John Wesley: Sacramental Theology. No Ends without
John Wesley: Sacramental Theology No Ends without the Means Ole E.. Borgen The teachings of John Wesley on the sacraments, their presuppositions, their content and consequences, are rather extensive.
However, the space available here will only allow a survey-type presentation, where only some of the main points can be taken up.
It is hoped, however, that in spite of these limitations some of Wesley's rich theology may be revealed. '
Wesley's theology, and thus also his sacramental theology, is unitive and systematic and not incidental or disconnected.
However, the theological and practical importance of the sacraments for John Wesley lies in their functions: within the framework of the via salutis, they function as 1. effective signs, 2. effective means of grace, and 3. effective pledges of glory to come, conjoined with the added aspect of sacrifice.*
Wesley operates with a threefold doctrine of sin: first, original sin, involving guilt and loss of the image of God; secondly, involuntary sin, sins of infirmity, ignorance and error; thirdly, actual wilful sin against a known law (including the 'law of love'), which in essence is a rebellion against God.3 All of these need the atonement of Christ, but man is only responsible and condemned for the latter, unless they are repented of and forgiven. Thus it is clear that the atonement plays an essential and decisive role in Wesley's understanding of God's saving work for man.' Christ is the author and efficient cause of all our salvation, and the sole meritorious cause both of our justification and sanctification.° By virtue of the atonement, prevenient grace (which includes 'natural conscience') is given to all men.° By virtue of the atonement every
John Wesley: Contemporary Perspectives one who receives is justified, born again and made a believer. By virtue of the same atonement, the believer gradually grows in holiness until he is perfected in love. And by virtue of this atonement all sins of omission, all mistakes and shortcomings are covered, until, on the basis of the same atoning work of Christ, he shall be received in glory." Such is the basis of all grace, also the grace conveyed through the means of grace, including the sacraments.
S The Holy Spirit's function as agent bringing God's grace to men is central in Wesley's thought.? Whenever Wesley speaks of the means of grace, and the sacraments in particular, he unhesitatingly affirms that whatever is, or becomes, or happens in, with, or through any means whatever, or any action or words connected therewith, is done by God through his Holy Spirit. He would not accept any automatic or ex opere operato effect of any means or sacraments.? At the same time he rejects the opposite error of a 'stillness' doctrine. For him there exists no difference between 'immediate' and 'mediate' in God' economy of salvation:
'..
. every Christian grace is properly supernatural, is an immediate gift of God, which He commonly gives in the use of such means as He hath ordained'.'° When faced with the question of a definition of a sacrament,
Wesley turns to the Church of England Catechism and directly adopts its Augustinian distinction of signum (the sign) and res (the thing signified): '. .
. our own Church, which directs us to bless God both for the means of grace and hope of glory; and teaches us, that a sacrament is ''and outward sign of inward grace, and means whereby we receive the same''.""'
The definition Wesley adopts clearly demands of a sign that it be 'outward' and 'visible', and ordained by Christ.'? God has ordained outward and visible signs to aid us in overcoming our weaknesses.'? The cleansing and purifying qualities of water, the matter of baptism, symbolize analogically the inward washing of the Holy Spirit.'+ Likewise, as bread and wine nourish our bodies, so the partakers of the Lord's Supper will be fed with the Body and Blood of Christ."
The second part of a sacrament is the thing signified, the 'inward and spiritual grace'. In baptism it is 'A death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteousness.''® Baptism is a means of grace. The thing signified in the Lord's Supper is the 'food of our
John Wesley: Sacramental Theology. No Ends without the Means 69 souls.
