Let’s try being Methodists again
John Meunier
by John Meunier
9h ago
When John Wesley looked back at his journey to true Christian faith, he could spot some stages that he passed through. There was the period in his young life where he indulged in rather than fought against his sins. I suspect even in this stage Wesley appeared more serious-minded and sober than most young people who are in rebellion against their upbringing, but Wesley certainly was consistent in saying he had his season in which he “willingly served sin.” That era ended when he was a student at Oxford and came across writings and teachers convincing him that the only way to peace and happines ..read more
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Three days that made Aldersgate possible
John Meunier
by John Meunier
4d ago
May 24, 1738, is a day known to a great many Methodists. It is the day John Wesley came to a living faith in Christ and assurance that his sins had been forgiven. We rightly remember this day. So, too, should we recall the days that came before. If May 24 was the climax of the story, the days — even the years — that came before set the stage. In his journal, Wesley recounts a letter he wrote to a friend that the shared his turmoil and despair in the three days before May 24, which he called days of “continual sorry and heaviness in my heart.” “I see that the whole law of God is holy, just and ..read more
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Nonbelievers as evangelists
John Meunier
by John Meunier
1w ago
I have returned recently to the journals of John Wesley. I’ve been re-reading his account of his ministry, looking for wisdom and practical insights about the pastoral craft in the Wesleyan tradition. In December of 1739, he relates disputes that were going on in the early Methodist movement about the nature of faith and works. There were those who were arguing that Christians should not engage in any kind of works at all prior to coming to saving faith. They should not worship, they should not pray, they should not do good things for the bodies or souls of others. If people do such works befo ..read more
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Maybe we should sit down and listen
John Meunier
by John Meunier
1w ago
I want to propose a rule for the upcoming General Conference in Charlotte. It is not one I expect we will adopt. The rule is simple: The first speakers in every legislative group and the first speakers to every motion on the floor of the conference must be men and women from annual conferences that have actually grown since the last time the General Conference met. This would have two effects. First, it would give non-Americans a lot of air time. It would force us to listen to the perspectives from the parts of the church that are actually accomplishing our mission. It would lift up the voices ..read more
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The Scripture Way of Salvation
John Meunier
by John Meunier
2w ago
Last June, I started writing about John Wesley’s sermon “The Scripture Way of Salvation.” I wrote in the initial post that I did not know how many posts it would take to work my way through the entire sermon. I now know the answer: 16. Mostly to make it easy for me to revisit these (I can’t imagine anyone else will ever revisit these posts) I am listing them all here in order. Two Simple Words Everyone is Being Saved Pardon, Price, and Peace Grace Changes Us Expect to Struggle But Don’t Do So Alone Going on to Perfection The Meaning of Faith Receiving Faith and Receiving Christ Being Blessed B ..read more
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Expect it by faith, expect it now
John Meunier
by John Meunier
2M ago
This final post taking a close look at John Wesley’s sermon “The Scripture Way of Salvation” will have more of Wesley’s words and fewer or mine. This is because a large portion of what Wesley has to say in the section is repeating arguments made previously. In his sections on justification by faith, Wesley made essentially the same arguments he makes here when writing about sanctification by faith. You can see my discussions of those parts of the sermon here and here. Those earlier sections were preparing the way for this final portion of the sermon. He builds to a powerful closing that is ver ..read more
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Wesley’s wager
John Meunier
by John Meunier
2M ago
As we move toward the closing paragraphs of John Wesley’s sermon “The Scripture Way of Salvation,” we come to two points that were always very important to his preaching, and therefore were formative to the movement known as Methodism. First, sin persists within us even after we have been justified, which means we cannot rest easy just because we have “been saved.” Second, God is fully capable of doing what he has promised to do, which means we should expect full salvation in this life. Both of these points are central to what we mean we Methodists speak of going on to perfection, and they are ..read more
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What does the UMC think about polyamory?
John Meunier
by John Meunier
2M ago
This post is a brief step away from my progress through John Wesley’s sermon “The Scripture Way of Salvation.” Today, I am writing about some of the proposed changes to the social principles in our Book of Discipline. I’ve been seeing more and more talk in the mainstream culture about polyamory. The latest piece is a piece by the BBC discussing how polyamory is rapidly becoming “the new normal.” For clarity, polyamory is when all the partners in a sexual relationship can have sexual relationships with more than one other person at the same time. Polygamy is when one person has multiple wives o ..read more
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Do these things and live
John Meunier
by John Meunier
3M ago
We have been reading John Wesley’s sermon “The Scripture Way of Salvation” for a good while now. He has been laying out and defending the doctrine that salvation by faith alone does not exclude works. Indeed, he insists such works are necessary to both justification and sanctification provided we have opportunity to engage in them. Here now, he comes to discuss some of the applications and implications of all this for the practical life of Christians and the teaching of the church. 9. “But what good works are those, the practice of which you affirm to be necessary to sanctification?” Firs ..read more
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Sanctification is also by faith
John Meunier
by John Meunier
4M ago
In all that has come to this point in our reading of John Wesley’s sermon “The Scripture Way of Salvation,” we have been dealing with questions about justification — how a person comes to right relationship, to forgiveness, and to new birth. We come now to a pivot point for Wesley. In what follows, he engages questions and objections regarding the doctrine of sanctification — of holiness — in believers. This part of the sermon is of central concern to the people called Methodist. An emphasis on sanctification — “going on to perfection” — has always been a distinctive mark of Methodist theology ..read more
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