What Does It Mean to be "Born Again"?

Have you been “born again”? What does that mean, anyway?

There is an important reason Jesus used the analogy of being “born again” to describe the experience of entering the kingdom of God and receiving eternal life. Jesus was comparing the beginning of our spiritual life to the beginning of our physical life. Just as no one brings themselves into this life by their own decision to be born physically, so no one whom the Bible describes as “dead in their trespasses and sins” can decide to be born spiritually.

So how can we know if someone has truly been “born again”, or even if we ourselves have for that matter? The spiritual birth isn’t as obvious as the physical, so we can’t know for certain, but the Bible definitely gives us some clues as we “continue to work out our salvation with fear and trembling” as it says in Philippians 2:12. For that sort of self-reflection, it would be good to read - and wrestle with - the entire epistle of 1 John, which states its purpose near the end: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

Wrestling through assurance of our salvation is too big a topic for a brief social media post. But I would like to mention one “clue” that can help us know if we ourselves or others are indeed truly born again.

Many people self-identify as being born again, like a guy named Phil whom I met just after he finished fishing at a nearby lake. After getting all the fishing advice I could, I asked him if I could change the subject and find out what he believes happens after we die. Phil told me he was “born again”, so I wanted to find out more that might confirm that it was true.

In the short time we spoke, I came to believe Phil is indeed born again, due to a big clue I got when I asked him how he could be sure he was saved. The clue came both in what he said, and in what he did NOT say.

When I asked why he believes himself to be saved, he simply said “Well, Christ died on the cross for our sins. If it wasn’t for the Gospel, there wouldn’t be no hope!” Phil pointed to Jesus and the cross as his hope for salvation.

What Phil did not point to, however, was himself or any effort on his part to be saved. He didn’t say “I received Christ” or “I prayed a prayer of salvation”, or “I repented of my sins”. These might be descriptions of the kinds of things that do happen when one is born again, but I could tell Phil knew salvation was not because of something he had done but was entirely due to God’s sovereign gift in Jesus. It was not something he could buy or earn with good deeds or religious activities, but it was a work of the Holy Spirit by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

What then, does it mean to “work out” our salvation? It definitely doesn’t mean to work “for” it. Rather, it means to do the work of bringing to maturity the spiritual rebirth we have already experienced, to live out and grow the faith and repentance we’ve begun to be given. I could see how some of that work has been done in Phil’s life, as he has been listening to good preaching on Christian radio and stayed connected to sound doctrine. I could also see where he has more to “work out” in his faith, as he is not connected to a local church that can further challenge him and help him grow in Christlike character.

Earlier in the Gospel of John, before he told how Jesus described our need to be born again, John also wrote about it himself. He said those who are born spiritually are “children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” It is not something we do for God, but something God does for us.

Have you been born again? If so, like Phil, you should know - but also might need to be reminded - that it is entirely a gift of God, not anything you worked for or deserved. You might also need to know and to be reminded that, like a baby that is born physically, those who are newly born spiritually need to exercise and grow in faith, to “work out their salvation”, in order to mature into the godly people God intends us to be.