Regeneration

[Chosen7Saint]

Hi,

I have a question regarding receiving the Holy Spirit or regeneration (I believe this is when God's grace falls upon someone so that they are able to believe and receive the Holy Spirit. In scripture, there are implications in multiple passages that it is God who initiates the "rebirth" such as in John 1:12-13 - But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Now here is where I get confused. In my personal instance, I grew up going to church as a kid, got baptized, and even did communion BUT I was a kid and didn't understand much. I knew there was a higher power (GOD) and Jesus but that was about it. In my teen/early adult life, I lived life as normal (sinning and not thinking twice about it) and only called out to GOD when I was in trouble or needed something.

Fast forward to the middle of this year and I get hit with guilt like I've never experienced before.....out of nowhere. How can this be? You need to have the Holy Spirit to even be convicted of sin right? How did I get the Holy Spirit if I hadn't took the Christian life seriously my entire life? I have said the sinners prayer before, read a few pamphlets and said I accepted Jesus at one point in my early adult life but still continued on in sin.

I'm puzzled because I thought you had to read the gospels, confess your sins and put your trust in Jesus. My experience wasn't really like this. It was after the conviction (of a particular sin which led to coming clean with other sins) that I repented, asked for forgiveness and decided to learn more about Jesus so that I can put my trust in him and be genuine in my faith. Any thoughts?

 

[Artios1]

Hi,

I have a question regarding receiving the Holy Spirit or regeneration (I believe this is when God's grace falls upon someone so that they are able to believe and receive the Holy Spirit. In scripture, there are implications in multiple passages that it is God who initiates the "rebirth" such as in John 1:12-13 - But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Now here is where I get confused. In my personal instance, I grew up going to church as a kid, got baptized, and even did communion BUT I was a kid and didn't understand much. I knew there was a higher power (GOD) and Jesus but that was about it. In my teen/early adult life, I lived life as normal (sinning and not thinking twice about it) and only called out to GOD when I was in trouble or needed something.

Fast forward to the middle of this year and I get hit with guilt like I've never experienced before.....out of nowhere. How can this be? You need to have the Holy Spirit to even be convicted of sin right? How did I get the Holy Spirit if I hadn't took the Christian life seriously my entire life? I have said the sinners prayer before, read a few pamphlets and said I accepted Jesus at one point in my early adult life but still continued on in sin.

I'm puzzled because I thought you had to read the gospels, confess your sins and put your trust in Jesus. My experience wasn't really like this. It was after the conviction (of a particular sin which led to coming clean with other sins) that I repented, asked for forgiveness and decided to learn more about Jesus so that I can put my trust in him and be genuine in my faith. Any thoughts?

You said "I accepted Jesus at one point in my early adult life ...."
That is it to being born again. And while reading the gospels is a great thing to do.... it's just information about the savior.
You don't confess your sins.... you confess the savior from sin i.e. > Jesus Christ.

 

[Deuteronomy]

Hello @Chosen7Saint, mine is a similar story to yours actually. I was baptized as an infant and raised in the church (so to speak). I went to Sunday School through 7th grade, sung in the children's choir, was confirmed, went on some retreats (where I remember being led in a sinner's prayer of sorts), and attended regularly through high school, you know, the whole 9 yards. I enjoyed church, but there was no moment during any of those years when I truly admitted to being a lost sinner and turned my life over to God.

In college (and for the balance of my 20's) I turned away from my upbringing in church and began to live a very fun, fast but progressively more sinful life. Nevertheless, I always believed myself a Christian (why wouldn't I have considering my church background), until the day that I finally became one, that is, 2 months after my 30th birthday. That's when EVERYTHING changed (over 37 years ago now, PTL ).

I had a couple of "dark nights of the soul" along the way, one on my 25th birthday, and the second (far more profound) one, just prior to surrendering my life to the Lord Jesus and finally becoming a believer (over Halloween weekend in 1986).

Like you, I believe that we receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit when God quickens us/causes us to be born again, and justifies/saves us, which I believe all happens pretty much at the same time typically .. except in the case of a blockhead like myself, that is. In my case, I believe that the Father's drawing of us (John 6:44) is Him quickening us/making us alive (spiritually) so that we can see our sins/sinful lives for what they really are, prior to our coming to saving faith/prior to our receiving the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. See Ezekiel 36:26-27, John 3:3, 5; Ephesians 2:1-5 (especially v4-5).

