Aldersgate Again: Why the Witness of the Spirit Must Be Recovered
Photo by K
In February 2023, just as I was beginning my second semester at Asbury Theological Seminary, God began to pour out His Holy Spirit in a special way on the community of Wilmore, Kentucky. My experience of God during the two weeks of what is now known as the “Asbury Outpouring” was sweet, gentle, and real, as others have similarly testified. I remember sitting in Hughes Auditorium at Asbury University and realizing I felt peace—true “peace that passes understanding”—for the first time in a long time (Phil. 4:7). Thousands traveled to Wilmore in desperate need of an encounter with God through the peace, presence, and power of the Spirit. As I’ve studied Wesleyan theology in seminary, I’ve wondered how many came to the Outpouring searching for what Wesley would call assurance. How many were seeking the witness of the Spirit without having the theological language to articulate this longing? (For an excellent introduction to Wesley’s doctrine of assurance, see this recent Firebrand article.)
The need for assurance is evident among my generation, “Gen Z” (people born between 1997 and 2012). Dubbed “the Anxious Generation,” Gen Z reports the lowest rate of assurance of salvation compared to older generations of evangelicals (Timm et al., 2022). Pew Research has found that American Gen Zers have also grown up with the highest rate of single-parent homes in the world, even more than the generations preceding us. Gen Z has struggled with isolation, loneliness, suicide, and depression. Millions of youth and young adults are searching to find who they are and where they belong. In my experience, it seems as if the secular culture is often more prepared and willing to respond to these questions than the church.
Many Americans—even Christians—struggle with similar spiritual and emotional issues. We are living amid an increasingly anxious culture, but we don’t realize we are striving for security that only the Spirit’s witness can bring. Thanks to smartphones, the scariest headlines and news stories are always at our fingertips. We are anxious about war, politics, the economy, and suffering around the globe, as well as the safety, finances, health, family, and relationships in our own lives. It is no surprise that when one Barna survey asked Americans what they look for most when considering spiritual beliefs, they found that in every faith demographic—whether Christian, other faith, or no faith at all—the top choice among all was “inner peace.”
What if the answer to all this anxiety is not something new, but neglected?
The Wesleyan doctrine of assurance is primed to speak to these issues. Wesleyans believe all are invited to join God’s family through faith in Christ, and God’s gift of assurance means we can have a sure sense that we belong to Jesus and are beloved by the Father, because this Spirit Himself testifies to it. This goes much deeper than mere cognitive belief. As Diane Leclerc has described it, this gift is knowing that “you know, that you know, that you know” you’re a child of God. Then, when we know we are a child of God, this reality transforms our hearts and our lives by the fruit of the Spirit—the love, joy, and peace that flows from us because of Him. For a nation facing challenges around identity, instability, broken homes, and anxiety, this theology speaks to what most long for and cannot find without Christ.
Over two decades after his own heart-warming experience at Aldersgate, John Wesley wrote his second discourse on “The Witness of the Spirit,” calling it “one grand part of the testimony which God has given [Methodists] to bear to all mankind.” In Wesley’s day, he recognized how very little had been written about the Spirit’s direct witness, except to “explain it quite away.” Therefore, Wesley argued that understanding, explaining, and defending this doctrine was a key concern for Methodists. Through them, Wesley declared “this great evangelical truth has been recovered, which had been for many years well nigh lost and forgotten” (“The Witness of the Spirit, II” 1767, I.4).
Yet today, many Methodists struggle to articulate this doctrine and may not even know what we believe. In the last century, most books about assurance have been written from a Calvinist or Reformed perspective, which Wesleyan theology disagrees with in important ways. In Reformed theology, the teaching on limited atonement and unconditional eternal security leads many to worry whether they are truly a child of God. They may ask questions like: What if God didn’t choose me to be one of the elect? If anyone who falls away from the faith wasn’t really saved in the first place, how can I know if my salvation is real? Others err on the side of presumption: Once you’re saved, you’re always saved, so why worry about how I live my life now? In contrast, Wesley believed the assurance given to every child of God is one of present pardon, but that all people are invited to be God’s child. A person may lose their sense of assurance through willful sin, but the solution is simple: repent, return to the Lord who loves you, and receive the means of grace. This process was spelled out beginning in 1743, in the General Rules of the Methodist Societies. All Methodists who desired salvation were expected to demonstrate it by “doing no harm,” “doing good,” and “attending upon the ordinances of God.” This was the fruit of repentance: a life turned away from sin and towards God for salvation.
While Wesley was adamant that assurance is “the common privilege” of every child of God, he also suggested genuine Christians could still lack assurance due to “ignorance of the gospel promises” (“To Dr. Rutherforth” 28 March 1768). This included both a lack of teaching and bad teaching, especially about the witness of the Spirit. It can be much harder to receive this direct testimony from God if you do not even believe it is possible, let alone one of the gospel promises. If a Christian does not know assurance is their “common privilege,” they may be less likely to seek this gift. For this reason, Wesley saw the urgent need for Methodists to recover the same assurance experienced by the apostles and “the whole Christian Church in the first centuries” (“To Richard Tompson” 25 July 1755).
This doctrine was so central that Wesley called assurance “the main doctrine of the Methodists” and “the substance of what we all preach” (“To ‘John Smith’” 30 December 1745). After receiving assurance himself in 1738, Wesley noticed this transformation in his own ministry:
1) From the year 1725 to 1729 I preached much, but saw no fruit of my labour…2) From the year 1729 to 1734…I saw a little fruit…3) From 1734 to 1738…I saw more fruit…though I know not if any of those who were outwardly reformed were inwardly and thoroughly converted to God. 4) From 1738 to this time…'the word of God ran' as fire among the stubble; it 'was glorified' more and more; multitudes crying out, 'By grace are ye saved through faith' (“To Thomas Church” 17 June 1746).
Early Methodists frequently recorded spiritual autobiographies detailing their experiences. Collections of these testimonies (such as the Lives of Early Methodist Preachers) share story after story of men and women whose lives were transformed by the witness of the Spirit. Often, this new confidence and bold faith became the launching point for ministry and the strength that sustained them in it. When early Methodist preachers faced poverty, death, and persecution, it was this supernatural gift of assurance that empowered them to continue the proclamation of the gospel and the spread of scriptural holiness.
Today, many Methodists are recommitting to spread scriptural holiness across the globe. Modern Methodists must also preach and teach what Wesley called “the main doctrine of the Methodists,” and pursue this gift of assurance for our own souls. The fields are ripe for harvest, but the workers are few (Matt. 9:35, Jn 4:35). How many Methodists are willing and able to share the gospel promises that my generation and many Americans need? How many lives might the Spirit transform if we did? As we pray for awakening, we must once again recover this “great evangelical truth” at the heart of Wesleyan theology and the growth of the early Methodist movement (“The Witness of the Spirit, II” 1767, I.4). We don’t have to wait for another outpouring or special religious event to receive the free gift of assurance through the power of the Holy Spirit. This past Sunday, on May 24th, Aldersgate’s anniversary and Pentecost both fell on the same day. What better time is there to rekindle the same gift that first warmed John Wesley’s heart by the fire of the Spirit 288 years ago?
Katherine Reiley is an ordained deacon in the Global Methodist Church, a current M.Div. student at Asbury Theological Seminary, and a co-host of The Art of Holiness podcast.