Mark K. Olson: Famous Sermons of John Wesley 10: The Circumcision of the Heart

, , Comments Off on Mark K. Olson: Famous Sermons of John Wesley 10: The Circumcision of the Heart

It is estimated that John Wesley traveled around 250,000 miles and preached over 40,000 sermons in a span of 66 years. This series by Mark K. Olson, taken from his website Wesleyscholar.com, includes summaries and links to some of Wesley’s most famous and important sermons. This tenth installment is on Wesley’s sermon “The Circumcision of the Heart” from 1733.

Text: Romans 2:29

Circumcision is that of the Heart, in the spirit, and not of the letter.

The Circumcision of the Heart is a landmark sermon on several counts. The dean of Wesley scholars, Albert Outler, was certainly correct that it stands out as “one of Wesley’s most careful and complete statements of his doctrine of holiness.” But the sermon does even more, for it spells out in sufficient detail Wesley’s soteriology in general, better known as his doctrine of salvation. The fact it was preached early in his career also means that it shows the direction in which Wesley’s thought and theology was developing. Consequently, The Circumcision of the Heart would leave its imprint on everything Wesley would write and publish over the next six decades.  It therefore deserves a close reading by anyone interested in Wesley’s life and thought.

Background

It was in late November 1732 that Wesley began to plan the sermon and started writing on Dec. 8th. Outler notes that Wesley spent nearly 30 hours writing the first draft, which reflects the care he put into its contents and message. He then consulted his brother and friends for input. At the time the Oxford Methodists were under public scrutiny by the Fog’s Weekly Journal and had suffered derision from fellow students for their strict devotion and piety. Wesley understood that he needed to clarify Methodist principles and beliefs that stood behind their religious practices. So he chose his words with care. The text was selected by the celebration of the Feast of Circumcision (in the life of Christ). It was the perfect text by which Wesley could spell out his vision of salvation embedded in his theology of holiness. Wesley preached the sermon before the University of Oxford on Jan. 1, 1733, at St. Mary’s Cathedral.

Here is the sermon: The Circumcision of the Heart 1733

Justification

The sermon opens with a brief statement on the Anglican doctrine of double justification — a point often missed by scholars. After mentioning the natural man who is “dead unto God” and whose spiritual senses remain dormant, Wesley proclaims present justification as being in a “state of acceptance with God.” Such acceptance is not conditioned on baptism or “any other outward form” but by having a “right state of soul.” Wesley will later explain how a person is saved by faith, but at this point it is important to note the influence of William Law on his soteriology. Wesley had recently met Law the prior summer and read Law’s Practical Treatise on Christian Perfection. In this work Law spells out how a person can lose their baptismal washing of regeneration due to worldly living and need to be re-born again by dedicating oneself fully to God. Law referred to such re-dedication as the “new birth.” In the sermon Wesley restates Law’s position by denying that present justification is connected to baptism — the standard Anglican view — and declares it pertains to having a “right state of soul.”

Wesley then moves quickly to final justification when everyone will receive their “applause” from the Lord on the final day before the “great assembly of men and angels.” While present justification is the acceptance we enjoy in this life, at the Last Judgment will be when our acceptance is publicly declared before all and entrance into the eternal kingdom will be granted (Matt. 25:31-46).

Salvation Phases

With our final justification at the judgment seat of Christ addressed, Wesley proceeds to map out the way or path of salvation (via salutis) under four heads: humility, faith, hope, and love. To prepare for the discussion Wesley offers one of his best summary descriptions of holiness. He defines it as that “habitual disposition” in which the soul is cleansed from sin and endued with the virtues of Christ (I.1). Here we see not only Wesley’s dispositional psychology at work (people live according to their ruling dispositions) but also his understanding of “salvation” in holiness terms. That is, to be saved is to be holy. Salvation is the process of making one holy so as to receive Christ’s approval on the final day. And this process involves rooting out sinful patterns and tempers and replacing them with Christ-like attitudes and dispositions, notably love. We see how closely Wesley intertwined salvation with holiness and visa-versa.

Wesley then proceeds to discuss the path of salvation under the four heads: humility, faith, hope, and love. What is to be noted about the four labels, is that Wesley builds his soteriology around the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love and treats them as states or phases in the via salutis (way of salvation). But before he describes these three stages he first describes the stage called humility.

Genuine religion — the circumcision of the heart — begins with humility, a “right judgment of ourselves.” While the natural man is comfortable in their lost state, a true change begins with the Spirit of God awakening a person to the reality of their sinful condition. Wesley stresses that we need to see not only our sinfulness but also our helplessness. Without the “supernatural assistance” of the Spirit it is impossible to overcome our innate sinfulness and to renew ourselves in righteousness and holiness (I.2-3). No stronger statement could be made about the necessity of salvation by grace. Wesley will later identify this stage with repentance that leads to salvation.

While it is through humility that sinners come to a “knowledge of their disease,” it is faith alone that is the “one medicine given under heaven to heal their sickness.” Faith is saving because it pulls down strongholds by the power of God. Faith is explained as a gracious virtue in which a person believes and devotes themselves fully to God. Such faith participates in Christ’s death and resurrection and thereby overcomes the enslaving power of sin (I.7-8). Faith produces new birth in the Spirit, breaks the power (rule) of sin and leads to hope which gives strength to overcome temptations and trials of life, and produces a “joyous expectation” of eternal life (I.9). Both faith and hope lead to love, by which the believer participates in the life of God as the ultimate goal. Love is the crowning virtue of the Christian life. Love is the “one perfect good,” the “one thing desired,” the “one happiness,” and the “one design” (I.12). This is the circumcised heart – to enjoy God in time and eternity.

Salvation Assurance

In the second section Wesley addresses practical implications of the his gospel of humility, faith, hope, and love. He expounds on the Holy Spirit bearing witness to our spirit of our salvation in Christ. This witness generates a “joyful assurance” (II.4-5). Wesley’s understanding of assurance will later embrace the idea of assurance as a supernatural testimony (called direct witness), but even in his Oxford period he understood that believers enjoy the blessing of assurance derived from the Spirit’s fruits and presence.  Still, he continued to stress that believers must press forward to grow and experience the fullness of faith, hope, and love in this life.

Publication

Wesley did not publish the sermon until 1748, at the head of his second volume of sermons that deal more with the Christian life (first volume addresses Wesley’s evangelistic sermons). It should be noted that by 1748 Wesley had become an evangelical Christian and so he added an evangelical explanation of saving faith as the assurance of pardon and acceptance (last part of par. 7).

Throughout his life Wesley considered The Circumcision of the Heart of one of his most enduring statements on his soteriology.

Here is the sermon from the Jackson edition of Wesley’s Works: The Circumcision of the Heart 1733