“Easter people raise your voices, sounds of heaven in earth should ring. Christ has brought us heaven’s choices; heavenly music let it ring. Alleluia! Alleluia! Easter people, let us sing.”
Last week, I had the privilege to teach the Hendersonville First United Methodist Confirmation class about the sacraments. When I started talking about baptism, some of the youth had some questions about what it meant to be “born again.”
They are not the first to ask the question. Nicodemus came to Jesus with the same inquiry: “How can anyone be born after having grown old?” (John 3:4) Jesus told him that one must be born from above. (The Greek word can mean either “born again” or “born from above.”) the term used in United Methodist theology is “new birth.” Still, what is new birth?
When a believer dies to sin, he or she is born to a new life in Christ. The new birth is the journey toward sanctification (holy living). It starts with God’s gift of grace at justification (faith). This is sometimes called regeneration, because it is a new start.
The Articles of Religion instruct us that baptism is a sign of this new birth. That new birth can be given in the sacrament of baptism, certainly in the case of infants who are baptized. In the case of persons of “riper years,” the gift of the new birth (being born again) is simultaneous with the gift of faith, of justification. For adults, John Wesley (founder of Methodism) was clear that baptism and the new birth were not the same. “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 life of righteousness” (Works, vol. 2pp. 193-94). For adults, the new birth begins with belief.
The new birth is necessary for salvation because it marks the move toward holiness. That comes with faith. Holiness is the essence of the journey. With the gift of new birth (“born from above”), we move to align our lives with God’s will. This is God’s change of “sinner” into “saint.”
Likewise, we are also witnesses to God’s creation and re-creation through the RISEN SAVIOR! As God’s witnesses, we are called to share the story of Christ. Our actions can be the way others are introduced to Christ. In celebration of our RISEN SAVIOR, I encourage each of you to be involved in the life of your church knowing that our empowerment comes not by what we do, but by what God has already done in Christ! Your involvement in the life of the church can be the invitation someone has been looking for to grow in Christ. So, I encourage you to “raise your voices” and sing “Alleluia! Alleluia” because “On to victory now we go.”
It is my privilege to be your District Superintendent.
Scott
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