Written 5 years before Aldesgate and during the time that John and his Holy Club were seeking the experience that he found there, and also known as the second blessing, hence the questionaire, he said,
"3. That "circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter;" -- that the distinguishing mark of a true follower of Christ, of one who is in a state of acceptance with God, is not either outward circumcision, or baptism, or any other outward form, but a right state of soul, a mind and spirit renewed after the image of Him that created it; -- is one of those important truths that can only be spiritually discerned. And this the Apostle himself intimates in the next words, -- "Whose praise is not of men, but of God." As if he had said, "Expect not, whoever thou art, who thus followest thy great Master, that the world, the one who follow him not, will say, `Well done, good and faithful servant!' Know that the circumcision of the heart, the seal of thy calling, is foolishness with the world. Be content to wait for thy applause till the day of thy Lord's appearing. In that day shalt thou have praise of God, in the great assembly of men and angels."
If the full sermon is read, one will see that it is not from a man who believes that good works makes a man righteous before God. He was indeed born of the Spirit when he preached this sermon and before Aldesgate, despite how others would like to alter history to fit in with their theology.
Actually, it is the above comments that are false. George Whitefield was the first of the three to experience the new birth in 1735, then the Wesley's experienced it in 1738. The Wesley's sailed to America in 1735 on a missionary trip and after they came back in 1738 John Wesley wrote, "I went to America to convert the Indians; but, oh, who shall convert me?”
Here's a portion of one of the articles I shared the link to:
Charles Wesley was the first of the two to be justified by faith, and on Whitsunday, May 21, 1738, he experienced Pentecost. He wrote in his journal that the Spirit of God "chased away the darkness of my unbelief.” The prolific hymnist (eventually he wrote six to seven-thousand hymns) wrote a hymn to commemorate his day of salvation. While scholars debate which of three possibilities was this conversion hymn, one likely candidate is the hymn that asks, "And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Saviour’s blood?” The last verse triumphantly proclaims:
No condemnation now I dread,
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine:
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness Divine,
Bold I approach th’ eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ, my own.
Three days later, on May 24, 1738, John’s seeking for the grace of God ended in a meeting house on Aldersgate Street in London. He wrote in his journal that now-famous account of his conversion: "In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed.”
John immediately shared the good news with Charles. Charles wrote that "Towards ten, my brother was brought in triumph by a troop of our friends, and declared, ‘I believe.’ We sang the hymn with great joy, and parted with prayer.”
Until their conversions the Wesleys had what John described as "a fair summer religion.” They were both ordained. They both preached, taught, wrote, composed hymns, and even gave themselves to missionary work””all to no avail. They had not Christ, or rather, Christ did not have them. They lived by good works, but not by faith."
Here's a more thorough account of John Wesley's conversion from his own journal:
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/wesley/journal.vi.ii.xvi.html
John Wesley had been struggling deeply with assurance of salvation and justification by faith and came to the place where he knew he did not have it and almost entirely gave up on the ministry.
This list was indeed written when the three of them were unconverted. But Wesley did publish more lists like this afterward as late as 1781.
With all due respect, upon further examination, there are some of the points in the list which sound to me like they are written by someone unconverted and not someone who truly knows the Lord.
As far as that portion of Wesley's sermon, there is nothing in it that hints of justification by faith. He speaks of an inward work of the Spirit, as many sinless perfectionists also speak of. But they have no assurance of salvation because they see their inward imperfections and fail to look to Christ and His shed blood for justification by faith.
I don't have a problem per se with lists of virtues for us to ponder. I believe many Christians are opposed to any type of self-examination because of so much watered down preaching these days. Many of us are just so used to living in defeat and we justify our lukewarmness and remain babes in Christ for all our lives. I'm guilty and do not want to stay that way. I want to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord, I want to grow in holiness, into maturity in Christ. It is by faith in Christ and through His Word and Spirit that we will grow.
I believe there is a balance with this topic which we must strive to keep. Yes, there is rest in Christ from our own works, there is assurance in Christ by faith in His blood, there is joy and peace in believing. But there is also a striving for perfection and holiness in the fear of God, a working out of our salvation with fear and trembling, a constant need to watch and pray lest we fall into temptation, a constant need to be broken over our sins and confess and forsake them.
