The New Birth By John Wesley

The Significance of John Wesley’s Teaching of the New Birth Nicodemus came to Jesus at night to ask him about the kingdom of God because, as a Pharisee, Nicodemus is expecting the kingdom of God to be established in the world. Jesus told him that the kingdom already exists but no one can see and enter the kingdom of God without being born again. Although Nicodemus was convinced and changed his life, it is quite an issue for Christians throughout history. In Myanmar, like other countries, “born again” or new birth was an issue for the past and it is still an issue in the churches today. Basically, some Christians understand that “born again” is related to particular denominations. It is the doctrine or belief of a group of Christians and others do not need to talk about it. Believing Jesus is more than enough. On the other hand, those who profess as “born again” Christians are proud of being “born again” and they do not really know the meaning and the significance of the word born again or new birth. They tend to think that new birth or born again is something special for those who think they are born again. Born again is understood as automatic inheritance for those who belong to a certain church. Although people talk about the new birth, they mainly understand in terms of emotion or feeling. It seems that they stress too much on human experience, rather than thinking the real change in human life. Moreover, there is not much difference between “born again” Christians and others who are so called ordinary Christians. “Born again” Christians do not care much about their life – morality, spiritual life – because they feel that their “born again” experience is enough for their whole life. Born again experience is once for all and it is evident by some outward expressions, not necessarily change in life. It is very clear that although people hear preachers preaching about new birth, they do not understand deeply about new birth. Wesley wrote, Go to church twice a day, go to the Lord's table every week, say ever so many prayers in private; hear ever so many sermons, good sermons, excellent sermons, the best that ever were preached; read ever so many good books—still you must be born again. None of these things will stand in the place of the new birth; no, nor any thing under heaven. Let this therefore, if you have not already experienced this inward work of God, be your continual prayer: "Lord, add this to all thy blessings, let me be born again! In this paper, based on Wesley’s theology and writings, I want to explore the meaning of “born again” or new birth, the significance of new birth in Christian life and the importance of the new birth for all Christians. In addition, this paper also explores the concept of new birth in Buddhism mainly to show how significant is Wesley’s understanding of new birth. Although the word “born again” and “new birth” are used differently by different people, this paper prefers to use the two words interchangeably. Wesley says that there are basically two main Christian doctrines which are really important: justification and new birth. Moreover, Melvin E. Dieter also comments regarding Wesley’s theology, “No Christian leader has ever been more faithful in bringing all observations, experience, and rational conclusions to the scripture for final judgment.” The New Birth in the Bible According to the scripture, man disobeyed God and became sinner. Sin estranges us from God. However, God took initiative by sending his Son to save us from sin and to restore to man’s original position. He also sent the Holy Spirit to work in us. As we are forgiven sinners, God’s power made us to be born in the Spirit. We are born again and became new creatures. Born by the Holy Spirit is a miracle and it is also a mystery. It is hard to explain in detail but we can understand it according to the scripture. Although the New Birth is taught by Jesus in the New Testament, it is also mentioned in the Old Testament. Even though God’s people disobeyed and broke the covenant of God, God restored them (Deut. 30:1). When God gave them the law, God requires his people total obedience to the Law. Circumcision of the hearts (Deut. 30:6) means to love God wholly that they will have covenant relationship between God and his people. According to the covenant, God will restore them not because they have done something good but by God’s grace alone. God gave everything to his people and God also wanted all from his people. Wesley read Deuteronomy and said, God will change and purge our heart from all our idolatry and wickedness, and incline our heart to love God only. God will convert them and help them to be God’s very own. The Old Testament teaching is also clear that the new birth is not about the people, it is God’s doing. This means God is the initiator in the process and people are just the object of change. And yet, God requires total love from his people. The New Testament concept of the New Birth is originated in the Old Testament. As God promised to his people through the words of the prophets, God sent the Holy Spirit to renew his people. The renewing of their hearts means cleaning their sins and making them new creatures. As they are renewed, they enter into a new world, God’s kingdom. Without new birth, man cannot experience the reality of God and man cannot comprehend the things of God. Although Jesus preached about God’s kingdom, they cannot understand what Jesus is preaching to them and it was foolishness to them. Jewish people attacked Jesus because they were blind spiritually. When John Wesley