In this article, I would like to explore the reasons why Wesleyanism is distinct from Calvinism as a system of belief and spirituality. In my personal opinion, there are really two main doctrinal issues that are linked with this differentiation. The traditions are centuries-old and it’s very improbable that they will ever merge together or reconcile. The first issue is the doctrine of eternal security on the Calvinist side; and the second issue is the doctrine of cessationism. Wesleyans generally believe the opposite on those two points. Wesleyans believe in conditional security and continuationism or that the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit are given today in one way or another. Although there are variations among them.

Because I am a Wesleyan, I believe that the Bible teaches CONDITIONAL SECURITY: whether it’s the Parable of the Sower, or 1 Timothy 1:19, which talks about the shipwreck of the genuine faith of a true convert, or Hebrews 6:4-6 and 10:26-30, in any case, true faith, true converting saving, justifying, and sanctifying faith, faith in the blood of Jesus Christ as a substitutionary atonement, faith that produces a sense of the Holy Spirit in a believer’s heart. Real genuine faith can still be shipwrecked if it is neglected through unbelief or worldly distractions: and this is believed to come from a plain reading of the Word of God, without extraordinary interpretations put into it. It is the natural result of just plainly reading the Bible. “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3).

As a Wesleyan, I believe that the Bible teaches the CONTINUATION of the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:16 says that the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. This is so essential, whether we feel the Holy Spirit on us, in us, around us, or near us, to comfort us. Whether we hear the voice of the Holy Spirit in our minds, say, “I love you,” or we feel the burning fire of the Holy Spirit warming our bellies, as we meditate on the Word of God like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, whether we have dreams and visions of the Holy Spirit, with Christian content in them as in Acts 2:17 or the book of Revelation. We feel so led to share our spiritual experiences. Not just in our journal privately, but publicly in a church service like in 1 Corinthians 14. We feel so led to pray for the divine healing of another person with the laying on of our hands, or maybe feel the desire to speak in tongues as the Holy Spirit fills us. Whatever the case may be, we do believe that these gifts are for today and that they are the result of drawing near to God through the Bible, prayer, and worship. We go to him in prayer and then his manifest presence responds and draws near to us (James 4:8).

There are many Calvinists, who believe in repentance and faith in the substitutionary atonement of Christ, who believe that obedience to the Bible is a necessary evidence of genuine saving faith, that feel the presence of God and hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, that have genuine converting faith and a genuine walk with Jesus, Calvinists like John Bunyan, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, and Charles Spurgeon. They understand God, experientially by faith. They preach and believe in eternal punishment, and salvation from it, through the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus prophesied in Isaiah 53. These are sincere and true believers, true members of the body of Christ. If they have the witness of the Holy Spirit, if they bear the fruit of the Spirit, if they have good works in their lives, if they keep and love God’s commandments with all their hearts, minds, and strength, these are true members of the body of Christ. No matter what their opinions about predestination and the Holy Spirit are. But I still approach that contentious crowd with fear and loathing. I do not believe that I’d ever be invited to be a part of their club. No matter how popular I may ever be. There is a very protective attitude that many of them have. They don’t want to confuse their families, wives, or kids about thoughts like conditional security and continuationism. That’s where the wall of separation between the Calvinists and Wesleyans can be found.

What is the Wesleyan tradition? What does it look like today? Where are we to truly find them? Not in name only but in practice. I don’t know! But, I do believe that it would be right to say that the starting point should probably be the InterChurch Holiness Convention, which is comprised of groups like the Bible Methodist Church and the Southern Methodist Church, with Bible colleges like Allegheny Wesleyan College and Southern Methodist College. These are churches that are conservative and believe in separation from the world. However, some people might understandably find some of their customs to be a little bit rigid. They probably are inclined to reject rock music, movies, and things like that. A true Wesleyan preaches repentance, and eternal punishment, and LGBT inclusion does not fit into that. No true Bible Wesleyan would ever approve of something like that! Wesleyans are preachers of the moral law. However, if we are talking about a generic watered down Wesleyanism, there’s plenty of examples of this. These are the big Wesleyan denominations that do not preach the doctrines of Wesley and if anything, only hold to them at the seminary level. But in the pulpit there’s no preaching of the doctrines of Wesley, there’s no preaching of Bible holiness, there’s no awareness of Schmul Publishing and Francis Asbury Press. I can rest assure you that the preacher in that church is Wesleyan in name only. I’m afraid to say that I think the Christian and Missionary Alliance, Church of the Nazarene, Assemblies of God, and Church of God all fall into this category. They have all been so whitewashed with Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Church ideology, that I just do not trust them in general.

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Ernest S. Williams, Systematic Theology (Gospel Publishing House, 1953).

Charles Carter, ed. A Contemporary Wesleyan Theology (Zondervan, 1984).

Dr. Vic Reasoner, Fundamental Wesleyan Systematic Theology (FWP, 2021).

Dr. French Arrington, Christian Doctrine (Pathway Press, 1992).

David Anderson, Conditional Security (Schmul, 1985).

P. C. Nelson, Bible Doctrines (Gospel Publishing House, 1948), ch. 8.

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

Dr. Harald Lindström, Wesley and Sanctification (Zondervan, 1998).

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

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

John Wesley, Calvinism Calmly Considered (Schmul, 2001).

—. Wesleyana (Allegheny Publications, 1979).

Adam Clarke, Christian Theology (Schmul, 1990).

Dr. Jack Deere, Why I Am Still Surprised by the Power of the Spirit (Zondervan, 2020).

—. Why I Am Still Surprised by the Voice of God (Zondervan, 2022).

Daniel Corner, The Believer’s Conditional Security (Evangelical Outreach, 2000).

Robert Graves, ed. Strangers to Fire (Empowered Life, 2016).