Living Responsibly Under Grace

Grace is a two-edged sword. On the one hand, it frees us from the burden of righteousness under the law but, on the other hand, it eliminates all our excuses for not living righteous lives. That we are justified freely by grace means that we have placed upon us the responsibility to live the kind of life that bears witness to our justification. As forgiven sinners, we are responsible to "go and sin no more" (John 8:11).

But how are we to live responsibly under grace? John Wesley emphasized the need for spiritual disciplines, what he often referred to as "the means of grace." These included worship, the sacraments (particularly the eucharist), prayer, Bible study, and Christian conferencing. By practicing such disciplines, we continue to grow in grace and cultivate a life of holiness. Salvation is not a one-time event, but a continual journey by faith under grace unto sanctification.

Wesley himself said he came within a "hair's breadth" of Calvin. Yet, the Wesleyan view of salvation is much more holistic than the Calvinist view. Calvinism sees salvation as little more than a forensic matter, a legal transaction whereby the righteousness of Christ crucified is transferred or imputed to us. Wesleyanism sees salvation as far more than this. Not only is Christ's righteousness imputed to us, but through faith in him, his righteousness is also imparted to us so that we are not merely accounted righteous, but actually made righteous in order to stand in the presence of God. For without holiness, no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).

The Wesleyan perspective provides an excellent paradigm for responsible Christian ethics. Ironically, it is this perspective, more than any other, which has proven highly susceptible to being hijacked by revisionists. Evangelicals in the Wesleyan tradition have often proven the most timid when it comes to confronting the cultural accommodationalists who constantly invoke Wesley's name. If the message of Scriptural holiness, the very heart of Wesley's theology, is to live up to its potential for igniting again the fires of genuine revival in our day, contemporary Wesleyans need to overcome their penchant for what our founder would have referred to as "hellish harmlessness."

With grace comes responsibility and, under grace, we are called to live responsible, holy lives. That, above all else, ought to be the message of the Wesleyan movement in the 21st century.