WesleyGospel Ministries

D. L. Moody said, “The Law can only chase a man to Calvary, no further.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law so we are no longer in bondage to it. If we try to keep one part of the Law (even out of love for God), we are obligated to keep the whole Law (Gal. 3:10) all 613 precepts. –Ray Comfort

Ray’s wrong here. He only believes in the first use of the law. This is unfortunately the most popular view of evangelicals such as Southern Baptists and independent Baptists. It literally means disobedience to God’s Word is not to be taken seriously. But the second and third uses of the law are clearly taught in the New Testament:

If you love me,
you will keep my commandments.
–Jesus, John 14:15 (ESV)–

This is the love of God,
that we keep his commandments.
And his commandments are not burdensome.
–1 John 5:3 (ESV)–

Sin will have no dominion over you,
since you are not under law but under grace.
What then? Are we to sin because we are
not under law but under grace?
By no means!
–Romans 6:14-15 (ESV)–

The law is holy,
and the commandment is holy
and righteous and good.
–Romans 7:12 (ESV)–

The righteous requirement of the law
might be fulfilled in us,
who walk not according to the flesh
but according to the Spirit.
–Romans 8:4 (ESV)–

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
–Romans 13:8-10 (ESV)–

The grace of God has appeared, bringing SALVATION for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
–Titus 2:11-14 (ESV)–

I will put my laws into their minds,
and write them on their hearts.
–Hebrews 8:10 (ESV)–

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In observing the Law for the purpose of obtaining righteousness without faith in Christ these law-workers go smack against the Law and against God. They deny the righteousness of God, His mercy, and His promises. They deny Christ and all His benefits…The very first thing for us to do is to believe in Christ. First, we must receive the Holy Spirit, who enlightens and sanctifies us so that we can begin to do the Law, i.e., to love God and our neighbor. Now, the Holy Ghost is not obtained by the Law, but by faith in Christ. In the last analysis, to do the Law means to believe in Jesus Christ. The tree comes first, and then come the fruits…The heart must be purified by faith before a person can lift a finger to please God…I cannot tell you in words how criminal it is to seek righteousness before God without faith in Christ, by the works of the Law. It is the abomination standing in the holy place. It deposes the Creator and deifies the creature. The real doers of the Law are the true believers. The Holy Spirit enables them to love God and their neighbor. But because we have only the first-fruits of the Spirit and not the tenth-fruits, we do not observe the Law perfectly. This imperfection of ours, however, is not imputed to us, for Christ’s sake…Christ alone can make us innocent of any transgression. How so? First, by the forgiveness of our sins and the imputation of His righteousness. Secondly, by the gift of the Holy Ghost, who engenders new life and activity in us…In our dealings with God the work is worth nothing without faith, for “without faith it is impossible to please him.” (Hebrews 11:6.)

The sacrifice of Abel was better than the sacrifice of Cain, because Abel had faith. As to Cain he had no faith or trust in God’s grace, but strutted about in his own fancied worth. When God refused to recognize Cain’s worth, Cain got angry at God and at Abel…Galatians 5:6, “Faith which worketh by love.” Leviticus 18:5, “Which if a man do, he shall live in them.” Matthew 19:17, “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” Psalm 37:27, “Depart from evil, and do good.” In these and other passages where mention is made of doing, the Scriptures always speak of a faithful doing, a doing inspired by faith. “Do this and thou shalt live,” means: First have faith in Christ, and Christ will enable you to do and to live…“Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions.” (Hebrews 11:33.) In this way will we correctly interpret all those passages that seem to support the righteousness of works. The Law is truly observed only through faith…“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.” (Gal. 3:13.) I hear with my own ears that I cannot be saved except by the blood and death of Christ. I conclude, therefore, that it is up to Christ to overcome my sins, and not up to the Law, or my own efforts. If He is the price of my redemption, if He was made sin for my justification, I don’t give a care if you quote me a thousand Scripture passages for the righteousness of works against the righteousness of faith. I have the Author and Lord of the Scriptures on my side.

