The Moment of Being Born Again

A religious leader came to Jesus under the cover of night.

Nicodemus wasn’t your average inquirer. A respected Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews, he recognized something extraordinary in Jesus. “No one can do these signs unless God is with him,” he confessed (John 3:2). But what Jesus said next flipped Nicodemus’s world upside down:

“Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)

This wasn’t metaphorical poetry. Jesus was deadly serious. No one sees His kingdom let alone enters it without a new birth. Not better habits. Not sharper theology. Not religious prestige. Only new life can give you eyes to see spiritual realities.

Born Again? But When?

For many, the phrase “born again” carries weight. It may evoke a conversion moment, a dramatic testimony, or perhaps years of uncertainty and questioning. You may ask, When did it happen to me? Did I feel it? Did I miss it? If you’ve trusted Christ, then the question isn’t if you were born again, but whether you understand what happened when you were.

And to understand the answer, we must begin where Jesus does with the sovereign work of God.

Regeneration: The Forgotten Grace

In our zeal to preach justification by faith and rightly so many Christians have overlooked another vital doctrine regeneration, or the new birth. J.I. Packer lamented in 2009 that regeneration is “a largely neglected theme today.” And D.A. Carson added that, while we’ve rightly emphasized being set right with God, we’ve sometimes missed the miracle of being made new by God.

Justification is our new status. Regeneration is our new life.

Scripture makes clear that this rebirth is not something we do. It is something done to us. Jesus tells Nicodemus, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6). Flesh cannot give life to spirit. The Spirit must act.

The Order of Salvation

Theologians have long spoken of the ordo salutis the order of salvation. We tend to focus on what we experience hearing the gospel, believing, repenting, growing in holiness. But behind our experience lies something deeper: the invisible, initiating work of God.

Paul unpacks this in Romans 8:29–30:

“Those whom he foreknew he also predestined… called… justified… glorified.”

But nestled within this divine sequence is regeneration, the moment God awakens a spiritually dead heart and gives it life. It’s what Paul describes in Ephesians 2:5: “Even when we were dead in our trespasses, [God] made us alive together with Christ.”

This moment when God makes us alive is what Jesus calls being born again.

No Time Lapse

Regeneration is unique in the order of salvation. Unlike justification or sanctification, it happens instantly, and it happens first. You don’t believe and then get born again. You believe because you’ve been born again.

As theologian Anthony Hoekema explains, regeneration has causal priority over faith:

“When a person receives new spiritual life, he or she immediately begins to believe… These aspects occur not successively but simultaneously.”

It’s like the opening of your eyes. There’s no time gap between your eyelids lifting and light flooding in. So it is with regeneration and faith.

Evidence of New Birth

How do you know if you’ve been born again?

The apostle John gives a simple test in 1 John 5:1:

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.”

In other words, your present faith in Jesus is evidence of a past spiritual birth. You may not remember when it happened but if you’re trusting in Christ, it did happen. Regeneration is not about remembering an emotional moment. It’s about seeing the fruit of God’s work in your present life.

• Do you treasure Christ?

• Do you grieve over sin?

• Do you love God’s people?

• Do you hunger for righteousness?

These desires don’t come from the flesh. They come from new life.

Not Just A Status, But a Change

To be born again isn’t just to be justified it’s to be changed. This is why Peter says, “You have been born again… through the living and abiding word of God” (1 Peter 1:23). And James echoes it “[God] brought us forth by the word of truth” (James 1:18).

It’s through the preached gospel that the Spirit breathes new life. And this new life shifts our loves. Before, we loved self, sin, and the approval of others. Now, we love God, truth, and holiness. That’s not a minor tweak. That’s resurrection.

As John Piper writes, “A shift of loves is at the root of saving faith.” Regeneration isn’t just about new thinking it’s about new delighting.

All of Grace

Every aspect of salvation is a gift. But regeneration highlights this more vividly than most. You don’t raise yourself from the dead. You don’t cause your own birth. As Ephesians 2:1 says, you were dead and God made you alive.

This magnifies His grace. You didn’t wake up one morning and choose God out of spiritual clarity. He chose you, called you, awakened you, and gave you the gift of faith. It was all His doing, and all to His glory.

Christ at the Center

As we marvel at the doctrines of regeneration, justification, adoption, and sanctification, let’s not forget the One in whom they all come together Jesus Christ.

Sinclair Ferguson reminds us, “We cannot think of, or enjoy, the blessings of the gospel either isolated from each other or separated from the Benefactor himself.”

• We are justified in Christ.

• We are adopted in Christ.

• We are sanctified in Christ.

• We are regenerated to delight in Christ.

It was Christ who told Nicodemus and us “You must be born again.” And when we are, it’s Christ we now treasure.

So, When Was I Born Again?

If you trust Jesus today, then you were born again. Maybe you can name the date. Maybe you can’t. That’s okay. What matters most is not remembering when it happened, but recognizing that it happened and giving glory to the God who made it so.

Let your new birth lead you to deeper assurance, deeper gratitude, and deeper joy in the One who called you out of death and into life.

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