Section 6
We jump four years from Section 5 to Section 6. It is important to note that Wesley hasn’t had his epiphany moment yet. He hasn’t had what he called his “evangelical conversion” yet. That moment at Aldersgate when he feels his heart “curiously warmed” won’t come for another five years. Section 6 is written as General James Oglethorpe begins construction of Savannah Parish. Wesley’s invitation to preach doesn’t come until 1735, so what has he been up to?
Wesley was ordained a priest in 1728, which is a year before Section 5 and the Holy Club beginning. He is still at Oxford beginning in November of 1729, likely teaching to maintain his status as a junior fellow. During this time, between 1729 and 1733, Wesley likely taught at Oxford, but he also refined a personal list of general questions. The United Methodist Church has this listed HERE. Wesley used these questions, according to reports, daily and hour by hour to determine how he was doing with regard to his standing with God and holiness. Until this moment, I wasn’t aware these questions existed. This is fascinating.
The link above only provides a list of Wesley’s questions. It provides no clarification to them, no clarification on what to do with or about them, and no direction on what Wesley did with them other than it was a daily self-examination. I could stop right here and spend a large number of posts on these questions alone, but that’s not the point of the Book Club. I have copied these questions over to my notes and will revisit them later. I urge you to visit the UMC link and make your own copy of these 22 questions.
This section opens with Wesley referencing a piece of scripture upon which he based a sermon preached at St. Mary’s, Oxford, in front of the entire university. You can find the sermon titled The Circumcision of the Heart in a book called The Works of Rev. John Wesley A.M. I found images of those pages online because this was published in 1771. You can find the 11-page sermon HERE. It is a 4mb file. The opening quote for Section 6 comes from the second page of that sermon. Here is the scripture upon which the sermon is based.
25For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law; but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.
26So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?
Romans 2:25–26 (NASB95)
To understand what Paul means, we need to look at what the Old Testament says about circumcision and why it was proscribed as something the Jews did in the first place. To do that, we have to go back to Deuteronomy.
15“Yet on your fathers did the Lord set His affection to love them, and He chose their descendants after them, even you above all peoples, as it is this day.
16“So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer.
17“For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.
18“He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing.
19“So show your love for the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 10:15–19 (NASB95)
“Stiffen your neck no longer,” meaning follow God’s ways as laid out in His Law. To demonstrate the people’s willingness to do so, God asked that His people circumcise their males. But here in Deuteronomy, God calls on all people to “circumcise your heart”. What does that mean? It means to decide in your heart to follow God in all things based on His Ways as listed in the Bible. This circumcision of the heart is what Wesley terms “holiness” in his sermon and what he suggests we strive for.
In the quote, Wesley references two scriptures. The first suggests our desires to follow God should be constantly renewed in our hearts. The second gives us a model in striving to be perfect as God is perfect. The first reference is from Ephesians 4:24, which should sound familiar to members of the class as it was a year-long theme.
20But you did not learn Christ in this way,
21if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus,
22that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,
23and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
24and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
Ephesians 4:20–24 (NASB95)
The second reference is from Matthew 5:48.
44“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
45so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
46“For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
47“If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
48“Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Matthew 5:44–48 (NASB95)
Wesley only quoted a small portion of the scripture in his sermon. I loath to pull bits out of the Bible, removing them from context. I quoted a much larger section than Wesley uses either in Section 6 or in his sermon. My point is to give you the larger context to which Wesley was alluding. His point in both Section 6 and the sermon is that God is perfect and should be our standard by which we judge ourselves.
The next section quotes more from this same sermon, but about halfway through. We have a large number of scriptures quoted in this sermon. Romans 13:8, Philippians 4:8, Matthew 22:37, 1 John 1:3, and 1 Corinthians 6:17 all are used in this section of the sermon to point to the one idea that he sums up in the last sentence, “Whatever ye desire or fear, whatever ye seek or shun, whatever ye think, speak, or do, be it in order to your hapiness in God, the sole end, as well as source, of your being.” A Plain Account of Christian Perfection, p.9, quoting from The Works of Rev. John Wesley, A.M. Vol. V, p. 208.
Wesley then uses the summation from the sermon to bring us home. That summation can be summarized in the passage of scripture at the end of the quote. That passage comes from 1 Corinthians 10:31.
31Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31 (NASB95)
That is Wesley’s entire point. Whatever we do, we should do it to the glory of God. Everything. Nothing in our lives should be pursued that doesn’t advance God or His goodness. Wesley’s 22 questions are designed to keep us centered on that idea, even as we go about those mundane tasks we need to do to live, like work, pay taxes, buy groceries, etc.
Wesley’s closing in the section is to point to this, what he lists as his first published sermon, as the summation of his theology. He claims it was then that when preached and is now still, without alteration, his idea of how to live. He fully admits he didn’t claim it as the doctrine of “Christian Perfection” when it was written, but the idea of striving to be perfect, as God, our example is perfect, is the point. Wesley claims that to argue with this interpretation is to go against scripture and God’s intention for His children. Reading through the scripture quoted, in context, I find it hard to argue with his interpretation. God bless and Godspeed.