New Birth Pt 1 Series

Instead of this, every man born into the world now bears the image of the devil in pride and self-will, the image of the beast, in sensual appetites and desires. This, then, is the foundation of the new birth, — the entire corruption of our nature.

It is for this reason, being born in sin, we must be “born again.” And it is for this reason, every one that is born of a woman must be born of the Spirit of God.

But how can we be born again? What is the nature of the new birth? How does this work. What does to be “born again” look like?

This is the Second question. It is probably the most significant question we can conceive. It is a question of such great concern we can’t begin to properly explore it this morning. We will discuss this second question in depth next week.

This morning, we are going to perform two Sacraments. Holy Communion and Baptism. Both are Christ ordained. So, what is a Sacrament? There are two parts to a sacrament. First, there is an outward, visible sign that we can understand. In the sacrament of Holy Communion, we break and consume bread and we drink juice. We understand this act to be an outward sign of our acknowledgment of Christ’s sacrifice for each of us and the elements used represent the body and blood of Jesus. Christ instructs us to take and eat, and to do this often, in remembrance of Him.

The second part of a Sacrament is an inward and spiritual grace we can sense and believe. The second part of the sacrament of Holy Communion is God’s justifying and sanctifying grace acting on and in our souls. The justifying grace is the forgiveness of our sins, and the sanctifying grace of God working within our souls as we strive toward Holiness.

The sacrament of Baptism is a sacrament in which Christ has ordained the washing with water to be a sign and seal of regeneration by His Spirit. So what is the outward sign? The outward sign is the water in which the person is baptized “In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” The spiritual sign then is a death unto sin, and a new birth into righteousness. The significant part of this sacrament we must understand is this. Remember, the second part of a Sacrament is an inward and spiritual grace we can sense and believe.

New birth is not the same thing as baptism, and it does not always accompany baptism: They do not constantly go together. A man my possibly be “born of water,” and yet not be “born of the Spirit.” There may sometimes be the outward sign, where there is not the inward grace.

How does this relate to infant baptism? With infants, there is a bit of a Holy mystery. As Methodists, we believe all who are baptized in their infancy are at the same time in a sense, born again; and this is why the church so strongly encourages infant baptism. Simply because we cannot comprehend how God accomplishes this work in infants does not invalidate its truth. For neither can we comprehend in our humanness how God works His divine grace in an adult.

However, whatever the case with infants, it is sure that in the case of adults, all who are baptized are not at the same time born again.