by Peter Phillips
An Exposition of Christian Perfection
Wesley has several different formulations of his view of Christian perfection, but they all converge upon the idea that one can be “perfected” in love. For Wesley, Christian perfection is “being renewed into the image of Christ” by loving God with all one’s heart, and loving one’s neighbor as oneself. There are several careful nuances that need to be clarified before one can fully apprehend its depth, and, of course, several questions do arise at the mere mention of the term. Therefore, it will be helpful to clarify a few things up front.
The first question that might arise when considering the idea of perfection, is, “Why must Wesley insist on using the term?” To this, Wesley would readily respond that the notion of “perfection” is biblical. He addressed this issue in a sermon entitled Perfection, in the following manner:
The word ‘perfect’ is what disturbs many people. The very sound is irritating. Whoever preaches perfection, by claiming that it is attainable in this life, runs the risk of being accounted as worse than a heathen or a publican. As a result, some have advised us to stop using these expressions. But are they not found in the Word of God? If so, by what authority can any servant of God lay them aside, even though all men might be offended? We have not learned such a practice from Jesus…. Jesus himself taught, ‘Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.’
Wesley insisted that one must be true to the biblical text, and that is what he attempted to do, in practice and preaching. He would not allow for biblical words or concepts to lose there meaning, so as to become obsolete. Whether he rescues biblical language or gives it a whole new flavor of meaning is an important issue to bear in mind.
The next issue Wesley would address in clarifying perfection is what he did not mean when he preached the doctrine of Christian perfection. Wesley maintained that the Christian who had experienced perfection was not perfect in every way, but rather in a carefully nuanced sense. He explains what sense Christians are not perfect as follows:
In what sense are they not? They are not perfect in knowledge. They are not free from ignorance, no, nor from mistake. We are no more to expect any living man to be infallible, than to be omniscient. They are not free from infirmities, such as weakness or slowness of understanding, irregular quickness or heaviness of imagination…. From such infirmities as these none are freed till their spirits return to God; neither can we expect till then to be wholly freed from temptation; ‘for the servant is not above his master.’ But neither in this sense is there any absolute perfection on earth.
Therefore, for Wesley, there was no such thing as a static concept of absolute perfection this side of heaven, but rather one that allowed for mistakes and ill temperaments, which were a result of either imperfect knowledge or natural temperaments, both of which are effects of the fall. Furthermore, perfection as a Wesleyan concept does not make a man infallible or incapable of falling back into sin.
What exactly, then, did Wesley mean by Christian perfection—he maintained that it was a state of being perfected in the love of God, such that, one loves God with all one’s heart and thus is free from the power of sin, so as not to commit willful transgressions of God’s law. It is, simply stated, to love God and your neighbor, which implies deliverance from all sin. This deliverance extends to the thoughts, deeds and intentions of the heart. In 1764, Wesley reflected on the doctrine of perfection, and gave the simplest, most condense and comprehensive statement of perfection:
1. There is such a thing as perfection, for it is again and again mentioned in Scripture.
2. It is not so early as justification, for justified persons are to ‘go on to perfection.’ (Heb. 6:1)
3. It is not so late as death; for Paul speaks of living men that were perfect. (Phil. 3:15)
4. It is not absolute. Absolute perfection belongs not to man, nor to angels, but to God alone.
5. It does not make a man infallible: None is infallible, while he remains in the body.
6. Is it sinless? It is not worthwhile to contend for a term. It is ‘salvation from sin.’
7. It is ‘perfect love.’ (1 John 4:18) This is the essence of it; its properties, or inseparable fruits, are, rejoicing evermore, praying without ceasing, and in everything giving thanks. (1 Thes. 5:16)
8. It is improvable. It is so far from lying in an indivisible point, from being incapable of increase, that one perfected in love may grow in grace far swifter than he did before.
9. It is amissible, capable of being lost; of which we have numerous instances. But we were not thoroughly convinced of this, till five or six years ago.
Therefore, Christian perfection is usually something that happens later in one’s Christian life, but prior to death. It is not a static point that one reaches, but one can progress further into the throws of perfection—continuing to be perfected in the love of Christ. The essence of perfection is love—love of God and neighbor.
With respect to sinlessness, Wesley has some tricky nuances to lay hold of, because he wanted to show that Christians really could be free from the power of sin, in the sense that they could be without sin in a particular way. As Wesley himself said, “But if the love of God fill all the heart, there can be no sin therein.” But, one might ask, “How does Wesley define sin?” He defines “proper sin” as the willful transgression of a known law of God, and “improper sin” as the involuntary transgression of a known or unknown law of God. Wesley did not prefer to call “improper sin” sin, but instead referred to them as mistakes of ignorance or infirmities, which still required the atonement of Christ, but could coexist with pure love or perfection.
