SALVATION BY FATITH | Sermon 1 | John Wesley

PREACHED AT:

ST. MARY'S OXFORD, BEFORE THE UNIVERSITY

ON JUNE 18 1738

By grace you are saved through faith.

Ephesians 2:8

1. All the blessings which God has bestowed upon man are from His mere grace, bounty or favour; His free, undeserved favour; favour altogether undeserved; man having no claim to the least of His mercies. It was free grace that “formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into him a living soul,” and stamped on that soul the image of God, and “put all things under his feet.” The same free grace continues to us at this day: life, and breath, and all things. For there is nothing we are, or have, or do, which can deserve the least thing at God’s hand. “All our works, you, O God, have produced in us.” These, therefore, are so many more instances of free mercy; and whatever righteousness may be found in man, this is also the gift of God.

2. With what then shall a sinful man atone for any of the least of his sins? With his own works? No. Whether they were ever so many or holy, they are not his own, but God’s. But indeed they are all unholy and sinful in themselves, so that every one of them needs a fresh atonement. Only corrupt fruit grows on a corrupt tree. And his heart is altogether corrupt and abominable; having “come short of the glory of God,” the glorious righteousness at first impressed on his soul, after the image of his great Creator. Therefore, having nothing to plead, neither righteousness nor works, his mouth is utterly stopped before God.

3. If then sinful men find favour with God it is “grace upon grace!” If God still condescends to pour fresh blessings upon us, yes, the greatest of all blessings, salvation, what can we say to these things, but, “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift!” And thus it is. In this “God commends his love towards us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died” to save us. “By grace” then “you are saved through faith.” Grace is the source, faith the condition, of salvation.

Now, so that we do not fall short of the grace of God, it concerns us to carefully enquire:

  I. WHAT FAITH IT IS THROUGH WHICH WE ARE SAVED.

 II. WHAT IS THE SALVATION WHICH IS THROUGH FAITH.

III. HOW WE MAY ANSWER SOME OBJECTIONS.

I. What faith it is through which we are saved.

1. And, first, it is not barely the faith of a Heathen.

   Now, God requires it of a heathen to believe, “that God is; that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him”; and that He is to be sought by glorifying Him as God, by giving Him thanks for all things, and by a careful practice of moral virtue: of justice, mercy and truth towards their fellow creatures. A Greek or Roman, therefore, yes, a Scythian or Indian, was without excuse if he did not believe thus much: the being and attributes of God, a future state of reward and punishment, and the obligatory nature of moral virtue. For this is barely the faith of a Heathen.

2. Nor, secondly, is it the faith of a devil, though this goes much further than that of a Heathen. For the devil not only believes that there is a wise and powerful God, gracious to reward, and just to punish; but also that Jesus is the Son of God, the Christ, the Saviour of the world. So we find him declaring, in express terms, “I know you, who you are; the Holy One of God” (Luke 4:34). Nor can we doubt but that unhappy spirit believes all those words which came out of the mouth of the Holy One, yes, and whatever else was written by those holy men of old, about two of whom he was compelled to give that glorious testimony, “These men are the servants of the most high God, who show to you the way of salvation.” Thus much, then, the great enemy of God and man believes, and trembles in believing - that God was made manifest in the flesh; that he will “tread all enemies under his feet,” and that “all Scripture was given by inspiration of God.” Thus far goes the faith of a devil.

3. Thirdly. The faith through which we are saved, in that sense of the word which will be explained later, is not barely that which the Apostles themselves had while Christ was still upon earth; though they so believed on Him as to “leave all and follow him”; although they then had power to work miracles, to “heal all manner of sickness and all manner of diseases”; yes, they then had “power and authority over all devils,” and, which is beyond all this, were sent by their Master to “preach the kingdom of God.”