So, I understand the terms "quicken", "regenerate" and "born again" to mean basically the same thing, as God bringing us from spiritual death to spiritual life for the very first time in our lives, thus giving us the ability to finally understand and receive the (spiritual) truth about our spiritual condition from God (which we could not do as "natural" men/women .. 1 Corinthians 2:14 .. see below).

As the Lord Jesus said in John 3:3, you must be born again to even see the Kingdom of God (much less enter into it) so, it seems to me anyway, that being born again or quickened/regenerated must occur prior to coming to saving faith (even if it all happens pretty much at the same time), because into what, exactly, would an unbeliever or "natural" man/women be putting their faith in if God had not already quickened them

That is my 2 cents anyway.

God bless you!!

~Deuteronomy (David)
p.s. - below you can see the differences between believers (who have been made by God into "spiritual" men/women), and the unsaved (who are "natural" men/women).

​

1 Corinthians 2​

12 We have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, ​

13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. ​

14 But a natural man ~does not accept~ the things of the Spirit of God, for they are ~foolishness~ to him; and he ~cannot understand~ them, because they are spiritually appraised. ​

15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. ​

16 For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ. ​

​

 

[Deuteronomy]

Hello again @Chosen7Saint, part of what I meant to say (in paragraph #4 of my post above) was that I believe that God was at work in my heart years before I finally came to Him in saving faith and believed (IOW, in my case, there may have been a period of time between His quickening of me and my finally trusting Him with my life and coming to saving faith in Him .. though all of this is, of course, conjecture on my part).

So again, like your experience with coming to faith, I was convicted by/felt the nearly unbearable weight of my sins ~prior~ to being indwelt by the Holy Spirit and saved. It was, in fact, my sins (and not knowing what to do about them) that finally drove me to the Savior to find a remedy for them (after hearing the Gospel again from a colleague of mine on Halloween weekend 37 years ago) .. Galatians 3:24.

--David

 

[Gideon300]

Hi,

I have a question regarding receiving the Holy Spirit or regeneration (I believe this is when God's grace falls upon someone so that they are able to believe and receive the Holy Spirit. In scripture, there are implications in multiple passages that it is God who initiates the "rebirth" such as in John 1:12-13 - But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Now here is where I get confused. In my personal instance, I grew up going to church as a kid, got baptized, and even did communion BUT I was a kid and didn't understand much. I knew there was a higher power (GOD) and Jesus but that was about it. In my teen/early adult life, I lived life as normal (sinning and not thinking twice about it) and only called out to GOD when I was in trouble or needed something.

Fast forward to the middle of this year and I get hit with guilt like I've never experienced before.....out of nowhere. How can this be? You need to have the Holy Spirit to even be convicted of sin right? How did I get the Holy Spirit if I hadn't took the Christian life seriously my entire life? I have said the sinners prayer before, read a few pamphlets and said I accepted Jesus at one point in my early adult life but still continued on in sin.

I'm puzzled because I thought you had to read the gospels, confess your sins and put your trust in Jesus. My experience wasn't really like this. It was after the conviction (of a particular sin which led to coming clean with other sins) that I repented, asked for forgiveness and decided to learn more about Jesus so that I can put my trust in him and be genuine in my faith. Any thoughts?

There is no method. I went out the front at a Billy Graham crusade, but I did not get born again. I went through the process, decision card and such, but there was no reality. 5 years later, when I was desperate and hopeless, I received Christ as saviour. For me, it was the realisation that I had no hope of escaping God's judgement that motivated me to receive Jesus. It was pure selfishness and fear. What ever works!

There is great power in the gospel message. It is God's word, by which He created the universe. Somehow His Word, in the power of the Holy Spirit, can enter a darkened heart and cut through a blind mind to bring conviction of sin. "The unfolding of His Word brings light" Psalm 119:130. When the individual is convicted, he may we say, as I did, "What must I do?" It is not until the individual sees that Jesus is the only way to salvation that he is able to be saved. It is not until the individual receives Christ that he/she is born again.

