We spent one whole day today on John Wesley's theology. I must say I now have a fair idea where I come from, why I believe the way I believe and why I think the way I think.
One thing that always has been with me, which I had not realised it was Wesleyan, is the belief and the reliance on the grace of God. Arminianism teaches that as much as we are depraved, we have the free will to believe as opposed to Calvinism, which teaches that in our depravity, only God can save us and for that, only when we are predestined.
In the light of the sovereignty of God, the only way that Arminianism would make sense is the grace of God. Yes, I am depraved and I have nothing in me to enable me to even come to believe and have faith in Christ except by and through his grace. It is only and only by and through his grace, not on my own for I am depraved and not on my works for they amount to nothing. Only by and through that grace freely given me, can I respond in faith and belief.
There is only one thing, for now, in the Wesleyan theology that still perplex me, and it is that of Christian Perfection. Through my spiritual journey and my life struggle, I find that I am always searching and yearning for perfection but not attaining it. So how is Entire Sanctification or Christian Perfection possible now? I think it has to boil down to the definition of perfection. Does it have anything to do with Christ's Imputed Righteousness on us, justified sons of God?
pearlie
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