The Effects of Being Born Again

By Dane Gardow

Spiritual rebirth is an issue that has suffered from many misconceptions regarding what exactly it consists of, what it produces, and the effects or evidence of its occurrence. Since the consequences for these misconceptions can be serious, ranging from a flawed position on the issue of obedience to a false assurance of salvation, it is important to correctly and biblically understand the phenomenon and its effects. The experience of being born again is a mighty work of God which produces an all-encompassing transformation that impacts one's identity, nature, lifestyle, and eternal destination.

New Identity

Spiritual rebirth brings a new identity. There are two types of people in this world: those who are in Adam and those who are in Christ. Adam and Christ are heads or leaders over their corresponding family of descendants; they serve as the representatives of the ones who belong to them. Unfortunately, because Adam fell into sin, all who are born naturally into this world automatically descend from him and enter into the ranks of his doomed and fallen family. They are conceived in sin and born with an inherited sinful nature that is hostile to God, by which they are deemed "children of wrath" (Eph. 2:3) and "sons of the evil one" (Matt. 13:38-39). When people are born again, however, they are delivered from this corrupt family and are born spiritually into the family of Christ, becoming children of God for the first time, and thereby gain a completely new identity, a new head, and a new Father.

New Heart & Nature

Spiritual rebirth gives a new heart and nature. All people are born into this world with a nature that is evil and thoroughly inclined toward sin and lawlessness; it is by this sinful nature that people hate God, the light of His truth, and the righteousness of His law. What they love and are inclined toward, instead, are sin, darkness, and evil. These affections are changed and reversed only through being born again. Those who have been born again are given a new heart and spirit through a regenerative union with Christ (Eze. 36:26; 2Cor. 5:17). Through spiritual rebirth, people are given a new nature that is totally contrary to the sinful nature with which they were born. The creation of this new nature produces genuine repentance which, according to the theologian Thomas Watson, transforms one's affections and causes a deep hatred for sin that was once loved.^[1] Therefore, spiritual rebirth leaves one with a newfound love for God and His truth and righteousness.

New Lifestyle

Spiritual rebirth produces a new lifestyle as the necessary outcome of the changed heart and nature. One's lifestyle is a reflection and result of the heart and its affections; if people love sin, their lifestyle will reflect these affections accordingly in a lifestyle of deliberate sinning. After people are born again, however, they begin to lead a new lifestyle by pursuing the affections and desires of a renewed heart. Granted, spiritual rebirth does not produce a lifestyle of perfect obedience, but through it the heart is changed and made to love righteousness and hate sin. Therefore, those who have been born again will begin to turn from and despise sin and go on to practice righteousness. The Lord Jesus Christ taught this truth in declaring that "the good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart" (Luke 6:45). Simply put, people's lifestyles and actions demonstrate their hearts and affections.

The changed lifestyle wrought by spiritual rebirth also demonstrates and verifies one's claims of being a Christian. Dr. John MacArthur has said, "Unbroken patterns of sin are characteristic of the unregenerate. No matter what a person claims about being a Christian, if he or she continues in sin, it is only a claim and not a reality."^[2] The reason why it is impossible to be a Christian and yet continue unrepentantly in sin is because the new nature given through spiritual rebirth hates sin and therefore prevents one from persisting in it. This is precisely why the apostle John declared, "No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God" (1 John 3:9). A person who practices sin, on the other hand, "is of the devil" (1 John 3:8). It is necessary to clarify, though, that the idea of refraining from practicing sin does not and will never—on this side of Heaven—involve sinlessness. Rather, the idea involves a deliberate, conscious, and repentant pursuit of righteousness that is imperfect but progressive and enduring.

New Eternal Destination

Finally, spiritual rebirth changes one's eternal destination. As has been mentioned previously regarding identity, all people are born into this world with a sinful nature and are therefore conceived in sin, estranged from the womb, enslaved to sin in life, and consigned to Hell in death. All people who have not been joined to Christ through spiritual rebirth are, as the Lord Himself said, "condemned already" (John 3:18). They have been marked out and reserved for death and condemnation from the beginning, starting with Adam's transgression, because the entire human race was doomed in his fall. Aside from the ill fate brought upon them by Adam, their representative, all people have contributed to their own guilt and condemnation with their own sins, as "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23).

However, the glorious news of the gospel declares that through the "last Adam," who is Jesus Christ Himself (1 Cor. 15:45), people can be delivered from sin, death, and Hell. When people are born again, they are rescued out of the domain of darkness in which they were chained as prisoners and enter into the kingdom of God. They pass out of death and enter into life, and their eternal destination is forever changed. Just as all who are born naturally into this world are plagued with the sin, death, and condemnation brought upon them by their representative Adam, so all who are born again spiritually into the kingdom of God are blessed with the righteousness, life, and justification brought about by their new representative, Christ.

Conclusion

Understanding the nature and effects of being born again is paramount because spiritual rebirth involves a great dividing point that sets the difference between those who have entered into the kingdom of God and those who are still lost and bound in death and condemnation. This divine phenomenon is wrought by God Himself and therefore leaves a mighty wake that impacts all who are born again specifically in the areas involving identity, nature, lifestyle, and eternal destination. These necessary effects of spiritual rebirth evidence themselves in varying degrees in all who have been born again, apart from which no biblical assurance of salvation can be granted.

Footnotes

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