The supernatural act of God by which a spiritually dead sinner is made alive in Christ — a new birth from above wrought entirely by the Holy Spirit. Regeneration is not reformation of character, moral improvement, or decision of the will; it is the impartation of new life to one who was "dead in trespasses and sins." It precedes and produces genuine faith, repentance, and all saving graces. As birth precedes breath, regeneration precedes every act of the new life in Christ.
REGENERA'TION, n. A new birth; the act of God's grace by which the moral character is changed and the disposition of the heart conformed to the image of Christ. In Scripture, it is called being born again, born of the Spirit, created anew in Christ Jesus. It is an inward spiritual change, produced by the grace of God, renewing the faculties of the soul, and disposing it to virtue and holiness.
Culture applies "regeneration" loosely to urban renewal, ecological restoration, and self-help "reinvention." Liberal theology strips it of supernaturalism, treating it as human moral potential awakened through education or experience. Decisional evangelism effectively reverses the biblical order, treating regeneration as the result of man's free choice rather than the cause of it. The word's radical meaning — that without this divine act, no one can even perceive the Kingdom — is almost entirely lost.
• John 3:3 — "Jesus replied, 'Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.'"
• Titus 3:5 — "He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewing by the Holy Spirit."
• Ephesians 2:1 — "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins..."
• 1 Peter 1:23 — "For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God."
• Ezekiel 36:26 — "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you..."
G3824 — palingenesia (παλιγγενεσία): regeneration, new birth, renewal; used in Matthew 19:28 (cosmic renewal) and Titus 3:5 (personal new birth).
G313 — anagennáō (ἀναγεννάω): to beget again, regenerate; used in 1 Peter 1:3, 23 of new birth through Christ's resurrection and the Word.
• "Regeneration is the foundation upon which all other saving graces are built — without the new birth, there is no repentance, no faith, no obedience."
• "The man who is regenerate has a new nature; he is not merely reformed but re-created."
• "When Nicodemus was told he must be 'born again,' he revealed that regeneration is not a concept natural reason can grasp — it must be revealed."