How to be born again

by Dr. Larry Ollison

If you don’t know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you need to. Your eternal future depends on it. Without Him, you will not receive a glorified body like His, and you will not live forever in union with Him. But the good news is this: God has already done the hard part. Salvation is not complicated, and it is not earned. It is received.

The Bible tells us that “by grace you are saved through faith.” That means Jesus has already paid the price. Our part is simply to believe what God has said and respond to it.

What It Means to Believe

The Word of God lays out the process very clearly. Salvation begins with believing in your heart. So let me ask you the same questions Scripture asks:

• Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God?

• Do you believe that God raised Him from the dead and that He is alive right now?

If your answer is yes, then you are already standing at the doorway of salvation. The Bible says that if you believe these things, and if you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior—turning away from the world and turning toward Him—and if you confess that with your mouth, you are saved. The Bible also calls this being born again.

A Confession of Faith

If you believe in your heart and you’re ready to receive Him, then pray this confession out loud. Put your hand on your heart as a sign of sincerity and agreement:  

“I believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I believe he died for my sins. And I believe that God the Father raised him from the dead. I repent of my sins. I am now born again. In the name of Jesus. Amen.”

If you meant that, something supernatural just happened. The Bible says that “old things passed away; behold, all things became new.” You are now a new creation—a new species of being that never existed before.

What Changed?

 Your natural identity will remain the same. You might be Jewish and still honor your Jewish customs. You might be Irish, Italian, or Cherokee and still enjoy the traditions of your heritage. That’s fine. We’re not talking about your culture. We’re talking about your spirit (Galatians 3:28).

Your spirit—the real you—has been born again. You have moved from death to life, from darkness to light, from separation to union with God. You are now part of the Church, the Body of Christ, sealed by the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption.

In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise (Ephesians 1:13). 

And let me put it plainly: you are now rapture ready.