By Mark K. Olson. This is a two-part study of Wesley’s spiritual counsel in his letters to seekers of perfect love. Many insights into Wesley’s doctrine of Christian perfection can be gleaned from his correspondence.
“You are the elder brother of the American Methodists; I am, under God, the father of the whole family.” John Wesley to Francis Asbury
Introduction
At the thirty-ninth annual meeting of the Wesleyan Theological Society the keynote speaker and well-known Wesley scholar William Abraham proposed the thesis that Wesleyan theology in its contemporary mode is now over. If I read him right, one of his basic arguments is that there are nearly as many versions of Wesley as there are scholars.1 Another claim by Abraham is that the neo-Wesleyan/Outler agenda2 failed to build a consensus on how to position Wesley theologically. Of course, as Abraham himself states, in large part this was Wesley’s own doing. He drank from far too many theological streams to be pigeonholed so easily under a single label, even as an Arminian.3
Another factor is that Wesley never saw the need to produce a systematic theology. This would have compelled him to be more precise in his use of language, and to be more logically consistent in the presentation of his doctrines. Such a tome could have once-for-all settled many debates over his own theological contours and would have allowed him to nuance himself before others attempted the task. But Wesley prided himself as a man of the people—one among the “bulk of mankind.”4 Yet, more importantly, was Wesley’s immersion in the revival. He disdained flowery language and the niceties of philosophical speculations and reasonings.5 Instead, he professed to teach “plain truth for a plain people.” This meant he never bothered to sharpen his terminology with razor-edge precision. It was the needs of the common people under his care that concerned him most. As Abraham concludes, even today Wesley continues to serve his posterity as spiritual father rather than as an epochal theologian of Protestantism.6
In the entire Wesley corpus, it is his letters that show this side of his character and ministry. They are theologically rich in content and need to be studied alongside his journal, sermons and other published writings. Yet, it is in his letters we see Wesley come forth as spiritual father. For in his mail he enters into personal relationship with scores of people as he counsels them regarding their spiritual development. And, I would add, his letters offer important insights into the evolution of his thought and theology. Up to this point in our study we have often turned to them to ascertain specific transition points in the evolution of his perfection theology. We now turn to his later letters (from the late fifties on) to point out further maturation in his two-works gospel.
Several areas of interest arise. For starters, in a number of letters the question of degrees or levels within the experience of Christian perfection are addressed. Moreover, beginning in the late fifties Wesley’s correspondence often discusses in detail how to attain and retain the experience. His spiritual fatherhood becomes most evident in several letter series in which he counsels seekers of full salvation over an extended period of time. His fatherly advice and tender counsel is what attracted many to his person, while offering us further clarification of several aspects of his theology. Therefore, a full rounded understanding of Wesley’s theology of perfection necessitates a careful look at this correspondence.
Two Works of Grace
In chapter three we charted the course by which Wesley developed his two-works gospel system. In this system the faith journey is grounded on a life transformation process that incorporates specific God-moments at critical thresholds of spiritual attainment. Behind the twin parameters of process and moment are the axioms of inward holiness and salvation by faith alone. These maxims represent the core values that informed his mature ordo salutis, and, as we will see, his later correspondence. As with all his letters, Wesley’s mail is situational, which means we cannot expect a single letter, or even a group of them, to spell out fully his two-works theology. But what we do see over the existing body of correspondence is that his two-works theology did permeate his thought and the counsel he gave to his addressees.
Wesley often refers to both God-moments within a single letter. Dorothy Furly is told she had received the “first fruits of the Spirit” through God changing her heart in “some measure.” Now, she only needs to “earnestly wait for the great change” when “every root of bitterness” will be “torn up.”7 In another letter he identifies the first work as the “former change” and the second as the “latter change.”8 In a similar vein, Hester Roe is reminded of the difference between the “first love” and a “pure love,” for the former empowers one to live above the power of the “root of sin,” yet only the latter can take it away.9
Wesley once explained this distinction to a nobleman:
“I have frequently observed that there are two very different ranks of Christians, both of whom may be in the favour of God, a higher and a lower rank. The latter avoid all known sin, do much good, use all the means of grace, but have little of the life of God in their souls, and are much conformed to the world. The former make the Bible their whole rule, and their sole aim is the will and image of God. This they steadily and uniformly pursue, through honour and dishonour, denying themselves, and taking up their cross daily; considering one point only, ‘How may I attain most of the mind that was in Christ, and how may I please him most?’”10
In other correspondence Wesley distinguishes what God does for us from what he does in us.11 God is the one who justifies and afterwards sanctifies.12 The first work involves a “taste” of salvation from sin, followed by a gradual work leading to a “farther instantaneous change.”13 Wesley draws upon the parable of the talents to make his point, “When we are justified, He gives us one talent; to those that use this He gives more. When we are sanctified, He gives, as it were, five talents. And if you use the whole power which is then given, He will not only continue that power, but increase it day by day.”14
Here is Wesley’s two-works gospel: the first work is followed by degrees of growth leading to a second moment, only to be followed by another process of growth and development.15 Yet, as we saw above, Wesley was very aware the move from the first work of grace to the second was no smooth transition.
