How do you know if you're born again?

2 Corinthians 13:5
Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

I've done a lot of research on near death experiences and this has greatly magnified my fear that Jesus wasn't kidding around when he said the road to eternal life was narrow and few find it. When someone asked Jesus if few were saved, rather than giving him assurance, He said to make every effort to make it through the narrow way because a lot of folks strive to enter but few make it through.

So in a lot of these near death experience accounts report that about 25 out of 1000 people made it to heaven versus hell. I give credence to these experiences after reading this article:

http://www.newsweek.com/proof-heaven...fterlife-65327

In other words about 2.5% of folks make it to heaven versus hell.

Jesus said unless a man is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God (John 3:3). So the question on how do you know if you're born again is probably one of the most important questions you can ask yourself. I believe Jesus answered this clearly in his teachings, the other New Testament writers also addressed including Peter, Paul, James and John.

Jesus said a bad tree cannot produce good fruit and vice versa. Numerous places throughout the gospels (such as Luke 3 and John 15) say that all the bad trees are cut down and cast into the fire. This tree is our heart which can only be made new via a born again experience (see Ezekiel 36, Psalms 51). So what Jesus was really saying was the way you tell someone is saved is if you look at their actions which are produced from the heart.

I believe scriptures clearly shows that our actions, or our works are considered "good fruit" if they're born of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23 says the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self control. If these qualities of yours are growing everyday it's probably because you have a new spirit and new heart God gave you which you are feeding by spending time in God's presence and doing his will by practicing his word.

Actions that are bad fruit are works of the flesh. This is also in Galatians chapter 5.

Galatians 5:19-21
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

So if you are enslaved to any of these kinds of things, you may be in eternal danger and this is when we need to cry out to the Lord to save us. This is the true context of Romans 10:13 "whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved". It's realizing that we can't save ourselves because of our flesh and we need the Lord to deliver us which he will tangibly through his Spirit and not just on a legal level. So basically when you do this, it's part of your full hearted repentance.

So Galatians chapter 5 is a wonderful chapter on this question. There are many others as well. Peter tells us that if we practice righteousness and are increasing in "good fruit" qualities with each passing day, we will "confirm" our calling and election and never fail.

2 Peter 1:5-11
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

But the most important thing is that we must be born again to begin with.

My take on what it takes to be born again is to first make your heart the good earth in the parable of the sower. This is done through repentance by turning from all wickedness and turning to the Lord in full surrender. At this point the word of God will grow in you into it's full measure because you will have been given a new heart and new spirit which will impel you to walk on the path of righteousness through loving and obeying Jesus which are the conditions for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (see John 14) not just mere belief in Jesus. You won't be perfect because as James said we all stumble in various ways, but the Holy Spirit will convict you to repentance every time because you will have no peace in your soul when you sin.

1 John 3:6 is relevant:
No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.

The strongest verse for turning from wickedness is probably in 2 Timothy 2:19.

2 Timothy 2:19
But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from wickedness.”

There's a firm foundation that cannot budge and a seal that cannot change. Everyone that belongs to the Lord has to depart from wickedness. Those that are practicing wickedness probably don't belong to the Lord and that's important because Jesus promises that he won't lose any that Father has given him. Only those that belong to Jesus can make it with him in eternity.

If by this criteria you don't think think you're born again don't worry! Just turn from your sin and surrender every aspect of your life to Jesus. Make Jesus your Lord not just in name but in your heart and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38)! The Holy Spirit will help you obey and love the Lord Jesus and overcome addiction to sin. All God needs is your willing heart, his grace will take care of the rest.