The Evangelical Revival broke out in the 1730s with the central message, “You must be born again” (Jn 3:7). The two most famous evangelists of the new movement were George Whitefield (1714-1770) and John Wesley (1703-1791). They both had dramatic experiences of the new birth. Whitefield experienced the new birth in May 1735 when he was reflecting on Christ’s last words on the cross and he cried out, “I thirst! I thirst!” Likewise, John Wesley was born again in May 1738 — his now famous Aldersgate experience — in which he felt his heart strangely warmed. Another early Methodist leader was John Fletcher (1729-1785). Fletcher is often regarded as the first Methodist theologian with his Five Checks to Antinomianism. Having been born in Switzerland, Fletcher experienced the new birth when he came to England around 1750. As were Whitefield and Wesley, Fletcher was an Anglican minister and proclaimed the evangelical message of the new birth.
What did these early Methodist leaders proclaim about the new birth? Like, what is the new birth? How does one become born again? Is the new birth necessary for eternal salvation? Also, did they differ in their views, since Whitefield was a moderate Calvinist and Wesley and Fletcher were Arminian? Below are key writings by all three men on the new birth.
There are some common characteristics between their views: new life in the Spirit, inward change from sin to holiness, through faith in Christ alone. Though as Anglican ministers all three connected the sacrament of baptism to regeneration, they likewise saw that baptism alone is not the new birth.
George Whitefield’s most famous sermon is On the Necessity and Nature of our New Birth in Christ Jesus, in order to Salvation. It sparked his rise to national fame in 1737 as the churches could not contain all the people who gathered to listen to him preach. In this sermon Whitefield defines the new birth as a fundamental change in a person’s dispositional nature, a change in the orientation of one’s heart and life. This same viewpoint is found in the second sermon on The Marks of the New Birth. The marks of regeneration that he describes are a spirit of prayer, does not willfully or continue in sin, overcomes the world, love for fellow Christians, and last, love for one’s enemies. Are these the marks that you would list for the new birth? Read Whitefield for yourself in these early editions of the two sermons:
Whitefield – On the New Birth 1737
Whitefield – Marks of New Birth 1741
John Wesley wrote his famous sermon On the New Birth in 1759. Like Whitefield, Wesley grounded the need for regeneration in original sin. Since we are born sinners in Adam, we need new life in Christ. The new birth is life from the dead. Wesley used the analogy of the physical senses to illustrate what the new birth entails. We are are born of the Spirit our spiritual senses come alive to God — we see the light of God’s truth in Christ, we hear the message of salvation and feel the love, joy, and peace of God in our hearts. Wesley describes the new birth as a “great change which God works in the soul when he brings it into life.” How would you define the new birth? Read Wesley to learn more:
Wesley – The New Birth reprint 1810
John Fletcher saw the new birth as being born of the Spirit. In his Discourse on the New Birth Fletcher goes into detail explaining the meaning of Jesus’ teachings in John 3. He describes regeneration as the transition from being in a “state of nature to a state of grace.” It is a “new creation, a resurrection from the dead.” Using Wesley’s analogy of the awakened senses, Fletcher likewise describes the new birth in terms of seeing, hearing, feeling, and breathing in of God’s life and presence. In the discourse the religion of a Pharisee is contrasted to the regeneration of a Christion to refute any notion of the new birth as some kind of moralism or legalistic faith. But Fletcher in the last section introduces the idea of degrees of regeneration, in which the renewal is carried forth by the grace of sanctification in the Spirit. How would you connect the new birth to sanctification? Read Fletcher to see how he connects the two:
Fletcher – The New Birth 3rd Ed 1805
Resources for Further Study:
Mark K. Olson, “Whitefield’s Conversion & Early Theological Formation” in George Whitefield: Life, Context, and Legacy. eds. Geordan Hammond & Davide Ceri Jones.
Mark K. Olson, Wesley and Aldersgate: Interpreting Conversion Narratives.
J. Russell Frazier, True Christianity: Doctrine of Dispensations in the Thought of John Fletcher.
