Wesley Corpus

The conditions of the new covenant are, “Repent and believe.” And these you can fulfil, through Christ strengthening you. “It is equally true, this is not required at my hands.” It is equally true; that is, absolutely false: And most dangerously false. If we allow this, Antinomian ism comes in with a full tide. “Christ has performed all that was conditionary for me.” Has He repented and believed for you? You endeavour to evade this by saying, “He performed all that was conditionary in the covenant of works.” This is nothing to the purpose; for we are not talking of that, but of the covenant of grace. Now, he did not perform all that was conditionary in this covenant, unless he repented and believed. “But he did unspeakably more.” It may be so. But he did not do this. “But if Christ’s perfect obedience be ours, we have no more need of pardon than Christ himself.” (Page 308.) The consequence is good. You have started an objection which you cannot answer. You say indeed, “Yes, we do need pardon; for in many things we offend all.” What then? If his obedience be ours, we still perfectly obey in him. “Both the branches of the law, the preceptive and the penal, in the case of guilt contracted, must be satisfied.” (Page 309.) Not so. “Christ by his death alone” (so our Church teaches) “fully satisfied for the sins of the whole world.” The same great truth is manifestly taught in the Thirty-first Article. Is it therefore fair, is it honest, for any one to plead the Articles of our Church in defence of absolute predestination; seeing the Seventeenth Article barely defines the term, without either affirming or denying the thing; whereas the Thirty-first totally overthrows and razes it from the foundation ? “Believers, who are notorious transgressors in themselves, have a sinless obedience in Christ.” (Ibid.) O syren song ! Pleasing sound to James Wheatley, Thomas Williams, James Relly | I know not one sentence in the Eleventh Dialogue which is liable to exception; but that grand doctrine of Christianity, original sin, is therein proved by irrefragable arguments. The Twelfth, likewise, is unexceptionable; and contains such an illustration of the wisdom of God in the structure of the human body, as I believe cannot be paralleled in either ancient or modern writers.