John Wesley on Perseverance & eternal security
Yes — real apostasy is possible
"They are also saved from the fear, though not from the possibility, of falling away from the grace of God, and coming short of the great and precious promises."
THE POSITION
Real apostasy is possible — a genuinely saved believer can finally fall away, a direct qualification on the assurance believers otherwise enjoy in the present. Follows from the same synergistic structure as his election and original-sin positions: a person's faith is a real, grace-enabled but genuinely free response, not the guaranteed unfolding of an unconditional decree, so it can in principle be withdrawn.
4 OTHERS HOLD THIS
ABOUT THIS FIGURE
Anglican priest and founder of the Methodist movement. His Standard Sermons and Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament are Methodism's own doctrinal standards. The map's first researched Arminian figure, set against an otherwise Reformed-heavy list — his signature move is prevenient grace: total depravity by nature, but no one actually left in that bare state, because grace merited for everyone reaches everyone first.
Cite this page
"John Wesley on Perseverance & eternal security", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/wesley/perseverance (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/wesley/perseverance).