4-8)
   
• Regeneration is permanent (Philippians 1:6)
   
• Regeneration is grace (Ephesians 2:8)