This question frequently comes from sincere students who wants to know whether they have been born again. It is an honest question and something you want to be sure to understand what the new birth really means.
A surgeon looks for certain vital signs as an indication that the patient has survived the operation and is returning to a state of conscientiously and recognition of things around him. Even so, there are in the spiritual realm, certain vital spiritual signs that reveal that a person has been truly born again of the Spirit and of the Word. The writer of Hebrews 6:9 declares; “But beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation…“
It can be stated that the things that accompany salvation are the vital life signs of having been born again and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Note the following:
1. A new life from God. 1 John 5:12, “He that hath the Son hath life…”
2. A new appetite for God’s Word. 1 Peter 2:2, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word that they may grow thereby…”
3. A new walk in the Lord. (Ephesians 5:8b) Romans 6:4b, “even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
4. A new joy in the Lord. Romans 5:11, “but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
5. A new song in the heart. Psalm 40:3, “And He hath put a new song in my mouth…”
6. A new love for the things of God. 1 John 4:19, “We love Him because He first loved us.” 1 John 2:15, 16, “Love not… the things that are in the world.”
7. A new wardrobe. Romans 13:14, “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lust thereof”
8. A new service (work) for Christ. Ephesians 6:7, “With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not unto men”. 1 Thessalonians 1:9b,“to serve the living and true God.”
9. A new will to please God in all our ways. Romans 12:2b, “… but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.”
10. A new expectation to someday to be like Jesus. 1 John 3:2b, “…but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him…”
11. A new confidence to receive an answer when we ask according to His will. 1 John 5:14, “And this is the confidence that we have in Him that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us:”
A word of caution. Do not expect to have all these new things happening at the same time or in a short period of time. Just as in the natural world, a baby must first take food to grow so the new babe in Christ must feed on His Word and the growth will follow. A baby usually learns to walk and then talk and learns how to do the simple things. The babe in Christ is to learn how to walk as a Christian and how to talk as a Christian and how to do the things that will glorify the Savior. As the babe grows, he becomes stronger and stronger until he becomes a youth and then to manhood. God encourages us to grow to maturity, even as the baby Jesus did in His home in Nazareth (Luke 2:51, 52)
Paul, reminds all believers, Philippians 2:12,13, “workout your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” The working out in our lives of what God has worked in us will be seen and known to all about us. Just as a tree is known by its fruit so a Christian should be known by the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22,23) that are seen in his life.
2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith….”