Wilderness State
From his own struggles with doubt following his Aldersgate conversion, Wesley learned just how deep these conflicts could be. By 1740 he refers to these struggles as the wilderness state.16 On the heels of the great perfection revival in the early sixties,17 Wesley encourages miss March there is “very frequently a kind of wilderness state, not only after justification, but even after deliverance from sin.”18 Just a few years prior Wesley had published a sermon on the same topic. Yet in his letters we see a personal side to the struggles his converts faced as they worked out their salvation with fear and trembling.19 What were their struggles? How did their struggles following justification and new birth compare with those following full salvation? We turn to his letters for answers.
Wesley’s correspondence abounds with advice to those wrestling to confirm their spiritual standing. He reminds one convert that following justification a direct witness from the Holy Spirit is often felt, only later to become intermittent.20 This intermittency is compounded by numerous inner struggles. Wesley confronts one preacher about his prejudice, ingratitude, uneven temper, lack of self-control with his tongue, and lack of brotherly love. Though this man was greatly used by God, at times his poor choice of words and demeanor had caused Wesley to “tremble.”21
When we turn to his other mail we find a whole host of issues these seekers of perfect love encountered. Common issues include, as Wesley calls them, “unprofitable reasonings” and “wanderings” of the imagination. In their place he counsels one seeker to practice the peace of God which guards the heart, mind, affections and passions as a “garrison keeps a city.”22 Other problems were envy, gossip, vanity, depression, (“occasions of heaviness and dejection”), weariness and faintness of mind, weakness of nerves, passions of resentment, conflicting emotions and many afflictions over health.23 With many of these trials Wesley gives credit to Satan and his minions24 or to our fallen condition.25 The following is a good example of the kind of conflicts that plagued many Methodists, and the role as spiritual father Wesley supplied:
“You say, ‘I know not whither I am going.’ I will tell you whither. You are going the straight way to be swallowed up in God. ‘I know not what I am doing.’ You are suffering the will of God, and glorifying Him in the fire. ‘But I am not increasing in the divine life.’ That is your mistake. Perhaps you are now increasing therein faster than ever you did since you were justified.”26
As we found in other parts of our study, the primary cause of these ailments is sinful tempers; and the primary disposition is pride. Wesley warns one dear sister, “There is a mountain that stands in the way; and how you will get over it, I know not: I mean pride.”27 Self-importance was the root cause behind one preacher’s prejudice and other vices.28 It feeds a desire for vanity and an unhealthy desire for approval from other people. Pride further imprisons one to fear the rejection of others.29 Yet, Wesley acknowledges that distinguishing between right and wrong tempers can be as difficult as discerning truth from error.30
This led many to seek his counsel and advice. To one lady he explains the difference between “heaviness” and “darkness of soul.” Heaviness is due more to our mortal condition whereas darkness is often caused by “our own fault.” What did he advise? “It seems your trial was of the latter kind (i.e. heaviness)…But of whatsoever kind it was, you may profit thereby: It need not leave you as it found you.”31 To another who suffered from nervous disorders Wesley advises several of his Oxford rules: early sleep (never later than ten o’clock), early rising, awareness of Satan’s schemes to afflict doubt, and seeking counsel from trusted advisors.32 Wesley could be terse and to the point, as he is to this fellow minister, “Suffer me now to speak a word between you and me. Is not the reason of your preaching so languidly and coldly, that you do not feel what you say? And why not? Because your soul is not alive to God.”33 But to close confidants he was always very patient and encouraging.
