Regeneration is the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit in which a spiritually dead sinner is given new life in Christ and made a new creation.
It is the new birth
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the radical inward change by which a person who was dead in trespasses and sins is made alive together with Christ.
Regeneration is not the result of human decision or effort; it is the gift of God that enables faith, repentance, and a life of holiness.
Those who are born of the Spirit enter the kingdom of God and become children of God by adoption and grace.
Scripture describes the natural human condition as spiritual death: the mind is hostile to God, the heart is hard, and the will is enslaved to sin. Into that death God speaks life. Regeneration is the act by which the Holy Spirit imparts spiritual life, removes the heart of stone, and gives a heart of flesh. Jesus told Nicodemus that unless one is born again — born of water and the Spirit — he cannot see or enter the kingdom of God. The wind blows where it wishes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. This new birth is closely joined to the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, and it results in a new creation in Christ. The one who is regenerated receives the ability to repent and believe, and begins to walk in newness of life. Regeneration is therefore the beginning of the Christian life, the foundation of sanctification, and the guarantee that the God who began the good work will bring it to completion.
- Regeneration is the supernatural impartation of spiritual life to those who were dead in sin.
- It is the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit, not the product of human will or effort.
- Without the new birth no one can see or enter the kingdom of God.
- Regeneration produces a new heart, new desires, and the capacity for faith and repentance.
- It is closely connected with union with Christ and the beginning of sanctification.
- The new birth is necessary because the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God.
- Those who are born of God overcome the world and cannot continue in a life of habitual sin.
- Spiritual Resurrection – The dead are made alive together with Christ.
- New Birth – Born of the Spirit, born from above, born of God.
- Heart Transformation – The heart of stone is replaced with a heart of flesh; new desires and affections are created.
- Sovereign and Mysterious – The Spirit works as He wills; the new birth is a gift of free grace.
- Inseparable from Faith – Regeneration enables and produces faith and repentance; the two are never separated.
- New Creation – The one in Christ is a new creation; the old has passed away; the new has come.
- Beginning of Holiness – The regenerated person begins to walk by the Spirit and to put to death the deeds of the body.
- John 3:3-8 – “Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’… ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit… The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.’”
- Ephesians 2:1-5 – “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked… But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved…”
- Titus 3:5 – “…he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit…”
- 2 Corinthians 5:17 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
- Ezekiel 36:26-27 – “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”
- James 1:18 – “Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”
- 1 Peter 1:3, 23 – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead… since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God…”
- John 1:12-13 – “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
- 1 John 3:9 – “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.”
- 1 John 5:1, 4 – “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God… For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”
- Colossians 2:13 – “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses…”
- Romans 8:9-11 – “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you… If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”
- John 6:63 – “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”
- Galatians 6:15 – “For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.”
- Ephesians 4:22-24 – “…to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
- Deuteronomy 30:6 – “And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.”
Regeneration is the miracle of new birth. Those who were dead in trespasses and sins are made alive together with Christ. The heart of stone is taken away and a heart of flesh is given. The Spirit blows where He wills, and those who are born of the Spirit enter the kingdom of God. This is not the work of human will or effort; it is the sovereign mercy of God. The new birth produces faith, repentance, and a new direction of life. The one who is born of God cannot continue in a life of habitual sin and will overcome the world. Therefore marvel at the grace that caused you to be born again. Live as a new creation. Walk by the Spirit. And give thanks to the God who, according to His great mercy, has given you a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Entry compiled for the JESUSaves.com Bible Glossary. Optimized for wiki.js Visual Editor.