As a pastor, I frequently encounter questions about how to understand salvation and grace. The nature and scope of Christ's saving work are understood in very specific ways in the Wesleyan-Methodist tradition. There are a variety of terms that need to be understood in themselves and in relation to other terms in our larger theology of salvation. The problem has been complicated in that large swaths of Methodism over the last century have embraced the false notion that Methodists don't actually have a core theology that defines us. Some in the tradition have endorsed theological pluralism and thus perpetuated the idea that you can believe whatever you want and still be Methodist. That, of course, is not true. Methodism actually comes with very specific theological claims and emphases. The difficulty is that those claims and emphases are often misunderstood. One of the crucial tasks for the next Methodism is the recovery of (1) a clear and robust Wesleyan theology in general and (2) a clear and robust Wesleyan understanding of salvation in particular. To that end, here are thirty-five axioms of a Wesleyan understanding of salvation.

1. Salvation encompasses the full work of God to rescue people from sin beginning with the initial drawing of a person prior to conversion (prevenient grace) all the way through to the day Christ returns and raises us from the dead (glorifying grace).

2. The word "salvation" is not interchangeable with "conversion" or "justification".

3. Conversion and justification are subsets in the larger category of salvation.

4. Sanctification is also a subset in the larger category of salvation.

5. Sanctification is not different from salvation.

6. Every aspect of salvation is a gift given by grace through faith.

7. Grace is not merely God's divine favor, though it is at least that.

8. Grace is God's divine power that is able to transform the entire scope of our being.

9. Justification is given by grace through faith.

10. The new birth (or initial sanctification) is given by grace through faith.

11. Ongoing sanctification is given by grace through faith.

12. Justification and sanctification are both part of salvation.

13. The difference between justification and sanctification is that justification is what God does for us and sanctification is what God does in us.

14. Justification is the divine declaration that we are pardoned, that our sins are forgiven, and that God has found in our favor by declaring us righteous for the sake of Christ and on the basis of his atoning work.

15. Sanctification (beginning with the new birth and continuing through the rest of our lives) is God's work to transform us from people whose lives are characterized by sin to people whose live are characterized by holiness, which means we consistently embody the character of the triune God.

16. Faith is not merely cognitive assent to a set of claims, neither is faith a work that obligates God to do something for us.

17. Faith is trust and reliance on the triune God to do something for us and in us that we cannot do for ourselves.

18. Faith says: I cannot justify or sanctify (i.e., save) myself; therefore, I trust and rely on God in Christ and the Spirit to do that for me and in me.

19. Faith embodied is loyalty, allegiance, and fidelity to the triune God.

20. Faith is the condition of salvation, but faith does not merit salvation.

21. The gift of salvation obligates us to obey God.

22. The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit enables and empowers us to keep the obligation to obey God.

23. Prevenient (or preceding) grace, justifying grace, and sanctifying grace are not different "types" of grace.

24. Prevenient, justifying, and sanctifying grace mark temporal periods (or seasons) in which we experience one and the same grace in different ways.

25. Prevenient grace is the work of God in Christ through the Spirit to draw us to himself.

26. Justifying grace is the work of God in Christ through the Spirit to forgive us and join us to himself.

27. Sanctifying grace is the work of God in Christ through the Spirit to reproduce his character in us.

28. Since there is no sin that is beyond the reach of God's grace and because sanctification is a gift of God's grace received by faith, we may be sanctified entirely.

29. Entire sanctification is not freedom from non-moral imperfections.

30. Entire sanctification is not freedom from the possibility of sin.

31. Entire sanctification is not freedom from temptation.

32. Entire sanctification is not freedom from mistake.

33. Entire sanctification is freedom from inward sinful attitudes and affections.

34. Entire sanctification is freedom from outward sinful behaviors.

35. Glorifying grace is the work of God in Christ through the Spirit to raise our physical bodies from the dead, which is freedom from corruption and mortality.*

    
    

More could be said, but that will suffice for now. I highly recommend everyone in the Wesleyan-Methodist tradition read "The Scripture Way of Salvation" by John Wesley. It's a brief and accessible sermon that provides an overview of our Wesleyan understanding of salvation. In truth, it wouldn't hurt to read it more than once or even once or twice a year.

*The Wesleyan tradition has often articulated glorifying grace as something received upon death when a believer enters the intermediate state in the presence of God. The New Testament, however, articulates the experience of "glorfication" in relation to future bodily resurrection, which is God's gift to those in Christ and which is received at the time of Christ's return. This is one area where we Wesleyans need to tighten up our understanding of full and complete salvation.

If you're interested in more on a Wesleyan theology of salvation, check out the video below. Or click over and check out this playlist on the Theology Project YouTube Channel.

Dr. Matt O’Reilly (Ph.D., Gloucestershire) is Lead Pastor of Christ Church in Birmingham, Alabama, Director of Research at Wesley Biblical Seminary, and a fellow of the Center for Pastor Theologians. A two-time recipient of the John Stott Award for Pastoral Engagement, he is the author of multiple books including Free to Be Holy: A Biblical Theology of Sanctification, Paul and the Resurrected Body: Social Identity and Ethical Practice, The Letters to the Thessalonians, and Bless the Nations: A Devotional for Short-Term Missions. Follow @mporeilly on X and @mattoreillyauthor on Instagram.

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