How to Recognize the Born Again

When a baby is born, the baby's usually screaming and crying. A newborn wants the mother's milk, and if it's uncomfortable, it'll cry even louder. These are not signs of trouble. The nurses don't worry when the baby is hungry, crying, wants to be cleaned or wants mom. Those are signs of health. If the baby is not screaming, not hungry, doesn't want his mother and just lays there quietly, they call in doctors and experts because something's wrong.

No one has to teach a newborn to cry for food. No one teaches a baby to want the mother. That's the instinct of life.

The same holds true spiritually. When you're born again, your soul begins to hunger for the Word of God. No one has to teach you to long for the Lord. This beautiful happening was described in the early church. “They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42, ESV). Why? Because the new life inside of them created a hunger and thirst for God’s presence and instruction.

There's the first snapshot of the church. They were truly born again. How do we know that? How do we know in general when people are born again? People come to the church; they may even come to the altar, but how do you know when they're really converted? Well, you'll know them by their fruits. There is a new instinct in these believers; they want to hear the Word of Christ.

The problem today is that instead of the church converting the culture, the culture is converting the church. This is why some churches have secular music on before services. People try to rationalize it by saying, "You got to meet people where they are.” Even dubious language is used by ministers under the justification of "Well, you got to keep it real and use curse words.”

God has been building his church for 2000 years, and no one's ever had to do those things to reach the lost and ignite this hunger for God in people’s souls. All we need is for the gospel to be delivered by people who believe in that message and who carry the love of Christ for the lost in their heart. The simple gospel spoken with the power of the Holy Spirit is enough to change any life. The Spirit awakens a hunger in the hearts of every believer.

^{Jim Cymbala began the Brooklyn Tabernacle with less than twenty members in a small, rundown building in a difficult part of the city. A native of Brooklyn, he is a longtime friend of both David and Gary Wilkerson.}