, 2025
General Superintendent
Max Edwards
A Journey of Grace and Transformation
We recently met in our “Journey” gatherings, and John Wesley’s “order of salvation” was in view. We would do well to think deeply about the growth that comes naturally in the lives of believers in Christ. Maybe not coincidentally, the name we have given to our yearly fellowship sessions is the word “JOURNEY.”
Without doubt, just as John Bunyan described it in his timeless classic, “Pilgrim’s Progress,” the Christian life is a pathway. It is a journey, marked by grace, growth, occasional setbacks, and victories. John Wesley described this pathway as the “Way of Salvation” (Latin: Via Salutis). He wondrously emphasized the ongoing and continual nature of Christ’s redemptive work. He affirmed that Jesus (and the balance of the New Testament) described this new life as a process – a healing, therapeutic, dynamic process.
• “… Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ ” 2 Peter 3:18
• “Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above …” Colossians 3:1
• “And we all … are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory 2 Cor. 3:18
• “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that you may grow up in your salvation.” 1 Peter 2:2
200 years before Wesley, John Calvin had written about the “Order of Salvation” but Wesley’s view of salvation was less forensic and clinical than Calvin’s. He wrote of the Way of Salvation, seeing the panorama of our life in Christ not simply as a one-time event. Indeed, it begins with the new birth (Justification and Regeneration), but that is only the starting place!! We don’t think of our children as simply newborn babies, though they all started that way. We don’t think of our marriages as a wedding day ONLY. Yes, that was the starting block of a new relationship, but one that should grow and mature from that day forward.
So, Wesley robustly taught the scriptural way of salvation as a pathway. And those of us who claim Christ as God and King are somewhere along that PATHWAY in a life-long JOURNEY OF FAITH.
The Lord draws us to Himself, wooing us with love and assurance of forgiveness – that’s PREVENIENT GRACE
Jesus said, “I stand at the door and knock” - - We open the door and receive Him – that’s JUSTIFYING GRACE We grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord as we mature in Him – that’s SANCTIFYING GRACE One day, when the Lord calls us home, we will be ultimately transformed – that’s GLORIFYING GRACE
Our EMC Church in Nampa, Idaho (Crossroads) emphasizes the process or growth aspect of salvation and discipleship with these words: REFUGE, TRANSFORMATION, PARTNERSHIP. We begin with Christ’s love and acceptance, being given a sense of belonging even before believing. Then, as we fully accept Him and are born again, we move along a pathway of transformation as we grow in grace and fully engage with God and His Word in intentional discipleship. And somewhere along the Journey, we hear His call to enlist as contributing partners, working in ministry by and through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.