WesleyGospel Ministries

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.

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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.”

Whereas, that non-denominational charismatic churches are operating in fourfold ministry: apostles, prophets, pastors, and teachers–but not fivefold ministry, which includes evangelists (Eph. 4:11).

Whereas, that Harry Potter pastors are even in the charismatic churches; and charismatic witchcraft / prophetic manipulation / control spirits are rampant within them (1 Sam. 15:23).

Whereas, that cheap grace antinomian views of salvation exist within these churches under the name of “sonship,” where only the doctrines of justification by faith alone and adoption are part of the gospel presentation, and Biblical holiness is consciously ignored (Jude 1:4). And that anyone who believes in lordship salvation has an “orphan spirit.”

Whereas, that coverings / covenant relationships / shepherding movement are all over those churches, where pastors “lord it over the flock” (1 Peter 5:3).

Whereas, that charismatic pastors are not willing to let two or three prophets speak and have their words judged, because they’re afraid of being controlled by them, all the while they continue to prophesy words to others (1 Cor. 14:29).

Whereas, that pastors tend to embrace the capitalistic idea of “competition,” with regard to other preachers, evangelists, teachers, pastors, and prophets; and get themselves isolated from other men of God, by putting themselves into a godless preacher competition, so that they have no real camaraderie with others (Philippians 2:3-4).

Whereas, that Wesleyan-holiness preaching and concentrated charismatic worship are essential for people to feel the manifest presence of God (James 4:8).

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MINISTRY RESOLUTIONS

1. Be it resolved, that God wills for non-denominational charismatic churches to operate in fivefold ministry, with special attention given to the role of the evangelist and Gospel preacher (Eph. 4:11).

2. Be it resolved, that Harry Potter and every form of occult entertainment and activity should be utterly rebuked as a real sin, as rebellion, and as the sin of witchcraft, just as much as charismatic witchcraft / prophetic manipulation / control spirits within charismatic and prophetic ministry (1 Sam. 15:23).

3. Be it resolved, that Harold Lindstrom’s Wesley and Sanctification, The Works of John Wesley, and Thomas C. Oden’s John Wesley’s Teachings, be at the center of my ministry message and response to God’s calling to preach (Mark 16:15).

4. Be it resolved, that once a church building is purchased by us, that I will study and review Richard Baxter’s The Reformed Pastor, Thomas C. Oden’s Pastoral Theology and Classical Pastoral Care Series (3 vols), and John MacArthur’s Pastoral Ministry. And that I will study to refute shepherding movement ideas by reading through S. David Moore’s The Shepherding Movement (1 Peter 5:3).

5. Be it resolved, that I not only teach but encourage two or three prophecies to come from church members every Sunday service (1 Cor. 14:29).

6. Be it resolved, that I will make it a point to preach against competition, especially against competition with other pastors. And instead I will encourage lay preachers, lay prophets, and lay evangelists to witness, preach the Gospel, and pull people into the church; and to fire them up and join them in their efforts, and develop camaraderie with them around that (Philippians 2:3-4).

7. Be it resolved, that I will make it a point to make John Wesley sermons and Charles Finney sermons the primary resources when preparing my Sunday sermons. And that I will annually teach a series on charismatic worship (James 4:8).

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Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers. –Ephesians 4:11

Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. –Mark 16:15

Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. –1 Samuel 15:23

Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being examples to the flock. –1 Peter 5:3

Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. –1 Corinthians 14:29

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. –Philippians 2:3-4

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. –James 4:8

LEARN FROM OTHERS’ MISTAKES:
NON-DENOMINATIONAL CHARISMATIC CHURCH ESSENTIALS

Matthew Green, ed. Understanding the Fivefold Ministry, esp chs. 12-17.

Harold Lindstrom, Wesley and Sanctification.

Harry Potter: Witchcraft Repackaged (2001).

S. David Moore, The Shepherding Movement.

Bill Hamon, Apostles, Prophets, and the Coming Moves of God.

—. Prophets and the Prophetic Movement.

—. Prophets and Personal Prophecy.

—. Prophets, Pitfalls and Principles.

R. Loren Sandford, Purifying the Prophetic.

Arthur Gish, Beyond the Rat Race. (against competition).

The Works of John Wesley. (esp. sermons).

Charles Finney, Lectures to Professing Christians, etc.

Don Williams, “Charismatic Worship,” Exploring the Worship Spectrum.

Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. –Romans 8:15 (KJV)

If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God. –Deuteronomy 8:19-20

Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into Hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. –Jesus in Luke 12:5

Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. –Philippians 2:12

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. –Proverbs 9:10

The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. –1 Timothy 4:1-2

We wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship. –Romans 8:23 (ADOPTION PROCESS).

Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. –Exodus 20:12

Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn “‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” –Jesus in Matthew 10:34-37

Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord…Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion. These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever. Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage. –Jude 1:3-4, 11-16

Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, “Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.” And Jacob noticed that Laban’s attitude toward him was not what it had been. Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”   –Genesis 31:1-3

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. –Colossians 3:1-10

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers. –Psalm 1:1

PREACHERS ARE CALLED “SERVANTS” OF THE LORD MANY TIMES

Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. –Acts 4:29

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God. –Romans 1:1

Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord. –Ephesians 6:21

Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ. –Colossians 1:7

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. –James 1:1

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ. –2 Peter 1:1

Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ. –Jude 1:1

The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John. –Revelation 1:1

The word “servant” is used for preachers many times in the New Testament: see here.

Sonship presents a truncated view of the Holy Spirit’s work in sanctification.

The Sonship course helpfully emphasizes that the believer is totally forgiven and righteous in God’s sight. A growth in the knowledge of God is accompanied by a growth in the knowledge of sin. Being holier equals feeling less holy. Good. So the gospel of Jesus Christ – his blood and righteousness as our only hope – becomes increasingly precious to us. That is certainly one dynamic in the Christian life. However, this is where Sonship seems to stop. Where is the daily battle with remaining sin? What about mortification by the power of the Spirit? What of self-examination? Van Dixhoorn says, “It is as if Sonship had never heard of section three in the same chapter of the Confession. The Westminster Divines go on to say that in this ‘war, although the remaining corruption, for a time, may much prevail; yet through the continual supply of strength from the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, the regenerate part doth overcome; and so, the saints grow in grace, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.’ That is far from clear in Sonship’s teaching.” —The Movement Called “Sonship” (Banner of Truth, 2000)

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John Wesley, “The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption.”

Thomas C. Oden, John Wesley’s Teachings, volume 2, p. 218.

Geoff Thomas, “The Movement Called ‘Sonship’” (Banner of Truth, 2000).

The Path of Truth, “False Teacher: Leif Hetland – Winning Souls with False Love.” (rf. Leif Hetland’s Healing the Orphan Spirit).

ChurchWatch Central, “Bethel Church Peddling New Breed Heresy (Part 1): Spirit of Sonship = Spirit of Adoption.”

I suspect that this “sonship” teaching might be linked up with the old Manifest Sons of God teaching (the little gods heresy) (Hank Hanegraaff’s Christianity in Crisis, ch. 9)…

To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Romans 4:5

1. How a sinner may be justified before God, the Lord and Judge of all, is a question of no common importance to every child of man. It contains the foundation of all our hope, inasmuch as while we are at enmity with God, there can be no true peace, no solid joy, either in time or in eternity. What peace can there be, while our own heart condemns us; and much more, He that is “greater than our heart, and knoweth all things?” What solid joy, either in this world or that to come, while “the wrath of God abideth on us?”

2. And yet how little hath this important question been understood! What confused notions have many had concerning it! Indeed, not only confused, but often utterly false; contrary to the truth, as light to darkness; notions absolutely inconsistent with the oracles of God, and with the whole analogy of faith. And hence, erring concerning the very foundation, they could not possibly build thereon; at least, not “gold, silver, or precious stones,” which would endure when tried as by fire; but only “hay and stubble,” neither acceptable to God, nor profitable to man.

3. In order to justice, in far as in me lies, to the vast importance of the subject, to save those that seek the truth in sincerity from “vain jangling and strife of words,” to clear the confusedness of thought into which so many have already been led thereby, and to give them true and just conceptions of this great mystery of godliness, I shall endeavour to show,

First. What is the general ground of this whole doctrine of justification.

