“The Righteousness of Faith,” by John Wesley (Date not given)
Text: Romans 10:5-8
Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That
the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this
wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into
heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)
Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up
Christ again from the dead.)
But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy
mouth, and in thy heart: That is the word of faith,
which we preach.
In this sermon Wesley seeks to distinguish between the righteousness by the Law and righteousness by faith; between “do this and live” and “believe in Jesus and live.” It is divided into three parts.
Part One distinquishes righteousness by Law as found in the Covenant of Works and righteousness by faith or believing in Jesus. The CW was given to Adam in his perfection before the Law. Wesley claims the Jews were seeking to live by this in their human sin nature and frailty. In the righteousness by faith it is in Jesus that we find forgiveness for our sins and transformation of our frailties: “What it (righteousness by faith in Jesus) requires would be impossible; but not to man assisted by the Spirit of God” (I.8)
Part Two discusses the folly of trusting in self-righteousness or the Covenant of Works and the wisdom of trusting in righteousness by faith. As seen in the Part One, Wesley teaches that the CW was given to man in Paradise before the Fall in his perfection. The C W was “never designed for the recovery of the favour (sic) and life of God once lost, but only for the continuance and increase thereof, till is should be complete in life everlasting” (II.1). Human strength is the measure of ability to keep the Law—the whole of it—and if in one place there is failure then the whole is destroyed. It is in Jesus that we are both forgiven and given His righteousness and equipped for obedience to God.
Part Three encourages those in his day, who, not unlike many in our own day, desire to clean themselves up before coming to Jesus in faith. Such a mood is in keeping with self-made righteousness and misses the righteousness of faith entirely. He gives us four negative admonishments:
- Do not say I must perform X, Y & Z before coming to Jesus
- Do not say I am not good enough
- Do not say I am not contrite enough
- Do not say I must live life before coming to Jesus (otherwise He might come and you will not be ready)
His concluding sentence captures both his and my evangelistic heart:
“Now, at this instant, in the present moment, and in thy present state, sinner as thou art, just as thou art, believe the gospel; and ‘I will be merciful unto thy unrighteousness, and thy iniquities will I remember no more’” (III.6).
I would offer an observation that we good evangelicals would do well to head. It is indeed in vogue to simplify the difference between Jewish and Christian theology as the difference between righteousness by works and righteousness by faith. Unfortunately, this amounts to a straw man. The text at hand from Romans 10 Paul pulls from Deuteronomy 30. Keep in mind that by the time of Deuteronomy 30 the Jews has already become the people of God. Thus Moses’s admonition to find life through the ways of God (His Torah) was given not as a means for acquiring the favor of God, but rather of simply unraveling it in the believer’s heart. This is the same admonition Paul delivers to the Philippians believers to work out their Salvation “with fear and trembling” (2:12; ESV).
I offer this admonition to us, lest we use the grace of God as license for our own whimsical pleasures. As evangelicals, we are serious not only about receiving Salvation as a free gift from God, based on faith. We are also serious about the ways of God as found in His revealed Word. Nevertheless, Wesley’s sermon is a very helpful anchor in our turbulent postmodern times that truly the source of our life, as true believers, is not our own strength or goodness. It is solely in Jesus and His righteousness.
“And as for thee, thou art not good at all: There dwelleth in thee no good thing. And thou never wilt be, till thou believe in Jesus (III.2; italics mine).
