Wesley Corpus

15; Matthew iii. 8.) Repentance absolutely must go before faith; fruits meet for it, if there be opportunity. By repentance, I mean conviction of sin, producing real desires and sincere resolutions of amend ment; and by “fruits meet for repentance,” forgiving our bro ther; (Matt. vi. 14, 15;) ceasing from evil, doing good; (Luke iii. 3, 4, 9, &c.;) using the ordinances of God, and in general obeying him according to the measure of grace which we have received. (Matt. vii. 7; xxv. 29.) But these I cannot as yet term good works; because they do not spring from faith and the love of God. 3. By salvation I mean, not barely, according to the vulgar notion, deliverance from hell, or going to heaven; but a present deliverance from sin, a restoration of the soul to its primitive health, its original purity; a recovery of the divine nature; the renewal of our souls after the image of God, in righteousness and true holiness, in justice, mercy, and truth. This implies all holy and heavenly tempers, and, by conse quence, all holiness of conversation. Now, if by salvation we mean a present salvation from sin, we cannot say, holiness is the condition of it; for it is the thing itself. Salvation, in this sense, and holiness, are synonymous terms. We must therefore say, “We are saved by faith.” Faith is the sole condition of this salvation. For without faith we cannot be thus saved. But whosoever believeth is saved already. Without faith we cannot be thus saved; for we cannot rightly serve God unless we love him. And we cannot love him unless we know him; neither can we know God unless by faith. Therefore, salvation by faith is only, in other words, the love of God by the knowledge of God; or, the recovery of the image of God, by a true, spiritual acquaintance with him. 4. Faith, in general, is a divine, supernatural exeyxos * of things not seen, not discoverable by our bodily senses, as being either past, future, or spiritual. Justifying faith implies, not only a divine exeyxos, that God “was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself,” but a sure trust and confidence that Christ died for my sins, that he loved me, and gave himself for me. And the moment a penitent sinner believes this, God pardons and absolves him.