Salvation = Justification and Sanctification
This is the continuation of another post discussion where the question was asked by Dar what I meant when I said that salvation includes both justification and sanctification.
I will let "pope" Wesley (a.k.a John Wesley, the founder of Methodism and the theological and ecclesial heir of pentacostalism) answer this question:
In his sermon "The Scripture Way to Salvation" (http://gbgm-umc.org/UMHistory/Wesley/sermons/serm-043.stm) he says:
"And, first, let us inquire, What is salvation? The salvation which is here spoken of is not what is frequently understood by that word, the going to heaven, eternal happiness. It is not the soul's going to paradise, termed by our Lord, "Abraham's bosom." It is not a blessing which lies on the other side death; or, as we usually speak, in the other world. The very words of the text itself put this beyond all question: "Ye are saved." It is not something at a distance: it is a present thing; a blessing which, through the free mercy of God, ye are now in possession of. Nay, the words may be rendered, and that with equal propriety, "Ye have been saved": so that the salvation which is here spoken of might be extended to the entire work of God, from the first dawning of grace in the soul, till it is consummated in glory."
Evangelicalism tends to use the word "saved" to refer to the moment of justification when one repents of their sins and are put in right relationship with God (or pardoned of the guilt of their sin) in an eternal sense. Evangelicals tend to see being saved as something which primarily has to do with what happens after death. But I think that a biblical and Wesleyan concept of salvation not only includes this moment but the process of actually being "saved" from my sin today. In other words, I am saved from committing the sin again today. I am saved from the power of sin over my actions and decisions today. Being saved is not just something that happens after I die, but something that happens today and tomorrow and every day after. This process of being saved from one's sins today is generally referred to as "sanctification" or being made righteous or holy.
So when I want to reserve the word "saved" for both justification and sanctification, I believe I have am retaining a much fuller and richer sense of the word compared to what I see as a rather thin sense of the word in evangelical circles.
I will let "pope" Wesley (a.k.a John Wesley, the founder of Methodism and the theological and ecclesial heir of pentacostalism) answer this question:
In his sermon "The Scripture Way to Salvation" (http://gbgm-umc.org/UMHistory/Wesley/sermons/serm-043.stm) he says:
"And, first, let us inquire, What is salvation? The salvation which is here spoken of is not what is frequently understood by that word, the going to heaven, eternal happiness. It is not the soul's going to paradise, termed by our Lord, "Abraham's bosom." It is not a blessing which lies on the other side death; or, as we usually speak, in the other world. The very words of the text itself put this beyond all question: "Ye are saved." It is not something at a distance: it is a present thing; a blessing which, through the free mercy of God, ye are now in possession of. Nay, the words may be rendered, and that with equal propriety, "Ye have been saved": so that the salvation which is here spoken of might be extended to the entire work of God, from the first dawning of grace in the soul, till it is consummated in glory."
Evangelicalism tends to use the word "saved" to refer to the moment of justification when one repents of their sins and are put in right relationship with God (or pardoned of the guilt of their sin) in an eternal sense. Evangelicals tend to see being saved as something which primarily has to do with what happens after death. But I think that a biblical and Wesleyan concept of salvation not only includes this moment but the process of actually being "saved" from my sin today. In other words, I am saved from committing the sin again today. I am saved from the power of sin over my actions and decisions today. Being saved is not just something that happens after I die, but something that happens today and tomorrow and every day after. This process of being saved from one's sins today is generally referred to as "sanctification" or being made righteous or holy.
So when I want to reserve the word "saved" for both justification and sanctification, I believe I have am retaining a much fuller and richer sense of the word compared to what I see as a rather thin sense of the word in evangelical circles.
posted by Tom Arthur at 5:39 PM
3 Comments:
Thanks for quoting Wesley on this. His sermons are amazing!
I wonder if Wesley would say that justification happened on the Cross for all, rather than at the time of our acceptance of that the greatest example of prevenient grace. Per Maddox in Responsible Grace (this is from memory, and hence, I may recollect wrongly), Wesley taught that the grace on the Cross liberated us from the burden of our 'original sin,' thus making it possible for us to return to God thru our relationship with Christ. Yet, we must accept that grace in order to participate in it, by embodying the decision to follow the Christ as king of our lives. Furthermore, we remain imperfect and sinful, and thus, through God's sanctifying grace, we "grow in grace:" we are transformed by the renewing of our minds, and grow in our ability to follow Christ in all things (we are made holy, or, in Wesley's terms, we are perfected). All of this we call salvation.
But what is justification? I recall Richard Hays' contribution that we are justified by the faithfulness of Christ. That is, justification was done long ago for all time, on the Cross. That seems right to me, but I don't know if Wesley understood it that way.
I forgot to include in my comment the point that, thankfully, Tom did include in his, and which I echo: that salvation includes what I mentioned in my post but also our participation in the promise of the Resurrection, not at death, but at the eschaton.
I quote Wesley again:
"The plain scriptural notion of justification is pardon, the forgiveness of sins. It is that act of God the Father, hereby, for the sake of the propitiation made by the blood of his Son, he "showeth forth his righteousness (or mercy) by the remission of the sins that are past." This is the easy, natural account of it given by St. Paul, throughout this whole epistle. So he explains it himself, more particularly in this and in the following chapter. Thus, in the next verses but one to the text, "Blessed are they," saith he, "whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered: Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin." To him that is justified or forgiven, God "will not impute sin" to his condemnation. He will not condemn him on that account, either in this world or in that which is to come. His sins, all his past sins, in thought, word, and deed, are covered, are blotted out, shall not be remembered or mentioned against him, any more than if they had not been. God will not inflict on that sinner what he deserved to suffer, because the Son of his love hath suffered for him. And from the time we are "accepted through the Beloved," "reconciled to God through his blood," he loves, and blesses, and watches over us for good, even as if we had never sinned." (Sermon: Justification by Faith)
I think that given Wesley's emphasis on "past" sins being forgiven in justification, it wouldn't make sense to understand justification happening at the cross since no one except those present could have benefited from "past" sins being forgiven. I don't really know what Wesley thought about the cross and what happened there. But this is the clearest explanation of what justification is that I have found (though I have only read his 52 sermons plus some and there are at least another 100 in print).
Tom
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