"To Spread Scriptural Holiness to All Land": John Wesley on the Work of the Holy Spirit

“To Spread Scriptural Holiness to All Lands”: John Wesley on the Work of the Holy Spirit

PETER KH LEE

“To reform the nation, especially the Church, and to spread scriptural holiness to all lands.” This has been a classic statement of the mission of “the people called Methodists” (The Larger Minutes, the Methodist Conference, 1780). Taking off From this statement, especially the words, "to spread scriptural holiness to all the lands," this paper seeks to discuss John Wesley's thoughts on the work of the Holy Spirit.

What is called “scriptural holiness” should be placed in the perspective of the full range of salvation as Wesley conceived it. The process of salvation, according to Wesley, includes pre-awakening, justification, assurance, the new birth, sanctification, and holiness (or perfection or “entire sanctification”). Grace (prevenient, justifying, and sanctifying) runs through the whole gamut of God’s salvation for humankind. Scriptural holiness, based on scriptural teachings, is the hallmark of salvation and it is inseparable from the work of the Holy Spirit.

The Wesleyan Movement started as a revivalist-evangelistic movement in England and then, joining with other forces in North America, later flourished as a missionary movement that spread to many lands. A distinctive feature of the Wesleyan Movement remains its emphasis on scriptural holiness, which is always accompanied by the work of the Holy Spirit. In the course of history, the concept of “holiness” (and “perfection” too) has been subject to so much misunderstanding and abuse that separatist movements have occurred.

How does the work of the Holy Spirit make its impact felt? (1) On the individual believer: as forgiving love, as restoring power, as witness of the Spirit, as fruit of the Spirit. (2) From person to person: in the Christian community (not only the larger ecclesia but the smaller ecclesiola), through means of grace (both the “instituted” sacraments and “prudential” means, like hymn singing, special worship services, and the Methodist “conferences”). (3 ) To all the lands: in mission, in social and educational work, and in social transformation.

The distinctive Wesleyan teachings on the universality of grace and “synergism” (borrowed from Eastern Orthodoxy, concerning human responsibility working together with divine grace) are worth noting in any study of Wesleyan praxis (thought and practice in interaction) on the work of the Holy Spirit.