Salvation by Faith

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. EPHESIANS 2:8–9

On 18 June 1738, less than four weeks after Aldersgate, John Wesley stood in the pulpit of St Mary’s, Oxford, before the university that had laughed at the Holy Club, and preached on this text. He had spent thirteen years trying to make himself holy enough for God. Now he told the most learned audience in England that salvation was a gift. When he later gathered his sermons into a collection, he put this one first. Everything else he preached stands on it.

Grace the source, faith the condition

Wesley begins with grace, not with faith. All the blessings God has given to human beings, he says, are of his mere grace, bounty, or favour — undeserved from first to last. It was grace that made us, grace that keeps us breathing, and grace that gives whatever good is found in us. We have nothing to bring. Our best works, he argues, cannot atone for the least of our sins, because they are themselves stained and need atoning for.

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. ISAIAH 64:6

So if sinners are to find favour with God, it must be grace upon grace. Then comes the sentence that sums up the sermon: “Grace is the source, faith the condition, of salvation.” The order matters. Grace is not God’s response to our faith; faith is our response to His grace. God is the fountain, and faith is simply the mouth that drinks.

What faith is not

The largest part of the sermon asks what kind of faith saves, and Wesley answers first by clearing away counterfeits. It is not, he says, the faith of a heathen, who believes that there is a God who rewards the good and punishes the evil. It is not the faith of a devil, which goes much further: the devils know who Jesus is, and believe the Scriptures, and tremble. It is not even the faith the apostles had while Jesus was with them on earth, before the cross and the resurrection.

Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. JAMES 2:19

This was pointed preaching in Oxford. Wesley’s hearers were orthodox. They could recite the creeds and defend them. His argument was that orthodoxy, however correct, is not the same as saving faith. A man may assent to every article of the Christian religion and still be lost, because his faith is only a train of ideas in the head.

What faith is

Saving faith, Wesley says, is faith in Christ, and it is a disposition of the heart as well as an assent of the mind. It acknowledges the necessity and merit of Christ’s death and the power of His resurrection. And then he gives one of his fullest definitions: Christian faith is 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”. It is a leaning of the whole weight of the soul on Him, a closing with Him and cleaving to Him as our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption.

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. ROMANS 10:9

The picture is of trust, not of mental effort. A drowning man does not save himself by believing correct things about the lifeboat. He takes hold of it. Wesley himself had believed correct things about Christ for years. At Aldersgate he took hold.

A present salvation from sin

Having said what faith is, Wesley asks what salvation is, and his answer surprised many. It is, he says, a present salvation. The text does not say ye shall be saved but ye are saved. Salvation is something attained on earth, now, by those who believe.

And it is salvation from sin. Wesley quotes the angel’s words to Joseph, that Jesus would save his people from their sins, and he insists that this means both the guilt and the power of sin. Through faith, believers are forgiven all that is past, and are set free from the servile fear of punishment. They receive the Spirit of adoption and cry Abba, Father.

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. MATTHEW 1:21

But they are also set free from the dominion of sin. Here Wesley presses hard. He quotes the First Epistle of John, that whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, and argues that the believer does not live in habitual or wilful sin, because sin cannot reign where Christ reigns. This is the first appearance of a theme that would run through his whole ministry: the gospel does not merely excuse sinners; it changes them.

Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 1 JOHN 3:9

Answering the objections

Wesley foresaw the objections and answered them one by one. Does preaching faith make void the law? No; it establishes the law, pointing to the only way it can be fulfilled. Will it lead to pride? Boasting is excluded by the law of faith. Will some abuse it to go on in sin? They will, and their blood is on their own heads; but the goodness of God leads the sincere to repentance. Will it drive people to despair? Yes, of their own righteousness, and so it ought, for no one can trust in the merits of Christ until he has renounced his own.

Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. ROMANS 3:28

Far from being uncomfortable, Wesley says, it is the only comfortable doctrine for self-condemned sinners: mercy for Zacchaeus the robber, and for the afflicted hearer whom no one has comforted. And it must be preached to all. The poor have a particular right to it; if any were to be excepted it would be the rich, the learned and the respectable, and yet the commission is to preach the gospel to every creature. He reminds the university that their own Church calls this doctrine the strong rock and foundation of the Christian religion.

Where to read with care

Wesley’s language about believers not committing sin needs his own later qualifications. In this early sermon he speaks in sweeping terms, and within a few years he would be explaining more carefully that sin remains in believers even though it does not reign, and distinguishing wilful sins from infirmities and mistakes. The later chapters of this book take that up. A young believer who reads Salvation by Faith and concludes that one sinful thought proves he was never saved has misread both Wesley and the apostle.

But the heart of the sermon is sound and glorious. We are not saved by our religion, our orthodoxy or our efforts. We are saved by grace, through trust in Christ, and the salvation He gives begins now and touches everything.

FOR REFLECTION AND ACTION

1. Wesley distinguishes the faith of a devil — correct belief without trust — from saving faith. Ask honestly which describes your own faith.

2. Write down in one sentence what you are trusting in for your acceptance with God. If it is anything other than Christ, bring it to Him.

3. Grace is the source, faith the condition. Spend five minutes thanking God for specific gifts you did nothing to deserve.

4. Name one sin that still has power over you, and ask Christ to save you from its power as well as its guilt.

5. Read Salvation by Faith in the Ochorus library, and note one sentence that searches you.

A PRAYER

Lord Jesus, I have nothing to bring You. My best works are stained, and my religion cannot save me.

Thank You that salvation is by grace, through faith, and not of myself. I lean the whole weight of my soul on Your life, Your death and Your rising again.

Save me from the guilt of my sins, and save me from their power. Set me free from servile fear, and let me call Your Father my Father.

Let my faith be not a cold assent but a living trust that works by love. Amen.