Secondly. What justification is.

Thirdly. Who they are that are justified. And,

Fourthly. On what terms they are justified.

I.

I am, First, to show, what is the general ground of this whole doctrine of justification.

1. In the image of God was man made, holy as he that created him is holy; merciful as the Author of all is merciful; perfect as his Father in heaven is perfect. As God is love, so man, dwelling in love, dwelt in God, and God in him. God made him to be an “image of his own eternity,” an incorruptible picture of the God of glory. He was accordingly pure, as God is pure, from every spot of sin. He knew not evil in any kind or degree, but was inwardly and outwardly sinless and undefiled. He “loved the Lord his God with all his heart, and with all his mind, and soul, and strength.”

2. To man thus upright and perfect, God gave a perfect law, to which he required full and perfect obedience. He required full obedience in every point, and this to be performed without any intermission, from the moment man became a living soul, till the time of his trial should be ended. No allowance was made for any falling short: As, indeed, there was no need of any; man being altogether equal to the task assigned, and thoroughly furnished for every good word and work.

3. To the entire law of love which was written in his heart, (against which, perhaps, he could not sin directly,) it seemed good to the sovereign wisdom of God to superadd one positive law: “Thou shalt not eat of the fruit of the tree that groweth in the midst of the garden;” annexing that penalty thereto, “In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.”

4. Such, then, was the state of man in Paradise. By the free, unmerited love of God, he was holy and happy: He knew, loved, enjoyed God, which is, in substance, life everlasting. And in this life of love, he was to continue for ever, if he continued to obey God in all things; but, if he disobeyed him in any, he was to forfeit all. “In that day,” said God, “thou shalt surely die.”

5. Man did disobey God. He “ate of the tree, of which God commanded him, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it.” And in that day he was condemned by the righteous judgment of God. Then also the sentence whereof he was warned before, began to take place upon him. For the moment he tasted that fruit, he died. His soul died, was separated from God; separate from whom the soul has no more life than the body has when separate from the soul. His body, likewise, became corruptible and mortal; so that death then took hold on this also. And being already dead in spirit, dead to God, dead in sin, he hastened on to death everlasting; to the destruction both of body and soul, in the fire never to be quenched.

6. Thus “by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin. And so death passed upon all men,” as being contained in him who was the common father and representative of us all. Thus, “through the offence of one,” all are dead, dead to God, dead in sin, dwelling in a corruptible, mortal body, shortly to be dissolved, and under the sentence of death eternal. For as, “by one man’s disobedience,” all “were made sinners;” so, by that offence of one, “judgment came upon all men to condemnation.” (Romans v. 12, &c.)

7. In this state we were, even all mankind, when “God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, to the end we might not perish, but have everlasting life.” In the fullness of time he was made Man, another common Head of mankind, a second general Parent and Representative of the whole human race. And as such it was that “he bore our griefs,” “the Lord laying upon him the iniquities of us all.” Then was he “wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities.” “He made his soul an offering for sin:” He poured out his blood for the transgressors: He “bare our sins in his own body on the tree,” that by his stripes we might be healed: And by that one oblation of himself, once offered, he hath redeemed me and all mankind; having thereby “made a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world.”

8. In consideration of this, that the Son of God hath “tasted death for every man,” God hath now “reconciled the world to himself, not imputing to them their” former “trespasses.” And thus, “as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification.” So that, for the sake of his well-beloved Son, of what he hath done and suffered for us, God now vouchsafes, on one only condition, (which himself also enables us to perform,) both to remit the punishment due to our sins, to reinstate us in his favour, and to restore our dead souls to spiritual life, as the earnest of life eternal.

9. This, therefore, is the general ground of the whole doctrine of justification. By the sin of the first Adam, who was not only the father, but likewise the representative, of us all, we all fell short of the favour of God; we all became children of wrath; or, as the Apostle expresses it, “judgment came upon all men to condemnation.” Even so, by the sacrifice for sin made by the Second Adam, as the Representative of us all, God is so far reconciled to all the world, that he hath given them a new covenant; the plain condition whereof being once fulfilled, “there is no more condemnation” for us, but “we are justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ.”

II.