. that Inward Grace, which is the Body and Blood of Christ, which are verily and indeed taken and received by the Faithful in the Lord's Supper.''? The inward grace of the Lord's Supper is 'His bleeding Love and Mercy'.'® However, the sign and the thing signified are not identical or the same.'? Wesley allows for no confusion of the signum with the res: the one is outward, material, and visible; the other is inward, spiritual, and invisible. This view can be traced back beyond the Reformers to Augustine.*° There is a carrying over from one to the other, in baptism as well as in the Lord's Supper. Thus both parts are required.*'
Wesley asserts: "Transubstantiation, or the change of the substance of bread and winein the supper of the Lord, cannot be proved by holy writ; but is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture, overthroweth the nature ofa sacrament, and hath given occasion to many superstitions.'** Likewise, he also rejects the Lutheran doctrines of consubstantiation and ubiquity which require acommunication of the properties of the divine nature to the human.*3 Wesley holds a view of the 'Real Presence' of Christ which may properly be called 'dynamic' or 'living presence': where God acts, there he is.**
Wesley never uses the term 'visible word' and refuses to apply it to the sacraments. They must not be subsumed under the word. For Wesley, the Lord's Supper is the foremost of the means of grace.*°
The validity of the sacraments is thus not constituted by the 'word', although the word is a part of the sacramental celebration. Formal validity is for Wesley dependent upon three factors. First, the proper material elements (water, bread and wine) must be employed. Secondly, baptism is to be administered in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. For the Lord's Supper the pronouncing of Christ's words of institution together with an invocation are required. Thirdly, an ordained minister is necessary."° But formal validity must not be confused with efficacy: the former is related to the work of men; the latter wholly to God's gracious work of salvation.
(i) Effective sign. The atonement remembered Wesley holds that there are three aspects to the Lord's Supper as a sacrament. He says:
THE LORD'S
Supper was chiefly ordained for a sacrament,
John Wesley: Contemporary Perspectives 1. To represent the Sufferings of CHRIST, which are past, whereof it is a Memorial; 2. To convey the First Fruits of the Sufferings, in Present Graces, whereof it is a Means; and 3. To assure us of Glory to come, whereof it is an infallible Pledge.*'
The concept 'memorial' is nothing new in sacramental theology: it has largely been connected with a 'memorialist' conception of the Lord's Supper and, consequently, with a doctrine of what is very aptly called 'real absence'. On the other hand, the 'memorial'
Wesley presents is a dynamic drama of worship in which both the believer and the Holy Spirit are actively involved. The memorial has, of course, a direct connection with 'remember', in the sense of 'calling to mind'. But Wesley proceeds beyond the mere level of memory. He operates with the existential and personal question of meaning. The meaning of the sacrament is the 'setting before our eyes Christ's death and suffering', and the fact that he sacrificed himself to atone for our sins: that is, the Lord's Supper shows forth
Christ's death. God appointed the sacrament, and it was his express design to revive his sufferings and expose them to all our senses as if they were present now. Not only our mind or memory is involved, but all our senses as well.
Thus the sacrament as a memorial involves a total and vital experience of worship, which is expressed in what is called the three degrees of devotion or worship.?® On the first level, the worshipper begins by meditating upon 'the Great and dreadful
Passages' of Scripture which the ordinance sets before him. When looking at the consecrated elements he says in his heart, '.. . I observe on this Altar somewhat very like the sacrifice of my
Saviour'. Employing the powerful means of analogy and similitude, the worshipper, with his whole being, empathically enters into the sufferings of Christ. Thus the Bread of Life was broken:
'My LORD and my GOD, I behold in this Bread, made of Corn that was cut down, beaten, ground and bruised by Men, all the heavy Blows and Plagues and Pains; which thou didst suffer from thy Murderers.''? But the path of analogy leads further; the whole drama of the atonement enters in: 'I behold in this Bread dried up and baked with Fire, the fiery Wrath which thou didst suffer from above. My GOD, my GOD, why hast thou forsaken him??2°
Quoting Augustine, Wesley declares, '... this Sacrament duly received, makes the thing which it represents, as really present for
John Wesley: Sacramental Theology. No Ends without the Means 71 our Use, as if it were newly done'.3' Having thus existentially appropriated the message conveyed analogically through the consecrated elements, the worshipper naturally enters the second stage: 'Ought he not also to reverence and adore, when he looks toward that Good Hand, which has appointed for the Use of the Church, the Memorial of these great Things?'3* The eye of meditation and worship penetrates beyond the elements to the giver of all mercy, God himself. The first two "degrees of devotion' fit, of course, perfectly into a memorialist conception of the sacrament.
The memorialist operates exactly within the framework of meditation, analogy and attitudes of praise and prayer. However, the memorialist is unable to follow Wesley into the third and essential stage. It is here that we meet with what I have called Wesley's doctrine of the 'Eternal Now': "The main
Intention of CHRIST herein was not the bare Remembrance of his Passion; but over and above, to invite us to his Sacrifice
. ..—toa 'Soul-transporting Feast':
Oh what a Soul-transporting Feast doth this Communion yield!