The Holy Spirit is present whenever the gospel is preached. He is there to convict of sin (John 16:8). Can a person be convicted and yet still turn away? Yes. Not everyone is willing to repent.

I'd never read the Bible, let alone the gospels, when I was witnessed to. The man who led me to the Lord used verses from Romans mostly. I knew about Jesus, mostly Sunday school stuff and from enforced attendance at an Anglican church. It meant as much to me as Caesar being a Roman emperor. But Jesus became real to me that day. That was 50 years ago and I remember like it was yesterday.

I'd read the gospel of John, which was written so that you might believe. Ask God to help you. He will. Be serious with God. He does not play games, neither should we.

 

[Karlon]

Hi,

I have a question regarding receiving the Holy Spirit or regeneration (I believe this is when God's grace falls upon someone so that they are able to believe and receive the Holy Spirit. In scripture, there are implications in multiple passages that it is God who initiates the "rebirth" such as in John 1:12-13 - But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Now here is where I get confused. In my personal instance, I grew up going to church as a kid, got baptized, and even did communion BUT I was a kid and didn't understand much. I knew there was a higher power (GOD) and Jesus but that was about it. In my teen/early adult life, I lived life as normal (sinning and not thinking twice about it) and only called out to GOD when I was in trouble or needed something.

Fast forward to the middle of this year and I get hit with guilt like I've never experienced before.....out of nowhere. How can this be? You need to have the Holy Spirit to even be convicted of sin right? How did I get the Holy Spirit if I hadn't took the Christian life seriously my entire life? I have said the sinners prayer before, read a few pamphlets and said I accepted Jesus at one point in my early adult life but still continued on in sin.

I'm puzzled because I thought you had to read the gospels, confess your sins and put your trust in Jesus. My experience wasn't really like this. It was after the conviction (of a particular sin which led to coming clean with other sins) that I repented, asked for forgiveness and decided to learn more about Jesus so that I can put my trust in him and be genuine in my faith. Any thoughts?

the Holy Spirit sent you a call to Jesus which everyone will experience. in fact, God is not going to send Jesus down until the last person has heard of God. you can be convicted of sin by your parents teaching as you were a child. millions have said the sinners prayer believing they were born again. they only went thru the motions, it wasn't real. you did not receive the Holy Spirit because by your own admittance, you didn't take the Christian life seriously. here's the difference: when someone becomes a born again Christian, you are convicted, converted & transformed to God, Jesus & the Holy Spirit, (Roman 12:2). it is a 1 time deal, you never have to do it again. a person knows he or she is saved by a regeneration of a new nature created by God. your thoughts, speakings & actions are of God, or you could say of Jesus. so after being born again & you sin you will feel a conviction of the H.S. saying, "don't do that, that's wrong". (for explanatory purposes i said that). you will act on that conviction & soon stop sinning WILLFULLY! you will want to stop sinning. it never means you will TOTALLY stop sinning. but the desire to stop & improve on the forsaking of sin WILL ALWAYS be in you. think of yourself with a much reduced sin nature. & joy will enter your heart, mind, body, soul & spirit with a newness of life. it is unrepentant sin that tells someone that a person is not born again. commit your intelligence, soul & will to be forever improving. possessing faith & trusting in Jesus is what we do to be saved by God's grace, (Ephesians 2:8,9,10, also, study: John 3:5). i am more comfortable to say "study" the Bible than read it. edifying, that is growing in grace, comes with studying the Bible.

 

[ForestGreenCook]

As the Lord Jesus said in John 3:3, you must be born again to even see the Kingdom of God (much less enter into it) so, it seems to me anyway, that being born again or quickened/regenerated must occur prior to coming to saving faith (even if it all happens pretty much at the same time), because into what, exactly, would an unbeliever or "natural" man/women be putting their faith in if God had not already quickened them

I am in agreement with your post, but could you explain to me what you mean by "saving grace"?

 

[ForestGreenCook]

Hello @Chosen7Saint, mine is a similar story to yours actually. I was baptized as an infant and raised in the church (so to speak). I went to Sunday School through 7th grade, sung in the children's choir, was confirmed, went on some retreats (where I remember being led in a sinner's prayer of sorts), and attended regularly through high school, you know, the whole 9 yards. I enjoyed church, but there was no moment during any of those years when I truly admitted to being a lost sinner and turned my life over to God.

