This is a wonderful Biblical sermon preached by John Wesley showing
what the Bible teaches about salvation by faith. The teachings within
are just as relevent today as they were in the 18th century for the
source, the Holy Scriptures, are timeless.
May God bless,
Carl
website -- http://www.nettally.com/saints/
blog -- http://www.anniemayhem.com/cgi-bin/wordpress/
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SALVATION BY FAITH
a sermon by John Wesley
Preached at St. Mary's, Oxford, before the University, on June 18,
1738.
"By grace are ye saved through faith." Eph. 2:8.
1. All the blessings which God hath bestowed upon man are of his mere
grace, bounty, or favour; his free, undeserved favour; favour
altogether undeserved; man having no claim to the least of his
mercies. It was free grace that "formed man of the dust of the ground,
and breathed into him a living soul," and stamped on that soul the
image of God, and "put all things under his feet." The same free grace
continues to us, at this day, life, and breath, and all things. For
there is nothing we are, or have, or do, which can deserve the least
thing at God's hand. "All our works, Thou, O God, hast wrought in us."
These, therefore, are so many more instances of free mercy: and
whatever righteousness may be found in man, this is also the gift of
God.
2. Wherewithal then shall a sinful man atone for any the least of his
sins? With his own works? No. Were they ever so many or holy, they are
not his own, but God's. But indeed they are all unholy and sinful
themselves, so that every one of them needs a fresh atonement. Only
corrupt fruit grows on a corrupt tree. And his heart is altogether
corrupt and abominable; being "come short of the glory of God," the
glorious righteousness at first impressed on his soul, after the image
of his great Creator. Therefore, having nothing, neither righteousness
nor works, to plead, his mouth is utterly stopped before God.
3. If then sinful men find favour with God, it is "grace upon grace!"
If God vouchsafe still to pour fresh blessings upon us, yea, the
greatest of all blessings, salvation; what can we say to these things,
but, "Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift!" And thus it is.
herein "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet
sinners, Christ died" to save us "By grace" then "are ye saved through
faith." Grace is the source, faith the condition, of salvation.
Now, that we fall not short of the grace of God, it concerns us
carefully to inquire, --
I. What faith it is through which we are saved.
II. What is the salvation which is through faith.
III. How we may answer some objections.
I. WHAT FAITH IT IS THROUGH WHICH WE ARE SAVED.
1. And, first, it is not barely the faith of a heathen. Now, God
requireth of a heathen to believe, "that God is; that he is a rewarder
of them that diligently seek him;" and that he is to be sought by
glorifying him as God, by giving him thanks for all things, and by a
careful practice of moral virtue, of justice, mercy, and truth, toward
their fellow
creatures. A Greek or Roman, therefore, yea, a Scythian or Indian, was
without excuse if he did not believe thus much: the being and
attributes of God, a future state of reward and punishment, and the
obligatory nature of moral virtue. For this is barely the faith of a
heathen.
2. Nor, secondly, is it the faith of a devil, though this goes much
farther than that of a heathen. For the devil believes, not only that
there is a wise and powerful God, gracious to reward, and just to
punish; but also, that Jesus is the Son of God, the Christ, the
Saviour of the world. So we find him declaring, in express terms, "I
know Thee who Thou art; the Holy One of God" (Luke 4:34). Nor can we
doubt but that unhappy spirit believes all those words which came out
of the mouth of the Holy One, yea, and whatsoever else was written by
those holy men of old, of two of whom he was compelled to give that
glorious testimony, "These men are the servants of the most high God,
who show unto you the way of salvation." Thus much, then, the great
enemy of God and man believes, and trembles in believing, --that God
was made manifest in the flesh; that he will "tread all enemies under
his feet;" and that "all Scripture was given by inspiration of God."
Thus far goeth the faith of a devil.
3. Thirdly. The faith through which we are saved, in that sense of the
word which will hereafter be explained, is not barely that which the
Apostles themselves had while Christ was yet upon earth; though they
so believed on him as to "leave all and follow him;" although they had
then power to work miracles, to "heal all manner of sickness, and all
manner of disease;" yea, they had then "power and authority over all
devils;" and, which is beyond all this, were sent by their Master to
"preach the kingdom of God."
4. What faith is it then through which we are saved? It may be
answered, first, in general, it is a faith in Christ: Christ, and God
through Christ, are the proper objects of it. herein, therefore, it is
sufficiently, absolutely distinguished from the faith either of
ancient or modern heathens. And from the faith of a devil it is fully
distinguished by this: it is not barely a speculative, rational thing,
a cold, lifeless assent, a train of ideas in the head; but also a
disposition of the heart. For thus saith the Scripture, "With the
heart man believeth unto
righteousness;" and, "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from
the dead, thou shalt be saved."
