John Wesley: ‘A hair’s breadth from Calvinism’?

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Q: I’ve read that John Wesley said that he was a “hair’s breadth” from Calvinism. What did Wesley mean by, and what was the context of, that statement?

A: The phrase, “a hair’s breadth,” was a common 18th century English idiom that is scattered throughout the writings of John Wesley. While this particular idiom was used in different circumstances, the specific context in question does contain a few dominant threads that make clear what Wesley meant when he declared that he came within a “‘hair’s breadth’ of Calvinism.”…

Heb 6:9-12 – Keep on keeping on – sermon notes

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[A short talk, delivered at a mid-week prayer meeting.]

Hebrews 6:9-12

In her first Christmas broadcast as Queen in 1952, Her Majesty asked people to pray for her: ‘Pray that God may give me wisdom and strength to carry out the solemn promises I shall be making, and that I may faithfully serve him and you all the days of my life.’

The heartfelt desire of the writer to the Hebrews is that his readers may faithfully serve God and one another all the days of their lives.…

Jn 6:38-40 – “I have come…not to do my own will”

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6:38 I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. 6:39 Now this is the will of the one who sent me—that I should not lose one person of every one he has given me, but raise them all up at the last day. 6:40 For this is the will of my Father—for everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him to have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”…

The law of the Lord in the Psalms

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A.T. Pierson notes that three psalms – Psa 1, Psa 19 and Psa 119 – pay special tribute to the law of the Lord.

The second and third pick up the subject where the previous left it, and no two cover the same ground.

Psa 1 depicts the blessedness of him whose delight is found in meditating upon Holy Scripture.  Here, the lover and doer of God’s word and the hater and scorner are contrasted in character, conduct and destiny.…

On Spiritual Gifts

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Comparison and analysis Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 reveals that:

  1. No one has all gifts; therefore, there is no room for pride or boasting.
  2. No one is without some gift; therefore, no room for idleness or despair.
  3. Gifts differ; therefore no room for envy, jealousy or interference.
  4. God himself distributes; therefore, no room for complaint or discontent.
  5. All gifts are needful; therefore no room for neglect or indifference.
  6. All gifts derive power from the Giver; therefore, no room for weakness and inefficiency.
…

Eternal submission in John’s Gospel

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The Fourth Gospel clearly teaches that the Son is one with the Father in essence, and yet subject to him.

As Christopher Cowan explains, this subjection is seen in a number of ways.

1. The Son is ‘sent’ by the Father

‘The Father’s purpose in sending the Son is that the world might be saved through him (John 3:17), and Jesus repeatedly describes God as “the Father who sent me” or “him who sent me” (e.g.

…

1 Cor 11:3 – Gender complementarity and the immanent Trinity

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1 Corinthians 11:3 reads:

‘But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.’

The statement ‘God is the head of Christ’ comes in a context which deals with the expression of gender roles in public worship.  Does it then provide a basis for gender complementarity on the basis of the immanent Trinity?

Most evangelical egalitarians, such as Kevin Giles, answer with a resounding, ‘No!’ …

Rom 2:13 – ‘Those who do the law…will be declared righteous’

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Rom 2:13 – ‘It is not those who hear the law who are righteous before God, but those who do the law will be declared righteous.’

How are we to understand the place of works (‘obedience to the law’) in relation to justification in this passage?

The main options are:-

1. The self-contradiction view – that Paul is drawing on rabbinical thinking here, without bothering to assimilate it into, or reconcile it with, what he will say later about justification by grace. …

Submission, not subordination

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We should speak of ‘submission’, rather than ‘subordination’ when talking about the relationship of God the Son to God the Father.

So argues Robert Letham, in ‘One God in Three Persons‘ (eds. Ware & Starke).

Reason: ‘subordination’ is unilateral.  One person ‘subordinates’ another, who has no choice in the matter.

‘Submission’, on the other hand, is compatible both with equality within the Godhead and order between the diffeent members.  The one who ‘submits’ is a free agent.…

Gal 2, Rom 3 – ‘The works of law’

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The expression ‘the works of law’ (lit. ‘works of law’; NIV: ‘Observing the law’) occurs eight times in Paul’s writings:

Gal 2:16 – We know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by the faithfulness of Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.…