In college (and for the balance of my 20's) I turned away from my upbringing in church and began to live a very fun, fast but progressively more sinful life. Nevertheless, I always believed myself a Christian (why wouldn't I have considering my church background), until the day that I finally became one, that is, 2 months after my 30th birthday. That's when EVERYTHING changed (over 37 years ago now, PTL ).

I had a couple of "dark nights of the soul" along the way, one on my 25th birthday, and the second (far more profound) one, just prior to surrendering my life to the Lord Jesus and finally becoming a believer (over Halloween weekend in 1986).

Like you, I believe that we receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit when God quickens us/causes us to be born again, and justifies/saves us, which I believe all happens pretty much at the same time typically .. except in the case of a blockhead like myself, that is. In my case, I believe that the Father's drawing of us (John 6:44) is Him quickening us/making us alive (spiritually) so that we can see our sins/sinful lives for what they really are, prior to our coming to saving faith/prior to our receiving the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. See Ezekiel 36:26-27, John 3:3, 5; Ephesians 2:1-5 (especially v4-5).

So, I understand the terms "quicken", "regenerate" and "born again" to mean basically the same thing, as God bringing us from spiritual death to spiritual life for the very first time in our lives, thus giving us the ability to finally understand and receive the (spiritual) truth about our spiritual condition from God (which we could not do as "natural" men/women .. 1 Corinthians 2:14 .. see below).

As the Lord Jesus said in John 3:3, you must be born again to even see the Kingdom of God (much less enter into it) so, it seems to me anyway, that being born again or quickened/regenerated must occur prior to coming to saving faith (even if it all happens pretty much at the same time), because into what, exactly, would an unbeliever or "natural" man/women be putting their faith in if God had not already quickened them

That is my 2 cents anyway.

God bless you!!

~Deuteronomy (David)
p.s. - below you can see the differences between believers (who have been made by God into "spiritual" men/women), and the unsaved (who are "natural" men/women).

​

1 Corinthians 2​

12 We have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, ​

13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. ​

14 But a natural man ~does not accept~ the things of the Spirit of God, for they are ~foolishness~ to him; and he ~cannot understand~ them, because they are spiritually appraised. ​

15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. ​

16 For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ. ​

​

When we are born again, we receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which brings us spiritual faith as one of the Holy Spirit's fruits. The old testament saints were born again with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the same manner that the new testament saints are (Isaiah 63:11).

 

[Dino246]

Fast forward to the middle of this year and I get hit with guilt like I've never experienced before.....out of nowhere. How can this be? You need to have the Holy Spirit to even be convicted of sin right?

From where did you get that idea (bolded)? I don't know of any Scripture that says anything of the sort.

Even those who have never heard of Jesus have a conscience. It may be warped, confused, misaligned, or even seared, but it's still there and (except for the last case, or with a psychopath) functional. Your conscience is trained by your upbringing so you may have a different concept of right and wrong than the next person. Given that you had some Christian influence from your childhood, it is likely that the Holy Spirit spoke through your conscience and called you to repent by inducing guilt for your sin. That doesn't necessarily mean you "already have the Holy Spirit".

 

[Magenta]

When we are born again, we receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which brings us spiritual faith as one of the Holy Spirit's fruits. The old testament saints were born again with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the same manner that the new testament saints are (Isaiah 63:11).

Nice to see you again, FGC!

Christmas 2023

 

[ForestGreenCook]

Hello again @Chosen7Saint, part of what I meant to say (in paragraph #4 of my post above) was that I believe that God was at work in my heart years before I finally came to Him in saving faith and believed (IOW, in my case, there may have been a period of time between His quickening of me and my finally trusting Him with my life and coming to saving faith in Him .. though all of this is, of course, conjecture on my part).

So again, like your experience with coming to faith, I was convicted by/felt the nearly unbearable weight of my sins ~prior~ to being indwelt by the Holy Spirit and saved. It was, in fact, my sins (and not knowing what to do about them) that finally drove me to the Savior to find a remedy for them (after hearing the Gospel again from a colleague of mine on Halloween weekend 37 years ago) .. Galatians 3:24.

--David

Whose faith is " the saving faith"? In referencing Gal 3, could it be Jesus's faith, and not our faith?