5. And herein does it differ from that faith which the Apostles
themselves had while our Lord was on earth, that it acknowledges the
necessity and merit of his death, and the power of his resurrection.
It acknowledges his death as the only sufficient means of redeeming
man from death eternal, and his resurrection as the restoration of us
all to life and immortality; inasmuch as he "was delivered for our
sins, and rose again for our justification." Christian faith is then,
not only an assent to the whole gospel of Christ, but also a full
reliance on the blood of
Christ; a trust in the merits of his life, death, and resurrection; a
recumbency upon him as our atonement and our life, as given for us,
and living in us; and, in consequence hereof, a closing with him, and
cleaving to him, as our "wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and
redemption," or, in one word, our salvation.
II. WHAT SALVATION IT IS, WHICH IS THROUGH THIS FAITH, IS THE SECOND
THING TO BE CONSIDERED.
1. And, First, whatsoever else it imply, it is a present salvation. It
is something attainable, yea, actually attained, on earth, by those
who are partakers of this faith. For thus saith the Apostle to the
believers at Ephesus, and in them to the believers of all ages, not,
_Ye shall be_ (though that also is true), but, "_Ye are saved through
faith_."
2. _Ye are saved_ (to comprise all in one word) from sin. This is the
salvation which is through faith. This is that great salvation
foretold by the angel, before God brought his First-begotten into the
world: "Thou shalt call his name Jesus; for he shall save his people
from their sins." And neither here, nor in other parts of holy writ,
is there any limitation or restriction. All his people, or, as it is
elsewhere expressed, "all that believe in him," he will save from all
their sins; from original and actual, past and present sin, "of the
flesh and of the spirit." Through faith that is in him, they are saved
both from the guilt and from the power of it.
3. First. From the guilt of all past sin: for, whereas all the world
is guilty before God, insomuch that should he "be extreme to mark what
is done amiss, there is none that could abide it;" and whereas, "by
the law is" only "the knowledge of sin," but no deliverance from it,
so that, "by" fulfilling "the deeds of the law, no flesh can be
justified in his sight": now, "the righteousness of God, which is by
faith of Jesus Christ, is manifested unto all that believe." Now,
"they are justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that
is in Jesus Christ." "Him God hath set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for (or by)
the remission of the sins that are past." Now hath Christ taken away
"the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." he hath "blotted
out the handwriting that was against us, taking it out of the way,
nailing it to his cross." "There is therefore no condemnation now to
them which" believe "in Christ Jesus."
4. And being saved from guilt, they are saved from fear. Not indeed
from a filial fear of offending; but from all servile fear; from that
fear which hath torment; from fear of punishment; from fear of the
wrath of God, whom they now no longer regard as a severe Master, but
as an indulgent Father. "They have not received again the spirit of
bondage, but the Spirit of adoption, whereby they cry, Abba, Father:
the Spirit itself also bearing witness with their spirits, that they
are the children of God." They are also saved from the fear, though
not from the possibility, of falling away from the grace of God, and
coming short of the great and precious promises. Thus have they "peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. They rejoice in hope of the
glory of God. And the love of God is shed abroad in their hearts,
through the Holy Ghost, which is given unto them." And hereby they are
persuaded (though perhaps not at all times, nor with the same fullness
of persuasion), that "neither death, nor life, nor things present, nor
things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall
be able to separate them from the love of God, which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord."
5. Again: through this faith they are saved from the power of sin, as
well as from the guilt of it. So the Apostle declares, "Ye know that
he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.
Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not" (1 John 3:5ff.). Again, "Little
children, let no man deceive you. he that committeth sin is of the
devil. Whosoever believeth is born of God. And whosoever is born of
God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot
sin, because he is born of God." Once more: "We know that whosoever is
born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth
himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not" (1 John 5:18).
6. he that is, by faith, born of God sinneth not (1.) by any habitual
sin; for all habitual sin is sin reigning: But sin cannot reign in any
that believeth. Nor (2.) by any wilful sin: for his will, while he
abideth in the faith, is utterly set against all sin, and abhorreth it
as deadly poison. Nor (3.) By any sinful desire; for he continually
desireth the
holy and perfect will of God. and any tendency to an unholy desire, he
by the grace of God, stifleth in the birth. Nor (4.) Doth he sin by
infirmities, whether in act, word, or thought; for his infirmities
have no concurrence of his will; and without this they are not
properly sins. Thus, "he that is born of God doth not commit sin": and
though he cannot say he hath not sinned, yet now "he sinneth not."