Remembering here thy Passion past We with thy Love are filled.*4 Christ invites us to his sacrifice, but he alone can give the 'dreadful
Power':
PRINCE of life, for Sinners slain, Grant us Fellowship with Thee, Fain we would partake thy Pain Share thy mortal Agony, Give us now the dreadful Power, Now bring back thy dying Hour!3+ The whole economy of salvation is brought to bear upon this awesome event: looking with the eyes of faith, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the worshipper transcends both time and space, and finds himself, as it were, at the foot of the cross, and realizes it is for him Christ dies. As one who has seen and experienced, Wesley cries out:
HEARTS of Stone, relent, relent, Break by J ES U's Cross subdued,
John Wesley: Contemporary Perspectives See his Body mangled, rent, Cover'd with a gore of Blood!
Sinful Soul, what hast Thou done?
Murther'd GOD's eternal Son!35
Thus there is a two-way suspension of time and place: Christ is crucified now and here; and my sins drive the nails through his hands on Calvary, then and there. But as the believer repents, almost crushed under the burden of acknowledged guilt, he also realizes the full importance for him now: Christ invites him to his sacrifice '.
.. not as done and gone many Years since, but as to Grace and Mercy, still lasting, still new, still the same as when it was first offer'd for us'.3° Christ himself is present here and now to save and uphold. And his presence is as real as God is real, and, as a means, the sacrament actually conveys what it shows.
(ii) Effective means of grace. The atonement applied (a) The means of grace in general In his sermon 'The Means of Grace' Wesley clearly defines his topic: "By Means of Grace I understand Outward Signs, Words or Actions, ordain'd of GOD, and appointed for this End, to be the Ordinary Channels whereby he might convey to Men, preventing, justifying or sanctifying
Grace.'3' The means are given as aids to men, who should 'wait upon God in all his ordinances'.3° Writing to William Law,
Wesley flatly rejects any quietist doctrine of an inward, purely mystical way to holiness: 'There is but one scriptural way wherein we receive inward grace — through the outward means which God hath appointed.'*° Thus, the outward means are indispensable and a necessity for all who desire God's grace, because God has so ordained. But God is above all means. 'He can convey his Grace, either in or out of any of the Means which he hath appointed.
Perhaps he will.'*° But Wesley definitely warns of any ex opere operato effect.*' All means are nothing but channels or instruments in God's hand. Their only value lies in their being actually used by him.** There are two misconceptions concerning the place of the means of grace in God's plan of salvation against which Wesley fights a continuous battle most of his life. One is the pitfall of 'enthusiasm'. He fights this problem in his own society in Fetter
John Wesley: Sacramental Theology. No Ends without the Means 73 Lane, from which he and his brother Charles consequently feel compelled to withdraw. After that he firmly asserts: 'Enthusiasts observe this. Expect no ends without the means.'#3 On the other hand, Wesiey also attacks the opposite error of putting the means in the place of their end, of 'trusting in the means'.
But I of Means have made my Boast, Of Means and Idol made; The Spirit in the Letter lost, The Substance in the Shade.
The solution for this misuse is not non-use, but the proper use:
I do the thing thy Laws enjoin, and then the Strife give o'er:
To Thee I then the whole resign:
I trust in Means no more.* Without God's grace added to the means, these are useless.*°
Wesley operates with three kinds of means of grace. First, the general means: 'How should we wait for the fulfilling of this promise? A. In universal obedience; in keeping all the commandments; in denying ourselves, and taking up our cross daily. These are the general means which God hath ordained for our receiving his sanctifying grace.'*° Secondly, there are the prudential means.
They may vary according to the person's needs and circumstances. These means can be almost anything. Whatever is conducive to holiness and love becomes to that extent a means of grace. But the third kind, the instituted means of grace, are of the greatest importance for Wesley. For him there are five chief, instituted means of grace: prayer, the Word, fasting, Christian conference (the Christian fellowship) and the Lord's Supper.*'
'..
. all who desire the grace of God are to wait for it in the way of prayer'. 'Prayer may be said to be the breath of our spiritual life.
He that lives cannot possibly cease breathing.'#? A Christian prays always, at all times, and in all places and 'with all sorts of prayer, public, private, mental, vocal'.49 There are four parts of all prayers: deprecation (pleading for forgiveness and mercy), petition (asking), intercession (praying for others) and thanksgiving.
Prayer prepares and enables him who prays to receive God's blessings.°° No man is under the necessity of falling from grace,
John Wesley: Contemporary Perspectives but the possibility is always present. Wesley, therefore, exhorts,
'Watch, that ye may pray, and pray, that ye may watch.'
The greatest efficacy of fasting, as Wesley sees it, is in connection with prayer.
And it is chiefly as it is a help to prayer, that it has so frequently been found a means in the hand of God, of confirming and increasing, not one virtue, not chastity only ... but also seriousness of spirit, earnestness, sensibility and tenderness of conscience, deadness to the world, and consequently the love of God, and every holy and heavenly affection.*"
Through fasting our bodies are 'kept under', and a spiritual strength from God is graciously bestowed.*?
Christian fellowship as Wesley understands it has two aspects, 'Christian conference' or 'conversation' and the 'assembling together'. The matter of conversation is never an indifferent matter. It may tear down or build up.** The other aspect of this ordinance is*the assembling together.
Attending church, the public worship of God and sharing in Christian fellowship have been shown to be essential in growing in grace.°° Christian fellowship and conversation are truly efficacious means for all who desire God and his salvation.
'All who desire the grace of God are to wait for it in searching the Scriptures.'5° The Word, through the Holy Spirit, convicts of sin; faith is given by hearing the same Word preached; and believers grow in holiness. Although private reading and meditation are important aids to a life of faith, hearing the Word preached has always remained central in Methodism. It should be preached both as law and Gospel, '. .
. duly mixing both, in every place, ifnot in every sermon'.°' God's Word appears as a complete means of grace, conveying severally to each person God's grace according to his needs.
How, then, are the means related to one another? If fasting and prayer are preparatory and, as such, indispensable, then God's
Word, preached, heard, read and meditated upon, may be termed a convicting, converting and confirming ordinance. At Wesley's time the Lord's Supper was considered the chief and superior confirming ordinance. But Wesley affirms it to be a converting ordinance as well. 'I showed at large: 1. That the Lord's Supper was ordained by God to be a means of conveying to men either
John Wesley: Sacramental Theology. No Ends without the Means 75 preventing, or justifying, or sanctifying grace, according to their several necessities.'>* And, finally, the 'Christian fellowship' and 'Conference' provide the proper environmental context within which all the other instituted means, as well as other prudential means, may be exercised.
The Word plays an important role in God's plan of salvation.
But for Wesley, the Lord's Supper always remains the means of grace par exellence. Such conceptions seem only natural when it is remembered that, in a service of the Lord's Supper, all instituted means are involved: the Word of God is read, preached, and meditated upon; prayers of several kinds are central to the whole sacrament; there issues communion and fellowship with God and fellow worshippers, all woven together into a mighty symphony of blessings.°9 (b) Baptism By water, then, as a means, the water of baptism, we are regenerated or born again; whence it is also called by the Apostle, 'the washing of regeneration'. Our Church therefore ascribes no greater virtue to baptism than Christ himself has done."
Baptism parallels closely the various aspects of the Lord's Supper, with the main distinction that baptism 1s initiatory; its function is to commence what the Lord's Supper (with other means of grace as well) is basically ordained to preserve and develop: a life in faith and holiness. We are obliged to make use of baptism, to which God has tied us, although he is free to bestow his grace with or without means.°'
In Wesley's teaching on the way of salvation the doctrine of total corruption is a necessary presupposition for God's grace:
This, then, is the foundation of the new birth — the entire corruption of our nature. Hence it is that being born in sin, we must be 'born again'. Hence every one that is born of a woman must be born of the Spirit of God.
So far Wesley follows the Calvinist position. That the guilt of Adam's sin is imputed to all men, he allows. 'But,' he asserts, 'that any one will be damned for this alone, I allow not, till you show me where it is written.'
John Wesley: Contemporary Perspectives No dire decree of thine did seal or fix th'unalterable doom; Consign my unborn soul to hell, Or damn me from my mother's womb.
