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
  816, (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 Godan 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
  believers 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 ones
  salvation.

22
Doctrine of Assurance

• Wesley also insisted that the testimony of Gods
  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 obeyingat all pointsthe 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 Wesleys 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 Wesleys 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.