7. This then is the salvation which is through faith, even in the
present world: a salvation from sin, and the consequences of sin, both
often expressed in the word _justification_; which, taken in the
largest sense, implies a deliverance from guilt and punishment, by the
atonement of Christ actually applied to the soul of the sinner now
believing on him, and a deliverance from the power of sin, through
Christ _formed in his heart_. So that he who is thus justified, or
saved by faith, is indeed _born again_. he is _born again of the
Spirit_ unto a new life, which "is hid with Christ in God." And as a
new-born babe he gladly receives the _adolon_, "_sincere_ milk of the
word, and grows thereby;" going on in the might of the Lord his God,
from faith to faith, from grace to grace, until at length, he come
unto "a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness
of Christ."
III. THE FIRST USUAL OBJECTION TO THIS IS,
1. That to preach salvation or justification, by faith only, is to
preach against holiness and good works. To which a short answer might
be given: "It would be so, if we spake, as some do, of a faith which
was separate from these; but we speak of a faith which is not so, but
productive of all good works, and all holiness."
2. But it may be of use to consider it more at large; especially since
it is no new objection, but as old as St. Paul's time. For even then
it was asked, "Do we not make void the law through faith?" We answer,
First, all who preach not faith do manifestly make void the law;
either directly and grossly, by limitations and comments that eat out
all the spirit of the text; or indirectly, by not pointing out the
only means whereby it is possible to perform it. Whereas, Secondly,
"we establish the law," both by showing its full extent and spiritual
meaning; and by calling all to that living way, whereby "the
righteousness of the law may be fulfilled in them." These, while they
trust in the blood of Christ alone, use all the ordinances which he
hath appointed, do all the "good works which he had before prepared
that they should walk therein," and enjoy and manifest all holy and
heavenly tempers, even the same mind that was in Christ Jesus.
3. But does not preaching this faith lead men into pride? We answer,
Accidentally it may: therefore ought every believer to be earnestly
cautioned, in the words of the great Apostle "Because of unbelief,"
the first branches "were broken off: and thou standest by faith. Be
not high-minded, but fear. If God spared not the natural branches,
take heed lest he spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and
severity of God! On them which fell, severity; but towards thee,
goodness, if thou continue in his goodness; otherwise thou also shalt
be cut off." And while he continues therein, he will remember those
words of St. Paul, foreseeing and answering this very objection (Rom.
3:27), "Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works?
Nay: but by the law of faith." If a man were justified by his works,
he would have whereof to glory. But there is no glorying for him "that
worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly" (Rom.
4:5). To the same effect are the words both preceding and following
the text (Eph. 2:4ff.): "God, who is rich in mercy, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are
saved), that he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his
kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves." Of yourselves cometh
neither your faith nor your salvation: "it is the gift of God;" the
free, undeserved gift; the faith through which ye are saved, as well
as the salvation which he of his own good pleasure, his mere favour,
annexes thereto. That ye believe, is one instance of his grace; that
believing ye are saved, another. "Not of works, lest any man should
boast." For all our works, all our righteousness, which were before
our believing, merited nothing of God but condemnation; so far were
they from deserving faith, which therefore, whenever given, is not of
works. Neither is salvation of the works we do when we believe, for it
is then God that worketh in us: and, therefore, that he giveth us a
reward for what he himself worketh, only commendeth the riches of his
mercy, but leaveth us nothing whereof to glory.
4. "However, may not the speaking thus of the mercy of God, as saving
or justifying freely by faith only, encourage men in sin?" Indeed, it
may and will: Many will "continue in sin that grace may abound:" But
their blood is upon their own head. The goodness of God ought to lead
them to repentance; and so it will those who are sincere of heart.
When they know there is yet forgiveness with him, they will cry aloud
that he would blot out their sins also, through faith which is in
Jesus. And if they earnestly cry, and faint not, it they seek him in
all the means he hath appointed; if they refuse to be comforted till
he come; "he will come, and will not tarry." And he can do much work
in a short time. Many are the examples, in the Acts of the Apostles,
of God's working this faith in men's hearts, even like lightning
falling from heaven. So in the same hour that Paul and Silas began to
preach, the jailer repented, believed, and was baptized; as were three
thousand, by St. Peter, on the day of Pentecost, who all repented and
believed at his first preaching And, blessed be God, there are now
many living proofs that he is still "mighty to save."
5. Yet to the same truth, placed in another view, a quite contrary
objection is made: "If a man cannot be saved by all that he can do,
this will drive men to despair." True, to despair of being saved by
their own works, their own merits, or righteousness. And so it ought;
for none can trust in the merits of Christ, till he has utterly
renounced his own. he that "goeth about to stablish his own
righteousness" cannot receive the righteousness of God. The
righteousness which is of faith cannot be given him while he trusteth
in that which is of the law.
6. But this, it is said, is an uncomfortable doctrine. The devil spoke
like himself, that is, without either truth or shame, when he dared to
suggest to men that it is such. It is the only comfortable one, it is
"very full of comfort," to all self-destroyed, self-condemned sinners.
