Wesley Corpus

But I cannot believe, That all those who are not thus elected to glory, must perish everlastingly: or, that there is one soul on earth, who has not ever had a possibility of escaping eternal damnation. With regard to the second, Irresistible Grace, I believe, That the grace which brings faith, and thereby salvation into the soul, is irresistible at that moment: That most believers may remember some time when God did irresistibly convince them of sin: That most believers do, at some other times, find God irresistibly acting upon their souls: Yet I believe that the grace of God, both before and after those moments, may be, and hath been, resisted: and that, in general, it does not act irresistibly ; but we may comply therewith, or may not: and I do not deny, That, in some souls, the grace of God is so far irresistible, that they cannot but believe and be finally saved. But I cannot believe, That all those must be damned, in whom it does not thus irresistibly work: or, That there is one soul on earth, who has not, and never had, any other grace, than such as does, in fact, increase his damnation, and was designed of God so to do. With regard to the third, Final Perseverance, I incline to believe, That there is a state attainable in this life, from which a man cannot finally fall: and That he has attained this, who can say, “ Old things are passed away; ali things” in me “are become new.” * [* From other passages in Mr. Wesley’s works, it is manifest that some of the above extreme concessions, in this early stage of his ministry, were for peace-sake, and induced by his “ strong desire to unite with Mr, Whitefield.”} . 290 : REV. J. WESLEY’S JOURNAL. | Aug. 1743.