Wesleyan Theology

1. Wesleyan Theology Part Three: New Birth and Assurance

2. The Holy Spirit • The Doctrine of Holy Spirit of the Church Fathers accepted by Wesley. • Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. • Hence, the Spirit is of the same substance as the Father and Son.

3. The Holy Spirit • As the dynamic, ongoing Divine presence in the world, the Holy Spirit is that which conveys Prevenient Grace to the sinner.

4. The Holy Spirit • Holy Spirit may act within the world through miracles and preaching to manifest an awareness of the condition of sin. • This dimension of the Holy Spirit, however not a major emphasis of Wesley.

5. The Holy Spirit • Wesley more concerned with the work of the Holy Spirit in believers. • The Holy Spirit works to help the believer receive Christ as one would receive a loved family member into their lives.

6. The Holy Spirit • All claims of knowledge of God through the Holy Spirit, however, must be tested against Scripture and Tradition, according to Wesley. • Wesley tended to distrust persons who laid claim to direct guidance by the Holy Spirit.

7. The Holy Spirit • “I have declared again and again that I make the Word of God the rule of my actions, and that I no more follow any secret [or invisible] impulse instead thereof that I follow Mahomet [Mohammad] or Confucius.” • Letters, II, p. 205

8. The Holy Spirit • “How many have mistaken the voice of their own imagination for this witness of the Spirit of God, and thence idly presumed they were children of God, while they were doing the work of the devil! These are truly and properly enthusiasts.” • The Witness of the Spirit (I), based on Romans 8:16, (1872 edition)

9. Justification and New Birth • At the point of Justification, the believer experiences New Birth. • Justification considered a change in the believer's relationship with God—an external change from Faith of a Servant for a Master to Faith of an Offspring for a Parent • New Birth (Conversion) considered an internal transformation from sinner to saint. One is restored to the Image of God.

10. Justification and New Birth • In this sense, Wesley considered Justification the “objective” work of the Holy Spirit, since it brought about a change in relationship between God and the believer.

11. Justification and New Birth • New Birth (Conversion), however, was considered the “first fruits” of Justification. • This internal change from “sinner” to “saint” marks the beginning of Sanctification (being transformed into the total likeness of Christ)

12. New Birth (Conversion) • Wesley maintained that conversion could be either instantaneous (as believed by the Moravian Peter Bohler) or gradual. • Like the actual birth of an infant, conversion brings about real change within the believer.

13. New Birth (Conversion) • The “eyes” of understanding open • The “ears” hear the voice of God say, “Be of good cheer; thy sins are forgiven. Go and sin no more” • The heart feels the presence of the Holy Spirit. • One takes their “first breath” of God upon the soul and returns the breath to God (spiritual respiration) • One takes their “first step” toward becoming the mind that was in Christ Jesus

14. Doctrine of Assurance • Assurance, from a Wesleyan perspective, refers to the doubtless knowledge that God has forgiven ones sins and reconciliation (justification) has, indeed, occurred.

15. Doctrine of Assurance • “. . . I want that faith which none can have without knowing that he [sic] hath it (though many may imagine they have it who have not). . . . He is freed from doubt. . .” • Journal, I, p. 424

16. Doctrine of Assurance • “Indeed it is the same Spirit who works in them that clear and cheerful confidence that their heart is upright toward God; that good assurance, that they now do, through his grace, the things which are acceptable in his sight; that they are now in the path which leadeth to life, and shall, by the mercy of God, endure therein to the end.

17. Doctrine of Assurance • “It is He who giveth them a lively expectation of receiving all good things at God's hand; a joyous prospect of that crown of glory, which is reserved in heaven for them. By this anchor a Christian is kept steady in the midst of the waves of this troublesome world, and preserved from striking upon either of those fatal rocks, -- presumption or despair.” • Circumcision of the Heart, pt. 9 (1872 edition)

18. Doctrine of Assurance • Wesley understood assurance as a gift given by the Holy Spirit on the sole basis of the believer’s truth in the merits of Christ.

19. Doctrine of Assurance • But assurance is more than mere emotional sentimentalism! • Wesley assumed assurance emerged as a conviction that God works through the Holy Spirit to forgive the believer. • There may not always be the “feeling” of divine forgiveness but the conviction that one is forgiven is mandatory.

20. Doctrine of Assurance • Neither “right” feelings nor “right” actions can be seen as necessary for Justification. • One does not earn salvation because one either “feels” right with God or performs moral works in the world.

21. Doctrine of Assurance • While the new relationship (Justification) can bring about good works and holiness, these are simply “fruits” and not the source of one’s salvation.

22. Doctrine of Assurance • Wesley also insisted that the testimony of God’s Spirit be antecedent (that is, occur before) individual feelings. • Feelings cannot be the “test” for Assurance.

23. Doctrine of Assurance • Further, Wesley thought “objective” (visible) marks of true assurance: • Repentance of sin • Awareness of a mighty change • Fruits of the Spirit (lowliness, meekness, patience, gentleness, long-suffering) • Newness of outward life (as a new lover of God); the joy in obeying—at all points—the commands of the loving Divine Parent

24. Doctrine of Assurance • But problems could easily emerge with such an “objective” test: • A willingness to judge others by such measures while unwilling to judge oneself • Emerging despair in those sinners who did not “feel” they ever measure up to the rigors of the test

25. Doctrine of Assurance • In latter years, Wesley decides that Assurance is NOT necessary for salvation. Instead, assurance should be understood as a great “gift” to the believer (since it gives the believer the “freedom of a child.”)

26. New Birth: Sin or No Sin? • Early in Wesley’s theological development, he maintained that new birth (conversion) brought freedom from all sin. • Later understood, however, that sin continues in believers.

27. Baptism as New Birth • Based on Wesley’s sermons, it is obvious that he believed baptism to be a form of new birth (conversion) by which God begins the work of regeneration. • Through baptism God can enter the life of the believer and bring about newness of life. • Yet, baptism not “necessary” for salvation (lest all Quakers be damned). Only “Trust in Christ” necessary for salvation.

28. Wesley and Baptism • While Wesley believed in the freedom of God to work in unlimited ways, he also believed that God operated through established, historical means (such as baptism).

29. Wesley and Baptism • Supported infant baptism as scriptural • Supported three modes of baptism (immersion, sprinkling and pouring) as scriptural. • Baptism begins the process by which God can regenerate the heart of the beleiver.

30. Wesley and Baptism • Yet one must consciously accept the regenerative effect of new birth through baptism for God to work through this means. • In this sense, only one baptism necessary for the remission of sins.