How Can I Know I Have Experienced the New Birth?
1) Direct Answer
You know you have the new birth when the Holy Ghost (the Token) indwells you and bears witness in your heart, changing your nature to believe, love, and obey every Word of God. It is Christ revealed in you. Not a church membership, not a feeling, but the life of the Word living through you.
2) Scriptural Explanation
- Jesus said, “You must be born again… of water and of the Spirit” (John 3:3-8). That’s a birth from above.
- God promised, “A new heart… a new spirit… I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes” (Ezekiel 36:26-27).
- “If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His” (Romans 8:9). “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Romans 8:16). “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14).
- “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Old things pass away; a new life begins.
- The new birth comes by the Word: “Born again… by the Word of God” (1 Peter 1:23; James 1:18). The Spirit quickens the Seed of the Word in you.
- It produces obedience and victory: “Hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments” (1 John 2:3-5). “Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world” (1 John 5:4).
- It bears fruit: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace…” (Galatians 5:22-25).
- It confesses Christ rightly: “Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God” (1 John 4:2), and witnesses in the heart (1 John 5:10).
- The promise is for you: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost… the promise is unto you” (Acts 2:38-39). “By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body” (1 Corinthians 12:13). “After ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise” (Ephesians 1:13).
3) Simple Clarifying Logic
- New birth is not turning over a new leaf, joining a church, or a momentary emotion. Life proves itself by what it produces. The Seed brings forth after its kind. If the incorruptible Seed of the Word is in you, it will live out Christ’s life in you.
- Signs that follow the new birth:
- A clear witness of the Spirit within: assurance toward God (Romans 8:16).
- A new nature with new desires: you hate sin you once loved, and love righteousness you once avoided (2 Corinthians 5:17; 1 John 3:9).
- Obedience to the Word, not picking and choosing. You don’t argue against Scripture; you yield to it (1 John 2:3-5; John 14:23).
- Love for God and the brethren (1 John 3:14; 4:7).
- Victory over the world’s pull and a separated walk (1 John 5:4; Galatians 5:24).
- Ongoing leading and correction from the Spirit; you can’t live in willful sin without chastening (Hebrews 12:6-8).
- A hunger for the Word and prayer, and a confession that Jesus Christ is Lord come in the flesh (1 Peter 2:2; 1 John 4:2; Romans 10:9-10).
- If these fruits are absent and sin still rules you, don’t settle for a profession. Come God’s provided way: repent, be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ, and ask in faith for the Holy Ghost. He promised to fill the hungry heart (Acts 2:38-39; Luke 11:13; John 7:37-39).
4) Reinforcing statement
Now notice, the Bible makes it simple: the new birth is Christ in you by the Holy Ghost, producing a life that matches the Word. If the Life is there, the signs follow. If you’re unsure, don’t argue—come to Him sincerely, believe His promise, and stay before God until the Token is applied and the witness of the Spirit settles it in your heart.
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.
It is I, be not afraid
62-0726 §56
It'll make you get in a mess. That's what's the matter with people today. They don't like the new birth. They try to make it something else. They want to shake hands, say, "I believe in God Almighty, the Father. I believe in the holy Roman Catholic Church, the communion of saints, and I take Him to be my Saviour. I'm borned again." Huh-uh, No, no, no. Listen, brother. The new birth's more than that. Listen. I want to tell you something. Any birth is a mess. I don't care if it's in a pig pen, or if it's in a hospita...
Demonology
53-1112 §18
For instance, like this. When Jesus died at Calvary, how many...? What elements came from His body? Water, blood, Spirit. Is that right? Now, any minister, or any believer knows that that's what constitutes a new birth. Is that right? That constitutes a new birth--St. John 7:5. For there are three that bear record on earth: water, blood and Spirit. When they pierced His side, water and blood came out. He said, "Into Thy hands I commend My Spirit. Those elements went from His body. And it takes those same elements t...
You must be born again
61-1231M §89
Someone said not long ago (I believe I quoted it here before, I don't know), said, "Why in the world don't you leave them women and men alone," to me. Said, "The people believe you to be a prophet." I said, "I am not." "But the people believe you to be. Why don't you teach them how to receive visions, how to do the works of God like that?" I said, "How can I teach them algebra when they don't know their ABC's?" How can you take a child out of kindergarten and give him a college education today, teach him square-roo...
You must be born again
61-1231M §65
Now, what kind of a nature have you got then, Brother Branham? His nature. If I had my father's nature, then I'd do the things my father did. But now that I'm born again, it depends on who my father was. If you're just born in a church, you got a church father, and you can call him "father" if you want to. You call him anything you want to, because he's your father. But if your Father is God, and you're born in the family of God, you seek those things that pertain to God. That's right. Then you are God's child. You...
Questions and Answers on Hebrews, part 2
57-1002 §26
But just trying to make it just briefly, plain as I know how to make it, no; when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you then have the new birth. When you believe on the Lord, you receive a new thought, a new life, but it isn't the Baptism of the Holy Ghost, see. You've got the new birth when you believe, you've got eternal life. It's a gift of God that's give to you through sovereign grace by accepting the gift that God is giving to you. See, "He that heareth My words and believeth on him that sent me, hath ete...