Wesley Corpus

And by this means it prevents their being corrupted by pride, vanity, or any evil mixture. But this cannot be done other wise than by making these good works in a spiritual manner die in God, by a deep gratitude, which plunges the soul in him as in an abyss, with all that it is, and all the grace and works for which it is indebted to him; a gratitude, whereby the soul seems to empty itself of them, that they may return to their source, as rivers seem willing to empty themselves, when they pour themselves with all their waters into the sea. “When we have received any favour from God, we ought to retire, if not into our closets, into our hearts, and say, ‘I come, Lord, to restore to thee what thou hast given; and I freely relinquish it, to enter again into my own nothingness. For what is the most perfect creature in heaven or earth in thy presence, but a void capable of being filled with thee and by thee; as the air, which is void and dark, is capable of being filled with the light of the sun, who withdraws it every day to restore it the next, there being nothing in the air that either appropriates this light or resists it? O give me the same facility of receiving and restoring thy grace and good works | I say, thine; for I acknowledge the root from which they spring is in thee, and not in me.’” 26. In the year 1764, upon a review of the whole subject, I wrote down the sum of what I had observed in the following short propositions: “(1.) There is such a thing as perfection; for it is again and again mentioned in Scripture. “(2.) It is not so early as justification; for justified persons are to ‘go on unto perfection.” (Heb. vi. 1.) “(3.) It is not so late as death; for St. Paul speaks of living men that were perfect. (Philip. iii. 15.) “(4.) It is not absolute. Absolute perfection belongs not to man, nor to angels, but to God alone. “(5.) It does not make a man infallible: None is infallible, while he remains in the body. “(6.) Is it sinless? It is not worth while to contend for a term.