'And none ever was or can be a loser but by his own choice.°3 By virtue of Christ's atonement, prevenient grace is given to all men.°* Thus no person is lost because he has not received grace, but because he has not used the grace he has received.
But man sins and stands guilty and condemned before God. He needs forgiveness and finding favour with God, that is, justifying grace.°> Baptism, as Wesley sees it, generally, in an ordinary way, ts necessary to salvation, but not in the absolute sense: 'I hold nothing to be (strictly speaking) necessary to salvation but the mind which was in Christ.'°° But Wesley's conception of baptismal grace consequently includes also the second 'grand branch of salvation', namely sanctification, here expressed in terms of its inception, the new birth. The new birth implies a radical, inward change effectuated by the workings of the Holy Spirit. Wesley states, 'By water then, as a means, the water of baptism, we are regenerated or born again; whence it is also called by the Apostle, ''the washing of regeneration"'. Our
Church of England ascribes no greater virtue to baptism than Christ himself has done.'®" He goes on to clarify what he means, in order to prevent a splitting up of the sacrament into its two parts by emphasizing the one or the other: 'Nor does she ascribe it to the outward washing, but to the inward grace, which added thereto, makes it a sacrament."®* The Spirit brings the cleansing of the soul, and effectuates the new birth.
'By baptism we are admitted into the Church, and consequently made members of Christ, its Head. The Jews were admitted into the Church by circumcision, so are the Christians by baptism."
This does not only mean becoming a member of the Church as an institution. It involves a union with Christ:
For 'as many as are baptized in Christ', in his name, 'have' thereby 'put on Christ' (Gal. 3.27); that is, are mystically united to Christ, and made one with him. For 'by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body' (I Cor. 12.13) namely, the Church, 'the body of Christ' (Eph. 4.12).7°
John Wesley: Sacramental Theology. No Ends without the Means 77 Thus, although baptism admits into the visible and organizational church as well as the church as the mystical Body of Christ, nevertheless it is possible to be a member of the former and not of the latter, because membership in the mystical Body is not a formal, but a spiritual matter.
'The Baptism of young children is to be retained in the Church.'7" With this simple sentence Wesley affirms his preference for infant baptism.'* He argues on several levels. First, on the basis of the infant's need: 'If infants are guilty of original sin, then they are proper subjects of baptism; seeing in the ordinary way, they cannot be saved, unless this be washed away by baptism.'73
Secondly, infants ought to come to Christ, be admitted into the church, and dedicated to God. Wesley understands this aspect of baptism to include the parents' willingness to give their child to God by bringing him to be baptized, as well as their taking a twofold vow: on behalf of the child they promise to take up the obligation as well as the privileges of the covenant; and on their own behalf they promise to teach the child the ways of the Lord.'+
Wesley next argues from apostolic practice. There are no explicit examples in Scripture of baptism of infants. But Wesley argues: 'If infants were to be excluded from baptism, Jesus must have expressly forbidden them. He also argues on the basis of probabilities: "She was baptized, and her family. Who can believe that in so many families there was no infant? or that the Jews, who were so long accustomed to circumcise their children, would not now devote them to God by baptism?''> Wesley also refers to several church fathers."° But Wesley's main argument in support of baptizing infants is based upon the continuity of the covenant of grace established with Abraham. Baptism is now the 'circumcision of Christ' and the New Testament seal of the covenant. He asserts: 'Now, if infants were capable of being circumcised, notwithstanding that repentance and faith were to go before circumcision in grown persons, they are just as capable of being baptized; notwithstanding that repentance and faith are, in grown persons, to go before baptism.' 'They may be saved, and may be baptized too, notwithstanding they are not Believers.'7'
It is clear that Wesley accepts a doctrine of new birth through the means of baptism, and that this suffices for those who die in their infancy. This grace may properly be termed 'objective' in
John Wesley: Contemporary Perspectives that its origin is found outside the subject, in this case an infant. It must not be considered objective, however, in the sense of being impersonal and formal only: Wesley teaches that something new Is born, comes into being, a 'principle of grace is infused', the Holy
Spirit is given, and the baptized is 'mystically united to Christ'.
'From which spiritual, vital union with him, proceeds the influence of his grace on those that are baptized.'"? A fact which is often overlooked is that Wesley firmly believes that adults are "born again' through the means of baptism. He only makes, with the Church of England, two conditions: that they repent and believe the Gospel. 'Baptism, administered to real penitents, is both a means and a seal of pardon. Nor did God ordinarily in the primitive
Church bestow this on any, unless through this means.'79
Actually, for adults baptism may function in one of two ways. Ifa person is already converted, he should also be 'born of the water'.
On the other hand, if he is not, he should be baptized that he may be 'born again' through that means.®° In his Journal Wesley gives many examples of adults who were baptized and who found that God poured out his grace, according to the person's need.®'
All grace, also baptismal grace, may be lost, although it is never necessary. Wesley speaks of 'baptized heathens' or 'baptized infidels'.*? If this grace were lost they could still receive God's grace anew; it is therefore extremely important that the children be taught in order to counteract the natural corruption and make it possible for them to grow in grace.*3
(c) The Lord's Supper Receiving the Bread On JESUS we feed, It doth not appear His manner of working; but JESUS is here.*4 'At the Holy Table the People meet to worship GOD, and GOD is present to meet and bless his people.
. And GOD offers to us the Body and Blood of his SON, and all the other blessings we have to receive.'®5 The sacrament, therefore, conveys to men, first,
Christ's death and sacrifice, and, secondly, all the fruits or benefits flowing from this sacrifice as 'present Graces'. Through the sacrament the communicant receives; Christ's sacrifice is conveyed
John Wesley: Sacramental Theology. No Ends without the Means 79 to him. Communion, therefore, in this sense, becomes communication: 'And by this means it conveys to me the Communion of his
Sufferings, which leads to a Communion in all his Graces and Glories.'®° Christ there feeds our souls with the constant supply of his mercies, as really as he feeds our bodies with bread and wine.®7
The Lord's Supper is an efficacious means of grace:
Is not the eating of that bread, and the drinking of that cup, the outward, visible means, whereby God conveys into our souls all that spiritual grace, that righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, which were purchased by the body of Christ once broken and the blood of Christ once shed for us? Let all, therefore, who truly desire the grace of God, eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.® As for the direct content of the grace conveyed through the Lord's Supper Wesley is definite and clear. 'I showed at large: 1
That the Lord's Supper was ordained by God to be a means of conveying to men either preventing, or justifying or sanctifying grace according to their several necessities.'"°9 In his Dictionary
Wesley defines 'prevent' as 'to come or go before': in this context it would then refer to grace 'coming before' the saving grace of justification and the new birth.%° The second great branch of the sacramental grace is justification. Since justification means forgiveness of sins and finding favour before God, it must follow that the Lord's Supper is also a converting ordinance. Wesley had seen this happen. In a versified epitaph for his mother, Charles Wesley speaks of 'A Legal night of seventy years', until The Father there revealed His Son Him in the broken bread made known; She knew and felt her sins forgiven, And found the earnest of her heaven.?'
Therefore, unbelievers ought to communicate: 'Ought every unbeliever to pray and communicate? Yes! "Ask and it (faith) shall be given you." And if you believe Christ died for guilty, helpless sinners, then eat that Bread and drink of that Cup.'
- Thirdly, the Lord's Supper conveys the grace of sanctification.
'When we are born again, then our sanctification, our inward and outward holiness begins: and thenceforward we are gradually to
John Wesley: Contemporary Perspectives '"erow up into Him who is our Head."''%3 God not only sustains the new life in the soul of man, he makes him grow up into the full stature of Christ.% Not only is the Lord's Supper a communion with Christ. It is a communion of all believers, a union of love, holiness and perfection: 'We being many are yet, as it were, but different parts of one and the same broken bread, which we receive to unite us in one body.'