One such confidant was Ann Bolton. Forty years Wesley’s junior, Ann experienced a spiritual awakening in the summer of 1762. The following February she joined the Methodist society and began a lifelong pilgrimage to attain holiness of heart and life. It is good to remember that the only requirement Wesley placed on joining a society was the desire to “flee from the wrath to come.”34 This requirement fit her early faith journey. Ann shares it was in “June 1763, when the Lord deepened his work…and the true light began to shine upon my dark soul.”35 Through the late sixties Ann’s spiritual temperature would ebb and flow, alternating between periods of dryness and seasons of hope. John Banks says of Bolton’s faith journey:
“This was to be the pattern of Ann’s life. She had a doubtful, timorous spirit and was much given to ‘reasoning’ herself into fear and unbelief. She needed constant support, and perpetual proof before she could say: Be gone my needless fears, and doubts no longer mine.”36
Wesley probably met Miss Bolton in early 1764 while on his regular preaching tour. The earliest extant letter we have from his pen to the young maiden is four years later when he advises her on a marriage proposal. Soon a deep friendship developed between them.37 A couple months later Wesley wrote to encourage her faith and to remind her that she already has the faith of a servant. She only needs the faith of a child:
“Look up, my sister, my friend! Jesus is there! He is ever now interceding for you! Doubt not of it! Doubt not his love! Forget yourself, a poor, vile, worthless sinner. But look to Jesus! See the Friend of Sinners! Your Friend; your ready and strong Savior!”38
The struggles Ann faced were common among early Methodists. She confides in Wesley of her struggles with pride. In response John counsels her to distinguish between pride and a temptation to pride, “Then you may trust that all the motions you feel tending to pride or vanity…are not sin, but temptation.”39 In a desire for the abiding witness of the Spirit, Ann, like so many others, sought Wesley’s wisdom concerning various emotions and perceptions.40 With his continual urging to seek perfect love, she wrestled with issues of marriage, handling disappointments, physical faintness and weariness, and discerning God’s leading in her life.41 Through it all Wesley reminds her of his godly jealousy, “Perhaps I shall find faults in you that others do not; for I survey you on every side. I mark your every motion and temper; because I long for you to be without spot or blemish.”42 Is it little wonder that Ann never married until Wesley had passed?
Through the years Ann remained a faithful society member and class leader, yet we never sense from Wesley’s correspondence that she attained perfect love while he was alive. Her affection and appreciation for Wesley ran deep. When he passed on March 2, 1791 Miss Bolton came several days later to meet with friends and to attend the funeral service. On March 12 she wrote to a friend, “No words can possibly give you any idea of my feelings from our late loss. From a letter I had lately read from our dear beloved pastor and father.”43 For many, like Ann, there was no greater tribute than to remember John Wesley as their spiritual father.
Attaining Full Salvation
It is well known that Wesley considered full salvation to be the “grand depositum” which God entrusted to the Methodists.44 The corpus of his mail breathes with continual longing to see his people receive all that Christ purchased on the cross.45 We have noted several times how inward holiness, full salvation from sin, became early in his life the DNA of his faith and character. When bursting out in frustration to his brother Charles, “I am at my wit’s end in regard to two things,—the Church, and Christian perfection,”46 John was revealing the depth of passion and conviction he felt towards this scripture truth. While through the later sixties he felt compelled to fight for the doctrine and its accompanying experience, in his correspondence we see continual exhortations and encouragements for his followers to seek perfection in their love to God and neighbor.
