To be regenerated is to be born of God—to receive God’s life and to become a child of God, a member of God’s family. But the way to regeneration begins with the realization of our condition and our need (Lee, Basic 65). Following this realization, the experience of regeneration occurs when we believe into the Son of God by confessing with our mouth Jesus as Lord. On His side, God has accomplished everything necessary to make His life fully available to us. On our side, all we must do is believe.

The Way to Regeneration Begins with Our Realization

The way to regeneration begins with the realization that we are sinful and that we need the life of God (see “Man’s Need of Regeneration”). Seeing our need for regeneration ushers us into the actual experience of it. On the negative side, as we realize our sinful condition, we spontaneously feel the need to repent—which is to have a change of mind; that is, to come back to God, realizing that our natural man is damaged and corrupted. On the positive side, once we realize our need of God and of His divine life, we also recognize and acknowledge our need to be regenerated.

"God has placed the work of His Son in the Word and has communicated this Word to us. When we believe in His Word, we are believing in Him."

Receiving the Divine Life of God by Believing into the Son (Believing the Testimony in the Word concerning Him)

Once a person realizes his condition and his need for God’s life, the next step he must take in order to be born again is to believe into the Son of God, Jesus Christ. We believe into the Son specifically by believing the testimony in the Word concerning Him (66-67), for the entire Word of God, the Bible, testifies concerning the person and work of the Son. As 1 Peter 1:23 explains, we have been regenerated of an incorruptible seed “through the living and abiding word of God.” Hence, when we believe the Word concerning the Son, we believe into Him and are thus regenerated. Watchman Nee, a respected Christian teacher of the early 1900s, writes:

Many times I like to think of God’s Word as God’s pocket for His work. God put all His work into His Word. If God were standing among us today, and He wanted to show us His Son’s work and the proof of this work, how could He do it? He put the work of His Son’s cross in his Word. He also put the proof of His Son’s resurrection in His Word. Today God communicates all these things to us through His Word. When we receive His Word, we receive the proof of His work. Behind the Word are the facts. If there were no facts behind the words, the words would be empty. Behind the words there surely are the facts….God has placed the work of His Son in the Word and has communicated this Word to us. When we believe in His Word, we are believing in Him. (The Gospel, 276-277)

How Do We Know We Have Believed?

Regeneration does not require our effort; we are required to do nothing other than simply believe. Good works and moral conduct are powerless to save us. The only requirement for us to be saved, to be regenerated, is to believe. The Bible is extremely clear on this point. “Over a hundred verses tell us that salvation [which includes regeneration] is by believing, that justification is by believing, and that we receive life by believing” (The Gospel, 267). Yet some might wonder, “How do I know I have believed?” The answer to this question is found in Romans 10:9-10, 13.

“If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead you will be saved; For with the heart there is believing unto righteousness, and with the mouth there is confession unto salvation…For 'whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.'”

Once we have audibly confessed Jesus as Lord, our experience of regeneration becomes real to us.

This passage reveals that belief, that is the belief in the testimony concerning the person and work of Christ, is a function of the heart. Then with our mouth, we confess what we have believed in our heart. The mouth plays a crucial role in our experience of regeneration. Once we have audibly confessed Jesus as Lord, our experience of regeneration becomes real to us. According to the Bible, then, the way to express and realize the belief in our heart is simply to confess it with our mouth. It is as simple as saying, “Jesus is Lord” or calling on His name, “Lord Jesus.”

Click here to read the salvation (regeneration) experiences of various men of God in Christian history.
Click here for more on calling on the name of the Lord.