John Wesley was an 18th century theologian, church planter, and leader of the revivalist moment that resulted in one of the largest Protestant denominations in the world-Methodism. Among these things, John Wesley is known for his teaching of Christian Perfection. This teaching is not what you think it is.
In fact, I find that most people have the wrong idea about Wesley’s doctrine of Christian Perfection, granted, the name itself is a bit misleading. At first glance, “Christian Perfection” seems to mean sinlessness. This is not what John Wesley meant by “Christian Perfection.”
So, what is Christian perfection? In a phrase, John Wesley taught that because of the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer, the heart of the believer could be fully devoted to Jesus. As the Francis Asbury Society puts it, “God created every man and woman to encounter him in such a radical way that our lives become totally, 100% surrendered to him, resulting in pure love towards him and towards other. Absolute surrender and obedience to Jesus Christ.”
John Wesley was a Bible-believing optimist. He believed that it was possible for believers to obey the command to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength” (Deut. 6:5 and Lk. 10:27). Another command would be, “Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). This is where Wesley’s “perfect” language comes from. Wesley believed that God isn’t the type to ask his people to be something that’s impossible for them to be (with the help of the Holy Spirit).
As a Bible-believing optimist, Wesley believed that while obedience to such commands seem impossible, “all things are possible with God” (Matt. 19:26). If everything that God asked of us was possible, then God would be settling for less.
The implications of this are, well, biblical. This implies that Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection actually contain power for overcoming sin! (Rom. 1:16-17). This also implies that the same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is dwelling in believers and extends to believers, by faith, the power to overcome temptation with a heart posture that is committed to Jesus (cf. Rom. 6).
There is a single word that summarizes all of this thinking and it is holiness. Holiness doesn’t mean that believers are “perfect” in the sense that they never make mistakes. What it does mean, however, is that God can correct the corruption of the human heart so that rather than being bent inward, it is bent outward. The Holy Spirit, by the grace of God, can make believers look like Jesus.
God created humanity as His image bearers. This means that wherever humanity goes, they take the wondrous image of God with them. This beautiful gift gets lost in sin. Jesus restored this. This was actually the case with Jesus. Where ever Jesus went, he took the image of God with him, thereby glorifying the loving character of God.
By the grace of the cross and the power of the Holy Spirit, this happens in believers-the image of God is restored and God is glorified in the lives of believers. This is what John Wesley (and the Bible) teach.
First Peter 1:14-15 says, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.'” John Wesley took the Bible at its word by believing this to be possible.