One of the strongest themes in his letters is that perfection is available now, even today, “One part of your work is to stir up all who have believed, to go on to perfection, and every moment to expect the full salvation which is received by simple faith.”47 If the promise is to be received now, as Wesley asserts, preachers must “expect the blessing while (they) speak.”48 Telling people they must wait until they die, or until a “year hence, or a week hence” only becomes a hindrance to receiving the blessing. Instead, the seeker must desire and press after it.49 Believers need to hunger and thirst after perfection if they are to retain what they have already received, “Indeed, if they are not thirsting after this, it is scarce possible to keep what they have.”50
When it came to how a Christian is to attain perfection, Wesley was not short on counsel. He warns Miss Furly against the danger of looking inward too much, “You are hindered chiefly by not understanding the freeness of the gift of God. You are perpetually seeking for something in your self, to move him to love and bless you. But it is not to be found there; it is in Himself, and in the Son of his love.”51 In his later years Wesley never tired of exhorting his followers to look to Christ for full salvation:
“Has not Christ done and suffered enough for you? The purchase is made; the price is paid already; you have only to believe, and enter into rest; to take the purchased possession; all is ready; and to-day is the day of salvation! Why should you not now be all love? all devoted to Him that loves you? Is it not the language of your heart?”52
Looking to Christ reflects the impact that Aldersgate made on Wesley. Salvation by faith alone became a core axiom that profoundly shaped his two-works gospel. Wesley’s mail breathes with an atmosphere of looking to Christ alone for full salvation from inward sin. The primacy of faith in receiving the gift of sanctification is seen in his use of the phrase “simple faith.” While the phrase is found little in his published writings, in his letters it pops up a number of times, “Certainly simple faith is the very thing you want; that faith which lives upon Christ from moment to moment…Fear not; only believe, and enter into rest.”53 Central to Wesley’s faith-alone conviction is the immediacy of the second gift, “Full salvation is nigh, even at the door. Only believe, and it is yours.”54 To press home the availability of the gift, Wesley, at times, employs the biblical language of Christ’s parousia:
“See that you hold fast the beginning of your confidence steadfast unto the end! And how soon may you be made a partaker of sanctification! And not only by a slow and insensible growth in grace, but by the power of the Highest overshadowing you, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, so as utterly to abolish sin, and to renew you in his whole image!”55
Besides seeking the divine blessing by faith alone, Wesley’s Gospel of Two Works incorporated the methodology of his holiness gospel. It was here that the means of grace took on a critical role.
We turn once again to his correspondence with Miss Furly. Wesley counsels her that the way to increase one’s sense of God’s love is to (1) not commit sin (2) not omit any duty (3) not give place to any inward sin (4) remain constant in prayer and (5) not give way to spiritual sloth.56 In an earlier letter he reminds her that by remaining faithful to “all works of piety and mercy” she is “waiting on God in the old scriptural way.”57 While instantaneous change comes in response to faith; only through the constant practice of works of piety and mercy, as the means of grace, can the believer develop Christ-like character: “All who expect to be sanctified at all, expect to be sanctified by faith. But, meantime, they know, that faith will not be given but to them that obey.”58
One of the principal ways Wesley encouraged his people toward perfection was by applying the methodology of the Bands within his correspondence. The Bands were small groups that met for the sole purpose of instilling inward holiness in the participants. D. Michael Henderson informs us that the Bands were the original mode of Methodism from which the other aspects of the societies sprang.59 Their methodology was very specific. The group gathered at an appointed time and opened with prayer and song. Each member took turns sharing how their past week went by answering a series of questions related to present assurance, temptations and sins encountered, whether victory was found, and whether the person was transparent and open for advice.60 So effective was this method for spiritual development that Wesley uses it often in his correspondence:
“Perhaps the best way to examine your own growth is, first, to consider whether your faith remains unshaken. Do you continually see Him that is invisible? Have you as clear an evidence of the spiritual as of the invisible world? Are you always conscious of the presence of God, and of his love to your soul? In what sense do you pray without ceasing? Are you never in a hurry, so as to dim the eye of your soul, or make you inattentive to the voice of God? Next, consider your hope. Do you thereby taste of the powers of the world to come? Do you sit in heavenly places with Christ Jesus? Do you never shrink at death? Do you steadily desire to depart, and to be with Christ? Do you always feel that this is far better? Can you in pain and trouble rejoice in hope of the glory of God?”61
To Sarah Ryan Wesley inquires:
“Do you find no interruption or abatement at any time of your joy in the Lord? Do you continually see God; and that without any cloud, or darkness, or mist between? Do you pray without ceasing, without ever being diverted from it by anything inward or outward? Are you never hindered by any person or thing? by the power or subtlety of Satan or by the weakness or disorders of the body pressing down the soul? Can you be thankful for everything without exception? And do you feel all working together for good? Do you do nothing, great or small, merely to please yourself? Do you feel no touch of any desire or affection but what springs from the pure love of God? Do you speak no words but from a principle of love, and under the guidance of his Spirit? O how I long to find you unblamable in all things, and holy as He that hath called you is holy!”62
