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 §63
What do you do with a baby soon as it's born? Wash him. Is that right? And as soon as a man has died to himself, is born of God, he's washed by the water of the Word. Amen. If it says, "Jesus' name," you say "Jesus' name"; says, "You must be born again," you say the same thing. Ever what God says, you're washed by that water of the Word. Amen. Now, you're ready now for life. You're ready to start out now. Now you're born anew, born in the family of God, with a new parent. Your tutors used to be... Now you got tutor...
You must be born again
61-1231M §102
You don't have to tell a sheep, "You've got to manufacture." That's what's the matter with the Pentecostal people today. That's what's the matter with all Christendom---it's trying to manufacture something. A sheep isn't asked to manufacture wool; he bears wool. You bear the fruits of the Spirit. You don't say, "Glory to God, I have to get black in the face, I have to do this, and I have to have sensation, I have to dance in the Spirit, and I got it." No, no, hunh-uh. Just get born again and it actually takes place...
You must be born again
61-1231M §38
And, remember, the first thing, until you're born again you'll never understand. Twice He spoke it. "Except a man be born again, he cannot enter the kingdom." "Except a man be born again, he cannot even see the kingdom." Now, that's punctuated, too. The word ... making all those words; they tell me that they had to write it out. When they say, "Verily, verily," that's a punctuation like a capital. "Verily, verily, I say unto you!" And the word in one place, or many places, it's translated "absolutely." "Absolutely,...
You must be born again
61-1231M §77
If you're born of God, you're washed in the waters of the Word, separated from the things of the world, and believe God. You're dead. You're dead to your own thinking, dead to your own ideas, dead to everything else but God's Word; and it lives in you, working back through you, proving that it is God's Word. You say, "I'm dead to the world, Brother Branham." And deny God's Word? Jesus said, "These signs shall follow them that believe." Now we're getting down to what born again means, see.
You must be born again
61-1231M §118
...ng? He was vindicated. That's right. He was being vindicated. Something happened to him. His being was changed from darkness to light, from blind to sight. And a man that's born of the Spirit of God---that once had a form of godliness, deny the Word thereof, and the power thereof, and to say the days of miracles is past---when he's born again, he might not be a scholar, he might not be able to explain it; but he believes it. Like the...