In What Sense All True Believers are Saints

QUESTION: Wesley ends Sermon 29 thus: "Now unto God the Father, who hath made me and all the world; unto God the Son, who hath redeemed me and all mankind; unto God the Holy Ghost, who sanctifieth me and all the elect people of God; be honour and praise, majesty, and dominion, for ever and ever! Amen." Does not Wesley here profess sanctification?

ANSWER: Yes, but not entire sanctification. He insisted that the new birth is the beginning of holiness and that all true believers are saints or holy ones. He here classifies himself with "all the elect of God," a phrase including all the regenerate who "being children are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ."

Wesley strongly opposed the error of Count Zinzendorf, that all believers are wholly sanctified when they are regenerated. Wesley is in accord with 1 Peter 1:1-6 where those whom "God begat again" are the elect according to the foreknowledge of God (that they would comply with the conditions of salvation) in sanctification of the Spirit.

— Steele's Answers p. 26.

Bishop Mallalieu Recommends "Wesley on Perfection"

Bishop Willard F. Mallalieu (1828-1911) gives a ringing endorsement to Wesley on Perfection compiled by J. A. Wood.

"It is with the greatest satisfaction that I give my approval to the present compilation of all that Wesley has taught concerning the all-important subject of Christian perfection. Surely there never, as now, was a time when the followers of Christ, of every name, and when, especially, all Methodists, should give their attention to the study of the scope and glorious nature of their privileges in this present dispensation of the Holy Ghost. We seem to stand on advanced ground, and such doors of opportunity are opened to the people of God, as never before in all the centuries of the past. All appliances, all facilities, are ours, and may be sanctified and utilized for the salvation of the world. But the great imperative, now is, that the professing disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ should rise up out of the ordinary and usual experience of vacillation, of backsliding, yes, of justification and regeneration, and leaving all that is past, as Paul exhorts should be done, commence "to go on unto perfection," commence "to expect to be made perfect in love in this life," commence "to earnestly strive after it," and if need be, strive with groanings, and tears, and self-abasement, and agonizing supplications, until the experience of perfect love is realized, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost fills every heart with zeal, and crowns every head with lambent flames and makes every tongue eloquent in testifying to the grace of God that saves to the uttermost. Surely it will help to the realization of these most desirable results, if once more we turn to the study of Wesley and the Word of God."


This book — properly titled Christian Perfection as Taught by John Wesley — may be viewed in its entirety here: Wesley on Perfection. The book is a compendium of Wesley's teaching on the subject, and includes the entire text of A Plain Account of Christian Perfection.
 

J. A. Wood Discusses "Wesley on Perfection"

This is a special necro-interview with John Allen Wood (1828-1905) discussing his book WESLEY ON PERFECTION.

Rev. Wood, you are well known in holiness circles as the author of Purity and Maturity and Perfect Love, but also for your leadership in the National Holiness Association. What are your intentions for your book Wesley on Perfection?

The correct title of the volume in question is Christian Perfection as Taught by John Wesley. 

Oh. Yes. I see. It is. But, as I say, what are you trying to accomplish with this book?

In this book Mr. Wesley is made to speak for himself on the subject of Christian Perfection; as, in its preparation, all that he left on the subject, in his various works and elsewhere, has been carefully examined, and everything of any special interest, or at all pertinent to the doctrine and experience, has been collected and classified in thirty sections; and each quotation verified for examination, if desired. In this classified, convenient form, may be found substantially all of his teachings, respecting this the central doctrine of Christianity. 

Why do you think this should be of especial interest to all Christians?

 During more than a century, John Wesley has been growing in the esteem of mankind, until now, among all Christians — Episcopalians, Dissenters, and Protestants of all names, — he is regarded as one of the most remarkable religious reformers in modern times.

Do you think this book will help people to better understand what Wesley actually taught?

Those who desire to know his views on any aspect of the subject of Christian Perfection can turn to this volume, and at once find all that is now available from him regarding it.

So, would you recommend it to anyone who is interested? 

Within these pages are garnered many precious truths for the edification of those interested in Scriptural holiness as taught by John Wesley. 


Thank you, Rev. Wood, for coming back from the dead (so to speak) to talk with us today. 

Wood's book — properly titled Christian Perfection as Taught by John Wesley — may be viewed in its entirety here: Wesley on Perfection. The book is a compendium of Wesley's teaching on the subject, and includes the entire text of A Plain Account of Christian Perfection.