 

[Blade]

Hi,

I have a question regarding receiving the Holy Spirit or regeneration (I believe this is when God's grace falls upon someone so that they are able to believe and receive the Holy Spirit. In scripture, there are implications in multiple passages that it is God who initiates the "rebirth" such as in John 1:12-13 - But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Now here is where I get confused. In my personal instance, I grew up going to church as a kid, got baptized, and even did communion BUT I was a kid and didn't understand much. I knew there was a higher power (GOD) and Jesus but that was about it. In my teen/early adult life, I lived life as normal (sinning and not thinking twice about it) and only called out to GOD when I was in trouble or needed something.

Fast forward to the middle of this year and I get hit with guilt like I've never experienced before.....out of nowhere. How can this be? You need to have the Holy Spirit to even be convicted of sin right? How did I get the Holy Spirit if I hadn't took the Christian life seriously my entire life? I have said the sinners prayer before, read a few pamphlets and said I accepted Jesus at one point in my early adult life but still continued on in sin.

I'm puzzled because I thought you had to read the gospels, confess your sins and put your trust in Jesus. My experience wasn't really like this. It was after the conviction (of a particular sin which led to coming clean with other sins) that I repented, asked for forgiveness and decided to learn more about Jesus so that I can put my trust in him and be genuine in my faith. Any thoughts?

Anyone that calls on the name of the lord shall be saved. There are no hoops to jump through. What you think you had to confess maybe your in your heart you already did? And that is what He sees. I am a believer in Luke 11 13. I read John 3 16-17 and did that so I did the same with Luke 11 13. I just read it and did what He said.

 

[Deuteronomy]

I am in agreement with your post, but could you explain to me what you mean by "saving grace"?

Hello ForestGreenCook, I don't believe that I mentioned "saving grace" in either one of my posts in this thread (I often refer to "saving faith", as I did here, but only to "saving grace" when I'm talking about the different kinds of grace). Perhaps you meant to ask someone else that particular question?

If you meant it for me, did you want my answer to be in context with something in this thread, or did you simply want my definition or general understanding of the term?

Thanks!

God bless you!!

~Deuteronomy (David)
p.s. - HAPPY NEW YEAR

 

[Deuteronomy]

When we are born again, we receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which brings us spiritual faith as one of the Holy Spirit's fruits. The old testament saints were born again with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the same manner that the new testament saints are (Isaiah 63:11).

Yes (see Ezekiel 36:25-27 as well, see esp. v27), though we know that, unlike believers today, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit among OT saints was not necessarily a permanent indwelling, and also one that was not always associated with salvation, but with service (e.g. He indwelt the artisans and craftsmen who constructed everything necessary for worship, for a time, and a penitent King David prayed that the Holy Spirit would not be taken from him because of his great sins .. Psalm 51:11, etc.).

That said, you are correct, the OT saints needed to be born again to be saved, just like we do today, as the Lord made clear to us through His gentle chiding of Nicodemus (for not knowing what He meant as "the teacher of Israel") when he talked to him about being "born again") .. e.g. John 3:3-10 (see esp. v10).

God bless you!!

~Deuteronomy (David)

 

[Deuteronomy]

Whose faith is " the saving faith"? In referencing Gal 3, could it be Jesus's faith, and not our faith?

Hello again ForestGreenCook, no, I believe that when we are talking about "saving faith", we are talking about a particular kind of faith/trust that we come to both possess and then express personally towards the Lord. I believe that this kind of faith is, first and foremost, a "gift" from God .. e.g. Ephesians 2:8, one that we use or exercise when we choose to believe, especially unto salvation (we choose to believe, and it is us doing the believing, just FYI, though such belief would, of course, not be possible apart from the mighty works that the Lord does in us to make it possible .. e.g. Ezekiel 36:26-27; John 3:3; Ephesians 2:1-5 (esp. v4-5).

God bless you!!

--David

 

[ForestGreenCook]

Nice to see you again, FGC!

Christmas 2023

Thanks so much.

 

[ForestGreenCook]

Hello ForestGreenCook, I don't believe that I mentioned "saving grace" in either one of my posts in this thread (I often refer to "saving faith", as I did here, but only to "saving grace" when I'm talking about the different kinds of grace). Perhaps you meant to ask someone else that particular question?

