John Wesley is one of my heros, though I don't know as much about him as I probably should. That is why I was strolling through Wesley's Parish in the Congregational Area. Anyway I have a specific question about baptism for the Methodist's that are participating.
3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born
http://scriptures.lds.org/en/john/3/3a again
http://scriptures.lds.org/en/john/3/3b, he cannot see
http://scriptures.lds.org/en/john/3/3c the kingdom of God.
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mothers womb, and be born?
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born
http://scriptures.lds.org/en/john/3/5a of water
http://scriptures.lds.org/en/john/3/5b and
of the spirit
http://scriptures.lds.org/en/john/3/5c, he cannot enter
http://scriptures.lds.org/en/john/3/5d into the kingdom of God.
In verse 3 the Lord says you must be born again to see the Kingdom of God.
In verse 5 he says that you must be born of water and the Spirit to enter the Kingdom of God.
Verse 5 is obviously alluding to water baptism. It was once pointed out to me by a man I respect that verse 3 and 5 are not talking about the same thing. Verse 3 says you can see the Kingdom, while verse 5 talks about entering the Kingdom. The Spirit can come to us and show us the Kingdom and we can learn that it is something that we want, but to enter the Kingdom we need to be baptized. It not enough to know that the Kingdom is a wonderful place, we need to be willing to follow the Saviors example by being baptized.
So I know there are different opinions on what it means to be Born Again, and if baptism is necessary. What do the Methodists think about this? Actually, anyone who wants to share what they think it would be appreciated.