Question:

Does regeneration and being born again mean the same thing?

Answer:

"But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love toward mankind appeared, not by works of righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy, he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly, through Jesus Christ our Savior" (Titus 3:4-6).

The Greek word translated as "regeneration" is paliggenesia. It is a compound word of palin, which means "again," and genesis, which means birth. Thus it literally means born again, a rebirth, or a new birth.

A very similar statement to Titus 3:4-6 is found in John 3:5, "Jesus answered, "Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can't enter into the Kingdom of God!"" Just before this statement, Jesus said, "Most certainly, I tell you, unless one is born anew, he can't see the Kingdom of God" (John 3:3). Many English translations say "born again" where this says "born anew." Here is two Greek words: gennao, which means to give birth, and anothen, which means again in the sense of starting over or starting from the top.

Thus the two are similar phrases and refer to the same thing. There is a detailed discussion about being born again in the answer to the question: "