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 sixth installment is on Wesley’s sermon “Christian Perfection” from 1741.
Christian Perfection
Philippians 3:12
Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect.
Wesley states it was at the end of 1740 that Bishop Edmund Gibson questioned him about his teachings on Christian perfection. The reason for the meeting was that the Methodists were headquartered in his diocese and rumors about Wesley’s views had reached the ears of the Bishop. Gibson wanted to know what exactly was Wesley promoting.
Wesley recorded many years later that he told the Bishop “without any disguise or reserve” what he meant by “perfection.” He added, “When I ceased speaking, he said, ‘Mr. Wesley, if this be all you mean, publish it to all the world. If anyone then can confute what you say, he may have free leave.” Wesley responded, “My Lord, I will,” and soon after published this sermon titled Christian Perfection.
Read the sermon: Christian Perfection
Background
Wesley grew up in a home where his parents used the language of Christian perfection as a synonym for holiness. The phrase is part of a long tradition in the Christian faith reaching back to the church fathers in the early centuries. Plus, the language of “perfection” appears in many texts of the KJV Bible that speak of Christian growth and maturation.
Wesley’s interest in Christian holiness intensified in 1725 as he prepared for ordination as deacon in the Anglican Church. Wesley began to study numerous devotional writers on the subject, including the Anglican Jeremy Taylor and the Roman Catholic Thomas a Kempis. While “perfection” connotes to us something that is absolute and flawless, Wesley’s studies helped him to see it as dynamic and involving development. To be perfect was simply to live a holy, devoted life to Christ.
When Wesley experienced evangelical conversion in 1738 it led to new insights about Christian perfection. Initially, Wesley assumed a connection between the new birth and Christian perfection. But from his own post-conversion struggles and seeing other young converts struggle convinced him that Christian perfection as full, complete devotion was attained after the new birth. His first comments of this distinction is found in his journal comments on January 25, 1739, when he baptized several people and remarked that those baptized had differing levels of spiritual attainment.
The following summer he further commented that many young converts made the mistake that they were already perfected because of their heightened emotions due to their dramatic conversion experiences. He recognized in the fervor of revival that young converts misjudged their degree of spiritual attainment and still needed to press on to attain what he called Christian perfection.
By November 1739 (1 1/2 years after his Aldersgate conversion) Wesley was teaching a clear doctrine of two works of grace. The first is the experience of evangelical conversion that includes justification and new birth in Christ. The second is the blessing of Christian perfection as wholehearted love to God and neighbor. His first published explanation of these two works was in the preface to Hymns and Sacred Poems, released in July 1740. Wesley’s new teaching spread fast and wide among the various evangelical groups and in the wider public. This led Bishop Gibson to inquire about the true nature of Wesley’s views on the subject.
Sermon Summary
Wesley opened by acknowledging the word “perfect” can be controversial. But since the term is found in Holy Writ describing the spiritual attainment of Christians, it is imperative that we properly define it.
Wesley then explained in the first section what perfection is not. He described that believers are never perfect in knowledge or free from mistake. Nor are we ever free from human weakness or what he called “infirmities.” He also added that it does not mean we are free from temptation and trials in life. By affirming these ongoing “imperfections” Wesley acknowledged their ongoing reality in this life. In contemporary theological terms, Wesley affirmed the eschatological tension that remains – that is, God’s saving kingdom is present but not yet in its fullness. While we enjoy the benefits of salvation in Christ, we continue to wait for the eschatological salvation when Christ returns and sets everything right. To settle this point, Wesley closed the first section by asserting there is no absolute perfection in this life. We continue to grow in faith and holiness throughout this life.
Wesley then explained in the second section there are several stages to the Christian life, patterned after the natural life. On this point he looked to 1 John 2:12-14 that speaks of children, adolescents, and adults in the faith. So, in one sense perfection applies to every stage of development. Infants are perfect as infants, and so forth. But when he spoke of “Christian perfection” Wesley was referring specifically to adults in the faith.
Through much of the sermon Wesley elaborated on the privileges of a new Christian (infants/children). He explained that one of the chief blessings for all Christians is freedom from the rule of sin. As Paul describes in Romans 6, believers no longer serve sin. Instead, they are servants of Christ and have been set free from their enslavement to sin. Because of this believers can grow in holiness of heart and life. Wesley called this level of deliverance as a freedom from “outward sin.”
Towards the end he addresses the perfection of adulthood in Christ. Fully sanctified believers are delivered from “inward sin” as well as “outward sin.” By inward sin Wesley meant sinful attitudes and dispositions that interrupt a believer’s devotion to God. He specifically lists pride, self-will (desire), sinful anger and other sins of the heart. Christian perfection signifies a decisive victory over these sinful dispositions (JW’s term is “tempers”). In their place God’s love fills the heart so that a person’s conscious life is characterized by holy love to God and good will toward one’s neighbor.
Read the sermon: Christian Perfection
Publication
Christian Perfection was initially published in early 1741 and was reissued as part of sermon collections and Wesley’s Works.