4. What faith is it then through which we are saved? It may be answered, first, in general: it is a faith in Christ; Christ, and God through Christ, are the proper objects of it. In this, therefore, it is sufficiently, absolutely distinguished from the faith either of ancient or modern Heathens. And it is fully distinguished from the faith of a devil by this: it is not barely a speculative, rational thing, a cold, lifeless assent, a train of ideas in the head, but also a disposition of the heart. For thus says the Scripture, “With the heart man believes unto righteousness,” and, “If you confess the Lord Jesus with your mouth, and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

5. And in this it differs from that faith which the Apostles themselves had while our Lord was on earth: that it acknowledges the necessity and merit of His death and the power of His resurrection. It acknowledges His death as the only sufficient means of redeeming man from death eternal, and His resurrection as the restoration of us all to life and immortality; inasmuch as He “was delivered for our sins, and rose again for our justification.” Christian faith is, then, not only an assent to the whole gospel of Christ, but also a full reliance on the blood of Christ; a trust in the merits of His life, death and resurrection; a resting upon Him as our atonement and our life, as given for us, and living in us; and, as a consequence of this, a closing with Him, and cleaving to Him, as our “wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption,” or, in one word, our salvation.

II. What salvation it is, which is through this faith, is the second thing to be considered.

1. And, first, whatever else it implies, it is a present salvation. It is something attainable, yes, actually attained on earth by those who are partakers of this faith. For thus says the Apostle to the believers at Ephesus, and in them to the believers of all ages, not, “You shall be” (though that also is true), but, “You are saved through faith.”

2. You are saved (to comprise all in one word) from sin. This is the salvation which is through faith. This is that great salvation foretold by the angel, before God brought His First-begotten into the world: “You shall call his name JESUS; for he shall save his people from their sins.” And neither here, nor in other parts of holy writ, is there any limitation or restriction. All His people, or, as it is expressed elsewhere, “all who believe in Him,” He will save from all their sins; from original and actual, past and present sin, “of the flesh and of the spirit.” Through faith that is in Him they are saved both from the guilt and from the power of it.

3. First, from the guilt of all past sin. For, whereas all the world is guilty before God, in as much as should He “be extreme to mark what is done amiss, there is none who could abide it”; and whereas, “by the law is” only “the knowledge of sin,” but no deliverance from it, so that, “by” fulfilling “the deeds of the law, no flesh can be justified in his sight”; but now, “the righteousness of God, which is by the faith of Jesus Christ, is manifested unto all who believe.” Now, “they are justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ.” “Him God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for (or by) the remission of the sins that are past.” Now Christ has taken away “the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.” He has “blotted out the handwriting that was against us, taking it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.” “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who” believe “in Christ Jesus.”

4. And being saved from guilt, they are saved from fear. Not indeed from a filial fear of offending; but from all servile fear; from that fear which has torment; from fear of punishment; from fear of the wrath of God, whom they now no longer regard as a severe Master, but as an indulgent Father. “They have not received again the spirit of bondage, but the Spirit of adoption, by which they cry, ‘Abba, Father’; the Spirit itself also bearing witness with their spirits that they are the children of God.” They are also saved from the fear, though not from the possibility, of falling away from the grace of God, and coming short of the great and precious promises. Thus they have “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. They rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And the love of God is shed abroad in their hearts, through the Holy Spirit, which is given unto them.” And by this they are persuaded (though perhaps not at all times, nor with the same fullness of persuasion) that “neither death, nor life, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate them from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

5. Again: through this faith they are saved from the power of sin, as well as from the guilt of it. So the Apostle declares, “You know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whoever abides in him does not sin” (1 John 3:5 etc.). Again, “Little children, let no man deceive you. He who commits sin is of the devil. Whoever believes is born of God. And whoever is born of God does not commit sin, for his seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” Once more: “We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who is begotten of God keeps himself, and that wicked one does not touch him” (1 John 5:18).

6. He who is, by faith, born of God does not sin:

1. by any habitual sin; for all habitual sin is sin reigning; but sin cannot reign in any who believe. Nor

2. by any wilful sin; for his will, while he abides in the faith, is utterly set against all sin, and abhors it as deadly poison. Nor

3. by any sinful desire; for he continually desires the holy and perfect will of God; and any tendency to an unholy desire, he, by the grace of God, stifles at birth. Nor

4. does he sin by infirmities, whether in act, word or thought; for his infirmities do not have the concurrence of his will; and without this they are not properly sins. Thus, “he who is born of God does not commit sin”; and though he cannot say that he has not sinned, yet now “he does not sin.”