preached on John 3:3, he interpreted the new birth as an entire change of heart as well as life. Collins calls it as “qualitative change” in human life. Unless we see a vast change in life, it is hard to say as the new birth. Wesley explained the new birth as; “From hence it manifestly appears, what is the nature of the new birth. It is that great change which God works in the soul when he brings it into life; when he raises it from the death of sin to the life of righteousness. It is the change wrought in the whole soul by the almighty Spirit of God when it is created anew in Christ Jesus.” In saying the new birth as total change, Kenneth Collins interprets that Wesley did not mean the whole process of sanctification. Collins argues, “The totality of the change of the new birth refers not to the entirety of the process of sanctification, but to the integrity, the thoroughness of its beginning.” When a child is born, he is complete in its stage, no matter how he can grow into maturity. Likewise, the new birth itself is complete. The new birth is perfect in its integrity, which means the whole being is changed totally, not partial. The whole human being is changed into a perfect being, from death to life and to holiness. The New Birth in Other Religions Now, this paper wants to explore the concept of new birth in other religions in order to know why Christian teaching of the new birth is significant and how it is significant. The new birth is not only the teachings of Christ but we can also find similar teachings in other religions too. For instance, Myanmar Buddhists also teach “new birth” or “new life.” When someone’s life is in despair and hopeless situation by drug addiction or by natural sickness or by committing crimes, he becomes a monk. Later, becomes a new man when he studies and meditates on Buddha’s teaching. However, there are several differences between biblical concept of new birth and Buddhists concept of new man. In Buddhism, the man must make effort before he becomes a new man. He needs to study and recite Buddhist scriptures and take time for meditation. He must have a strong determination to be a new man. Second, he must take time to be a new man. It is not an immediate event. He will never become a new man within one day or one month no matter how hard he tries. Third, it is not from outside but by inside power. This is what they call merit from the past life. Unless he had done something good in the past life, he will never be able to attain such new life. Fourth, new birth is not for everyone. This is a very unique event and it cannot be achieved by ordinary people. This means he needs parami to be a new man. At the same time, his new position can be los at any time unless he maintains it with great zeal. Although Buddhists also say that becoming a new person is incomprehensible, there are several steps or things to follow to be a new man. Another significant thing is Buddhists never say that our sins are forgiven or removed though we can become new man. All things that we have done in life will follow us. The Need of the New Birth and Original Sin Regarding the new birth, Wesley strongly teaches that it is not an option but it is essential for every believer. The need for new birth is mainly because of original sin. Man’s nature is totally corrupt by sin. Wesley preached, “In our best estate we are of ourselves, all sin and vanity; that confusion, and ignorance, and error reign over our understanding; that unreasonable, earthly, sensual, devilish passions usurp authority over our will; in a word, that there is no whole part in our soul, that all the foundations of our nature are out of course.” Therefore, there is a strong connection between justification and the new birth. At the same time, the doctrine of original sin is important to understand the new birth. Kenneth J. Collins argues that “If the problem of original sin was misprized or even outright repudiated, then the solution of the new birth would be misprized as well.” His understanding of human nature is what the Reformers also taught. He said that nature man is dead to God. Unless someone is circumcised in the heart, there is no way to see the true nature of human beings. Man cannot see himself as it is because of sin. At the same time, man has no capacity to approach God. The Bible says that man is lost in sin. Wesley also confirmed, “Every man of the offspring of Adam is very far gone from original righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil’s that this corruption of our nature, in every person born into the world, deserves God’s wrath and damnation.” Therefore, Wesley strongly teaches that man is totally corrupted and there is nothing man can approach to God. This means he denied free will or any other power in man to approach God. Only through God’s grace, man can see God. When he writes a letter to Samuel Wesley, Wesley defines the new birth as “inward of change of the earthly, sensual mind for the mind which was in the mind of Jesus Christ.” In his sermon, The Marks of the New Birth, Wesley denied to give a definition on the new birth because the Bible simply says that without the new birth or born again, no one can see the kingdom of God. The most fundamental fact in the new birth is faith. Wesley quoted the scriptural passages which talk about faith in Christ. However, for Wesley, faith is “not a barely notional or speculative faith.” Wesley preached, “It is not a bare assent to this proposition, Jesus is the Christ; nor indeed to all the propositions contained in our creed, or in the Old and New Testament.” Even the devil also believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Bible is the Word of God, even the miracles that Jesus did. He called such kind of faith as “a dead faith.” A true living faith, for Wesley, is “is not only an assent, an act of the understanding; but a disposition, which God hath wrought in his heart; “a sure trust and confidence in God, that, through the merits of Christ, his sins are forgiven, and he reconciled to the favor of God.” As soon as a man believes Jesus, he renounces his confidence in his flesh, his own ability and his own power but coming to God as a lost, hopeless, despair sinner who really needs salvation. In this way, Wesley preached that this faith is not only believing the articles of faith but to put total trust in the mercy of God. By this faith, we are born of God, purified from all sins, all unholy desires. Although dead unto sin, but live unto God. The ultimate outcome is to thank God for his mercy because in the past, we were servants of sin but now we become servants of righteousness. After being born of God, man will not commit sin because he is no longer under the power of sin. However, there are some people think that born again Christians will not sin habitually. Wesley denied this by saying that this thought is deceiving. The Bible plainly tells us that those who are born by God “do not commit sin.” Another fruit of the living faith is peace. Wesley said, “It is a peace which all the powers of earth and hell are unable to take from him. Waves and storms beat upon it, but they shake it not; for it is founded upon a rock. It keepeth the hearts and minds of the children of God, at all times and in all places. Whether they are in ease or in pain, in sickness or health, in abundance or want, they are happy in God.” Since we are justified before God, we have peace with God through Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:1). No matter what comes to our life, we have learned to be content. A born again Christian fully trusts God for any matters that come across in life. Another mark for the new birth is a living hope. By quoting Peter’s message, Wesley said the hope that we have is a living hope because there is a dead hope which comes from the devil. A living hope inspires us to live a life which is holy to God. Unless we are born by the Spirit, we cannot be happy because our nature itself is attached to the evil or sin. After being born by the Spirit, we are new creatures and our joy is full. Then we are able to see our future which is to see Christ as he is. O grant that nothing in my soul May dwell, but thy pure love alone! O may thy love possess me whole, My joy, my treasure, and my crown! Strange fires far from my heart remove; My every act, word, thought, be love! Another mark of the new birth is love. For Wesley, love is also the ultimate goal of a holy life. Without love, it is not true that one is really born by God. A born again believer will love God and he will submit all his desire to God alone. The outcome of loving God is loving someone’s neighbors. It is “a love whereby we love every man as ourselves; as we love our own souls.” Wesley seriously said that if we are ready to lay down our life for our neighbors, it is the sign of the true love. Moreover, loving God includes all aspects of our life – heart, life, speech, and even thinking. Wesley said loving others is “a love not only ever burning in your hearts, but flaming out in all your actions and conversations, and making your whole life one “labour of love,” one continued obedience to those commands, “Be ye merciful, as God is merciful;” “Be ye holy, as I the Lord am holy:” “Be ye perfect, as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Therefore, without love, it might be difficult to say that one is a true Christian. At the same time, it is not enough to be a Christian but must be born of the Holy Spirit. The New Birth and Justification Both of these doctrines are Wesley’s main focus in his preaching and teaching. Justification, for Wesley, is what God has done for us and the new birth is what God has done in us. Justification is removing our sins and the new birth is God’s doing of making us holy. In other words, our total being is purified through new birth. In fact, there are arguments for which comes first. In terms of thinking, according to Wesley, it is possible to say that justification comes first and then new birth. And yet, justification and new birth just happen at the same time. Wesley said, without new birth justification is meaningless. There are some people even today that new birth is equal to justification. For Wesley, without new birth which is renewing our nature, even though our sins are cleansed by God, our sinful nature is not left behind. Wesley explained, “If all your past sins were now to be forgiven, you would immediately sin again; that is, unless your heart were cleansed; unless it were created anew.” Without changing our nature into a new creature, our life is still the same. It is not what Jesus says to Nicodemus at night. In other words, Wesley is saying that without new birth, if we affirm justification, we are antinomianism. Therefore, Wesley strongly asserts that there must be something visible change in human life with the justification. Forgiveness is not the end but it is just the beginning of a long journey. The New Birth and Sanctification For Wesley, the nature man becoming a new man is not natural process. This means it is not simply happened by human efforts or human will, but supernatural change. Although it is not possible to explain the nature of change but still