WesleyGospel.com

“Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.” “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me.” –Mark 9:38-39

Two things I ask of you, Lord; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.  –Proverbs 30:7-9

Allowing that diligence and frugality must produce riches, is there no means to hinder riches from destroying the religion of those that possess them? I can see only one possible way; find out another who can. Do you gain all you can, and save all you can? Then you must, in the nature of things, grow rich. Then if you have any desire to escape the damnation of hell, give all you can; otherwise I can have no more hope of your salvation, than of that of Judas Iscariot. –John Wesley

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ –Matthew 7:21-23

Go tell that fox, ‘I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’ In any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem! –Luke 13:32-33

Harald Lindstrom, Wesley and Sanctification (Zondervan, 1984).

Kenneth Collins, Wesley on Salvation (Zondervan, 1989).

James Goll, Hearing God’s Voice Today (Chosen Books, 2016).

R. Loren Sandford, Purifying the Prophetic (Chosen Books, 2005).

—. Understanding Prophetic People (Chosen Books, 2007).

Thomas C. Oden, Pastoral Theology (HarperOne, 1983).

—. Classical Pastoral Care Series. 3 vols (Baker Academic, 2000).

S. David Moore, The Shepherding Movement (Continuum, 2004).

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ –Matthew 7:21-23

In CHAPTER 1, Wesley says that Adam was created as a perfectly righteous man, but after the Fall he became corrupt. This corruption is somehow transmitted through the desires of the body (or, the flesh). It causes us to have evil thoughts and feelings (inward sins). This is called original sin:–and it manifests in atheism, idolatry, pride, self-will, independence from God, and a love for the ways of the world.

Babies, although born with an original sin nature, can only be punished with physical death (Rom. 5:12). Hell, and its eternal punishment, is called “the second death”–and is only for wicked adults. This is because they committed actual sins by their free choice, and died without Christ in an unrepentant state (Rev. 21:8). [Babies are free from Hell’s penalty, because Jesus died on the cross for all original sin, in both adults and children;] but the cross also released prevenient grace into the world, thereby establishing man’s freedom to respond to the Gospel with the Holy Spirit’s assistance.

[My personal addition (John)–Babies don’t go to Hell. I agree with Wesley. However, it is not necessarily because the death of Christ atoned universally for original sin. It is more so because babies don’t understand the law of God. They do not have the rational ability to understand it, and so, are not accountable to its commandments and penalties (they have not reached an age of accountability, to understand God’s law, and respond to it). Instead, babies are legally pronounced “innocent” before the Judge of Heaven, because although “sin is the transgression of the law,” babies are not capable of transgressing it willfully, because they do not have the knowledge to understand the law (Matt. 19:14; 1 John 3:4).]

In CHAPTER 2, entitled, “Atonement, Justification, and Sanctification,” Wesley says that Satisfaction Theory (Anselm) and Penal Substitution (Calvin), when mixed together, provide an accurate Biblical view of the atonement. The death of Christ satisfied the justice and wrath of God for all who believe this Gospel.

The moral law is the will of God; it makes men conscious of sin; and is to be heartily obeyed by every real Christian–but it is not to be used, or seen as a means of works-justification, or for “earning God’s forgiveness.” The Holy Spirit, by means of regeneration, empowers saved Christians to obey the moral law.

Justification – The Forgiveness of Sins by Faith in the Atonement

Sanctification – Growing in Ethical Love (Matthew 5-7)

In CHAPTER 3, Wesley says the order of salvation goes like this:

1. Original Sin (Dead to God)

2. Consciousness of Sin by the Moral Law

3. Revelation (Faith) that Jesus Died for Sin

4. Past Sins Forgiven (Justification)

5. Desire to Live Holy (Regeneration)

6. Struggling with Romans 7-8 (Sanctification)

7. Exalted Level of Holy Love (Entire Sanctification)
(a) Growth by Continual Repentance
(b) Growth by Means of Grace and Good Works
(c) Growth by Obedience to the Moral Law
(d) Glorification After Death, If the Christian Perseveres in Faith

