Have I Really Been Born Again?
1) Direct Answer
You can know. The new birth is when the Holy Spirit—Christ’s own Life—comes in and takes the throne of your heart. It is more than believing a creed or joining a church. It is the Life of the Word quickening you and sealing you as God’s own.
2) Scriptural Explanation
- Jesus said, “You must be born again… of water and of the Spirit” (John 3:3-7). That is repentance, baptism, and the Holy Spirit coming in.
- “Repent, and be baptized… in the Name of Jesus Christ… and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38).
- “By one Spirit are we all baptized into one Body” (1 Corinthians 12:13). That’s the birth into Christ.
- “If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His” (Romans 8:9); “The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit” (Romans 8:16).
- “Being born again… by the word of God” (1 Peter 1:23). The Word-seed is quickened by the Spirit.
- The evidence shows: “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren” (1 John 3:14); “Whosoever is born of God does not practice sin” (1 John 3:9); “This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments” (1 John 5:3); “Whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world” (1 John 5:4).
- “Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30).
3) Simple Clarifying Logic
- New birth is not emotion, not a day you joined, not a gift you exercised. It is Christ ruling inside, changing your desires, correcting you by the Word, and producing His fruit (Galatians 5:22-23).
- If the same Life that raised Jesus dwells in you, it won’t leave you loving the old life (Romans 8:11). You won’t be perfect in the flesh, but you can’t live in willful sin and be comfortable. The Spirit convicts, you make it right, and you walk on.
- Check the marks:
- Do you have a hunger for the Word and to obey it? (1 Peter 2:2; John 14:23)
- Does known sin grieve you, and do you make it right quickly? (1 John 1:7-9)
- Do you love the brethren in deed and truth? (1 John 3:18-19)
- Are you overcoming the world’s pull—its fashions, lusts, and pride? (1 John 2:15-17; 5:4)
- Is there an inward witness of the Spirit crying, “Abba, Father”? (Romans 8:15-16)
- Does your life show the fruit of the Spirit more than the works of the flesh? (Galatians 5:19-23)
If these are present and growing, that’s the Life in you.
4) Short Reinforcing Statement
If you’re unsure, don’t rest until it’s settled. Repent fully, set things right, be baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38; 19:5), ask the Father for the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13), believe His promise, and stay with the Word until He seals you. The Holy Spirit is the Token—when He comes in, He identifies you as His, and your life will match the Word. Now notice, when He takes the throne, the question changes from “Am I born again?” to “Lord, how can I please You today?”
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
You must be born again
61-1231M §116
...t turns out here, and you can't change after death... Now you watch these people that come in, gets all these sensations and things, run out, and tomorrow they're this way. Have you seen it? Hundreds of them, see. And you see what happens. And now what if them people died in that state? Death doesn't change it. So, oh, Christians, in closing these words let me say this. Let us turn to Him and His Word, with all sincerity. Come humbly, like Christians, and be born again of His Spirit. And when you are born again, yo...
You must be born again
61-1231M §93
Get out there, a stuffed shirt, "Glory to God! Hallelujah!" and then tell me that that's Christ? Christ was humble, meek and gentle. Go into a town and, my, you have to be just brushed off the shoulders, you know, and everything has to be just right, not a wrinkle in your suit; and you have to have the very best or you won't even come at all; guaranteed so much money, you can't have a meeting. Oh, oh, oh, oh, my! All the denominations, they have to pat you on the back. There wasn't a one of them patted Him on the b...
You must be born again
61-1231M §27
So, now remember, it didn't say, "You ought to be born again"; but "you must." Now, we, as English speaking people, understand what the word "must" means; that is, "It's absolutely you've got to do it." See, it's a must! Not, "You ought to, you'd be better off if you did"; but "you must be born again." Oh, if we could just take that word this morning and break it down, what it means, how that it's totally impossible... And then, if it's that essential and that great that it's totally impossible to enter the kingdom...
The Seed is not heir with the shuck
65-0218 §51
...e see here the true revelation of the true type. There's three women carriers of the natural seed until the ... matured into Jesus. How Ishmael could not be, because be was born really---in what we'd think today---out of wedlock, because he was a bondswoman's son. Then come a little more like Him, like Jesus, which come out Isaac. But it still wasn't, because it was born of the sex between Sarah and Abraham. But then along came Mary, by the virgin birth produced Jesus Christ. That's right! God the Word made flesh....
The true vine and the false vine
55-0607 §30
...el, and was Judas? Do you realize that same spirit moves right up through the church? But where Judas showed his colors was at Pentecost, just before Pentecost, before they really got borned again. People don't believe tonight; many of the people don't believe there is such as a thing as an experience of being born again. They say, "It's all in your mind." No, it's in your heart, brother. That's right.