Week 1: The New Birth

Scripture

Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ ... ‘That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.’ (John 3:3, 6)

From the Journal of John Wesley (May 24, 1738)

“In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.

I began to pray with all my might for those who had in a more especial manner despitefully used me and persecuted me. I then testified openly to all there what I now first felt in my heart.”

(John Wesley’s Journal, the Aldersgate experience)

A Prayer by Augustine of Hippo

“Too late have I loved You, O Beauty so ancient and so new, too late have I loved You! Behold, You were within me, while I was outside: it was there that I sought You, and, a deformed creature, rushed headlong upon these things of beauty which You have made. You were with me, but I was not with You. They kept me far from You, those fair things which, if they were not in You, would not exist at all.

You called, You cried, and You broke through my deafness. You flashed, You shone, and You dispelled my blindness. You breathed fragrance upon me, and I drew in my breath and now do pant for You. I tasted You, and now I hunger and thirst for You. You touched me, and I have burned for Your peace.”

(Augustine, Confessions, Book X)

Reflection

John Wesley was already an ordained minister, a missionary, a man of prayer and discipline, yet he hadn’t been born again. On that May evening in 1738, Wesley experienced what Jesus described to Nicodemus: spiritual rebirth. It wasn’t emotional manipulation or religious excitement; it was the work of the Holy Spirit bringing him from death to life.

Augustine’s prayer captures the same reality from a different angle. For years, he sought satisfaction in created things - philosophy, pleasure, ambition - while God was calling him home. When the Spirit finally opened his eyes, Augustine realized he had been searching outside himself for what could only be found within: God himself, dwelling in the regenerate heart.

The new birth is not reformation but regeneration. It isn’t becoming a better version of yourself; it’s becoming a new creation in Christ. As Paul declares, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

This is the foundation of the Christian life. Without the new birth, we’re merely religious. With it, we’re children of God, indwelt by the Spirit, alive to righteousness. Wesley’s heart was “strangely warmed” because the Spirit bore witness with his spirit that he was a child of God (Romans 8:16). Augustine’s soul finally found rest because God had made him for himself, and his heart was restless until it rested in God.

Have you been born again? Not: have you attended church, been baptized, or grown up in a Christian home, but have you personally trusted in Christ alone for salvation? Has the Spirit brought you from death to life?

This is where the journey begins.

Questions for Reflection

1. When you reflect on your spiritual journey, can you identify a specific moment or period when you believe you were “born again”? How did this experience change you? If you did not have this type of experience, how did you come to know Christ and how has your relationship with him deepened over time?
2. How often do you feel a sense of assurance about your salvation? What contributes to or detracts from this assurance? What scriptural promises do you cling to for certainty of your eternal life with God?
   
3. In what ways do you see the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) manifesting in your life as evidence of your new birth? Which aspects do you feel need more development?

Closing Prayer

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly,
You have brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths but see You in the heights;
hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Your glory.

Let me learn by paradox
that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,
and the deeper the wells, the brighter Your stars shine.
Let me find Your light in my darkness,
Your life in my death,
Your joy in my sorrow,
Your grace in my sin,
Your riches in my poverty,
Your glory in my valley.

Amen.
​
(Adapted from The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan prayers)