Prevenient Grace — God Goes Before Us
As taught in the Methodist / Wesleyan tradition
Wesley's answer to "if I can't save myself, why does God call me to repent?"
The Methodist understanding of salvation begins with a profoundly realistic, even severe, diagnosis of the natural human condition, which is then entirely eclipsed by the magnitude of divine mercy. According to John Wesley’s sermon "Original Sin", human nature is not the fair, unblemished picture painted by secular philosophy. By nature, humanity is completely fallen, "dead in trespasses and sins," and totally corrupted in all its faculties. Left to our own devices, every imagination of the thoughts of the human heart is only evil continually. Humanity is spiritually asleep, blind, and utterly incapable of initiating a relationship with a holy God.
By the end of this lesson
- Define prevenient grace and distinguish it from saving grace
- Read John 1:9 and Titus 2:11 as foundations for universal grace
- Explain how prevenient grace preserves both human responsibility and divine initiative
- Distinguish Wesleyan synergism from Pelagianism
- Articulate why this doctrine drives Methodist mission and altar calls
Scripture
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