In CHAPTER 4, entitled “Christian Perfection,” Wesley says perfection is an inherent ethical perfection in love and obedience to God, whereas the Reformers only saw perfection as a perfection in faith (p. 136). Wesley sought to “reform” the Reformed view of sanctification further than it had been taken, and so took liberty to borrow ideas from the following books: Jeremy Taylor’s Rules and Exercises of Holy Living and Holy Dying, Thomas à Kempis’ The Imitation of Christ, and William Law’s A Practical Treatise Upon Christian Perfection and A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life. [Note: Wesley parted ways with him in 1756, because Law fell into universalism.] All four of these books were influenced by the Catholic ascetical-mystical tradition of the “imitation of Christ,” and its concepts of self-denial. Much later in his life, Wesley even supported the Catholic book by Francis de Sales: An Introduction to the Devout Life. And Wesley was prone to quote from Catholic devotional writers at various times.

In a mixed life (balancing the contemplative life and the active life)–properly, all good works are performed with perfect love–but the performance of them is imperfect (hence the continued need for reliance upon Christ’s blood). Christian perfection is the perfect intent to love God and man; and this intent comes from an “anointing” of “perfect love” (Rom. 5:5; 1 John 4:18) that can be received after years of striving against the flesh, and mortifying sin in your members. Technically, it is not sinlessness, but it comes close.

In CHAPTER 5, Wesley says that Christians love Christ “because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19, KJV), especially through what He did for us on the cross, dying and atoning for the forgiveness of our sins. And now, we share God’s love for all men to receive this same forgiveness of sins, because “God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us” (Rom. 5:5). But the love of God and the law of God are the will of God. And so, “in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us” (Rom. 8:4), God has graciously given Christians an inward anointing for righteousness, or, He “put His laws in our minds and wrote them on our hearts” (Heb. 8:10). This RIGHTEOUS, ETHICAL LOVE seeks to obey God’s will, and God’s law. “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous” (1 John 5:3, KJV). It seeks to love one’s neighbor as oneself (Matt. 22:39), especially to love one’s Christian brothers and sisters (who are really godly and live a holy life), and to pitiably and prayerfully and compassionately love one’s enemies (that they too might experience the forgiveness of sins and the freedom of living a holy life). For the Christian who loves God and man, by the energy of the Holy Spirit within him, the moral law of God is not a curse to him; it is LIFE to him; it is not so much a condemning force in his life (because of his faith in Christ’s blood); rather, the law is the directing force in his life, the words of wisdom from on high; to him: “Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Rom. 13:10).

In CHAPTER 6, Wesley says “without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14), including so-called Christians. During the course of your Christian life, you will experience two main events: (1) The moment you “got saved” when you first repented from your wicked ways, and put your faith in the cross (present salvation, or justification by faith alone, consisting in the forgiveness of your sins). (2) The moment you felt a “second wind” to live a holy life (regeneration and sanctification).

Over the course of your Christian life, you look forward with godly fear toward the Day of Judgment (Rev. 20:11-15), but eventually developing so much love for God, that this fear disappears and turns into boldness (Php. 2:12; 1 John 4:17-18); also, a hope for entrance into Heaven by means of continuing in Christian faith and holiness all the days of your life: obeying the moral law of God, loving God and man, and making every effort to CONTINUE in faith in Jesus’ work on the cross, and a good conscience, so as not to lose your faith, or “make shipwreck” faith and conscience (1 Tim. 1:19), and hence fall headfirst into Hell for all eternity, being a castaway! (1 Cor. 9:27). Only after continued faith and holy living has passed the test on the Day of Judgment (Matt. 7:21-23), will final salvation and glorification begin.

