|
Grace and Responsibility
A Brief Exposition of John Wesley's Theology of Grace
--- Part 1 ---
By Dr Roland Chia
[ Prevenient Grace ]
In his sermon on 2 Corinthian 1:2, entitled 'The Witness in Our Spirit', John Wesley articulated what might be considered to be his most succinct definition of grace: 'By the "grace of God" is sometimes to be understood that free love, that unmerited mercy, by which I a sinner, through the merits of Christ, am now reconciled to God' 1, The biblical and evangelical moorings of this concept of grace hardly need to be pointed out. Grace is here understood in relational terms as God's love and as his unmerited mercy upon the sinner. This grace is demonstrated in what God has accomplished in Jesus Christ, and has the power therefore to reconcile the estranged sinner to God. Furthermore, Wesley argues that grace not only reconciles, but also enables the pardoned and reconciled sinner to 'perform, through God, what to man was impossible'. 'Now we can order our conversation aright. We can do all thing in the light and power of that love through Christ which strengthened us'. The grace whish reconciles also transforms. This, as we shall see, expresses the very essence of the Gospel of salvation for Wesley, and the very heartbeat of his preaching ministry. The God of grace is love, and the grace of God is nothing short of the manifestation of the ineffable love of God freely showered upon all humanity2.
The universality of grace in the thought of John Wesley is presented in his doctrine of prevenient grace, and it is with this concept that we must begin our study of Wesley's theology of grace. Prevenient grace, according to Wesley, is that divine overture in which God reaches out to sinful and fallen humanity with the view of bringing about their restoration, salvation and reconciliation with him. It is the divine initiative which is motivated by love and unmerited mercy. Prevenient grace, which is sometimes also known as preventing grace, may be present in what is commonly called human conscience, which enables man to distinguish right from wrong. But, to Wesley, human conscience is not natural at all. What is commonly understood as conscience is in reality the work of the Spirit, the presence of grace: 'No man living is entirely destitute of what is vulgarly called natural conscience. But this is not natural: It is more properly termed preventing grace' 3. More significantly, prevenient grace is experienced in the 'drawings of the Father', 'the light with which the Son of God enlightens', and the 'convictions of the Spirit', which at work in 'every child of man' 4. Thus, in its broad sense, prevenient grace is that which provokes fallen humanity to every virtuous act, and to every expression of civility and nobility. In its narrower sense, prevenient grace is that divine work upon fallen humanity prior to justification which draws man back to God. In both these senses, prevenient grace is enabling grace for it enables man to will and do the good. At an even more fundamental level, prevenient grace enables man to have the power to choose the right. Enablement implies restoration. Prevenient grace, according to Wesley, restores to man the liberty which he had lost through sin, thus making obedience to God possible once again. Thus Wesley could write with confidence that 'although I have not an absolute power over my own mind, because of the corruption of my own nature; yet through the grace of God assisting me, I have a power to choose and do good, as well as evil' 5. The grace which restores this liberty to man in order that he may perchance choose obedience is universally available.
This grace which works upon man can, however, be resisted. Here Wesley distances himself from the theology of the Reformers. In his famous Bondage of the Will, Luther correlated concept of grace to his understanding of the omnipotence of God in order to oppose the Catholic doctrine of meritum de congruo, which allows for man to merit his salvation through the performance of good deeds. This, together with his incorporation of Augustin's understanding of predestination, led Luther to argue a rigid monergism in which the human contribution to the salvific work of God is swallowed entirely by divine grace. Calvin's doctrine of double predestination, which was at least in part an attempt to assert the sovereignty of God and the gratuitousness of divine grace, had further undermined the place of human agency in salvation. All this led to the doctrine of irresistible grace. Thus, the Westminster Confession of Faith of 1647 commandeered all these motifs to shape its conceptualisation of the effectual calling. 'All those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and those only, he is pleased, in his appointed and accepted time, effectually to call'. This calling effects the grace of salvation upon its subjects through regeneration, enlightenment and renewal, so that even as they are 'made willing by his grace'. they may also embrace Christ6. Against the logic of the Reformers, and the Confessions which came after them, Wesley argued that the grace of God is available to all, not just those predestined. This grace however is not irresistible, and can therefore be rejected by man7.
There are several significant points to be noted in relation to Wesley's doctrine of prevenient grace. The first is that sinful human existence is graced existence. There is no such thing as pure nature: '[N]o man is in a state of mere nature; there is no man…that is wholly devoid of the grace of God' 8. Secondly, prevenient grace is Wesley's alternative to predestination. God has lavished his grace upon all of humanity, not just those predestined for salvation. Thirdly, salvation for Wesley, does not begin with new birth, but with prevenient grace: 'Salvation begins with what is usually termed (and very properly) preventing grace; including the first wish to please God, the first draw of light concerning his will, and the first slight transient conviction of having sinned against him' 9.
Fourthly, the doctrine presents a relationship between divine grace and human responsibility. Prevenient grace restores our sin-corrupted human faculties - our understanding10, our moral discernment11 our liberty - thus enabling us to decide for or against God. Wesley's concept of grace has not only enable him to affirm the gratutiousness of divine grace and human responsibilty with equal seriousness and without contradiction, but it has also provided him with an answer to the predestinarian approaches of the hyper-Calvinists of his day which he found unacceptable12. It is when man yields to this grace that he experiences 'convincing grace', what Scripture calls repentance, 'which brings a larger measure of self-knowledge, and a farther deliverance from the heart of stone'. It is only after this has occurred that he experience the saving grace of God: 'Afterwards we experience the proper Christian salvation; whereby, "through grace", we "are saved by faith"; consisting of two branches, justification and sanctification' 13. It is to the first of these two branches that we must now direct our attention.
|
1 Sermon 12, 'The Witness in Our Spirit', 15-16.,Works V., edited by Thomas Jackson (3rd edition, 1831), Grand Rapids, Michigan:
Baker House, 1984. All citations will be taken from this collection of John Wesley's works.
2 Sermon 110 'Free Grace', 2., Works VII.
3 Sermon 85, 'On Working Out Our Salvation' 3:4., Works VI.
4 Sermon 43, 'The Scripture Way to Salvation', 1:2., Works VI.
5 Sermon 116 'What is man?'11., Works VII.
6 Westminster Confession of Faith (1647), X:I.
7 Sermaon 110 'Free Grace'. See also Journal, 24 August 1743., Works I.
8 Sermon 85 'On Working Out Our Salvation' 3:4., Works VI.
9 Sermon 85 'On Working Our Salvation' 2:1., Works VI.
10 Predestination Calmly Considered, 47., Works X
11 Sermon 34 'The original, Nature, Properties, and Use of the Law' 1:4., Works V; Sermon 43 'The Scripture Way of Salvation', 1:2., Works VI; Sermon 105, On Conscience' 1:4-5., Works VII.
12 Predestination Calmly Considered 46-7., Works X; Sermon 116 'What is Man',11., Works VII.
13 Sermon 85 'On Working Out Our Salvation 2:1., Works VI
|
Print this page
