The works of the Rev. John Wesley, Vol. 01 (of 32)Wesley, John
Religion
The works of the Rev. John Wesley, Vol. 01 (of 32)
Wesley, John
Methodist Church; Theology -- Early works to 1800; Theology -- History -- 18th century
8. In consideration of this, that the Son of God hath _tasted death
for every man_, God hath now _reconciled the world to himself, not
imputing to them their former trespasses_. And thus, _as by the
offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even
so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto
justification_. So that for the sake of his well-beloved Son, of
what he hath done and suffered for us, God now vouchsafes on one only
condition (which himself also enables us to perform) both to remit
the punishment due to our sins, to reinstate us in his favour, and
to restore our dead souls to spiritual life, as the earnest of life
eternal.
9. This therefore is the general ground, of the whole doctrine of
_justification_. By the sin of the first _Adam_, who was not only the
father, but likewise the representative of us all, we all _fell short
of the |favour| of God_: we all became _children of wrath_: or, as the
apostle expresses it, _judgment came upon all men_ to _condemnation_.
Even so, by the sacrifice for sin made by the second _Adam_, as the
representative of us all, God is so far reconciled to all the world,
that he hath given them a new covenant. The plain condition whereof
being once fulfilled, _there is no more condemnation for us_, but we
are _justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in
Jesus Christ_.
II. 1. But what is it to be _justified_? What is _justification_? This
was the second thing which I proposed to shew. And it is evident from
what has been already observed, that it is not, the being made actually
just and righteous. This is _sanctification_: which is indeed, in some
degree, the immediate _fruit_ of justification: but nevertheless is
a distinct gift of God, and of a totally different nature. The one
implies, what God _does for us_ through his Son; the other what he
_works in us_ by his Spirit. So that altho’ some rare instances maybe
found, wherein the term _justified_, or _justification_, is used in so
wide a sense as to include _sanctification_ also; yet in general use,
they are sufficiently distinguished from each other, both by St. _Paul_
and the other inspired writers.
2. Neither is that far-fetch’d conceit, that justification is, the
clearing us from accusation, particularly that of _Satan_, easily
proveable from any clear text of holy writ. In the whole scriptural
account of this matter, as above laid down, neither that accuser nor
his accusation appears to be at all taken in. It cannot indeed be
denied, that he is the _accuser of men_, emphatically so called. But
it does in no wise appear, that the great apostle hath any reference to
this, more or less, in all that he hath written touching justification,
either to the _Romans_ or the _Galatians_.
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