Question 29: What is regeneration?

Read: Titus 3:4-6
Listen: Titus 3

Question: What is regeneration?

Answer: Regeneration is the Holy Spirit giving us new spiritual life when we trust in Christ.

He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior. Titus 3:5-6

Paul reminds believers of their new lives in Christ. When God’s kindness and love appeared, he saved them from their foolish, disobedient enslavement to sin. Paul describes a “rebirth” to echo what Jesus referred to as being “born again” (John 3:3). Just as they had all been born physically, they also needed to be born spiritually. Regeneration is the work of the Holy Spirit. Just as the Spirit was involved in the original creation, the Spirit recreates believers, giving them what they could never produce on their own—spiritual life.

Regeneration transforms our understanding of our spiritual condition. The moment we come to faith, the Spirit gives us new life. We are reborn. We are new creatures before God. This new life is not only eternal life someday after we die. It’s a new life today. We are “new creations” where the old life has gone and the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17). We no longer live by our power or for our purpose, but Christ lives in us through his Spirit. This regeneration is God’s work alone. He regenerates, revives and resuscitates those who repent and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ.

TODAY: Thank God for giving you a new spiritual life. Reflect on being a “new creation” in Christ. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you live from this new life rather than your old patterns. Celebrate that you are no longer spiritually dead but alive in Christ. Learn more about regeneration and the Holy Spirit’s work in our We Believe document.