Regeneration is the supernatural, instantaneous, sovereign work of the Holy Spirit by which a spiritually dead sinner is given new life. Jesus named it in the conversation with Nicodemus: "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). The Greek phrase gennethe anothen means both "born again" and "born from above" — both senses are intended. It is a second birth, and it is a birth whose origin is heavenly. Nicodemus misunderstood (thinking of physical rebirth); Jesus explained: "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:6-8). Several marks of regeneration. First, it is monergistic — the Spirit alone works it; the sinner contributes nothing. "Who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:13). Second, it is instantaneous — a passage from death to life, not a gradual process. Third, it is radical — a new creation, not a patched-up old one. "If anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Fourth, it precedes faith in Reformed theology — the dead sinner cannot believe without first being made alive. Fifth, it produces fruit — a new heart that loves what it once hated. "Whoever has been born of God does not sin" (1 John 3:9) — not that the regenerate never sin, but that they no longer live continuously in sin. Regeneration is the seed; conversion is the sprout; sanctification is the growth; glorification is the harvest.