Way back in Genesis chapter 2, God gave a command to Adam. Adam could eat from any tree in the garden, except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That one, Adam and subsequently Eve were to leave it alone (vv 16-17). But, in chapter 3, Eve disobeyed and then talked Adam into disobeying. The Bible says, “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat” (v 6 KJV).
Humans have suffered from the wound caused by their disobedience ever since; we are separated from a relationship with God. There is a remedy, though, and it is called salvation.
“Salvation,” Thorsen says, “is both a gift and a task. It is a relationship with God that—once received—benefits from continual developement” (p. 255). Thus salvation could be the overall term for both regeneration and justification.
One cannot have a right relationship with God without regeneration. In other words, we must be born again, as the Bible states in John 3 when Jesus talks with Nicodemus. “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3 KJV).
Regeneration means one is born anew. The old is gone, the new has come. The new person turns from his or her old ways. This is what is meant by repentance. “Repentance involves godly sorrow for sin, confession of it, and the resolve to turn from sin” (Thorsen p. 262).
Repentance was something Old Testament folks heard from the oldtime prophets, as well as from Jesus in the New Testament. Speaking of repentance or turning being a fundamental message of the Old Testament prophets, Dunning says, “It includes a reorientation of one’s whole life and and personality which includes the adoption of a new ethical line of conduct, a forsaking of sin and turning to righteousness” (p. 424).
Only when we have repented (Acts 2:38) and are born of the Spirit (John 3:5) are we justified in God’s eyes. Justification is the state of rightness with God that we have after we have been regenerated or healed. “Justification refers to the way in which God has restored a believer to a state of righteousness” (thorsen p. 265).
The best part of it all is that this regeneration, repentance, and justification is not for a select few; it is extended to all. “The commitment of Wesleyan theology here is that the awakening activity of the Spirit is universal in its scope. This stands in contrast with the selectivity of the Calvinistic understanding that emplies that the awakening work is only directed toward the elect” (Dunning p. 419).
Everyone has the chance to choose it or not. We have this opportunity because of God’s amazing prevenient grace. “Since God’s character is finally revealed in the person and work of Christ, Wesley insists that prevenient grace is ultimately grounded in Christ’s death on the cross” (Dunning p. 325).
Prevenient grace is pretty amazing in that it is freely offered no matter what. Knowing Adam and Eve would disobey, God created them and gave them a chance. Knowing who and what we are and the choices we will make, God still extends this grace to us. This is what separates the Christian religion from any other. “The fact that God initiates, enables, and completes salvation separates Christianity from other religions of the world that emphasize the necessity of what people do for their enlightenment or self-actualization” (Thorsen p. 266).
Prevenient grace is distinctly Wesleyan. As the Manual of the Church of the Nazarene states, “We believe that the grace of God through Jesus Christ is freely bestowed upon all people, enabling all who will to turn from sin to righteousness, believe on Jesus Christ for pardon and cleansing from sin, and follow good works pleasing and acceptable in His sight. We also believe that the human race’s creation in Godlikeness included the ability to choose between right and wrong, and that thus human beings were made morally responsible; that through the fall of Adam they became depraved so that they cannot now turn and prepare themselves by their own natural strength and works to faith and calling upon God.”
Personally, I have experienced this prevenient grace in my life. My grandparents saw to it that I was taken to church from a very young age. I can not remember a time when I was not conscious of God and His plan of salvation through Jesus.
As an author I appreciate how story plays into our lives. Austin in his lecture says, “For there is a sense in which, prior to conversion, each of us lives with a mistaken sense of identity, or at the very least, an incomplete “story”.”
We do live a different story before conversion. We see things differently and think of ourselves in a different way. It is almost as if we are living in another country.
Austin later says, “The real “me” is discovered when I recognize that I am a child of God, loved from the creation of the world, redeemed through the sacrificial death of Jesus, forgiven of my sins, and welcomed into the family of God.”
In conclusion, as finite beings we cannot fix our relationship with God. But God, because of His marvelous, prevenient grace sent Jesus to die and rise again the third day for our salvation. When we are born again, we repent and are justified by Jesus’s blood. Now we can freely sing along with Fanny Crosby, “This is my story. This is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long”.Works Cited
Austin, R. Roy, Conversion to the Christian Faith, Lecture
Crosby, Fanny Jane, Blessed Assurance, Public domain
Dunning, H. Ray, Grace, Faith, & Holiness: A Wesleyan Systematic Theology, Beacon Hill Press, 1988
Thorsen, Don, An Exploration of Christian Theology, Baker Academic, 2008-2020
Shannon Wells 