In Ephesians 2:8 Paul writes to the Church, “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (NIV). As people who find their roots in the Wesleyan tradition, we hold a distinct understanding of salvation as a past, present, and future reality. Three statements are helpful in describing such salvation:  

1. I have been saved. 

1. I am being saved. 

1. I will be saved. 

Each of these three statements must be understood in light of God’s grace. John Wesley emphasizes the all-pervading nature of God’s grace in his sermon, Salvation by Faith (June 11, 1738). He writes, 

All the blessings which God hath bestowed upon man are of His mere grace, bounty, or favour. … 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, breath, and all things. For there is nothing we are, or have, or do, which can deserve the least thing at God’s hand. … If then sinful men find favour with God, it is ‘grace, upon grace!1 

Wesley goes on to remind us that God’s grace offered to us in Jesus Christ is the sole source of our salvation and Christ is the true and proper object of our faith. Our faith is not in a system, or even a religion, but in the Person of Jesus Christ.2 It is through faith in Him that we have been saved, are being saved, and will be saved. 

When we place our faith in Jesus Christ, and Him alone, as our Savior and Lord, we have been saved. The legal term justification is often used to describe what has occurred. God has graciously pardoned us from our sins and brought us into right relationship with Him making us His sons and daughters.  And yet God’s grace is too good and abundant for His salvation to stop there! As Wesley would say, God not only saves us from the guilt of sin but also from sin’s power. God desires not only a relational change but a real change. Being born as children of God into new life, God graciously gives to each of us the Holy Spirit.  We are being saved. 

In another of Paul’s letters, he writes, “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Phil. 2:12-13, NIV). I might paraphrase Paul’s exhortation this way; “If God is at work in us through the Holy Spirit, how are we cooperating with God’s grace through faith in order to be transformed into the image of Christ?” Such transformation is steeped in an ongoing relationship with Christ. To have true meaning, all relationships require effort on the part of both parties. Growing relationships don’t just happen. There must be intentionality. How might we go about cultivating such a relationship with Christ? Wesley instructs us to meet Christ where we should expect to find Him through the “means of grace.” The means of grace are channels through which we receive God’s grace and transforming love. Engaging in prayer, receiving the Lord’s Supper, reading and meditating on Scripture verses and passages, and practicing fasting or abstinence are some of the disciplines where we meet with Jesus and receive God’s transforming love and grace. Wesley also highlighted the importance of serving the bodily and spiritual needs of others, not the least of which was “saving souls from death” through sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.  Through these practices, we are being saved as we are “being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Cor 3:18).  Practicing the means of grace are indispensable for an ongoing, growing relationship with Christ, “as we await complete salvation.”3  

What is complete salvation? This brings us to the statement, “I will be saved.” The early Methodists took to heart Christ’s command to “love God with all one’s heart, soul, mind and strength,” and “to love one’s neighbor as oneself” (Mark 12:29-31). In his sermon, The Scriptural Way of Salvation, Wesley says of Christ’s command, “How clearly does this express the being perfected in love; how strongly imply the being saved from all sin! For as long as love takes up the whole heart, what room is there for sin therein?”4 In other words, they taught, believed, and expected that people could be “perfected in love” or “sanctified.” Of course, this also is a work of God’s grace with whom “all things are possible” (Matt 19:26). This requires faith. I must believe that what Christ commands us He also desires for us. Furthermore, I must believe with conviction that He intends to bring about what He desires.  

Does this mean that I’ve reached the goal of Christ’s command to love? No, I have not. The Holy Spirit is still doing a lot of pruning in my life. However, that does not mean that Christ does not desire that for me and for you. My confession to you is that my expectations fall short of God’s full intentions for my life. I’m still in the process of waking up to the fullness of God in Christ Jesus. But, with the Holy Spirit, I am waking up. And with that wake up is a change in expectations. Let me close with these words from Wesley regarding expectations for complete salvation by faith: 

If by works, you want something to be done before you are sanctified [perfected in love] you think, I must first be or do this or that, then you are seeking it by works … If you seek it by faith, you may expect it as you are; and expect it now. It is of importance to observe that there is an inseparable connection between these three points: expect it by faith, expect it as you are; and expect it now!