7. This then is the salvation which is through faith, even in the present world; a salvation from sin, and the consequences of sin, both often expressed in the word justification; which, taken in the largest sense, implies a deliverance from guilt and punishment, by the atonement of Christ actually applied to the soul of the sinner now believing on Him, and a deliverance from the power of sin, through Christ formed in his heart. So that he who is thus justified, or saved by faith, is indeed born again. He is born again by the Spirit unto a new life, which “is hidden with Christ in God.” And as a new-born babe he gladly receives the [adolon], “sincere milk of the word, and grows by it”; going on in the might of the Lord his God, from faith to faith, from grace to grace, until at length, he comes unto “a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

III. The first usual objection to this is:

1. That to preach salvation or justification by faith only is to preach against holiness and good works. To which a short answer might be given: “It would be so, if we spoke, as some do, of a faith which was separate from these; but we speak of a faith which is not so, but productive of all good works, and all holiness.”

2. But it may be of use to consider it more largely; especially since it is no new objection, but as old as St. Paul’s time; for even then it was asked, “Do we not make void the law through faith?” We answer, first, all who do not preach faith manifestly make void the law - either directly and grossly, by limitations and comments that eat out all the spirit of the text; or indirectly, by not pointing out the only means by which it is possible to perform it. Whereas, secondly, “we establish the law,” both by showing its full extent and spiritual meaning; and by calling all to that living way, by which “the righteousness of the law may be fulfilled in them.” These, while they trust in the blood of Christ alone, use all the ordinances which he has appointed, do all the “good works which he had prepared beforehand, that they should walk in them,” and enjoy and manifest all holy and heavenly tempers, even the same mind that was in Christ Jesus.

3. But does not preaching this faith lead men into pride? We answer: accidentally it may; therefore every believer ought to be earnestly cautioned, in the words of the great Apostle, “Because of unbelief,” the first branches “were broken off; and you stand by faith. Do not be high-minded, but fear. If God did not spare the natural branches, pay serious attention that he also does not spare you. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God! On those who fell, severity; but towards you, goodness, if you continue in his goodness; otherwise you also will be cut off.” And while he continues therein, he will remember those words of St. Paul, foreseeing and answering this very objection (Rom 3:27), “Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith.” If a man were justified by his works, he would have something about which to glory. But there is no glorying for him “who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly” (Rom 4:5). The words both preceding and following the text are to the same effect (Eph 2:4 etc.): “God, who is rich in mercy, even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together with Christ (by grace you are saved), so that he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus. For by grace you are saved through faith; and that not of yourselves.” From yourselves comes neither your faith nor your salvation - “it is the gift of God”; the free, undeserved gift; the faith through which you are saved, as well as the salvation which He of His own good pleasure, His mere favour, annexes to it. That you believe, is one instance of His grace; that believing you are saved, is another. “Not of works, so that no man should boast.” For all our works, all our righteousness, which were previous to our believing, merited nothing from God but condemnation; so far were they from deserving faith, which therefore, whenever given, is not of works. Nor is salvation from the works that we do when we believe; for it is then God who works in us; and, therefore, that He gives us a reward for what He Himself works, only commends the riches of His mercy, but leaves us nothing about which to glory.

4. “However, may it not, by the speaking thus of the mercy of God, as saving or justifying freely by faith only, encourage men in sin?” Indeed, it may and will; many will “continue in sin so that grace may abound”; but their blood is upon their own head. The goodness of God ought to lead them to repentance; and so it will to those who are sincere of heart. When they know there is still forgiveness with Him, they will cry aloud that He would blot out their sins also, through faith which is in Jesus. And if they earnestly cry, and do not faint; if they seek Him in all the means that He has appointed; if they refuse to be comforted until He comes, “he will come, and will not tarry.” And He can do much work in a short time. There are many examples in the Acts of the Apostles of God’s working this faith in men’s hearts, even like lightning falling from heaven. So in the same hour that Paul and Silas began to preach, the jailer repented, believed and was baptized; as were three thousand, by St. Peter, on the day of Pentecost, who all repented and believed at his first preaching. And, blessed be God, there are now many living proofs that He is still “mighty to save.”

5. Yet to the same truth, placed in another view, a quite contrary objection is made: “If a man cannot be saved by all that he can do, this will drive men to despair.” True, to despair of being saved by their own works, their own merits, or righteousness. And so it ought; for none can trust in the merits of Christ, until he has utterly renounced his own. He who “goes about to establish his own righteousness” cannot receive the righteousness of God. The righteousness which is of faith cannot be given to him while he trusts in that which is of the law.

