August 26 - Ten Great Things About Being a Methodist (part 2)

NOTE: Skip down to the post below dated August 14 for frequently asked questions about United Methodists. If you click "Comments" you can read questions submitted by others and the answers, and you can also submit your own questions! In addition, the post dated August 19 will cover the first five of the "Ten Great Things." The Aug. 19 posting covered Methodist practices, and this one covers five important beliefs.


1. FREE WILL. This is so important for Methodists to understand. At the time Methodism began, many Christians frankly did not believe in free will, and some do not to this day. A prevailing view was that some miserable sinners were saved (those that God had chosen) and other miserable sinners were not saved (those that God had not chosen), and it was all basically set in stone. In other words, our destiny had absolutely nothing to do with our choices, and everything to do with God's choice.

Methodists are firmly rooted, however, in a different view - namely that God offers a relationship to ALL of his children, and that all of us are free to accept or reject that offer!

This is a huge difference. You cannot understand Methodist teaching without this important piece!

Both Romans 10:13 and Acts 2:21 quote the Old Testament prophet Joel in proclaiming that "whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

That same important word - whosoever - is found in this familiar verse:

JOHN 3:16. For God so loved the world, that we gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Because of the truth of this verse, we can never say that God willfully includes some and willfully rejects others. To put it bluntly, if you are going to hell it is not because God desire that you end up there, but because you are choosing that path.

Free Will can be thought of as both "good news" and "bad news." We are reminded that we free to say "YES" to God. But this also means that we are free to say "NO" to God, even though it breaks God's heart.

(Any parent who has ever dealt with a rebellious child should be familiar with this negative aspect of free will.)


2. PREVENIENT GRACE. Simply put, this means that God loves us before we love him. He reaches out to us before we reach back to him.

The Bible clearly teaches that all have sinned and fall short of God's glory. Because of this, early Christians wondered how it could be that anyone could choose to follow God. Thus they came up with the concept that God simply chooses some and rejects others. For John Wesley and the early Methodists, this was unthinkable. It just did not match what they read in the Bible.

"Prevenient Grace" was a way of describing how it was that sinners could turn to God. It was because God had begun to work in their lives through the power of his Spirit. He doesn't force us to believe in him. But he loves us and begins to reveal himself to us so that our hearts might begin to soften due to his action in our lives. A key Scripture verse can actually be interpreted in different ways:

JOHN 6:44. Jesus said - No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me.

At first this sounds like predestination. Like perhaps Jesus is saying, "No one can come to me unless God picks them to be on my team!"

For Methodists, the intent of this verse it to remember that no sinner can turn toward Jesus without the action of God working in their heart.


3. SANCTIFICATION. This is a big word, but a simple concept. Here we learn that God not only works in my heart to help me come to know him, he also works in my heart (after I have become a Christian) to help me become more like Jesus.

This is huge. Sometimes we hear teachers who make it sound like once we become a Christian there is not much left to do but to put up with this bad world until one day we can finally die and go to heaven.

Methodists would strongly disagree. We believe there is another big chapter - that which happens between the day you become a Christian and the day you die. To put is simply, God desires that you become godly!

ROMANS 8:9. You are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you.

Paul wasn't writing to pagans here - he was writing to believers. That is our aim - to be controlled by the Spirit. We settle for nothing less. This is not so that we can please God! It is the effect of the Spirit of God working to change our hearts. It is maturity!


4. PRIMACY OF SCRIPTURE. Methodists do not exactly agree with those who think the Bible was directly written or dictated by God. Rather God inspired the human writers of Scripture to convey his divine message to us. So our language about Scripture is not as extreme as some fundamentalists. We affirm that the Bible gives us everything we need to be saved.

But neither is the Bible just one more book among many. For us the Bible is foundational. It keeps our faith centered on the person of Jesus Christ, and helps us not to fall for that which would lead us astray!

Our view is very similar to what we find in this verse:

2 TIMOTHY 3:16-17. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.


5. HEAD + HEART + HANDS. Our Methodist ways and beliefs try to hold these three together. Most Christians focus on one of these three more than the others. Examples:

A "Head" Christian focuses on the truth. Correct beliefs. Correct understanding of the Bible.

A "Heart" Christian focuses on passion. Being able to feel the presence of God.

A "Hands" Christian focuses on fruit. Don't tell me what you believe...show me!

God wired us differently. It's OK that we are not all the same! But you will be blessed if you look for ways to focus on all three of these areas.

Some churches fall into one of these three. A "head" church has a strong teaching ministry. A "heart" church has worship that can move you to tears. A "hands" church has a focus on outreach!

Our Methodist heritage tries to pull together all three!


Here are some links that may prove helpful:

This article - The Triumph of Arminianism - is a helpful review of some of the theological approaches connected to the concept of free will. (Arminianism basically reflects Methodist viewpoints, while Calvinism emphasizes a limited role for human choice.)

What we think of as "salvation" is frequently that part of God's action that we call "justification" (being put right with God). This article focuses on three movements of grace - prevenient grace, justifying grace, and sanctifying grace - and will help you see the whole of God's action in our lives.

This article is an excellent overview of Methodist thought on the primacy of Scripture.

Here are some more frequently asked questions about United Methodist beliefs.

This is a good overview of "Our Wesleyan Theological Heritage."

You can participate in an online class called United Methodism 101 - click here to learn more