“Jesus replied [to Nicodemus], ‘Very
truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.’”
(John 3:3 NIV)
We believe in conversion. But what is it? It is the most basic transformation in
life. It is a revolution at the heart of
one's being. It is the new birth. It is not a natural growth but a supernatural
rebirth.
For selfish persons, conversion means a
basic change in the center of their commitment.
Self is dethroned; Christ is enthroned.
For those who measure success and failure in dollars and cents, the new
birth means the reign of Christ and of His standards. For those who put their highest trust in
political organizations and in the might of arms, conversion means seeing in
Christ the only hope of the world. To
those who are crippled by failure and despair, conversion means absolute trust
in the healing ministry of the conquering Savior. In short, we are born of the Spirit when
Christ becomes the master impulse of our life.
And we enter into this new life at the moment when we take all that we
know about ourselves and lay it trustfully before all that we know about
Christ.
Conversion or the new birth, then, is a
basic change of mind and heart.
-- Bishop
Mack Stokes in “Major United Methodist Beliefs,”
published by Abingdon Press, Nashville, TN. Used with permission.
#4794
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