Wesley Corpus

'The works excluded are heathen and Jewish works set up as meritorious. This is evident from hence--that heathens and carnal Jews are the persons against whom he is arguing.' Not so: he is arguing against all mankind; he is convicting the whole world of sin. His concern is to stop 'every mouth' by proving that 'no flesh,' none born of a woman, no child of man, can be justified by his own works. Consequently he speaks of all the works of all mankind antecedent to justification, whether Jewish or any other, whether supposed meritorious or not, of which the text says not one word. Therefore all works antecedent to justification are excluded, and faith is set in flat opposition to them. 'Unto him that worketh not, but believeth, his faith is counted to him for righteousness.' 'But what is the faith to which he attributes justification That "which worketh by love"; which is the same with the "new creature," and implies in it the keeping the commandments of God.' It is undoubtedly true that nothing avails for our final salvation without kainh ktisis 'a new creation,' and, consequent thereon, a sincere, uniform keeping of the commandments of God. This St. Paul constantly declares. But where does he say this is the condition of our justification In the Epistles to the Romans and Galatians particularly he vehemently asserts the contrary, earnestly maintaining that nothing is absolutely necessary to this but 'believing in Him that justifieth the ungodly'--not the godly, not him that is already a 'new creature,' that previously keeps all the commandments of God. He does this afterward: when he is justified by faith, then his faith 'worketh by love.' 'Therefore there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus,' justified by faith in Him, provided they 'walk in Him whom they have received, not after the flesh, but after the Spirit' (page 23). But, should they turn back and walk again after the flesh, they would again be under condemnation. But this no way proves that 'walking after the Spirit' was the condition of their justification. Neither will anything like this follow from the Apostle's saying to the Corinthians, 'Though I had all faith, so as to remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.' This only proves that miracle-working faith may be where saving faith is not.