“But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God., who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” … “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world, to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgement, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.” John 1:12-14, 3:17-21
Receive and believe; out of darkness into the light; from self-imposed condemnation to God given salvation and life. “God’s objective is salvation, not condemnation, but people cause their own condemnation by remaining in the darkness of evil, apart from Jesus the light.” (Wesley Study Bible, pg 1290)
Wesleyan Core Term – New Birth
“When John Wesley listed the four most important doctrines found in Scripture, new birth was included. The others are original sin, justification by faith, and inward and outward holiness. The inclusion of new birth reveals a very important theme in Wesley’s theology, and in all theology that calls itself Wesleyan. Martin Luther, of course, proclaimed that we are saved by faith alone and his theology of justification became the heartbeat of all Protestantism. But there is a key difference between justification and new birth in Wesley’s theology. Not only does Christ forgive us for past sins when we accept him as our savior, he also gives us a new life – a new life to live differently. Not only does Christ deal with the guilt of our sins, he also deals with the root problem that causes us to sin. In Wesley’s scheme, new birth is the beginning of the holy life, the beginning of sanctification.” Wesley Study Bible, pg 1289)