That "whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed that the same
Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him": here is comfort,
high as heaven, stronger than death! What! Mercy for all? For
Zacchaeus, a public robber? For Mary Magdalene, a common harlot?
Methinks I hear one say "Then I, even I, may hope for mercy!" And so
thou mayest, thou afflicted one, whom none hath comforted! God will
not cast out thy prayer. Nay, perhaps he may say the next hour, "Be of
good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee;" so forgiven, that they shall
reign over thee no more; yea, and that "the Holy Spirit shall bear
witness with thy spirit that thou art a child of God." O glad tidings!
tidings of great joy, which are sent unto all people! "Ho, every one
that thirsteth, come ye to the waters: Come ye, and buy, without money
and without price." Whatsoever your sins be, "though red like
crimson," though more than the hairs of your head, "return ye unto the
Lord, and he will have mercy upon you, and to our God, for he will
abundantly pardon."
7. When no more objections occur, then we are simply told that
salvation by faith only ought not to be preached as the first
doctrine, or, at least, not to be preached at all. But what saith the
Holy Ghost? "Other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid,
even Jesus Christ." So then, that "whosoever believeth on him shall be
saved," is, and must be, the foundation of all our preaching; that is,
must be preached first. "Well, but not to all." To whom, then are we
not to preach it? Whom shall we except? The poor? Nay; they have a
peculiar right to have the gospel preached unto them. The unlearned?
No. God hath revealed these things unto unlearned and ignorant men
from the beginning. The young? By no means. "Suffer these," in any
wise, "to come unto Christ, and forbid them not." The sinners? Least
of all. "He came not to call the righteous, but sinners to
repentance." Why then, if any, we are to except the rich, the learned,
the reputable, the moral men. And, it is true, they too often except
themselves from hearing; yet we must speak the words of our Lord. For
thus the tenor of our commission runs, "Go and preach the gospel to
every creature." If any man wrest it, or any part of it, to his
destruction, he must bear his own burden. But still, "as the Lord
liveth, whatsoever the Lord saith unto us, that we will speak."
8. At this time, more especially, will we speak, that "by grace are ye
saved through faith": because, never was the maintaining this doctrine
more seasonable than it is at this day. Nothing but this can
effectually prevent the increase of the Romish delusion among us. It
is endless to attack, one by one, all the errors of that Church. But
salvation by faith strikes at the root, and all fall at once where
this is established. It was this doctrine, which our Church justly
calls _the strong rock and foundation of the Christian religion_, that
first drove Popery out of these kingdoms; and it is this alone can
keep it out. Nothing but this can give a check to that immorality
which hath "overspread the land as a flood." Can you empty the great
deep, drop by drop? Then you may reform us by dissuasives from
particular vices. But let the "righteousness which is of God by faith
be brought in, and so shall its proud waves be stayed. Nothing but
this can stop the mouths of those who "glory in their shame, and
openly deny the Lord that bought them." They can talk as sublimely of
the law, as he that hath it written by God in his heart To hear them
speak on this head might incline one to think they were not far from
the kingdom of God: but take them out of the law into the gospel;
begin with the righteousness of faith; with Christ, "the end of the
law to every one that believeth;" and those who but now appeared
almost, if not altogether, Christians, stand confessed the sons of
perdition; as far from life and salvation (God be merciful unto them!)
as the depth of hell from the height of heaven.
9. For this reason the adversary so rages whenever "salvation by
faith" is declared to the world: for this reason did he stir up earth
and hell, to destroy those who first preached it. And for the same
reason, knowing that faith alone could overturn the foundations of his
kingdom, did he call forth all his forces, and employ all his arts of
lies and calumny, to affright Martin Luther from reviving it. Nor can
we wonder thereat; for, as that man of God observes, "How would it
enrage a proud, strong man armed, to be stopped and set at nought by a
little child coming against him with a reed in his hand!" especially
when he knew that little child would surely overthrow him, and tread
him under foot. Even so, Lord Jesus! Thus hath Thy strength been ever
"made perfect in weakness!" Go forth then, thou little child that
believest in him, and his "right hand shall teach thee terrible
things !" Though thou art helpless and weak as an infant of days, the
strong man shall not be able to stand before thee. Thou shalt prevail
over him, and subdue him, and overthrow him and trample him under thy
feet. Thou shalt march on, under the great Captain of thy salvation,
"conquering and to conquer," until all thine enemies are destroyed,
and "death is swallowed up in victory."
Now, thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ; to whom, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, be
blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and
power, and might, for ever and ever. Amen
[Edited anonymously at the Memorial University of Newfoundland with
corrections by George Lyons of Northwest Nazarene College (Nampa,
Idaho) for the Wesley Center for Applied Theology.]
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