Wesley Corpus

You dare not. You would not for the world. You know it is the pure word of God. And this is the whole of what we preach; this is the height and depth of what we (with St. Paul) call perfection;--a state of soul devoutly to be wished by all who have tasted of the love of God. Opray for it without ceasing ! It is the one thing you want. Come with boldness to the throne of grace; and be assured that when you ask this of God, you shall have the petition you ask of him. We know indeed that to man, to the natural man, this is impossible. But we know also, that. as no word is impossible with God, so “all things are possible to him that believeth.” 57. For “we are saved by faith.” But have you not heard this urged as another objection against us, that we preach salvation by faith alone? And does not St. Paul do the same thing? “By grace,” saith he, “ye are saved through faith.” Can any words be more express? And elsewhere, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved.” (Acts xvi. 31.) What we mean by this(if it has not been sufficiently explained already) is, that we are saved from our sins, only by a confidence in the love of God. As soon as we “behold what manner of love it is which the Father hath bestowed uponus, we love him,” (as the Apostle observes,) “because he first loved us.” And then is that commandment written in our heart, “That he who loveth God love his brother also; ” from which love of God and man, meekness, humbleness of mind, and all holy tempers, spring. Now, these are the very essence of salvation, of Christian salvation, salvation from sin; and from these outward salva tion flows, that is, holiness of life and conversation. Well, and are not these things so? If you know in whom you have believed, you need no further witnesses. 58. But perhaps you doubt whether that faith whereby we are thus saved implies such a trust and confidence in God as we describe. You cannot think faith implies assurance; an assurance of the love of God to our souls, of his being now reconciled to us, and having forgiven all our sins.