Misunderstandings of Perfection

I have been using The Wesley Study Bible during my devotional reading.  The Old Testament reading for Morning Prayer (according to the 2019 BCP) was Deuteronomy 9.  Turning the page to chapter 10, I noticed that the notes contained one of the "Wesleyan Core Term" articles.  (This, along with "Life Application Topic" articles, are features of The Wesley Study Bible.)  This particular article was on "Misunderstandings of Perfection."

The doctrines of Christian Perfection and Entire Sanctification are a distinctive emphasis within the Wesleyan tradition, and especially within the Wesleyan-holiness wing of Methodism where my own denomination, the Church of the Nazarene, is situated.

I thought that it was a good and helpful article for those who might not understand clearly what the doctrine teaches and what it doesn't teach.  And so, I thought I would reproduce it for the readers of this blog (as well as commend The Wesley Study Bible to anyone looking for a new study Bible):

     The terminology Christian perfection, or entire sanctification, is easily misunderstood in the
     following ways. First, purity of heart does not entail perfection in knowledge.  Even the entirely
     sanctified must continue to study and prosper.  Second, Christian perfection does not issue in
     freedom from infirmities, that is, from slowness of understanding, confusion in thought, or 
     mistakes in judgment.  Third, Christian perfection should not be described as "sinless perfection,"
     lest the pure in heart conclude that they can be free from any violation of the perfect law of God,
     voluntary or not.  Fourth, perfect love does not eliminate temptation.  Fifth, there is no state of
     grace so lofty that one cannot fall from it; that is, heart purity can be lost.  And finally, Wesley
     rejected the idea of static perfection that did not increase in love and grace; he cautioned that a
     pure heart increasingly grows in the love of God.

Singing of Scripture

This morning, as I was praying Morning Prayer, I sang Come, Holy Ghost, Our Hearts Inspire.  This hymn presents the way that Wesleyan Christians approach Scripture.

As I was thinking about this, I was reminded of a section of hymns that take up this theme in The Works of John Wesley, vol. 7, "Collection of Hymns for the Use of The People Called Methodists" (Bicentennial Ed.) The section is titled "Before reading the Scriptures." There are three hymns, in particular, on pages 186-85 that I would like to share.

As you read (or sing!) these hymns, notice how different the Wesleyan approach to Scripture is from fundamentalism, on the one hand, and ultra-liberalism, on the other. Notice the affirmation of the inspiration of the writings of Holy Scripture, but also the necessity for the Holy Spirit to inspire them afresh and anew to us. Notice also the goal of going to the Scriptures, viz., to know God.

85

1. Come, Holy Ghost, our hearts inspire,

Let us thine influence prove,

Source of the old prophetic fire,

Fountain of life and love.

2. Come, Holy Ghost (for moved by thee

The prophets wrote and spoke);

Unlock the truth, thyself the key,

Unseal the sacred book.

3. Expand thy wings, celestial dove,

Brood o'er our nature's night;

On our disordered spirits move,

And let there now be light.

4. God through himself we then shall know,

If thou within us shine;

And sound, with all thy saints below,

The depths of love divine.

AND

86

2. While in thy Word we search for thee

(We search with trembling awe!)

Open our eyes, and let us see

The wonders of thy law.

3. Now let our darkness comprehend

The light that shines so clear;

Now the revealing Spirit send,

And give us ears to hear.

AND AGAIN

87

1. Inspirer of the ancient seers,

Who wrote from thee the sacred page,

The same through all succeeding years;

To us in our degenerate age

The spirit of thy Word impart,

And breathe the life into our heart.

2. While now thine oracles we read

With earnest prayer and strong desire,

O let thy Spirit from thee proceed

Our souls to waken and inspire,

Our weakness help, our darkness chase,

And guide us by the light of grace.

Some Thoughts by John Wesley on the Sufficiency of Scripture

I have been reading through John Wesley's various writings about the Church of Rome.  In his Popery Calmly Considered, Wesley makes the following comments concerning the "Sufficiency of Scripture":

St. Paul says, "3.  All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."

The Scripture, therefore, being delivered by men divinely inspired, is a rule sufficient to itself: So it neither needs, nor is capable of, any farther addition.

. . . 6. (3.) In all cases, the Church is to be judged by the Scripture, not the Scripture by the Church.  And Scripture is the best expounder of Scripture.  The best way, therefore, to understand it, is carefully to compare Scripture with Scripture, and thereby learn the true meaning of it.

Charles Wesley and the Wesleyan Approach to Scripture

During Morning Prayer, I sang Charles Wesley's, Come, Holy Ghost, our Hearts Inspire (as printed in Hymn Poems of Charles Wesley for Reading and Singing, issued by Tidings). The second verse of this hymn provides a good example of how Wesleyan Christians approach the Scriptures.

Wesleyan Christians are not fundamentalists. We are not overly concerned about the "inerrancy of the original manuscripts." Rather, we are concerned about the sufficiency and/or the authority of Scripture. We believe that the written Word (the Bible) points us to the living Word (Jesus). We believe that the Holy Spirit inspired the authors of Scripture, but also that the Holy Spirit inspires the Word afresh and anew to our hearts in order to shape our lives.

Charles Wesley writes:

Come, Holy Ghost, for moved by Thee

The prophets wrote and spoke;

Unlock the truth, Thyself the key,

Unseal the sacred book.