“3. The next fundamental doctrine of Christianity is that of holiness of heart and life; and no one can here accuse Mr. Wesley of leaning to the Antinomian delusion, which ‘_makes void the law through_’ a speculative and barren ‘_faith_’: on the contrary, he appears to be peculiarly set for the defence of practical religion; for, instead of representing Christ as the minister of sin, he sets Him forth as a complete ‘Saviour from sin.’ Not satisfied to preach holiness begun, he preaches finished holiness, and calls believers to such a degree of heart-purifying faith, as may enable them continually to ‘_triumph in Christ_,’ as being ‘_made to them sanctification_,’ as well as ‘_righteousness_.’ This he sometimes calls ‘full sanctification,’ the state of _fathers_ in Christ, or ‘_the glorious liberty of the children of God_:’ sometimes, a being ‘_strengthened, stablished, and settled_;’ or ‘_being rooted and grounded in love_:’ but most commonly he calls it, ‘Christian _Perfection_;’ a word which, though used by the Apostles in the same sense, cannot be used by him without raising the pity or indignation of one half of the religious world: some make it the subject of their pious sneers and godly lampoons; while others tell you roundly they ‘abhor it above everything in the creation.’ “4. But this is not all: he holds also general redemption, and its necessary consequences, which some account ‘_dreadful heresies_.’ He asserts, with St. Paul, that ‘_Christ, by the grace of God, tasted death for every man_;’ and this _grace_ he calls ‘_free_,’ as extending itself _freely_ to all. Nor can he help expressing his surprise at those pious ministers, who maintain that the Saviour keeps His grace, as they suppose He kept His blood, from the greatest part of mankind, and yet engross to themselves the title of ‘_preachers of free grace_.’ “5. As a consequence of the doctrine of general redemption, Mr. Wesley lays down two axioms, of which he never loses sight in his preaching. The first is, that ‘_All our salvation is of God in Christ_,’ and therefore _of grace_: all opportunities, invitations, inclination, and power to believe being bestowed upon us of mere grace,—grace most absolutely free. But he proceeds farther; for, secondly, he asserts, with equal confidence, that, according to the Gospel dispensation, ‘_All our damnation is of ourselves_,’ by our obstinate unbelief and avoidable unfaithfulness. He is persuaded the most complete system of divinity is that in which neither of those two axioms is superseded: it is bold and unscriptural to set up the one at the expense of the other.” These _extracts_ from Fletcher’s first letter are important, as showing what Fletcher conceived to be Wesley’s fundamental doctrines; and it must be borne in mind, that, Wesley having read and revised Fletcher’s manuscript, Fletcher’s conception is stamped with Wesley’s own authority.