If you meant it for me, did you want my answer to be in context with something in this thread, or did you simply want my definition or general understanding of the term?

Thanks!

God bless you!!

~Deuteronomy (David)
p.s. - HAPPY NEW YEAR

Sorry, I intended to say saving faith,

 

[ForestGreenCook]

Hello again ForestGreenCook, no, I believe that when we are talking about "saving faith", we are talking about a particular kind of faith/trust that we come to both possess and then express personally towards the Lord. I believe that this kind of faith is, first and foremost, a "gift" from God .. e.g. Ephesians 2:8, one that we use or exercise when we choose to believe, especially unto salvation (we choose to believe, and it is us doing the believing, just FYI, though such belief would, of course, not be possible apart from the mighty works that the Lord does in us to make it possible .. e.g. Ezekiel 36:26-27; John 3:3; Ephesians 2:1-5 (esp. v4-5).

God bless you!!

--David

Thanks for your reply. I am in agreement with you that believing spiritual things comes after a person is born again of the Spirit.

My understanding of the faith mentioned in Eph 2:8, in comparing Gal 2:16, that it is Christ's faith and not mankind's faith.

 

[NOV25]

Hi,

I have a question regarding receiving the Holy Spirit or regeneration (I believe this is when God's grace falls upon someone so that they are able to believe and receive the Holy Spirit. In scripture, there are implications in multiple passages that it is God who initiates the "rebirth" such as in John 1:12-13 - But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Now here is where I get confused. In my personal instance, I grew up going to church as a kid, got baptized, and even did communion BUT I was a kid and didn't understand much. I knew there was a higher power (GOD) and Jesus but that was about it. In my teen/early adult life, I lived life as normal (sinning and not thinking twice about it) and only called out to GOD when I was in trouble or needed something.

Fast forward to the middle of this year and I get hit with guilt like I've never experienced before.....out of nowhere. How can this be? You need to have the Holy Spirit to even be convicted of sin right? How did I get the Holy Spirit if I hadn't took the Christian life seriously my entire life? I have said the sinners prayer before, read a few pamphlets and said I accepted Jesus at one point in my early adult life but still continued on in sin.

I'm puzzled because I thought you had to read the gospels, confess your sins and put your trust in Jesus. My experience wasn't really like this. It was after the conviction (of a particular sin which led to coming clean with other sins) that I repented, asked for forgiveness and decided to learn more about Jesus so that I can put my trust in him and be genuine in my faith. Any thoughts?

It sounds like you may have been converted recently. Congratulations.

Keep prayerfully consuming the word and stay off this site as much as possible, for a while at least, they’ll try to crucify you around here for claiming faith is a gift 😅

 

[NightTwister]

Hi,

I have a question regarding receiving the Holy Spirit or regeneration (I believe this is when God's grace falls upon someone so that they are able to believe and receive the Holy Spirit. In scripture, there are implications in multiple passages that it is God who initiates the "rebirth" such as in John 1:12-13 - But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Now here is where I get confused. In my personal instance, I grew up going to church as a kid, got baptized, and even did communion BUT I was a kid and didn't understand much. I knew there was a higher power (GOD) and Jesus but that was about it. In my teen/early adult life, I lived life as normal (sinning and not thinking twice about it) and only called out to GOD when I was in trouble or needed something.

Fast forward to the middle of this year and I get hit with guilt like I've never experienced before.....out of nowhere. How can this be? You need to have the Holy Spirit to even be convicted of sin right? How did I get the Holy Spirit if I hadn't took the Christian life seriously my entire life? I have said the sinners prayer before, read a few pamphlets and said I accepted Jesus at one point in my early adult life but still continued on in sin.

I'm puzzled because I thought you had to read the gospels, confess your sins and put your trust in Jesus. My experience wasn't really like this. It was after the conviction (of a particular sin which led to coming clean with other sins) that I repented, asked for forgiveness and decided to learn more about Jesus so that I can put my trust in him and be genuine in my faith. Any thoughts?

I also grew up in the church. I've never known a time when I wasn't saved, though there have been times when I know I was out of fellowship. I can't really point to a moment in my life when regeneration occurred, though I know there was one.