The above inquiries reveal much how Wesley understood Christian perfection. One of the principal scripture texts he often appeals to formulate his inquiries is 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. As Paul exhorted the Thessalonians to “rejoice evermore; pray without ceasing; in every thing give thanks,” so Wesley believed the essence of perfect love to revolve around these three qualities.63 In the end, Wesley envisioned Christian perfection to be a deeper transformation of the dispositional nature, resulting in full and consistent communion and identity (union) with God.64
Before we move on, one final means of attaining perfection requires our attention. Wesley encouraged his people to view all things as a means to grow in God’s perfect love, and this includes physical suffering. It is common knowledge that Wesley wrote a popular manual on medicine, for which he received criticism for many of his remedies.65 His use of electricity to treat various ailments is widely known.66
We saw above that many of his converts faced health issues that tend to produce a variety of doubts over their spiritual attainments. Wesley pressed his followers to see their sufferings as God’s appointed path toward full salvation. John Banks informs us of Ann Bolton’s problems with sleep insomnia, fits of weeping, severe headaches, dental neuralgia, and even contemplations of death.67 Wesley’s fatherly advice bears quoting in full:
“I wanted much to know how your soul prospered. I could not doubt but the god of this world, the enemy of all righteousness, would use every means to move you from your steadfastness. Blessed be God, you are not moved! That all his labour has been in vain! Hitherto hath God helped you; and, fear not, he will help you to the end. He gives you health as a token for good: He can trust you with it, while you give him your heart. And O stand fast in the glorious liberty wherewith he has made you free! You are not called to desire suffering. Innocent nature is averse from pain; only, as soon as his will appears, yours is to sink down before it. Hark! What does he say to you now? ‘Lovest thou me more than these?’”68
Wesley believed that God wisely chooses the right path for each of his children. The believer must learn to submit and to patiently trust in their heavenly Father to lead them to a rest that is “perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”69 As Wesley reminds Miss Furly, “There is a wonderful mystery in the manner and circumstances of that mighty working, whereby he subdues all things to himself, and leaves nothing in the heart but his pure love alone.” He then points to God’s purpose, “Meantime, he designs, by this weakness of body, to keep your soul low, as a weaned child.”70 The path to perfection is not always easy, nor does it come immediately for every child of God. Often, only in the fires of deep personal trial does one learn to surrender their all and to fix the eyes of the heart on Christ alone.71
Fruits of Perfect Love
In 1733 Wesley penned his most enduring definition of perfection as that “habitual disposition of soul which in the Sacred Writings is termed ‘holiness’, and which directly implies the being cleansed from sin, ‘from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit’, and by consequence the being endued with those virtues which were also in Christ Jesus, the being so ‘renewed in the image of our mind’ as to be ‘perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect.’”72 His later correspondence reveals that his views had not materially changed. The primary fruit of pure love continued to be salvation from unholy tempers,73 yet he concedes “whether there be any soul clothed with flesh and blood which enjoys every right temper.”74 This concession is due to Wesley’s mature understanding of involuntary sin, “Undoubtedly, as long as you are in the body,” he told Mrs. Marston, “you will come short of what you would be; and you will see more and more of your numberless defects, and the imperfections of your best actions and tempers.”75 Wesley continued to maintain that all believers, even the most perfect, need the advocacy of Christ for daily forgiveness.76
In a similar manner, Wesley repeatedly declares that scripture perfection conveys freedom from pride, anger and evil desire.77 This is the essence of deadness to the world78 and freedom from inbred sin.79 On the positive, perfect love casts out fear,80 imbues the believer with the dispositional nature (mind) of Christ,81 and empowers the Christian to love God with the whole heart.82 One of Wesley’s favorite qualifiers for full salvation is “humble, gentle, patient love of God.”83 This terminology, found so often in his letters, corresponds to the trinity of sinful tempers that comprise inbred sin: pride, anger and evil desire.84
Regarding other blessings to becoming an “altogether Christian,”85 probably the most significant is being fit and ready to enter eternity. Wesley reminds Elizabeth Hardy, “Till you are saved from unholy tempers, you are not ripe for glory.”86 In chapter one, we learned this was the primary goal of his holiness gospel. But this theme was not lost to the elderly Wesley, “It is well if the great change be wrought in a soul even a little before it leaves the body,” for then the saying becomes true that “precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints!”87 Perfection prepares one for glory since it casts out sin and renews one in God’s image.88 Hence, full salvation is the one thing needful,89 the essence of authentic religion;90 and, as Wesley saw it, the central purpose of his ministry.91 No wonder he continued to exhort his preachers to press their people to seek after this blessed experience.92
Part Two continues our study of Wesley’s correspondence in which he counsels seekers of perfect love. Topics include the nature of the doubts and struggles that follow the experience of heart holiness, how to retain the experience, and the nature of further growth in grace.