One with the Living Bread Divine, Which now by Faith we eat, Our Hearts, and Minds, and Spirits join,
And all in Jesus meet.% (iii) Effective pledge of heaven. The atonement: possession of its purchase assured As a pledge, the Lord's Supper functions on two levels. First, the right and the title to the inheritance is actually made over to the communicant through the sacrament. Secondly, the holy sacrament is a plege from the Lord that he will give to the believers his glory, that he will 'faithfully render to us the Purchase'.°° The Lord's Supper is a pledge and assurance that God will, as it were, keep his side of the covenantal agreement. But this does not mean that Wesley indirectly accepts the Calvinistic doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. The possibility of falling out of grace is always present. But God's promise is sure. In this sense only can the sacrament be considered an 'infallible pledge'.9' There is one use of the idea of assurance by means of a pledge which Wesley clearly rejects. 'No outward form or action is a guarantee that I am in a state of grace, or born again now. Even if a person is baptized, partakes regularly in prayers, worship and the Lord's Supper, he may still not be a Christian.' 9* As quoted above, Wesley witnessed:
'I trust in means no more.' The distinction between a pledge and an earnest is crucial here:
A Pledge and an Earnest differ in this, That an Earnest may be allow'd upon Account, for part of that Payment which is promised, whereas Pledges are taken back. Thus for Example,
Zeal, Love and those Degrees of Holiness which GO D bestows us in the Use of his Sacraments, will remain with us when we are in Heaven and there make Part of Our Happiness. But the
John Wesley: Sacramental Theology. No Ends without the Means 81 Sacraments themselves shall be taken back and shall no more appear in Heaven than did the Cloudy Pillar in Canaan. We shall have no Need of these sacred Figures of CHRIST, when we shall actually possess it. But till that Day, the Holy Sacrament hath that Third Use, of being a Pledge from the LORD that he will give us that Glory.
The sacrament, therefore, is not an earnest, The content of the earnest is love, zeal and holiness, even Christ the Redeemer himself. It is heaven here.
Thee in thy glorious Realm they praise, and bow before thy Throne, We in the Kingdom of thy Grace, The Kingdoms are but One.'°° Again Wesley's doctrine of the 'Eternal Now' clearly becomes visible. The efficacy of the sacrament is proven by the inner witness of the Holy Spirit. The ultimate test of the efficacy and, consequently, assurance is that God actually bestows the earnest.
Although both past and future, salvation is always and essentially a present salvation.'°'
(iv) Effective sacrifice. The atonement appropriated For Wesley there are two main branches of the Lord's Supper: a sacrament, the functions of which are 'memorial', 'means of grace' and 'pledge of heaven', and a sacrifice. The content of sacrifice for Wesley is the offering up by the believer of his body, soul and whatever he can give.'°? Wesley understands Christ's 'Priestly
Office' as consisting of two parts: first, his life, death and suffering upon the cross, i.e. the atonement, his dying in our place; secondly, Christ's continuing high-priestly office as constantly interceding at the throne of God the Father. However, although
Christ's atoning work is continual and ongoing, it must not be implied that Christ's sacrifice can be repeated. Wesley rejects the sacrifice of the Roman Mass, whether that is said to be 'bloody' or 'unbloody'; if they are both propitiatory, then they are of the same virtue and serve the same end.'°? For Wesley the sacramental sacrifice is neither propitiatory nor expiatory. The Lord's Supper is a means of conveying Christ's sacrifice both ways. First, Christ's sacrifice is received and feasted upon.'®°* Secondly, it is this
John Wesley: Contemporary Perspectives sacrifice, already received, which is 'set forth' before the Father as a pleading sacrifice together with the offering up of 'self .'°
Thus the second part of the sacrament as it is a sacrifice is "the sacrifice of ourselves'. The believer offers up to God all his thoughts, words, and actions, 'through the Son of his love, as a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving'.'®° But the believer does not only share in the benefits of Christ's sacrifice. He also bears the Cross of Christ and dies with him in sacrifice.'°? Prepare for the Cross; welcome it; bear it triumphantly, live Christ's Cross, whether scoffs, mockings, contempt, imprisonments. But see it be
Christ's cross, not thine own."'® In conclusion, it seems only appropriate to close with the words which Wesley concludes his preface to the sacramental hymns, and pray with him:
Forgive, I beseech Thee, my Sins, deliver me from my Sorrows, and accept of this my Sacrifice: or rather look in my Behalf, on that only true Sacrifice, whereof here is a sacrament; the Sacrifice of thy wellbeloved Son, proceeding from Thee, to die for me. O let Him come unto me now, as the only-begotten of the Father, full of Grace and Truth!'°9