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Abundant Life in the Son: A Study of Salvation

is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with
your mouth that you confess and are saved. (Romans 10:9–10)

The preaching of the Word of truth is the means God uses to bring
about the regeneration of people (James 1:18; 1 Corinthians 4:15). Thus
His Word becomes an agent in the work of regeneration: “For you
have been born again…through the living and enduring word of God”
(1 Peter 1:23). The preaching of the Word is the means God uses to bring
people to salvation.

A person is born again by the Spirit upon receiving Jesus Christ.
This involves an act of the will. Christ does not forcibly enter the door:
“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice
and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me”
(Revelation 3:20). Receiving Jesus Christ involves an act of faith: “Yet to
all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the
right to become children of God” (John 1:12). And of course the act of
the will and the assent of the heart are based upon the knowledge of
God’s offer of salvation, involving the total person in the experience of
regeneration.

Regeneration comes immediately from God. The new birth
is of God, for regenerated ones are “children born not of natural
descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God”
(John 1:13). This new birth is also known as being born of the Spirit
(John 3:6), and it is referred to as “washing of rebirth and renewal
by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). Through the Spirit, Christ enters the
door of the heart (Revelation 3:20). The Trinity is thus involved in
producing regeneration.

Evidences of Regeneration

When a person is born again, he or she becomes aware of new life
within. There is a new desire for living, and he or she also has a new
purpose in life. Such a person has a new set of values and his or her
whole outlook on life changes (2 Corinthians 5:17). God’s Spirit joins with
this person’s spirit to declare that he or she is His child (Romans 8:16;
Galatians 4:6). The newborn believer also becomes aware of the
prompting and leading of the Holy Spirit within, which is additional
proof of his or her experience (Romans 8:14).

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