Rev. Dr. Travis Stevick

So far, in this series, we have looked at a Wesleyan understanding of both Prevenient Grace and Convicting Grace. This brings us to the aspect of Wesley’s perspective that has the most overlap with other Protestant Traditions: Justifying Grace. In most traditions, talking about someone being “justified” is one and the same with someone “getting saved.” Justification is the word that often gets used to translate the idea in the New Testament that we are “made right” with God. It is the crucial...

In my last article, the first in this series, I stated my aims in these reflections. I am hardly the first person to lay out the Wesleyan understanding of salvation and so I am not going to try to cover everything that can be said. My goal is “to put the most important issues right up front and then spend a bit of time highlighting implications that don’t always get raised for those who want to go just a bit deeper.” This month, we are looking at “convicting grace.” This is an aspect of the...

Part 1: Prevenient/Preventing Grace I would like to take several of these articles to unpack the Wesleyan understanding of salvation. I am hardly the first person to do this, so this may sound somewhat familiar. I am hoping to put the most important issues right up front and then spend a bit of time highlighting implications that don’t always get raised for those who want to go just a bit deeper. The first stage on the way to salvation from a Wesleyan perspective is Prevenient or Preventing...