Wesley Corpus

MY DEAR BROTHER,--The perfection I teach is perfect love: loving God with all the heart; receiving Christ as Prophet, Priest, and King, to reign alone over all our thoughts, words, and actions. The Papists neither teach nor believe this: give even the devil his due. They teach there is no perfection here which is not consistent with venial sins; and among venial sins they commonly reckon simple fornication. Now, I think this is so far from the perfection I teach, that it does not come up to any but Mr. Relly's perfection. To say Christ will not reign alone in our hearts in this life, will not enable us to give Him all our hearts--this in my judgement is making Him an half-Saviour. He can be no more, if He does not quite save us from our sins. I pray, then, be not quite so peremptory. Who exalts Christ most? those who call on Him to be the sole Monarch of the heart, or those who allow Him only to share the power and to govern most of the thoughts and tempers? Who honour Him most? those who believe He heals all our sickness, takes away all our ungodliness, or those who say, He heals only the greater part of it, till death does what He cannot do? I know no creature (of us) who says, 'Part of our salvation belongs to Christ and part to us.' No; we all say, Christ alone saves us from all sin; and your question is not about the Author but the measure of salvation. Both agree it is all Christ; but is it all salvation or only half salvation He will give? Who was Pelagius? By all I can pick up from ancient authors, I guess he was both a wise and an holy man. But we know nothing but his name; for his writings are all destroyed, not one line of them left. But, Brother Coates, this way of talking is highly offensive. I advise you (1) If you are willing to labour with us, preach no doctrine contrary to ours. I have preached twenty years in some of Mr. Whitefield's Societies; yet to this day I never contradicted him among his own people. I did not think it honest, neither necessary at all. I could preach salvation by faith, and leave all controversy untouched.