THE MEANING OF GRACE ACCORDING TO JOHN WESLEY, part 1
Written 10/3/26 by Randy Miller
I think God is working on me about the word GRACE.
As I was producing an upcoming show for my “Steady Ground Replay” 2-hour retro CCM radio show heard on some 26 radio stations across the country, the theme for that show was “Songs About God’s Grace.” I’ve done almost 40 weekly shows since SGR premiered in February, and it was by far the one that blessed me the most! The songs we spotlight about God’s Grace spoke to me in a fresh and personal way. By the way, that show will air on our affiliate stations the weekend of October 24-25.
Also on the theme of grace, I’ve been continuing my study into the book by Fred Sanders entitled “Wesley on the Christian Life, The Heart Renewed in Love” (2013, Crossway Books). In the chapter entitled “Grace First, Then Love”, Sanders extracts a portion of Wesley’s introduction to his “Standard Sermons” written in the mid 1700’s, to discuss the word GRACE (page 166):
“All the blessings which God hath bestowed upon man are of his mere grace, bounty, or favour; his free, undeserved favour; favour altogether undeserved; man having no claim to the least of his mercies. It was free grace that ‘formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into him a living soul,’ and stamped on that soul the image of God, and ‘put all things under his feet.’ The same free grace continues to us, at this day, life, and breath, and all things. For there is nothing we are, or have, or do, which can deserve the least thing at God’s hand. ‘All our works, Though, O God, has wrought in us.’ These, therefore are so many more instances of free mercy: and whatever righteousness may be found in man, this is also the gift of God.”
Sanders went on to say that “this was Wesley praising God, but Sanders says you can hear a lot of doctrine in the doxology: the classic Protestant teaching on grace rings out in these lines, and behind it the Christian confession of our radical dependence on God, both as creatures and sinners.” (page 167.)
Sanders further points out that Wesley makes his point: “Grace is free! What Wesley presents here is the classic Reformation description of grace as God’s unmerited favor.” Further on in the chapter, Sanders says that Wesley points out: “None of us did anything to deserve to be created. When we were nothing, God not only brought us into being, but made us bodies with souls, in God’s own image, and in domination over the rest of creation.” (page 167).
All of this points to one thing: It’s God’s GRACE that enables us to ask Him to forgive our sins, cleanse us, give us a new heart, and when we stumble in our relationship with Him along the way, we can pray and ask for his forgiveness and direction. It’s all because of God’s GRACE!
Thank God for that GRACE that is still available for us today!
In my next blog scheduled to post on October 17, I’ll dive further into the Sanders book and how John Wesley continues his sermon writings about this important topic.
Til then, I encourage you to walk on STEADY GROUND today thru God’s Grace!
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Wesley on the Christian Life: The Heart Renewed in Love by Fred Sanders, © 2013. Published by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. https://crossway.org
