Distinctive
Emphases of United Methodism
Wesley
and the early Methodists were particularly concerned about inviting people to
experience God’s grace and to grow in their knowledge and love of God through
disciplined Christian living. They placed primary emphasis on Christian living,
on putting faith and love into action. This emphasis on what Wesley referred to
as "practical divinity" has continued to be a hallmark of United
Methodism today.
The
distinctive shape of our theological heritage can be seen not only in this
emphasis on Christian living, but also in Wesley's distinctive understanding of
God's saving grace. Although Wesley shared with many other Christians a belief
in salvation by grace, he combined them in a powerful way to create distinctive
emphases for living the full Christian life.
Grace
Grace
is central to our understanding of Christian faith and life.
Grace
can be defined as the love and mercy given to us by God because God wants us to
have it, not because of anything we have done to earn it. We read in the Letter
to the Ephesians: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is
not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no
one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Our
United Methodist heritage is rooted in a deep and profound understanding of
God’s grace. This incredible grace flows from God’s great love for us. Did you
have to memorize John 3:16 in Sunday school when you were a child? There was a
good reason. This one verse summarizes the gospel: “For God so loved the world
that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish
but may have eternal life.” The ability to call to mind God’s love and God’s
gift of Jesus Christ is a rich resource for theology and faith.”
John
Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, described God’s grace as
threefold:
- prevenient grace
- justifying grace
- sanctifying grace
Excerpt from
What Every Teacher Needs to Know About Theology, 29-33. Used by
permission.
Prevenient
Grace
Wesley
understood grace as God’s active presence in our lives. This presence is not
dependent on human actions or human response. It is a gift—a gift that is
always available, but that can be refused.
God’s
grace stirs up within us a desire to know God and empowers us to respond to
God’s invitation to be in relationship with God. God’s grace enables us to
discern differences between good and evil and makes it possible for us to
choose good….
God
takes the initiative in relating to humanity. We do not have to beg and plead
for God’s love and grace. God actively seeks us!
Excerpt from
What Every Teacher Needs to Know About Theology, p. 31. Used by
permission.
Justifying
Grace
Paul
wrote to the church in Corinth: “In Christ God was reconciling the world to
himself, not counting their trespasses against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19). And
in his letter to the Roman Christians, Paul wrote: “But God proves his love for
us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
These
verses demonstrate the justifying grace of God. They point to reconciliation,
pardon, and restoration. Through the work of God in Christ our sins are
forgiven, and our relationship with God is restored. According to John Wesley,
founder of the Methodist movement, the image of God—which has been distorted by
sin—is renewed within us through Christ’s death.
Again,
this dimension of God’s grace is a gift. God’s grace alone brings us into
relationship with God. There are no hoops through which we have to jump in
order to please God and to be loved by God. God has acted in Jesus Christ. We
need only to respond in faith.
Conversion
This
process of salvation involves a change in us that we call conversion.
Conversion is a turning around, leaving one orientation for another. It may be
sudden and dramatic, or gradual and cumulative. But in any case, it’s a new beginning.
Following Jesus’ words to Nicodemus, “You must be born anew” (John 3:7 RSV), we
speak of this conversion as rebirth, new life in Christ, or regeneration.
Following
Paul and Luther, John Wesley called this process justification. Justification
is what happens when Christians abandon all those vain attempts to justify
themselves before God, to be seen as “just” in God’s eyes through religious and
moral practices. It’s a time when God’s “justifying grace” is experienced and
accepted, a time of pardon and forgiveness, of new peace and joy and love.
Indeed, we’re justified by God’s grace through faith.
Justification
is also a time of repentance—turning away from behaviors rooted in sin and
toward actions that express God’s love. In this conversion we can expect to
receive assurance of our present salvation through the Holy Spirit “bearing
witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16).
Sanctifying
Grace
Salvation
is not a static, one-time event in our lives. It is the ongoing experience of
God’s gracious presence transforming us into whom God intends us to be. John
Wesley described this dimension of God’s grace as sanctification, or holiness.
Through
God’s sanctifying grace, we grow and mature in our ability to live as Jesus
lived. As we pray, study the Scriptures, fast, worship, and share in fellowship
with other Christians, we deepen our knowledge of and love for God. As we
respond with compassion to human need and work for justice in our communities,
we strengthen our capacity to love neighbor. Our inner thoughts and motives, as
well as our outer actions and behavior, are aligned with God’s will and testify
to our union with God.
We’re
to press on, with God’s help, in the path of sanctification toward perfection.
By perfection, Wesley did not mean that we would not make mistakes or have
weaknesses. Rather, he understood it to be a continual process of being made
perfect in our love of God and each other and of removing our desire to sin.
Faith
and Good Works
United
Methodists insist that faith and good works belong together. What we believe
must be confirmed by what we do. Personal salvation must be expressed in
ministry and mission in the world. We believe that Christian doctrine and
Christian ethics are inseparable, that faith should inspire service. The
integration of personal piety and social holiness has been a hallmark of our
tradition. We affirm the biblical precept that "faith by itself, if it has
no works, is dead" (James 2:17).
Mission
and Service
Because
of what God has done for us, we offer our lives back to God through a life of
service. As disciples, we become active participants in God’s activity in the
world through mission and service. Love of God is always linked to love of
neighbor and to a passionate commitment to seeking justice and renewal in the
world.
Nurture
and Mission of the Church
For
Wesley, there was no religion but social religion, no holiness but social
holiness. In other words, faith always includes a social dimension. One cannot
be a solitary Christian. As we grow in faith through our participation in the
church community, we are also nourished and equipped for mission and service to
the world.
"From
Wesley's time to the present, Methodism has sought to be both a nurturing
community and a servant community. Members of Methodist Societies and class
meetings met for personal nurture through giving to the poor, visiting the
imprisoned, and working for justice and peace in the community. They sought not
only to receive the fullness of God's grace for themselves; but...they saw
themselves as existing 'to reform the nation...and to spread scriptural
holiness over the land'".