–Martin Luther, Commentary on Galatians 3:10—

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Dr. Thomas C. Oden, John Wesley’s Scriptural Christianity (Zondervan, 1994).

John Wesley, “The Original, Nature, Property, and Use of the Law.”

—. “The Law Established Through Faith: Discourse One.”

—. “The Law Established Through Faith: Discourse Two.”

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (Hendrickson, 2011), 2.7.

The Book of Concord, Article VI, “The Third Use of the Law.”

Thomas Watson, The Ten Commandments (Banner of Truth, 1965).

There are certain aspects that you simply cannot do without in order for prophetic ministry to work. By ‘prophetic ministry’ we mean an evangelistic ministry that strongly preaches Bible holiness and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, from a charismatic point of view, always involving the witness of the Spirit for the assurance of salvation; and the baptism in the Holy Spirit for ministry empowerment. I think the starting point in this consideration should be the history of the Covenanter preachers from Scotland in the 1500s and 1600s–and so I’d point you to Jeff Doles for that. After this point, I’d encourage a close study of everything related to dreams, visions, healing, and deliverance from the life of John Wesley–and so I’d point you to Daniel Jennings for that, which covers the 1700s. And so the miraculous gifts are seen as continuing in the lives of preachers in the Church of Scotland, the Church of England, and the Methodist Episcopal Church, at least in a recorded and traceable way. The findings of this type of thinking were eventually organized by a Presbyterian theologian in 1841: Dr. Archibald Alexander’s Thoughts on Religious Experience; and there were many other books from that time period which covered the subject, although this one stood the test time, through being republished by Banner of Truth. After the Assemblies of God had been established, it seems that Harold Horton’s The Gifts of the Spirit became the long-term winner on the subject, though little attention was paid to dreams and their interpretation.

Although much has been said about the contributions of Dr. Wayne Grudem to this area, he kept things very academic, and left much to be desired about the psychological aspects, of the personal spiritual experiences supporting the gift of prophecy. Most of what he had to say was in the area of defending Sola Scriptura for charismatics. And while it could be said that Dr. Jack Deere’s Surprised series adequately responded to Baptist cessationist arguments from a seminary level; and that the full range of spiritual experiences were fully explained from the Bible, he also left some unhealthy loose ends about certain NAR leaders, such as Paul Cain and Mike Bickle; and some serious character defects were fully supported in his books and which need no repeating. For these reasons, I would only recommend that debaters and discerning theologians arguing against cessationism, would be the people to resort to Drs. Grudem and Deere; and that the everyday charismatic reader would be content to study Doles, Jennings, Dr. Alexander, Horton, and finally Ira Milligan’s Understanding the Dreams You Dream, which gives a simple Bible-based approach to dream interpretation.

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Jeff Doles, Miracles and Manifestations (Walking Barefoot Ministries, 2007).

Daniel Jennings, The Supernatural Occurrences of John Wesley (SEAN, 2012).

Dr. Archibald Alexander, Thoughts on Religious Experience (Banner of Truth, 1996).

Harold Horton, The Gifts of the Spirit (Gospel Publishing House, 1934).

Ira Milligan, Understanding the Dreams You Dream (Treasure House, 1997).

Fill this place!

Tenderness
I feel Your tenderness
Like fresh raindrops fulfilling my needs

Source of pleasure
You are the only One to satisfy my inmost yearning
The One who knows me
More than anyone, I’m transparent before Your eyes
The love You give me
You prove it constantly
I can’t deny Your radiant love

Release Your love in me
Forever
Restore Your love in me
Forever

Faithful Father
Teach me how to avoid stumbling through life
Change me once again
Reveal Your presence, diminish my ego
Draw me closer
Let me taste Your Beauty Divine
Into Your fathom
Cleanse my eyes so I can see
Your trusting love’s perfection

Release Your love in me
Forever
Restore Your love in me
Forever

Let my surroundings sense Your atmosphere
I’m weary of waiting for love to shine right through me
I wish to lay down my life and serve like You showed me
Forgive me Father, for being cynical in all ways

–Extol, “Your Beauty Divine”–

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Dr. Thomas C. Oden, John Wesley’s Scriptural Christianity (Zondervan, 1994), ch. 5.