— Craig L. Adams

The Unpardonable Sin

QUESTION: Explain the unpardonable sin as taught in Matthew 12:31-32, Mark 3:28-30 ("guilty of an eternal sin," R.V.), Hebrews 6:4-6, 10:28-29, and 1 John 5:16-17 ("sin unto death" we need not pray for).

ANSWER: This is too large a question for our single column. It is not a single, isolated, wicked act, but the culmination of a series of deliberate acts of known sin, the outcome of a willful rejection of light and a defiant resistance of the Holy Spirit's pleadings and warnings, till the capacity for repentance and saving faith has been destroyed. God does not close the door of salvation, but the impenitent man himself locks the door and throws away the key in his hatred of "recognized eternal holiness," saying, "evil be thou my good." A doctor finds a cure for the plague, a second physician prepares it, and a third applies it. While it would not necessarily be fatal to neglect or even offend the first two, it would be certain destruction to be plague-smitten to neglect the third persistently by refusing to take the medicine. This illustrates why sinning against the Holy Spirit is more dreadful than sinning against the Father or the Son.

— Steele's Answers pp. 25, 26.

The Growth of the Child Jesus

QUESTION: Explain Luke 2:40: "And the child grew, and waxed strong, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon him."

ANSWER: Jesus had a normal bodily and mental  growth. He learned from his mother and Joseph to speak Aramaic, his mother tongue. The rabbi taught him to read Hebrew, then a dead language. His knowledge of the Holy Scriptures came from hearing them read every sabbath in the synagogue. Dr. Stalker suggests that through the kindness of the sacristan, or sexton, this model boy whom everybody admired had access on week days to the sacred scrolls kept in the synagogue and that he diligently studied them. But at twelve his knowledge that God, not Joseph, was his Father, was a supernatural, spiritual intuition. Such intuitions continued to unfold as long as he lived on the earth.

— Steele's Answers pp. 24, 25.

Rules for Preaching

In these days when we have voluminous and almost encyclopedic treatises on Homiletics, our younger preachers may overlook the brief disciplinary statement of the best method of preaching:

‘1. To convince; 

2. To offer to Christ; 

3. To invite; 

4. To build up. 

And to do this in some measure in every sermon.’ 

Those who keep these rules in mind will find them helpful in resisting the temptation to subordinate the pulpit to such selfish ends as the display of literary culture, classical erudition, or oratorical abilities. In the last analysis self and Christ are the only themes of preaching.

— Daniel Steele, A Defense of Christian Perfection (1896), Chapter 33.

An Utterance Uninspired

QUESTION: Explain Ecclesiastes 3:19-21: "For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them; as one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; and man hath no pre-eminence above the beasts; for all is vanity. All go into one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knoweth the spirit of man, whether it goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast, whether it goeth downward to the earth?"

ANSWER: The whole Bible is inspired in its record, and some parts are inspired in their utterances; for instance, all that Job said, while nearly half the book of Job is the record of his so-called comforters who "did not speak the thing that is right," and, of course, were not inspired in their utterance. But for the benefit of the world God wished the whole discussion be put on record. The entire book of Ecclesiastes contains very little Gospel, but much pessimism, yet it is valuable as showing what human reason can do without divine revelation. It puts man on a level with the beasts. Says Prof. Moulton, in his wonderfully illuminating book, "The Modern Reader's Bible," respecting the authorship of Ecclesiastes, "its local and historic color, position in literary development, minutæ of language, fix the date of a book as clearly as handwriting betrays the age of a manuscript, all point to a period of writing centuries later than Solomon." He and many others think that some centuries afterwards some writer personating Solomon (as Plato speaks in the name of Socrates), "as the one personage who united the supreme forms of wealth, of wisdom and of power," affording the most striking contrast with the despair of a broken-hearted debauchee whom he is portraying after the style of a dramatist. Says Moulton, "Every second sentence is a literary puzzle." This is a poor place to find convincing proof texts in support of any theological dogma. Believing as I do that the Bible contains the infallible directory to eternal life, I must pronounce every declaration denying immortality an utterance uninspired.

— Steele's Answers pp. 23, 24.