1. But what is it to be “justified?” What is “justification?” This was the Second thing which I proposed to show. And it is evident, from what has been already observed, that it is not the being made actually just and righteous. This is “sanctification;” which is, indeed, in some degree, the immediate fruit of justification, but, nevertheless, is a distinct gift of God, and of a totally different nature. The one implies what God does for us through his Son; the other, what he works in us by his Spirit. So that, although some rare instances may be found, wherein the term “justified” or “justification” is used in so wide a sense as to include “sanctification” also; yet, in general use, they are sufficiently distinguished from each other, both by St. Paul and the other inspired writers.

2. Neither is that far-fetched conceit, that justification is the clearing us from accusation, particularly that of Satan, easily provable from any clear text of holy writ. In the whole scriptural account of this matter, as above laid down, neither that accuser nor his accusation appears to be at all taken in. It can not indeed be denied, that he is the “accuser” of men, emphatically so called. But it does in nowise appear, that the great Apostle hath any reference to this, more or less, in all he hath written touching justification, either to the Romans or the Galatians.

3. It is also far easier to take for granted, than to prove from any clear scripture testimony, that justification is the clearing us from the accusation brought against us by the law: At least if this forced, unnatural way of speaking mean either more or less than this, that, whereas we have transgressed the law of God, and thereby deserved the damnation of hell, God does not inflict on those who are justified the punishment which they had deserved.

4. Least of all does justification imply, that God is deceived in those whom he justifies; that he thinks them to be what, in fact, they are not; that he accounts them to be otherwise than they are. It does by no means imply, that God judges concerning us contrary to the real nature of things; that he esteems us better than we really are, or believes us righteous when we are unrighteous. Surely no. The judgment of the all-wise God is always according to truth. Neither can it ever consist with his unerring wisdom, to think that I am innocent, to judge that I am righteous or holy, because another is so. He can no more, in this manner, confound me with Christ, than with David or Abraham. Let any man to whom God hath given understanding, weigh this without prejudice; and he cannot but perceive, that such a notion of justification is neither reconcilable to reason nor Scripture.

5. The plain scriptural notion of justification is pardon, the forgiveness of sins. It is that act of God the Father, hereby, for the sake of the propitiation made by the blood of his Son, he “showeth forth his righteousness (or mercy) by the remission of the sins that are past.” This is the easy, natural account of it given by St. Paul, throughout this whole epistle. So he explains it himself, more particularly in this and in the following chapter. Thus, in the next verses but one to the text, “Blessed are they,” saith he, “whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered: Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.” To him that is justified or forgiven, God “will not impute sin” to his condemnation. He will not condemn him on that account, either in this world or in that which is to come. His sins, all his past sins, in thought, word, and deed, are covered, are blotted out, shall not be remembered or mentioned against him, any more than if they had not been. God will not inflict on that sinner what he deserved to suffer, because the Son of his love hath suffered for him. And from the time we are “accepted through the Beloved,” “reconciled to God through his blood,” he loves, and blesses, and watches over us for good, even as if we had never sinned.

Indeed the Apostle in one place seems to extend the meaning of the word much farther, where he says, “Not the hearers of the law, but the doers of the law, shall be justified.” Here he appears to refer our justification to the sentence of the great day. And so our Lord himself unquestionably doth, when he says, “By thy words thou shalt be justified;” proving hereby, that “for every idle word men shall speak, they shall give an account in the day of judgment.” But perhaps we can hardly produce another instance of St. Paul’s using the word in that distant sense. In the general tenor of his writings, it is evident he doth not; and least of all in the text before us, which undeniably speaks, not of those who have already “finished their course,” but of those who are now just “setting out,” just beginning to “run the race which is set before them.”

III.

1. But this is the third thing which was to be considered, namely, Who are they that are justified? And the Apostle tells us expressly, the ungodly: “He (that is, God) justifieth the ungodly;” the ungodly of every kind and degree; and none but the ungodly. As “they that are righteous need no repentance,” so they need no forgiveness. It is only sinners that have any occasion for pardon: It is sin alone which admits of being forgiven. Forgiveness, therefore, has an immediate reference to sin, and, in this respect, to nothing else. It is our “unrighteousness” to which the pardoning God is “merciful:” It is our “iniquity” which he “remembereth no more.”

