There’s no such thing as a Christian who has not been born again

Being born again is another word for the doctrine of “regeneration.” It is a supernatural work that God does within a person who comes to faith. All Christians are born again because all Christians have experienced regeneration. There’s no such thing as an unregenerate Christian. That’s not a Christian!

Being born again is about coming to Christ, turning away from sin, and trusting in Jesus as your Lord and savior. And when we come to him, there is grace. There is forgiveness for our sins.

But here’s a point that people too often miss. It needs to be a genuine faith in what Jesus has done. And the validation of that sincerity will manifest itself in a life that is transformed by the gospel. And if there is no change in your life, if there is no fruit, if there is no greater love for God, no appreciation for the work of Christ, no recognition of the cost of sins for which Jesus went to the cross, then for the sake of your own soul, you need to do some sincere soul searching into whether or not you actually believe.

There are so many things that we like to tie to regeneration. For some, they want to look at baptism. Baptism doesn’t confer regeneration to you. Baptism doesn’t make you born again if you don’t have faith. Baptism doesn’t mean anything if you don’t believe in the triune God in whose name you were baptized.

Some people like to tie it to their family. Mom and dad are Christians, or were Christians. “That’s how I was raised.” That’s a wonderful blessing. But that doesn’t mean you’ve been born again. The faith has to be your own. To

For others, it might be the Sinner’s Prayer. “I asked Jesus into my heart.”

But did you believe it? Did you place your trust in him? If there’s never been any evidence in your life that Jesus is in your heart, is he really? Don’t go through life thinking “I said this prayer one time,” or “I got baptized one time,” and that that’s all that matters if you’re living a faithless life.

For the original post: There’s no such thing as a Christian who has not been born again — Josh Benner