—

IN CHAPTER 1, Wesley shows Genesis 6:5 reveals clearly, that the natural condition of mankind is great wickedness; and is plagued by only evil thoughts and feelings continually. This is called “original sin,” and all people have inherited this corrupt nature from Adam and Eve. But there is good news. The Holy Spirit is everywhere; and influences all people concerning right and wrong. This is called either the “conscience” or “prevenient grace.” This is a vague, but general, universal ethical awareness. Even non-Christians have it, but this does not mean all men have “saving grace” or saving faith. All they have is a conscience. Eventually, the Holy Spirit will draw all men to the Gospel through the conscience: and then, and only then, is it possible for men to choose to respond, to the revelations that Jesus died for their sins, and that they need to go and sin no more. This is a free will choice, but with the help of the Holy Spirit giving a conscience to the sinner. The circumstances in people’s lives may vary, as to when they are fully challenged by a Gospel preacher; and if they should decide to become real Christians and “get saved.” But if it were not for the help of the Holy Spirit, of God’s grace leading and guiding from the very beginnings of people’s lives:–no man would ever have the conscience, nor the free will, to choose to repent and believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But, as Dr. Collins points out: the doctrine of original sin, and the reality that man is naturally corrupt, is “an ingredient in any full-orbed systematic theology, but it plays little role in a practical theology, for no human being is so marred and fallen” because “there are no people without divine prevenient grace” (p. 25). The subject may be necessary to refer to when refuting Pelagianism or perfectionism, but it is certainly not the essence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: it is a side issue. What really matters is preaching on JUSTIFICATION and SANCTIFICATION. As Wesley said: salvation “consists of two general parts, justification and sanctification” (The Scripture Way of Salvation 1.3).

IN CHAPTER 2, Wesley says the wicked are convicted of sin by preaching the moral law. The Holy Spirit uses this. Only in this way, can dead, lukewarm, sleepy, cultural churchgoers ever experience conviction of sin. The preacher is called by God to “preach 90% law and 10% grace (Gospel).” This will spark sin-guilt and the fear of the Lord; and drive sinners to Jesus for salvation, forgiveness, and mercy. A faith that Jesus died for my sins is the only way to be saved from guilt, in the now, and from Hell fire forever. And if a person feels convicted of sin, but is struggling to believe in the atonement, then he should use the means of grace until saving faith dawns on him (e.g., prayer, Bible Study, the Lord’s Supper, fasting, and Christian conversations).

IN CHAPTER 3, entitled: “Justification by Faith,” Wesley says the forgiveness of sins cannot be earned by trying to obey God’s law perfectly, nor by doing all the good works in the Bible. (That is impossible.) The only way for God to forgive sins, is for a sinner to look at Jesus’ perfectly righteous life, His death on the cross for his sins, and the resurrection. True faith in this will motivate righteous living; and is something known in the head and felt in the heart. The famed Aldersgate Experience mirrors Luke 24:32, when the disciples on the road to Emmaus felt a burning sensation in their hearts, and an impression of a deep revelation: that in the crucifixion, Jesus died for the sins of the world, according to prophecies in the Old Testament. In the same way, and of the same revelation, Wesley wrote of his experience on May 24th, 1738: “In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in the Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”

The moral law convicts of sin, motivates faith in the cross for the sake of seeking forgiveness of sins, and yet continues to be useful for growing in righteousness during the Christian life (but is never to be used with the idea that one can ever earn God’s forgiveness by keeping God’s commandments perfectly). “We know that the law is good if one uses it properly” (1 Timothy 1:8). Guidelines for growing in Biblical ethics; nothing more.

And also, anyone who thinks that “the righteousness of Christ,” being legally imputed to the Christian, somehow blinds God from the sins of carnal Christians who willingly continue to live a wicked life:–these people are deceived antinomians who hold to a false interpretation of the doctrine of imputation; sadly, this is the case with many Calvinists. But the truth is, through a saving faith that Jesus died for your sins, responding with godly fear and love, and trying to “go and sin no more” (John 8:11), it is in this way that the truly saved Christian fulfills the law from the heart.

IN CHAPTER 4, Wesley says at the same moment Christians receive God’s forgiveness by faith (justification)–the Holy Spirit awakens us to the spirit world (regeneration). This spiritual awakening is likened to being “born again”; not to the physical world, but to the spirit world. The first and foremost revelation that is revealed to the heart–is that “truly Jesus Christ died for my sins, and because of this, my sins are forgiven.” This is an inward conviction in the heart that is so strong, that no amount of anti-Christian skeptical arguments can shake it:–it is a strong faith supernaturally imparted by a strong experience in the intuition from the Holy Spirit. You simply “know that you know” it is true. In fact, one could be martyred for this kind of faith, without denying Christ, so strong it is. The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in the heart supplies a supernatural desire to grow in righteousness during the Christian life. Not only through a fear of backsliding and possibly going to Hell, but also through a love of God and His commandments, and the pursuit of Heaven with all the saints. The evidences of this supernatural regeneration working in the heart are: faith (a sense of sins forgiven), hope, God’s love for all creatures (Romans 5:5), obedience to God’s moral law (although not perfectly–yet always growing stronger), a good conscience before God, and the fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control”: of which “there is no law” against these things (Galatians 5:22-23, NKJV).

IN CHAPTER 5, Wesley says good works, and especially keeping the moral law, are supposed to mark a Christian’s life all throughout. This is proof that the supernatural grace of the Holy Spirit is “working through faith and love” (Galatians 5:6b) in the heart (Romans 5:5). The more righteous effort a Christian strives for, the more grace (Holy Spirit power) will be supplied for him. The Holy Spirit, however, will depart if the Christian simply does nothing in the area of reforming his ethics (Revelation 3:16). Unlike modern antinomians, who downplay keeping God’s commandments, and instead accept a false gospel of “cheap grace,” to use Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s phrase,[1] a simple “faith alone,” and standing alone:–the true Christian knows better: “without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). (Not a flawless, sinless, holiness; just an imperfect holiness that strives against sin, and grows in righteousness.) Christians must obey God’s moral law, and this is difficult, but “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). And what’s more, is that in good time, for the really saved Christian: “His commandments are not grievous” (1 John 5:3). A mixed life of contemplation, life in society, and good works, pretty much sums up the Christian life. All growth in righteousness must be free from bigotry: and this is to be avoided by a common love for all people, sticking to one’s ethical convictions firmly, yet remaining friendly and tolerant of people’s differences.

IN CHAPTER 6, Wesley says temptations, trials, tribulations, pain, and suffering are all intended to either “make or break” a Christian. If the Christian strives through it in the fear of the Lord, then his faith, hope, and love will come out stronger (1 Peter 1:6-7). No Christian is destined according to “fate” that they must fall into a certain temptation during their life: there is “always a way of escape” (1 Corinthians 10:13). But if one falls into temptation, and sins–even to the point of losing his faith–it is then possible to lose his salvation (since salvation is based on faith, Ephesians 2:8). Christian life is a nonstop spiritual battle, as well as a mental, emotional, and social one; it is a constant war between good and evil (Galatians 5:17); a continual repentance from sin, emboldened by a firm faith that God’s forgiveness of your sins, is graciously available to us immediately through the cross. No Christian alive on Earth is so “saved” that he can’t fall into Hell; he must continually examine himself to see whether he is remaining in the faith, and thus work out his salvation with fear and trembling (that is, try to live an upright and righteous life) (Philippians 2:12). On the other hand, if a Christian loses his faith, it is usually possible to get it back, and get saved again (Revelation 2:4-5)–but not always (Hebrews 6:4-6).

Wesley preached that if a Christian persevered throughout his life in faith and good works, in some rare cases, growing in righteousness can reach perfection.

[1] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship (New York: Touchstone, 1959), Part 1, Chapter 1: “Costly Grace.”