2. This seems not to be at all considered by those who so vehemently contend that a man must be sanctified, that is, holy, before he can be justified; especially by such of them as affirm, that universal holiness or obedience must precede justification. (Unless they mean that justification at the last day, which is wholly out of the present question.) So far from it, that the very supposition is not only flatly impossible, (for where there is no love of God, there is no holiness, and there is no love of God but from a sense of his loving us,) but also grossly, intrinsically absurd, contradictory to itself. For it is not a saint but a sinner that is forgiven, and under the notion of a sinner. God justifieth not the godly, but the ungodly; not those that are holy already, but the unholy. Upon what condition he doeth this, will be considered quickly: but whatever it is, it cannot be holiness. To assert this, is to say the Lamb of God takes away only those sins which were taken away before.

3. Does then the good Shepherd seek and save only those that are found already? No: He seeks and saves that which is lost. He pardons those who need his pardoning mercy. He saves from the guilt of sin, (and, at the same time, from the power,) sinners of every kind, of every degree: men who, till then, were altogether ungodly; in whom the love of the Father was not; and, consequently, in whom dwelt no good thing, no good or truly Christian temper, –but all such as were evil and abominable, –pride, anger, love of the world, –the genuine fruits of that “carnal mind” which is “enmity against God.”

4. These who are sick, the burden of whose sins is intolerable, are they that need a Physician; these who are guilty, who groan under the wrath of God, are they that need a pardon. These who are “condemned already,” not only by God, but also by their own conscience, as by a thousand witnesses, of all their ungodliness, both in thought, and word, and work, cry aloud for Him that “justifieth the ungodly,” through the redemption that is in Jesus; –the ungodly, and “him that worketh not;” that worketh not, before he is justified, anything that is good, that is truly virtuous or holy, but only evil continually. For his heart is necessarily, essentially evil, till the love of God is shed abroad therein. And while the tree is corrupt, so are the fruits; “for an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit.”

5. If it be objected, “Nay, but a man, before he is justified, may feed the hungry, or clothe the naked; and these are good works;” the answer is easy: He may do these, even before he is justified; and these are, in one sense, “good works;” they are “good and profitable to men.” But it does not follow, that they are, strictly speaking, good in themselves, or good in the sight of God. All truly “good works” (to use the words of our Church) “follow after justification;” and they are therefore good and “acceptable to God in Christ,” because they “spring out of a true and living faith.” By a parity of reason, all “works done before justification are not good,” in the Christian sense, “forasmuch as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ;” (though from some kind of faith in God they may spring;) “yea, rather, for that they are not done as God hath willed and commanded them to be done, we doubt not” (how strange soever it may appear to some) “but they have the nature of sin.”

6. Perhaps those who doubt of this have not duly considered the weighty reason which is here assigned, why no works done before justification can be truly and properly good. The argument plainly runs thus: —

No works are good, which are not done as God hath willed and commanded them to be done.

But no works done before justification are done as God hath willed and commanded them to be done:

Therefore, no works done before justification are good.

The first proposition is self-evident; and the second, that no works done before justification are done as God hath willed and commanded them to be done, will appear equally plain and undeniable, if we only consider, God hath willed and commanded that “all our works” should “be done in charity;” (en agape) in love, in that love to God which produces love to all mankind. But none of our works can be done in this love, while the love of the Father (of God as our Father) is not in us; and this love can not be in us till we receive the “Spirit of Adoption, crying in our hearts, Abba, Father.” If, therefore, God doth not “justify the ungodly,” and him that (in this sense) “worketh not,” then hath Christ died in vain; then, notwithstanding his death, can no flesh living be justified.

IV.

1. But on what terms, then, is he justified who is altogether “ungodly,” and till that time “worketh not?” On one alone; which is faith: He “believeth in Him that justifieth the ungodly.” And “he that believeth is not condemned;” yea, he is “passed from death unto life.” “For the righteousness (or mercy) of God is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: –Whom God hath set forth for a propitiation, through faith in his blood; that he might be just, and” (consistently with his justice) “the Justifier of him which believeth in Jesus:” “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law;” without previous obedience to the moral law, which, indeed, he could not, till now, perform. That it is the moral law, and that alone, which is here intended, appears evidently from the words that follow: “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: Yea, we establish the law. What law do we establish by faith? Not the ritual law: Not the ceremonial law of Moses. In nowise; but the great, unchangeable law of love, the holy love of God and of our neighbour.”

2. Faith in general is a divine, supernatural “elegchos,” “evidence” or “conviction,” “of things not seen,” not discoverable by our bodily senses, as being either past, future, or spiritual. Justifying faith implies, not only a divine evidence or conviction that “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself;” but a sure trust and confidence that Christ died for “my” sins, that he loved “me,” and gave himself for “me.” And at what time soever a sinner thus believes, be it in early childhood, in the strength of his years, or when he is old and hoary-haired, God justifieth that ungodly one: God, for the sake of his Son, pardoneth and absolveth him, who had in him, till then, no good thing. Repentance, indeed, God had given him before; but that repentance was neither more nor less than a deep sense of the want of all good, and the presence of all evil. And whatever good he hath, or doeth, from that hour when he first believes in God through Christ, faith does not “find,” but “bring.” This is the fruit of faith. First the tree is good, and then the fruit is good also.

3. I cannot describe the nature of this faith better than in the words of our own Church: “The only instrument of salvation” (whereof justification is one branch) “is faith; that is, a sure trust and confidence that God both hath and will forgive our sins, that he hath accepted us again into His favour, for the merits of Christ’s death and passion. –But here we must take heed that we do not halt with God, through an inconstant, wavering faith: Peter, coming to Christ upon the water, because he fainted in faith, was in danger of drowning; so we, if we begin to waver or doubt, it is to be feared that we shall sink as Peter did, not into the water, but into the bottomless pit of hell fire.” (“Second Sermon on the Passion”)

“Therefore, have a sure and constant faith, not only that the death of Christ is available for all the world, but that he hath made a full and sufficient sacrifice for “thee,” a perfect cleansing of “thy” sins, so that thou mayest say, with the Apostle, he loved “thee,” and gave himself for “thee.” For this is to make Christ “thine own,” and to apply his merits unto “thyself.” (“Sermon on the Sacrament, First Part”)

4. By affirming that this faith is the term or “condition of justification,” I mean, First, that there is no justification without it. “He that believeth not is condemned already;” and so long as he believeth not, that condemnation cannot be removed, but “the wrath of God abideth on him.” As “there is no other name given under heaven,” than that of Jesus of Nazareth, no other merit whereby a condemned sinner can ever be saved from the guilt of sin; so there is no other way of obtaining a share in his merit, than “by faith in his name.” So that as long as we are without this faith, we are “strangers to the covenant of promise,” we are “aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and without God in the world.” Whatsoever virtues (so called) a man may have, –I speak of those unto whom the gospel is preached; for “what have I to do to judge them that are without?” –whatsoever good works (so accounted) he may do, it profiteth not; he is still a “child of wrath,” still under the curse, till he believes in Jesus.

5. Faith, therefore, is the “necessary” condition of justification; yea, and the “only necessary” condition thereof. This is the Second point carefully to be observed; that, the very moment God giveth faith (for “it is the gift of God”) to the “ungodly” that “worketh not,” that “faith is counted to him for righteousness.” He hath no righteousness at all, antecedent to this, not so much as negative righteousness, or innocence. But “faith is imputed to him for righteousness,” the very moment that he believeth. Not that God (as was observed before) thinketh him to be what he is not. But as “he made Christ to be sin for us,” that is, treated him as a sinner, punishing him for our sins; so he counteth us righteous, from the time we believe in him: That is, he doth not punish us for our sins; yea, treats us as though we are guiltless and righteous.