WesleyGospel, “Correcting Sloppy Agape: The Christian’s Love for His Neighbor.”

To the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than
to burn with passion.
–1 Corinthians 7:8-9 (NIV)–

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David, Bathsheba, and Nathan // Samson, Delilah, and the Philistines // Joseph, Potiphar’s Wife, and Potiphar // Amnon, Tamar, and Absalom // Judah and Tamar // The men of Sodom // The men of Gibeah and the Levite’s concubine // The Benjamites and the women of Shiloh // Reuben and Bilhah // Lot and his daughters // The Israelites and the Moabite women // Zimri and Cozbi // Herod Antipas and Herodias // The man and his father’s wife at Corinth // The unnamed woman at the well // The woman caught in adultery // The harlot Rahab // Hosea and Gomer // The adulterous woman in Proverbs 7 // The false prophet Balaam and Israel // The woman Jezebel in Revelation 2 // The prodigal son — narratives that illustrate the sin of fornication. No Greek word translation rhetoric needed.

KING JAMES VERSION

(KJV)

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Being now justified by His blood,
we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
–Romans 5:9–

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
–Romans 6:1-2–

I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
–Romans 7:23-25–

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
–Romans 8:1-8–

Because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
–Romans 11:20-22–

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
–Romans 12:1-3–

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ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION

(ESV)

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We have now been justified by His blood,
much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God.
–Romans 5:9–

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
–Romans 6:1-2–

I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
–Romans 7:23-25–

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
–Romans 8:1-8–

They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.
–Romans 11:20-22–

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
–Romans 12:1-3–

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The most emphatic denominations about this order of salvation, or the use of the Scripture chain above to present the whole dynamic of Gospel justification, sanctification, and conditional security–are the Church of God (Cleveland), the Church of the Nazarene, the Wesleyan Church, the International Pentecostal Holiness Church, the Salvation Army, and the Free Methodist Church.

J. B., The Gospel of Jesus Christ (Kingsley Press, 2015).

Dr. Harald Lindstrom, Wesley and Sanctification (Francis Asbury Press, 2000).

Dr. French Arrington, Christian Doctrine, vol. 2 (Pathway Press, 1993).

P. C. Nelson, Bible Doctrines (Gospel Publishing House, 2009).

Myer Pearlman, Knowing the Doctrines of the Bible (Gospel Publishing House, 1981).

So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from My mouth, you shall give them warning from Me. If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.
–Ezekiel 33:7-9 (KJV)–

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David Cloud, and his ministry Way of Life Literature, is the top Independent Fundamental Baptist (IFB) voice today that still preaches Biblical separation like Dr. John R. Rice with Sword of the Lord Publications did in the 1970s. I agree with a lot of what he says, but not with all of his opinions and conclusions. He’s against all rock music, he’s totally anti-charismatic, he believes in eternal security, and he’s totally anti-Catholic. But he says a whole lot of other things that are very, very agreeable from a Wesleyan-holiness and old school Pentecostal point of view. Please check him out.

Nebuchadnezzar was driven out of human society and ate grass like an ox. The dew fell on his body, and his hair grew as long as eagle feathers and his nails as long as bird claws.
–Daniel 4:33 (GNT)–

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INSANE.

It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise,
than for a man to hear the song of fools.
–Ecclesiastes 7:5 (KJV)–

It has recently come to my attention that Max Cavalera joined up with his brother to form a group called Cavalera. They re-recorded and are now publicly playing their old albums Morbid Visions and Bestial Devastation. These albums are completely anti-Christian and Satanic in their lyrical content. Whatever quasi-Catholic spiritual progress Max made during his Soulfly years, it seems that he has set that aside, and had some type of a relapse into anti-Christian music. I can no longer endorse Max Cavalera’s material from here on out; and I will cease from playing even his clean, Biblically themed, and pro-Christian songs on my podcast. Please keep him in your prayers. I say no to Cavalera, no to Soulfly, and no to Sepultura. NO!