A Pilgrimage Of Faith, J.B. Toews, 1993

s Christ.10 The emphasis that "man is conceived and born in sin as a child of wrath incapable of and not in- clined toward the divine good, but capable of and inclined to- ward evil/11 expressed the need for redemption. 30 MB UNDERSTANDING OF SALVATION AND BAPTISM An emphasis on the divine initiative followed the descrip- tion of human depravity. Divine initiative meant that God al- lowed humanity to exercise free will "that all that obey His gospel and believe in Him should not perish but have ever- lasting life,"12 The linkage of "obey* and "believe" was impor- tant to the early Mennonite Brethren, To believe and to obey were interdependent; there was no true belief except on the basis of volitional obedience to the gospel. Making the invitation from Scripture part of the Confes- sion of Faith gave further emphasis to the responsibility for obedience. "And the Spirit and the bride say come. And let him that hear it say come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" (Rev; 22:17). "Strive to enter in at the straight gate" (Luke 12:24). The powerful Word of God awakened humanity from sin. Conversion, renewal or the new birth was then described as follows: If he now is obedient and does not close his heart against the working of divine grace, he receives repentance unto life, to see his sin, repent of it, confess and forsake it; and in recognition of the holy and just judgement of God through prayer seeks refuge in Christ as the only Savior from the guilt of sin and the lust thereof and receives through faith in him forgiveness of sins, justification , and the witness and sealing of the Holy Spirit that he is a child of God and heir of life eternal13 Clearly, the Mennonite Brethren view of salvation drew heavily on Menno's view as expressed by the title of his 1537 writing on the new birth: The New Creature: A Fair and Fun- damental Instruction from the Word of the lord, Urgently Ad- monishing All Men Who Call Themselves Christians to Seek the Heavenly Birth and the New Creature, Without Which No Man Who Has Come to Years of Understanding Is or Can Be a True 31 A PILGRIMAGE OF FAITH Christian.14 For Merino and the Mennonite Brethren repen- tance was essential for regeneration and a pious life, and could only originate in the Word of the Lord, rightly taught and rightly understood and received in the heart by faith through the Holy Ghost.15 The following statement further il- lustrates the centrality of regeneration in Merino's understand- ing of salvation: