Wesley’s take on Scripture

By Bishop Mack B. Stokes (1911-2011)

November/December 1983

Good News

For Methodism’s founder, the basis for Christian belief and practice was –first, last, and always – the Holy Bible. John Wesley was steeped in Scripture from childhood. He studied the Bible in depth as a student at Oxford. His preaching was based on the Bible. And his guidance to the people called Methodists was derived from the Bible.

Wesley urged his preachers to read not only the Bible but also other books. Yet at the same time, he said the final authority for belief and practice is the Bible. As Wesley put it: “All faith is founded upon divine authority, so there is now no divine authority but the Scriptures …” (John Wesley, Works, Vol. X, p. 91 ). He wrote in his journal: “My ground is the Bible…. I follow it in all things great and small” (June 5, 1766).

Back of Wesley’s commitment to Scripture was his conviction that it shows the way of salvation. “I want to know one thing,” said Wesley, “– the way to heaven; how to land safe on that happy shore. God Himself has condescended to teach the way; for this very end He came from heaven. He has written it down in a book. O give me that book! At any price, give me the book of God!” (John Wesley, Sermons, Vol. 1, pp. 31-32).

Wesley was determined that his followers should live by the Bible. This was so important to him that he included his views on the authority of Scripture in “The General Rules of Our Society.” These principles guided the beliefs of early Methodists. Here Wesley said the Bible is “the only rule, and the sufficient rule, both for our faith and practice.”

Wesley flatly stated that the Bible stands above church tradition. Yet he believed that the great traditions of the church are important for interpreting the Bible. He stated also that the Bible stands above Christian experience.  Wesley believed Christian experience backs up the truth of Scripture. He also believed that Scripture should be interpreted in the light of Christian experience – but that Christian experience does not carry equal weight to Scripture. The Bible, not Christian experience, is the final basis for Christian doctrine.

Wesley was well aware that the Bible has to be interpreted. In fact, he knew that no one can read Scripture without bringing to it something of his own interpretation. That’s why Wesley taught that tradition, Christian experience, and reason are all helpful in interpreting the Bible.

He realized there would be differences in interpretation among even the most sincere and informed Christians. But most differences among Christians, Wesley believed, usually concern matters that are not essential to salvation and practical Christian living.

Wesley’s own interpretation of Scripture dealt primarily with three basic areas of Biblical truth: 1) the Bible’s teaching about salvation, 2) its teachings about responsible Christian living and evangelistic outreach, and 3) God’s promises and blessings.

Salvation. Wesley regarded the Biblical teachings on justification and the New Birth as the two most important Christian doctrines (Sermons, Vol. 11, pp. 226-227). Justification, he said, is God’s mighty action through Jesus Christ crucified, whereby our sins are blotted out and the slate is wiped dean. This is God’s act for us. The New Birth is God’s gracious act in us whereby we are recreated, born anew, and set on our course toward heaven and toward right living on earth. The New Birth is the beginning of sanctification.

A crucial teaching. Many people today either ignore Wesley’s emphasis on the New Birth or they water it down. But for Wesley, this Biblical teaching was crucial.

The New Birth, he said, “Is the great change which God works in the soul when he brings it into life; when he raises it from the death of sin to the life of righteousness. It is a change wrought in the whole soul by the Almighty Spirit of God when it is created anew in Christ Jesus; when it is renewed after the image of God in righteousness and true holiness; when the love of the world is changed into the love of God; pride into humility; passion into meekness; hatred, envy, malice, into a sincere, tender, disinterested love for all mankind” (Sermons, Vol. II, p. 234).

It’s important to remember that, according to Wesley, both justification and the New Birth are realities only by grace through faith. And he understood the whole process of salvation to involve the direct operation of the Holy Spirit.

Wesley taught that God’s great work of salvation is often done suddenly, but it is also a process of spiritual growth. That’s why Wesley believed that every Christian must be regular in reading Scripture, in prayer, in public worship, and in service.

When Wesley spoke of being saved by faith alone, he didn’t confine this merely to one event or experience. In his essay on “The Character of a Methodist,” he said that salvation means holiness of heart and life. And this, said Wesley, springs from true faith alone.

Responsible Christian living and evangelistic outreach. This brings us to the second emphasis that John Wesley made in his use of Scripture. It has to do with the connection between the New Birth and its outward expression. Wesley insisted that “inward holiness” requires “outward holiness.” To our understanding of this area of Biblical truth, Wesley made a distinctive contribution.

Many people have stressed the inner life. And many others have called attention to the ethical and evangelistic demands of the Gospel. But Wesley brought these together with a fresh, new emphasis.

His teaching on the power of the Holy Spirit within us takes us back to the  apostles. His teaching on the Christian action which flows from that supernatural source takes us back to a correct interpretation of law and grace.

God’s law, taught Wesley, not only makes us aware of our sin; it is to be obeyed. As for grace, vast resources that enable us to obey God by manifesting his love in our daily lives.

Today, many recognize the importance of the inner spiritual life. But they don’t focus enough on the life-changing presence of the Holy Spirit. Others stress the social gospel and the duties of the Christian for world outreach. But they fail to lift up the power of the Holy Spirit who alone can provide the dynamic for effective social action and evangelism. Wesley kept these elements in unique balance.

God’s promises and blessings. A third emphasis in Wesley’s interpretation of Scripture concerns the promises and blessings God gives his children when they open their lives to him in faith and obedience. One of the most important of these is assurance, or the witness of the Spirit.

Wesley’s idea on this matter, based on Romans 8:15-16 and Galatians 4:6-7, is simply that the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirits that we are God’s children. And every Christian, said Wesley, is entitled to experience this blessed assurance that he or she is a child of God. Wesley regarded the witness of the Spirit as “one grand part of the testimony which God has given [Methodists] to bear to all mankind.”

Wesley also emphasized the many other blessings which God has for his children: victory over sin, joy, the peace of God.

The sole rule. For Wesley, one of the greatest blessings possible is a soul filled with the love of Jesus Christ. This blessing is so great because it enables us to overcome hostility, resentment, and an unforgiving spirit. The greatest of all blessings, Wesley believed, is to know we have passed from death into life, that we are indeed the children of God.

In all that Wesley taught, he pointed to the Bible as the basis for his beliefs. He never got away from the authority of Scripture. Late in life he reemphasized this conviction when he said about the people called Methodists: “What is their fundamental doctrine? That the Bible is the whole and sole rule of Christian faith and practice” (Works, Vol. XIII, p. 258).

Bishop Mack B. Stokes (1911-2011) was United Methodist bishop. In his retirement, he became Associate Dean for Doctoral Studies at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This article appeared in the November/December 1983 issue of Good News.