Spiritual rebirth.

You must be born again. John 3:7b. NIV

Dear friends at Cameron. How often have Christians heard that statement. For some of us it seems unequivocal and even judgmental. Yet Wesley made this one of the keys of his theology. It is a part of the process by which God brings us close to him, and back to that image in which we were originally created – the image of God. Quoting John Wesley directly on this he tells us:

the new birth . . . 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 light 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’, when it is ‘renewed after the image of God’, ‘in righteousness and true holiness’, when the love of the world is changed into the love of God, pride into humility, passion into meekness; hatred, envy, malice, into a sincere, tender, disinterested love for all mankind

In a word, the new birth is the transforming work of God. We have looked at justification, what God does for us through the death of Jesus Christ, the pardon and forgiveness of sins. The new birth is what God does in us through the Holy Spirit. It is both an experience of the Holy Spirit and the beginning of a moral character change in our lives. Again, Wesley's understanding of the interaction between God and his human children is sensitive to the reality that our spiritual growth is often gradual and uncertain. Yet once the Holy Spirit has entered our lives, it makes progress toward "perfection."

A human parallel might be what happens when we fall in love with someone. Our relationship has changed, yet how it affects our behavior has to be worked out over time. Human relationships can be uncertain, but God's love is true and certain. His spirit can work remarkable changes in us, although not necessarily as we would expect, nor in some instances think we would like. Nonetheless, along with, above and beyond the good practices, the means of grace – baptism, confirmation, communion – the Holy Spirit leavens our spirits, bringing us closer to that restored Godly image in which we were originally created.

Charles Wesley wrote:

How can we sinners know our sins on earth forgiven? How can my gracious Savior show my name inscribed in heaven?

Our nature’s turned, our mind transformed in all its powers, and both the witnesses are joined, the Spirit of God with ours.