6. Surely the difficulty of assenting to this proposition, that “faith is the “only condition” of justification,” must arise from not understanding it. We mean thereby thus much, that it is the only thing without which none is justified; the only thing that is immediately, indispensably, absolutely requisite in order to pardon. As, on the one hand, though a man should have every thing else without faith, yet he cannot be justified; so, on the other, though he be supposed to want everything else, yet if he hath faith, he cannot but be justified. For suppose a sinner of any kind or degree, in a full sense of his total ungodliness, of his utter inability to think, speak, or do good, and his absolute meetness for hell-fire; suppose, I say, this sinner, helpless and hopeless, casts himself wholly on the mercy of God in Christ, (which indeed he cannot do but by the grace of God,) who can doubt but he is forgiven in that moment? Who will affirm that any more is “indispensably required” before that sinner can be justified?

Now, if there ever was one such instance from the beginning of the world, (and have there not been, and are there not, ten thousand times ten thousand?) it plainly follows, that faith is, in the above sense, the sole condition of justification.

7. It does not become poor, guilty, sinful worms, who receive whatsoever blessings they enjoy, (from the least drop of water that cools our tongue, to the immense riches of glory in eternity,) of grace, of mere favour, and not of debt, to ask of God the reasons of his conduct. It is not meet for us to call Him in question “who giveth account to none of his ways;” to demand, “Why didst thou make faith the condition, the only condition, of justification? Wherefore didst thou decree, “He that believeth,” and he only, “shall be saved?” This is the very point on which St. Paul so strongly insists in the ninth chapter of this Epistle, viz., That the terms of pardon and acceptance must depend, not on us, but “on him that calleth us;” that there is no “unrighteousness with God,” in fixing his own terms, not according to ours, but his own good pleasure; who may justly say, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy;” namely, on him who believeth in Jesus. “So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,” to choose the condition on which he shall find acceptance; “but of God that showeth mercy;” that accepteth none at all, but of his own free love, his unmerited goodness. “Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy,” viz., on those who believe on the Son of his love; “and whom he will,” that is, those who believe not, “he hardeneth,” leaves at last to the hardness of their hearts.

8. One reason, however, we may humbly conceive, of God’s fixing this condition of justification, “If thou believest in the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt be saved,” was to “hide pride from man.” Pride had already destroyed the very angels of God, had cast down “a third part of the stars of heaven.” It was likewise in great measure owing to this, when the tempter said, “Ye shall be as gods,” that Adam fell from his own steadfastness, and brought sin and death into the world. It was therefore an instance of wisdom worthy of God, to appoint such a condition of reconciliation for him and all his posterity as might effectually humble, might abase them to the dust. And such is faith. It is peculiarly fitted for this end: For he that cometh unto God by this faith, must fix his eye singly on his own wickedness, on his guilt and helplessness, without having the least regard to any supposed good in himself, to any virtue or righteousness whatsoever. He must come as a “mere sinner,” inwardly and outwardly, self-destroyed and self-condemned, bringing nothing to God but ungodliness only, pleading nothing of his own but sin and misery. Thus it is, and thus alone, when his “mouth is stopped,” and he stands utterly “guilty before” God, that he can “look unto Jesus,” as the whole and sole “Propitiation for his sins.” Thus only can he be “found in him,” and receive the “righteousness which is of God by faith.”

9. Thou ungodly one, who hearest or readest these words! thou vile, helpless, miserable sinner! I charge thee before God, the Judge of all, go straight unto him, with all thy ungodliness. Take heed thou destroy not thy own soul by pleading thy righteousness, more or less. Go as altogether ungodly, guilty, lost, destroyed, deserving and dropping into hell; and thou shalt then find favour in his sight, and know that he justifieth the ungodly. As such thou shalt be brought unto the “blood of sprinkling,” as an undone, helpless, damned sinner. Thus “look unto Jesus!” There is “the Lamb of God,” who “taketh away thy sins!” Plead thou no works, no righteousness of thine own! No humility, contrition, sincerity! In nowise. That were, in very deed, to deny the Lord that bought thee. No: Plead thou, singly, the blood of the covenant, the ransom paid for thy proud, stubborn, sinful soul. Who art thou, that now seest and feelest both thine inward and outward ungodliness? Thou art the man! I want thee for my Lord! I challenge “thee” for a child of God by faith! The Lord hath need of thee. Thou who feelest thou art just fit for hell, art just fit to advance his glory; the glory of his free grace, justifying the ungodly and him that worketh not. O come quickly! Believe in the Lord Jesus; and thou, even thou, art reconciled to God.