"We should so work as if we were to be saved by our works; and so rely on Jesus Christ, as if we did no works"
About this Quote
Asbury’s sentence is a tightrope act staged as a paradox: grind like your salvation depends on you, then surrender like you can’t lift a finger. For an early American Methodist leader trying to build a movement on the frontier, that tension isn’t a philosophical puzzle so much as a governance tool. Methodism grew by discipline - circuit riders, class meetings, strict moral expectations - and those systems needed people to show up, behave, and persist. “Work as if” is Asbury’s way of sanctifying effort without letting effort become bragging rights.
The second half snaps the leash. “Rely on Jesus Christ, as if we did no works” blocks the most predictable failure mode of religious self-improvement: turning piety into a merit badge. Asbury is channeling a Protestant anxiety about “works righteousness,” but he’s also managing psychology. If believers think they’re carried by grace, they won’t despair when they fail; if they think their lives matter, they won’t drift into passive spirituality. He offers a spiritual double-entry bookkeeping system: strenuous accountability on the human side, radical dependence on the divine side.
The subtext is anti-elitist. In a new nation obsessed with self-making, Asbury refuses the fantasy that moral success proves moral superiority. Work hard, yes - but don’t confuse effort with entitlement. The line protects both urgency and humility, which is exactly what a revival movement needs to survive success.
The second half snaps the leash. “Rely on Jesus Christ, as if we did no works” blocks the most predictable failure mode of religious self-improvement: turning piety into a merit badge. Asbury is channeling a Protestant anxiety about “works righteousness,” but he’s also managing psychology. If believers think they’re carried by grace, they won’t despair when they fail; if they think their lives matter, they won’t drift into passive spirituality. He offers a spiritual double-entry bookkeeping system: strenuous accountability on the human side, radical dependence on the divine side.
The subtext is anti-elitist. In a new nation obsessed with self-making, Asbury refuses the fantasy that moral success proves moral superiority. Work hard, yes - but don’t confuse effort with entitlement. The line protects both urgency and humility, which is exactly what a revival movement needs to survive success.
Quote Details
| Topic | Faith |
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