1 Abraham tells how scholars define JW as a fundamentalist holiness preacher, a revivalist Anglican, a Liberation theologian that is either wobbly, soft or just a proto, or as a proto-Pentecostal theologian. Then there are those who see JW as some flavor of an evangelical, whether it is a catholic or a liberal. Abraham summarizes, “However we draw up the typology, one conclusion is clear: there are as many Wesley’s as there are Wesley scholars” (The End of Wesleyan Theology, WTJ 40:1:13).
2 Abraham, WTJ 40:1:8-12
3 E.g. JW’s atonement views are more Calvinistic than many Arminian-Wesleyans who followed him.
4 Preface, Works,Jackson (J), 5:1.
5 Preface, Works J 5:2.
6 In contrast to the likes of Luther, Calvin, Schliermacher, and Barth.
7 John Wesley Letter 6/18/57 (Hereafter JWL).
8 JWL 6/27/60.
9 JWL 5/3/76.
10 JWL Telford 1/1/70.
11 See Justification By Faith II.1and The Great Privilege of Those That are Born of God P.2 for this terminology in his sermons.
12 JWL 12/22/56; 2/8/66; 12/28/70; 3/9/82.
13 JWL 12/15/63.
14 JWL 6/3/74.
15 JW told Miss Furly “You are right in looking for a further instantaneous change, as well as a constant gradual one” (JWL 12/15/63). And to Miss March he wrote, “Every one, though born of God in an instant, yea, and sanctified in an instant, yet undoubtedly grows by slow degrees, both after the former and the latter change” (JWL 6/27/60).
16 Cf. page 158.
17 For a fuller description of this period see vol 1 Introduction: Why Did Wesley Write A Plain Account?; and chs 20-22.
18 JWL 10/13/64.
19 Php 2:12-13.
20 JWL 1/30/62.
21 JWL Telford 12/86.
22 JWL 12/14/85.
23 JWL 11/9/87; 5/3/76; 11/23/83; 1/20/58; 7/14/81; 6/17/74.
24 JWL 6/23/74; 11/9/87. To Ann Bolton JW wrote, “Undoubtedly Satan, who well understands the manner how the mind is influenced by the body, can, by means of those parts in the animal machine which are more immediately subservient to thinking, raise a thousand perceptions and emotions in the mind, so far as God is pleased to permit” (JWL 9/27/77).
25 JWL 1/18/74.
26 JWL 3/9/82.
27 JWL 9/7/87.
28 See note 21 above.
29 JWL 5/3/76; 12/1/86; 9/7/87.
30 JWL 7/13/71.
31 JWL 6/17/74.
32 JWL 3/25/81.
33 JWL 10/25/86.
34 “There is one only condition previously required in those who desire admission into these societies, ‘a desire to flee from the wrath to come, to be saved from their sins’ (General Rules of the United Societies §4, Works B 9:70).
35 John Banks, Nancy Nancy, 12.
36 Banks, 15.
37 Banks mentions that JW’s extant correspondence to Ann totals 117 letters, and that he published 22 letters from her to him in the Arminian Magazine (Nancy, Nancy, 2).
