Holding to Truth

holding to truth in love for the building up of the Body of Christ

Redemption, Regeneration and How They Relate in Your Experience

Redemption and regeneration—they’re two of the most important words in the experience of God full salvation.

How redemption and regeneration are related to your experience of Christ

Why are they so important? It’s because they are the foundation for many progressive experiences that bring us on to full growth in Christ.

But first, do you understand what redemption and regeneration mean?

Second, do you understand how they’re related in your experience?

Third, do you realize how you can apply them to your daily Christian life?

So let’s consider these questions one at a time: first the meaning of redemption and regeneration, then how they’re related in our experience, and finally, how we can apply them to our daily Christian life.

Redemption and regeneration—what do they mean and how do they relate in our experience?

Redemption—solves our problems with God and reconciles us to Him

“Redeem” means to purchase back something that was originally yours but became lost. It is to reclaim what is yours at a cost. Redemption was God’s action to recover us to Himself at a great price. This price was the precious blood of Jesus, God’s only Son.

First Peter 1:18-19 says,

“Knowing that it is not with corruptible things, with silver and gold that you were redeemed…but with precious blood, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot, the blood of Christ.”

As believers, we deeply appreciate God’s offering His Son to be our Redeemer. He paid the highest price to redeem us!

To be our Redeemer, Christ first became a man of flesh and blood. Then He lived a perfect human life for over thirty years, passing through every trial and temptation without sin. He willing did this for us. He passed every test victoriously!

In this way, He became the One uniquely qualified to die for us on the cross—to become our sinless substitute. His death for us fully satisfied all of God’s righteous requirements on us.

Simply receive by faith what Christ did for you.

Take a moment to pray,

“Lord Jesus, I believe that You died on the cross for me, bearing all my sins away. Thank you for shedding your sinless blood to redeem me, for bearing God’s judgment on the cross for me, and for making me God’s righteousness in You. Praise you, that now, in You, I’m redeemed and forgiven of all my sins.”

Through Christ’s redemption, the barrier of sin between us and God has been removed. We’re forgiven of our sins, and reconciled to God, so that we can boldly contact Him.

Apply the effectiveness of Christ’s redeeming blood daily.

But what about the sins you commit in your daily life after being saved?

The redeeming blood of Christ is always effective. So any time you feel some offense between you and God, just confess to the Lord whatever His light exposes and receive His cleansing.

First John 1:9 says,

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Since God highly values His Son’s blood, we should too. We need to believe God’s sure Word, confess, and receive the application of Christ’s cleansing blood to our sins.  In this way we can enjoy unhindered fellowship with God.

However, redemption is not the end. It is God’s procedure to bring us back to His original intention of receiving and enjoying His divine life through regeneration.

Regeneration—enlivens us with God’s life, bringing us into a relationship of life with Him

Regeneration means to receive another life in addition to the physical life we were born with. It is to receive God’s eternal, divine life in addition to our human natural life as our new source of life. This new birth makes us God’s children.

Christ redeemed us so that, in His resurrection, He could impart God’s divine life into us to regenerate us. That’s the real meaning of being “born again” in the Bible.

First Peter 1:3 says,

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has regenerated us unto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

Take a moment to thank God,

“Father, thank you for regenerating me in the resurrection of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Now, I share Your divine life and am one of Your children. Praise You!”

A Summary – Redemption and Regeneration

Footnote 4 on this verse in the Recovery Version says,

Regeneration, like redemption and justification, is an aspect of God’s full salvation. Redemption and justification solve our problem with God and reconcile us to God; regeneration enlivens us with God’s life, bringing us into a relationship of life, an organic union, with God. Hence, regeneration issues and results in a living hope. Such regeneration is accomplished through the resurrection of Christ from the dead.

Redemption can only make us clean, sinless in God’s eyes, like Adam and Eve were before the fall. But from the beginning, before man sinned, God desired something more. He created us to receive His divine life signified by the tree of life (Gen. 2:9).

Have you been regenerated? Have you received Christ as your life? 

If not, take a moment to pray,

“Lord Jesus, thank you that You not only died on the cross to redeem me, but also to give me Your life in resurrection. Lord, I believe into You and receive You as the eternal life. Come into my spirit and fill me with Yourself as life. I love You.”

If even once you’ve prayed such a prayer, you’re regenerated. You’re born of God to be a child of God!

But is that all? No.

Regeneration is just a start. It’s the beginning to your experience of God’s life.

And this divine life is the most wonderful Person—Christ Himself as the life-giving Spirit living in you (1 Cor. 15:45).

It’s the basis for all the following experiences of life including: spiritual feeding, renewing, growing, sanctification, and transformation into the image of Christ.

Now that we have received this regenerating life, we need to apply it every day. We need to contact Christ as the life in us so that we can be saved in Christ’s life moment by moment.

6 ways we can apply God’s redemption and regeneration in our daily life:

1. Come to the Lord Jesus each morning to enjoy Him as your Savior and life; through regeneration He is now in your spirit.

2. Call on His name to breathe in His Spirit and to drink of Him as the water of life (John 7:37-39).

3. Confess anything that interrupts your fellowship with Jesus (1 John 1:9).

4. Pray simple prayers, thanking the Lord and telling Him that you love Him (1 Thes. 5:16-18).

5. Feed on God’s Word by pray-reading a few Bible verses each day (Matt. 4:4).

6. Contact the Lord Jesus in your spirit while you’re living your daily life (Rom. 8:4, 14).

In this way you ‘ll enjoy the benefits of redemption and regeneration and grow in Christ in a normal way.

Was there a point in this post that has helped you to grow in Christ?  Please take a moment to share it in a comment.

All verses and quoted footnotes in this post are from the Holy Bible Recovery Version, published by Living Stream Ministry. Bibles for America gives away free copies of the New Testament Recovery Version (in USA). You can order yours here or read it online here.

About Tom Smith

Hi. My name is Tom Smith. I'm the writer behind Holding to Truth in Love, and I love the Lord Jesus and His life-giving Word. Please feel free to send me an e-mail through the contact page if you have any questions. I hope you'd take a moment to subscribe to the Holding to Truth blog. Then you'll be sure not to miss a post. Thanks!

5 Replies

  1. LaVerne Harden

    What a wonderful gift you have shared with me. I am so grateful and thankful that you took time to explain God’s processes. I really need to reflect on these daily as I grow in Christ. Thank you

    1. Tom Smith

      May the Lord reveal Himself more as the indwelling One who lives in your regenerated spirit (2 Tim. 4:22) for your daily experience and enjoyment. For further enrichment you may enjoy downloading the booklet Basic Elements of the Christian Life, vol. 1. There is a wonderful chapter in the back of the booklet on the Key to experiencing Christ. If you enjoy the booklet, please let me know. It has been a great help to me over the years. Thanks for the comment.

      1. Marie Nyirenda

        I just want to say thank you for clarifying more about the process of redemption and regeneration and how God operates in us. I really needs some more clarification I feel like I am far from the creator, hope with your prayers something new will happen in my life and this broken relationship with God will be restored again. May God grant you long life and good health in Jesus Christ mighty name.

        1. Tom Smith

          Please take a moment to read my post on confessing prayers. The blood of Jesus is fully effective to cleanse us from every sin when we confess to Him. Just pour out all your heart to Him. Invite Him to fill you. Then begin to feed on His word daily and practice to fellowship with Him. This a is a good start to recover your lost relationship with the Lord. Thank you for sharing your comment.

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