NEW BIRTH
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A figure of speech by which Jesus sought to
explain conversion to Nicodemus, as recorded in John 3:1–8. “Led by the Holy
Spirit we sense our need, acknowledge our sinfulness, repent of our
transgressions, and exercise faith in Jesus as Lord and Christ, as Substitute
and Example. This faith which receives salvation comes through the divine power
of the Word and is the gift of God’s grace. Through Christ we are justified,
adopted as God’s sons and daughters, and delivered from the lordship of sin.
Through the Spirit we are born again and sanctified; the Spirit renews our
minds, writes God’s law of love in our hearts, and we are given the power to
live a holy life” (Church Manual, [1990], pp. 25, 26).
In September 1850
the Advent Review (1:61) published an article by O.R.L. Crosier in which
he mentioned the importance of repentance, conversion, and baptism in relation
to Christ’s work in the sanctuary. Having, for the most part, formerly been
members of evangelical churches, early Seventh-day Adventists took the
new-birth experience for granted. It was accepted by all, and therefore was not
a matter of debate or discussion, as were the distinctive doctrines that
distinguished them from the churches they had left. They felt no need to dwell
on points held in common by all. However, as time went on, doctrines held in
common by Christian churches were also stressed. For example, writing in 1895,
W. W. Prescott stressed the need for a complete transformation of one’s
attitude in order to come into harmony with God. He emphasized the important
place of the mind as the controlling factor in the human being, and pointed out
that as long as the mind remains unchanged, Christianity is merely a profession
and not a living experience. Summing up, he said: “It [the new birth]means the
willingness to abandon everything that is of the flesh and connected with the
flesh and [to]turn to God for all that He is to us in Jesus Christ” (General
Conference Bulletin, Feb. 8, 1895, p. 111).
In 1892 Ellen G.
White published a book entitled Steps to Christ, in which the various steps in
conversion are discussed and in which the new birth is stressed. Millions of
copies of this book, a classic in its field, have been sold.
The present
denominational position on the question of the new birth is also set forth in The
SDA Bible Commentary, on 2 Cor 5:17: “For a man to be constrained by the love
of Christ to live no longer unto self but unto God, to judge men no longer by
appearance but by the spirit, to know Christ according to the spirit and not
according to the flesh, he must be created a new being. To transform a lost
sinner into a ‘new creature’ requires the same creative energy that originally
brought forth life. . . . It is a supernatural operation, altogether foreign to
normal human experience.
“This new nature is
not the product of moral virtue presumed by some to be inherent in man, and
requiring only growth and expression. There are thousands of so-called moral
men who make no profession of being Christians, and who are not ‘new’
creatures. The new nature is not merely the product of a desire, or even of a
resolution to do right . . . , of mental assent to certain doctrines, of an
exchange of one set of opinions or feelings for another, or even of sorrow from
sin. It is the result of the presence of a supernatural element introduced into
a man, which results in his dying to sin and being born again. Thus are we
created anew in the likeness of Christ, adopted as sons and daughters of God,
and set on a new path. . . . Thus we are made partakers of the divine nature
and are granted possession of eternal life. . . . The new believer is not born
a full-grown, mature Christian; he first has the spiritual inexperience and
immaturity of infancy. But as a son of God he does have the privilege and
opportunity to grow up into the full stature of Christ” (vol. 6, pp. 868, 869).
See also Conversion; Justification.
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