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 fifth installment is on Wesley’s sermon “The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption” from 1746.
The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption
Text: Romans 8:15
Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba Father.
Introduction
When the Evangelical Revival began in the 1730s, the concept of three spiritual states was one way that evangelicals sought to convince their listeners of their need for new birth by faith in Christ alone. Like other evangelists, John and Charles Wesley employed the three-states model in their preaching. Its roots go back to their Oxford days when they read the writings of John Norris. The Oxford Methodists discussed the concept of three spiritual states, identified as (1) natural, (2) Jewish (legal), and (3) evangelical. This shows that the idea of spiritual states reaches back in the Anglican tradition and is found in other traditions, like Puritanism. Albert Outler noted that the classical source for spiritual states is Augustine’s Enchiridion xxxi (see Works 1:248).
Read the sermon: The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption
John Wesley’s Testimony
Wesley employed the three-state model of natural, legal, and evangelical to describe his own journey to saving faith in Christ in 1738. Wesley’s Journal entry for May 24 tells the story of how he was initially in the natural state after losing his baptismal washing and experienced spiritual awakening in 1725. This was his transition to the legal state, when for several years he sought to attain an assurance of salvation through personal piety and devotion.
Wesley shares how these efforts failed during his time in Georgia and led him to realize that he needed a new foundation for assurance of salvation. Meeting the Moravian Peter Bohler in February 1738, Wesley learned that assurance is a gift of grace received through faith in Christ alone. Finally, on May 24, at a religious meeting on Aldersgate Street, London, Wesley felt his “heart strangely warmed,” and he entered the evangelical state by receiving an assurance of his justification and new birth.
Wesley’s Description
The classic statement on the three spiritual states is found in Wesley’s sermon The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption. First published in 1746, this sermon aims to help his largely Anglican audiences to identify where they are at in the spiritual journey and what they need to do to find saving faith in Christ. Since the vast majority of the population were baptized members of the Anglican Church, it was easy for people to assume they were already Christians with a hope of eternal salvation. This false hope is dispelled by Wesley’s clear description of the natural and legal states.
The natural state is described as a condition of spiritual slumber. Those in this state enjoy a false sense of peace and security because they are living in darkness toward God and his will. They often congratulate themselves for their “wisdom and goodness” and feel secure, but they are “utterly ignorant” of their sinful and lost condition. They live self-content, believing their goodness out-weighs their badness and will therefore earn them a place in heaven.
But their false peace is suddenly shaken when they are awakened to the reality of God’s moral law and his judgment on sin. The “inward, spiritual meaning of the law of God” now grips the person. This is the legal state or life under the law. A person now strives to please God according to their degree of knowledge. Like Adam and Eve, they sew fig leaves with their good works to cover their nakedness before God – but to no avail. A chief characteristic of the legal state is a fear or reverence of God that motivates a person to serve him. But they do it in their own strength. Still living under the reign of sin the person cannot break free into the freedom God gives through faith in Jesus.
At the right moment, orchestrated by the Spirit of God, a person enters the evangelical state through faith in Jesus. The love of God pours into their life and they feel the “Spirit of adoption” within. God gives them assurance of forgiveness and acceptance, and they are delivered from the reign of sin described by Paul in Romans 6:1-18. These believers enjoy true peace and joy from the Lord, and the love of God spurs them to grow in faith and Christlikeness.
This is a synopsis of the three spiritual states. Wesley explained there can be many degrees within each of these three states as people’s spiritual states vary in knowledge and commitment to divine truth. He also noted from his broad experience as a minister that during a transition period from one state to another, a person can often display aspects of both states in varying degrees. A wise minister will notice this and give proper counsel to seekers to help them fully transition into the next state (and spiritual development).
Practical Application
The three-state model can be helpful in evangelism and discipleship to guide people in the path of salvation. The journey to saving faith is never a straight line and seekers can be easily detoured by various obstacles. It takes wisdom to win souls to Christ and to keep them on the narrow path to final salvation.
Read the sermon: The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption
