It is never something we are meant to earn; it is a gift from God. Faith is necessary as a condition of justification by faith, and salvation is for the penalty and the plague of sin (Maddox 144).

Maddox writes that argues that Wesley's view of salvation is best expressed as a via salutis, a way to salvation" rather than a more reformed or scholastic expression of ordo salutis, a logical sequence of steps leading to salvation. Via Salutis, involves distinct way-stops, but each one is intimately related to what has happened at previous stops and prepares the way for future events and pauses in the march to the kingdom. Maddox's interpretation of Wesley's theology as "responsible grace" fits well with via salutis, as each pause on the way to salvation is not only vitally related to what goes on before and after, but the work of God at each...
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