38 JWL 4/7/68.
39 JWL 11/7/71.
40 JWL 9/27/77; see note 24 above.
41 JWL 8/31/84; 3/28/85; 1/9/89.
42 JWL 12/5/72.
43 Banks, Nancy, Nancy,92; emphasis mine.
44 JWL 9/15/90.
45 Plain Account 16:4.
46 JWL 5/14/68.
47 JWL 12/19/73.
48 JWL 4/26/72.
49 JWL 5/18/57; 1/18/61.
50 JWL 3/29/66.
51 JWL 2/9/58.
52 JWL 11/20/67; cf. 7/1/68; 7/13/68; 9/1/71.
53 JWL 9/1/71; 1/19/82; 6/16/85.
54 JWL 3/17/71.
55 JWL 9/24/85; See also JWL 9/1/71; Paul’s language in Php 4:5 “The Lord is at hand” (JWL, Works, Jackson, #732; #803).
56 JWL 5/18/57.
57 JWL 12/22/56.
58 JWL 8/19/59.
59 John Wesley’s Class Meeting, 112.
60 Works, Bicentennial Edition, 9:77-78.
61 JWL 6/30/73.
62 JWL 11/22/57; cf. JWL 12/14/57; 1/28/58; 2/20/58; 3/18/60; 5/30/65; 4/12/70; 11/3/89.
63 Plain Account 26:7; JWL 4/5/58; 6/25/71.
64 “The essence of Christian perfection is this: God can so transform your dispositional nature that his love, even his perfect love, can become the natural and habitual characteristic of your life. Added to this, God can do this work of grace in this life, which is so characterized by ignorance, mistake, temptation, and trial – all the human frailties that are inescapable in this life” (Plain Account, 15).
65 Banks, 55.
66 “On Tuesday July 30th 1771 Ann (Bolton) wanted to go to Marston to see JW about her eyes, but her brother would not take her. She wrote the next day to Miss Eden asking her to obtain JW’s opinion on electricity for her eyes. Among Ann’s papers, also, was a letter of 1784 from a G. Clark which shows that other people believed what JW believed. ‘It is a pain to my mind to write to you at this time, and on this occasion, as I cannot give you that consolation I could wish in regard to your Brother. I have had many come to me from the Faculty when they could do them no more service in that desperate disorder. Yet I know of two that got benefit from electricity. To both of these I gave small shocks once a day, from the corners of each eye to the back of the head in a direction from each eye, and then from the corner of each eye through the ball’” (Banks, 57).
67 Banks, 58-59.
68 JWL 5/2/71; cf. 6/15/71.
69 James 1:4.
70 JWL 3/6/59.
71 To Miss March JW shared this important qualifier, “You seem to think pain, yea, much pain, must go before an entire cure. In S. R— it did, and in a very few others. But it need not: Pain is no more salutary than pleasure. Saving grace is essentially such; saving pain but accidentally. When God saves us by pain rather than pleasure, I can resolve it only into his justice, or sovereign will. To use the grace we have, and now to expect all we want, is the grand secret.” (JWL 10/13/65).
72 The Circumcision of the Heart I.1.
73 JWL 4/5/58; 9/15/62; 10/13/62; 10/5/70.
74 JWL 7/6/70.
75 JWL 8/11/70.
76 JWL 5/8/58; 12/26/61; cf. JWL 10/5/70; PA 19:23-25.
77 JWL 9/25/57; 2/21/59; 7/22/66. JW once told Samuel Furly that to be cleansed from all sin meant liberty from “all pride, anger, evil desire, idolatry, and unbelief” (JWL 9/15/62).
78 JWL 7/10/64.
79 JWL 3/15/70.
80 JWL 7/1/57.
81 JWL 2/21/59; 11/22/69.
82 JWL 5/12/63; 12/28/70.
83 JWL 1/27/67; for the development and use of this terminology in part or in full, see JWL 6/14/57; 1/5/72; 10/5/72; 10/23/72; 7/18/73; 6/17/74; 11/30/74; 4/12/82. See the PA 25:130.
84 This author first noticed the connection between humble, gentle and patient with pride, anger and self-will when writing the annotated edition of the Plain Account.
85 This is another synonym of perfection in JW’s letters: JWL 5/11/64; 3/29/66.
86 JWL 4/5/58.
87 JWL 8/31/71.
88 JWL 1/8/74; 9/9/69.
89 JWL 9/24/85.
90 “‘What then is religion?’ It is happiness in God, or in the knowledge and love of God. It is ‘faith working by love;’ producing ‘righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.’ In other words, it is a heart and life devoted to God” (JWL 5/2/86).
91 JW told Mr. Walker, “I have one point in view, to promote, so far as I am able, vital, practical religion; and by the grace of God to beget, preserve, and increase the life of God in the souls of men” (Second Letter to the Rev. Mr. Walker, Works J 13:197).
92 JWL 2/25/74; 1/19/82; 3/7/83.
