“What is the difference between ‘new birth,’ ‘born again’ and ‘regeneration’?”

November 2013 – Grace & Truth Magazine

QUESTION: What is the difference between “new birth,” “born again” and “regeneration”?

ANSWER: It is always good to be careful when studying God’s Word. Remember that the entire Bible is inspired of God and that the very words of Scripture, not just the general thoughts, ideas or principles, are inspired of God. It is important, too, to bear in mind that it is the original Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic words that are inspired of God. There is no such thing as an inspired translation, nor is there such a thing as an absolutely literal translation. However, we can thank God for godly translators and good translations of His holy Word into our language and for dictionaries and other helpful writings that explain the meanings of words God used in the languages in which He inspired Scripture to be written.

One of the instructions that King James gave the translators of the Authorized Version of the Bible, commonly referred to as the King James Version (abbreviated KJV in this magazine), was to use synonyms in their translation. This is one of the factors that makes it so beautifully majestic in its style. But it has its faults too. One of our common English translation’s main drawbacks is that the same word in the original may be rendered by several different words in our language.

This problem lies at the root of our question. In the Greek language the verb gennaõ is used both for men begetting children and for women begetting or bringing forth children. W. E. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words points out that this word is used metaphorically in the writings of the apostle John “of the gracious act of God in conferring upon those who believe the nature and disposition of ‘children,’ imparting to them spiritual life.” The word anõ then, which the KJV renders “again,” really signifies “from above” or “anew,” and is so translated in good present-day translations. Thus someone who has experienced “new birth” is “born again,” but it would be better to say he is “born anew” or “born from above.” The person who was spiritually dead has thereby had spiritual life communicated to him and is now a child of God, a member of the family of God.

The term “regeneration,” palingenesia, can also be translated “new birth” – palin being the ordinary word for “again” and genesis being the word for “birth.” It refers to the very same thing, not to something that happens afterwards; but it looks at it from a slightly different aspect: the fact that a new state of things has begun in contrast to the old. Scripture uses this word in Titus 3:5 to indicate the communication of a new life that has been produced by the Word of Truth and the Holy Spirit. Such new birth is not a reformation or improvement of the old life. It is something altogether new that no church, religious teacher or leader can bring about, for it is a work of God alone.

The Bible also uses the word “regeneration” in Matthew 19:28 and Acts 3:21 in another, much broader sense to speak of the change that will happen on earth in the future, after the Rapture of the Church and the Tribulation. The Lord Jesus will then rule here upon earth and the world will be delivered from the power of ungodly rulers and Satan himself; and Israel will be re-born, so to speak, and restored to what God has intended and planned for it. What a wonderful change this will be for the world which now is rapidly sliding downhill from all that God has intended for it! Neither scientists nor politicians can bring this about.

Answered by Eugene P. Vedder, Jr.