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.
–Romans 8:3 (KJV)–

WALK IN THE SPIRIT,
and ye shall not fulfil THE LUST OF THE FLESH.
–Galatians 5:16 (KJV)–

ABSTAIN FROM FLESHLY LUSTS,
which war against the soul.
–1 Peter 2:11 (KJV)–

I CHASTISE MY BODY, and bring it into subjection:
lest perhaps, when I have preached to others,
I myself should become a castaway.
–1 Corinthians 9:27 (Douay-Rheims)–

—

Every man knows that the sinner,
out of sympathy with God,
must be changed before
he can enjoy God’s presence and love.
Every man, unchanged by God’s grace,
knows himself to be a sinner
and not holy by nature.
–Charles Finney, “On Following Christ”–

—

Original sin standeth not in the following of Adam (as the Pelagians do vainly talk), but it is the corruption of the nature of every man, that naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam, whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and of his own nature inclined to evil, and that continually.
–The Articles of Religion,
VII. “Of Original or Birth Sin”–

—

A life worn out by endless reflections
Has shattered every single last hope of rising again
Has defied Your advise and counseling

The sinful nature causes a weak discipline
And drags me to the human frailtie’s grave

Self inflicted wounds
Innumerable false steps
Unforgivable mistakes repeated to a frightening degree
Gradually growing conscious of the habit-forming addiction
Through me all actions fail

The human weaknesses
Are once again at force
In unrecognizable shapes
New structures each time
Fragile symptoms constantly show new characteristic sides

I myself am weak, am nothing
Uncontrolled line of thought colors my manners
I know there is more to reach for
I know where strength is found
The overflowing, everlasting source
With You my maker

With You by my side
The safely directly journey
In me, around me, Your presence
Enriches, creates, gives life
You offer completeness
You are hope

–Extol, “Human Frailtie’s Grave”–

—

John Wesley, The Doctrine of Original Sin (Bristol, 1757).

Dr. Thomas C. Oden, John Wesley’s Scriptural Christianity (Zondervan, 1994), p. 155.