6. But this, it is said, is an uncomfortable doctrine. The devil spoke like himself, that is, without either truth or shame, when he dared to suggest to men that it is such. It is the only comfortable one, it is “very full of comfort,” to all self-destroyed, self-condemned sinners. That “whoever believes on him shall not be ashamed; that the same Lord over all is rich unto all who call upon him”; here is comfort, high as heaven, stronger than death! What! Mercy for all? For Zaccheus, a public robber? For Mary Magdalene, a common harlot? I think I hear one say “Then I, even I, may hope for mercy!” And so you may, you afflicted one, whom none has comforted! God will not cast out your prayer. No, perhaps He may say the next hour, “Be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you”; so forgiven that they shall reign over you no longer; yes, and that “the Holy Spirit shall bear witness with your spirit that you are a child of God.” O glad tidings! tidings of great joy, which are sent unto all people! “Ho, every one who thirsts, come to the waters; come and buy, without money and without price.” Whatever your sins are, “though red like crimson,” though more than the hairs of your head, “return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon you, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”

7. When no more objections occur, then we are simply told that salvation by faith only ought not to be preached as the first doctrine, or, at least, not to be preached at all. But what does the Holy Spirit say? “No man can lay any other foundation than that which is laid, even Jesus Christ.” So then, that “whoever believes on him shall be saved,” is, and must be, the foundation of all our preaching; that is, must be preached first. “Well, but not to all.” To whom then are we not to preach it? Whom shall we except? The poor? No; they have a peculiar right to have the gospel preached unto them. The unlearned? No. God has revealed these things unto unlearned and ignorant men from the beginning. The young? By no means. “Allow these,” in any way, to come unto Christ, “and do not forbid them.” The sinners? Least of all. “He did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Why then, if any, we are to except the rich, the learned, the reputable, the moral men. And, it is true, they too often except themselves from hearing; yet we must speak the words of our Lord. For thus the tenor of our commission runs, “Go and preach the gospel to every creature.” If any man wrests it, or any part of it, to his destruction, he must bear his own burden. But still, “as the Lord lives, whatever the Lord says unto us, that we will speak.”

8. At this time, more especially, we will speak that “by grace you are saved through faith”; because, never was the maintaining of this doctrine more seasonable than it is at this day. Nothing but this can effectually prevent the increase of the Romish delusion among us. It is endless to attack, one by one, all the errors of that Church. But salvation by faith strikes at the root, and all fall at once where this is established. It was this doctrine, which our Church justly calls the strong rock and foundation of the Christian religion, that first drove Popery out of these kingdoms; and it is this alone that can keep it out. Nothing but this can give a check to that immorality which has “overspread the land like a flood.” Can you empty the great deep, drop by drop? Then you may reform us by arguments to dissuade us from particular vices. But let the “righteousness which is from God by faith” be brought in, and so shall its proud waves be stayed. Nothing but this can stop the mouths of those who “glory in their shame, and openly deny the Lord that bought them.” They can talk as sublimely of the law, as he who has it written in his heart by God. To hear them speak on this head might incline one to think that they were not far from the kingdom of God; but take them out of the law into the gospel; begin with the righteousness of faith; with Christ, “the end of the law to every one who believes”; and those who just now appeared almost, if not altogether, Christians, stand confessed as the sons of perdition; as far from life and salvation (God be merciful unto them!) as the depth of hell from the height of heaven.

9. For this reason the adversary so rages whenever “salvation by faith” is declared to the world; for this reason he stirred up earth and hell to destroy those who first preached it. And for the same reason, knowing that faith alone could overturn the foundations of his kingdom, he called forth all his forces, and employed all his arts of lies and defamations, to frighten Martin Luther from reviving it. Nor can we wonder at that; for, as that man of God observes, “How would it enrage a proud, armed strong man, to be stopped and set at nothing by a little child coming against him with a reed in his hand!” especially when he knew that that little child would surely overthrow him and tread him under foot. Even so, Lord Jesus! Thus has Your strength ever been “made perfect in weakness!” Go forth then, you little child who believes in Him, and His “right hand will teach you terrible things!” Though you are as helpless and weak as an infant of days, the strong man shall not be able to stand before you. You will prevail over him, and subdue him, and overthrow him and trample him under your feet. You will march on, under the great Captain of your salvation, “conquering and to conquer,” until all your enemies are destroyed, and “death is swallowed up in victory.”

   Now, thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ; to whom, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, for ever and ever.

Amen.