possible to understand God’s work of change in human being. Lord, I believe, thy work of grace Is perfect in the soul; His heart is pure who sees thy face, His spirit is made whole. Wesley’s interpretation on the new birth is crucial for us in many ways. Basically, the new birth is the initial stage our spiritual life with God. We begin our life with God since we are totally renewed. Then we continue our journey with God toward entire sanctification. Though we are sanctified at the new birth, it is just the beginning of a long journey. The new birth is perfect in itself and sanctification is also perfect but it must be continue till death. Wesley said, “Entire sanctification, or Christian perfection, is neither more nor less than pure love — love expelling sin and governing both the heart and life of a child of God.” Wesley also said, “At the same time that we are justified, yea, in that very moment, sanctification, begins. In that instant we are ‘born again,’ ‘born from above,’ ‘born of the Spirit.’” Wesley never said that entirely sanctification is sinless life. Any true Christian can fall into sin at any time by disobedience. Of course, we are totally sanctified by God at the new birth, but it does not guarantee that we are not able to sin. Man will never be free from willful sinning in this life. They can be free from voluntary sin by total obedience to God’s will but there is always a tendency to disobey God’s will even a born again Christian. Different from other Reformers, Wesley believed that believers could experience freedom from sin in this life. God desires every man and woman who believes Jesus must be transformed into the image of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Many Christians assume that it is not possible to be like Christ and renewing into God’s image is “a mere mockery of God.” In fact, this is true but only through God’s grace, renewing into Christ’s image is possible. On the other hand, if we are not able to be free from sin, our Christian faith will be in a question. God requires every believer to be holy. If we cannot be holy in this life, God’s requirements will be meaningless. At the same time, many Christians excuse themselves when they commit sins. This does not mean that man can satisfy God by man’s holy living. Even the holy life is made by God himself. And yet, man should live for God alone. By God’s grace, the Holy Spirit works in us to respond to God’s salvation. Then we are moved to respond to God by faith and repentance. In this way, we are born by God through the Holy Spirit and we became new creatures in Christ. We are justified by receiving freedom from sin and sanctified into a new being. We are given the power over sin and conformed into his image. Since that time, we have the promise of victory over sin and the devil, and have the power to live a holy life to God. Wesley strongly rejected “all religions which does not imply the destruction of all the works of the devil, that is of all sin.” The New Birth and Salvation In order to understand Wesley’s teaching on the new birth, we need to know his teaching on salvation too. Wesley wrote, “By salvation, I mean, not barely deliverance from hell, or going to heaven, but a present deliverance from sin, a restoration of the soul to its primitive health, its original purity; a recovery of the divine nature; the renewal of our souls after the image of God in righteousness and true holiness, in justice, mercy and truth.” In fact, many Christians see salvation as God’s saving work for all human beings from this world to another world. Wesley’s soteriology is much deeper than that. For Wesley, our life today is as much important as our future life in heaven. This means a lot to Asians where many people struggle for living. Usually, Christians understand that life on earth is just temporary like a guest and we must strive for the future life in heaven. People misunderstand the meaning of life on earth and they divide spiritual and unspiritual – sacred and secular. For example, in tribal area, people are looking ahead of the future life and they do not want to save money, they do not want to go for education and they also do not care about ecology. Furthermore Wesley explained more detail about how we receive salvation: “Neither is salvation of the works we do when we believe, for it is then God that worketh in us: and, therefore, that he giveth us a reward for what he himself worketh, only commendeth the riches of his mercy, but leaveth us nothing whereof to glory.” Although we receive salvation by believing Jesus Christ, it is not because of how much we can believe on God but only because of God’s work in us. There is nothing to boast about ourselves but we must be humble before God by living a holy life. Wesley encouraged, “That ‘whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed that the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him’: here is comfort, high as heaven, stronger than death!” Wesley’s teaching on salvation is different from other theologians because Wesley stressed the importance of our present life here rather than seeing the future as our reward for what we struggle in this world. In fact, Wesley did not deny that our joy and holiness will be perfect in heaven. However, he emphasized our present struggle as a Christian by saying: “This then is the salvation which is through faith, even in the present world: a salvation from sin, and the consequences of sin, both often expressed in the word justification; which, taken in the largest sense, implies a deliverance from guilt and punishment, by the atonement of Christ actually applied to the soul of the sinner now believing on him, and a deliverance from the power of sin, through Christ formed in his heart. So that he who is thus justified, or saved by faith, is indeed born again. He is born again of the Spirit unto a new life, which ‘is hid with Christ in God.’ And as a new-born babe he gladly receives the ἄδολον, ‘sincere milk of the word, and grows thereby;’ going on in the might of the Lord his God, from faith to faith, from grace to grace, until at length, he come unto ‘a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.’” Wesley reminds that the new birth is not ‘gaining habits of holiness.’ It is not gradual change but an immediate change. It is a supernatural change. At the same time, the new birth is perfect in itself like a child. More than that the new birth is not the fulfillment of sanctification but it is the beginning of sanctification. It might be confusing when he talks about holiness but he also said, “Inward holiness is mostly instantaneous . . . but outward holiness is mostly gradual.” In his sermon of “The Means of Grace,” Wesley said that many people focus on doing outward work rather than “a heart renewed after the image of God.” He said the end of every commandments of God is love without pride, anger, evil desire, but by a pure heart coming out of faith. Wesley said, “I believe neither our own holiness nor good works are any part of the cause of our justification; but that the death and righteousness of Christ are the whole and sole cause of it; or that for the sake of which, on account of which, we are justified before God.” Of course, when Wesley says that we need to live a holy life after being born again, many opponents understand that Wesley is talking about doing good work for our salvation. For Wesley, holiness is not “perfected perfection,” but ‘a perfecting perfection.” We are perfected at the moment we are being renewed and we need to continue to grow in that holiness. The Bible clearly says that we must be holy. It is not because we need something to show to God for our salvation but we are called to be holy. Our nature must be holiness. No one can see God without holiness. Wesley strongly preached, “No, it cannot be; none shall live with God, but he that now lives to God; none shall enjoy the glory of God in heaven, but he that bears the image of God on earth; none that is not saved from sin here can be saved from hell hereafter; none can see the kingdom of God above, unless the kingdom of God be in him below. Whosoever will reign with Christ in heaven, must have Christ reigning in him on earth. He must have “that mind in him which was in Christ,” enabling him “to walk as Christ also walked.” Implications Wesley summarized Christian life in several facts: 1. To love God with all one’s heart and one’s neighbor as oneself; 2. To have that is in Christ; 3. To bear the fruit of the Spirit; 4. The restoration of the image of God in the soul, a recovery of man to the moral image of God, which consists of “righteousness and true holiness; 5. Inward and outward righteousness, “holiness of life issuing from holiness of heart”; 6. God’s sanctifying of the person in spirit, soul, and body; 7. The person’s own perfect consecration of the individual’s thoughts, words and actions as a sacrifice to God of praise and thanksgiving; 9. Salvation from all sins. For Wesley, the new birth is the total change of human life. This is really a crucial teaching of the Bible and the most essential teaching for Christians today too because many people tend to focus on emotion, feelings and even experience to approach God. First, Wesley’s teaching on the new birth is the foundation for Christian life. Without the new birth, man cannot understand the spiritual things of God and then it is hard to say that he or she is a Christian. The new birth is not man’s effort or man cannot do anything to be borne by God, it is totally God’s work in us. Therefore, born again or new born Christians have nothing to be proud. But they have to show their life by loving God totally. Second, the new birth is the beginning of our Christian life. After the new birth, a Christian is essential to live a holy life to God. The ultimate goal of a Christian life is to offer a living sacrifice, which is blameless and perfect (Rom. 12:1). According to Wesley, the new birth is perfect in itself because it is an immediate event. We are perfect like a child. Sanctification is not like the new birth, but a process which goes till the full perfection, to the entire sanctification. Finally, the new birth gives a true happiness in life. If human life is full of pride, guilty, and selfishness, there is no way to have happiness. Therefore, for Wesley, the new birth is not much about the future as many Christians understand. His concern is much about how can a man be born into God’s family and then to live a full human being in this life and to enter into his glory after death. In our churches today, including Myanmar churches, there are many nominal Christians who do not know about the new birth. Some of them simply do not know it. Some do not understand the significance of the new birth. Many Christians feel that Christian life is just like others. Many other also think that there is nothing to be serious in Christian life. Some Christians even believe that Christian life is almost similar to Buddhists or other religions. However, if someone reads and understands Wesley’s teaching on the new birth, he or she will understand the meaning of being a Christian. 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