The Gospel as Preached by John Wesley

Guest blog from Methodist Bishop W. F. Mallalieu (1828-1911)

 

The Gospel as preached by Wesley and those who imitate him, appeals with peculiar force to the intelligent common-sense of all unconverted men. All such men feel that under the circumstances and conditions of human life, it was incumbent upon God to make salvation possible to every soul. It has been the mission of Methodism to destroy the unreasonable and illogical and unscriptural dogmas of Calvinistic fatalism, and show how God could be just and yet the justifier of every believing soul that in real penitence accepts the Lord Jesus Christ; and, also, how God can save all infants and irresponsible persons, and how in every nation all who fear God and work righteousness, though they have never heard the Gospel, are accepted by Him. These fundamental truths as set forth by John Wesley, have never failed to commend themselves to the favorable consideration of all unprejudiced minds, for they at once glorify the Divine justice and compassion, and throw wide open the door of hope to every soul. But Wesley was thorough and exhaustive in his treatment of whatever was the subject of his investigations. For many long and weary years he groped in the thick darkness of the times in which he lived, seeking for the simplest experience of salvation. He abounded in all manner of self-denials and self-sacrifices; his morality was [of] the most exalted character; he was diligent in prayer and in the study of God's word; he was most strict in all the outward forms and services of religion; but until he reached his thirty-fifth year he had not attained the consciousness of pardon in his own soul; he could not testify that God for Christ's sake had forgiven him his sins. From that auspicious and ever-memorable, as well as glorious hour, when, listening to the reading of Luther's Preface to the Epistle to the Romans, he felt his heart strangely warmed with the love of God, and knew himself to be a pardoned sinner, he went straight forward as the Spirit of God directed his steps, till he came to the experience of perfect love in his own soul.

— from the Introduction to Christian Perfection as Taught by John Wesley complied by J. A. Wood.

 

 

Also found here: Why I Still Find Wesleyan Theology Interesting.

 

Carnal Christians

QUESTION: Harmonize Romans 7:14, "I am carnal, sold under sin," with 1 Corinthians 3:1, "And I, brethren, could not speak to you as spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto babes in Christ."

ANSWER: Paul uses σάρξ (sarx), flesh, with four meanings, three of them in a good sense (1 Corinthians 15:39, Galatians 4:14, Galatians 2:16), and one in a bad sense, as in Romans 8:8, and generally in his epistles. But derivative adjective σαρκικός (sarkikos) and σάρκινος (sarkinos), carnal, is always used in a bad sense.

But Paul evidently uses it to express different degrees of evil tendency, the highest degree as in Romans 7, excluding spiritual life, "I am carnal, sold under sin," like a slave on the auction block bidden off, and completely controlled by sin. But in 1 Corinthians 3:1 the evil tendency is not controlling but controlled by divine grace, for the context proves that there is in them a low degree of spiritual life, for they are "in Christ," though "babes," and they are addressed as "Brethren." In the preceding chapter Paul describes two contrasted characters — the spiritual man and the natural of physical man. But when he attempts to classify the Corinthian believers he is puzzled. Strictly speaking, they are neither natural or unregenerate, nor spiritual or wholly sanctified; so he calls them carnal, evidently using the word not in its worst sense, excluding spiritual life. They were in the Galatian state in which "the flesh lusteth against the spirit," etc., Galatians 5:17, R.V. In Romans 7 the Holy Spirit is not named and the character delineated is an unregenerated person. The struggle is on the plane of nature. The combatants are the depraved animal nature warring against the moral reason. In the Galatian or Corinthian state they are not dead but on the way to the graveyard. "Having begun in the Spirit they are ending in the flesh."

— Steele's Answers pp. 21-23.

Does God Create Evil?

QUESTION: Explain Isaiah 45:7: "I make peace and create evil." Does God create evil?

ANSWER: Yes. Evil has two meanings, sin which is moral evil, and suffering which is natural evil in consequence of sin. This sequence of suffering God has ordained. It comes to many who are not guilty, such as infants suffering and dying, and the wives and children of men who have the alcoholic or opium habit. In fact, we all suffer because of Adam's sin.

Isaiah is asserting the unity of God in opposition to the Persian dualism, Shirman, the evil Being equal in years and in power with Ormuzd, the good Being, and worshiped just as all pagans worship the devil. Isaiah insists that God is not co-ordinate with the devil, but the Supreme Creator and Ruler.

— From Steele's Answers p. 21.