The Devil is More Orthodox (Standard Sermon #1 and #7)

How orthodox is the devil? If orthodoxy and good theology is all about thinking rightly about God, does the devil have bad theology?

Far from it. Wesley makes excellent arguments in both his sermon “Salvation by Faith” (#1) and his sermon “The Way to the Kingdom” (#7) that devil’s theology is more orthodox than even the brightest of Christian theologians.

Wesley writes in “Salvation by Faith” these words:

“The devil himself believes that there is a wise and powerful God who is gracious to reward and just to punish. In addition, the devil knows that Jesus is the Son of God, the Christ, and the Savior of the world…All the demons, those archenemies of God, believe these things and they tremble in the presence of Jesus Christ.” — Modern English update from Kevin Kinghorn

Why would the demons and the devil not know these things? They have seen God face-to-face! Of course they have better theology than us! So…why are they not “saved”? Why are they still far from God?

Quite simply, they do not have faith. Again, Wesley writes in “Salvation by Faith” these words:

“Saving faith is not merely the intellectual knowledge held by demons. The faith of demons is only a mental belief in God…Saving faith is trust in Christ…Saving faith differs from the faith of a devil. Saving faith is not merely a speculative, rational thing, a cold, lifeless assent, or a train of ideas in the head. It is primarily a disposition of the heart.” — Modern English update from Kevin Kinghorn

This is vital for a just understanding of the doorway to salvation—the entry into God’s Kingdom—the path to born-again, true Christianity. Many in contemporary times wrongly assume that mere mental assent of belief in God destines them for salvation. However, this is not saving faith. Mental agreement that God exists is not saving faith. Demons have this. Indeed, the devil has better theology.

Wesley further comments on these ideas in his sermon titled “The Way to the Kingdom.”

“Religion resides in the heart, not in mere orthodoxy or right opinions. Although orthodoxy and correct beliefs are not strictly outward things, still, they do not reside in the heart. They line in the mind. One person may be orthodox in every point and espouse right opinions, which he or she zealously defends against all contenders. One may think rightly about the incarnation of our Lord, the ever-blessed Trinity, and every other doctrine contained in the Bible. People may assent to all the three Creeds—the Apostles’, the Nicene, and the Athanasian Creeds. Even so, it is possible that they would have no religion at all…Concerning the facts of Christianity, they may be almost as orthodox as the devil…Still, all the while, a person of orthodox views may be as great a stranger to the religion of the heart as the devil is. In the sight of God, only a religion of the heart has great worth.” Modern English update from Kevin Kinghorn, Wesley’s sermon “The Way to the Kingdom”

These thoughts become vital to emphasize within the Wesleyan tradition of contemporary times more broadly and within my Global Methodist connection more specifically. Broadley speaking, historic orthodoxy in contemporary times has faced many challenges. Faithful Christians must work to maintaining historic orthodoxy in the face of a culture that seeks to dismantle truth and dismiss biblical and historic orthodoxy. However, we still cannot forget that orthodoxy does not save us—Jesus does, and God has chosen faith as the right response to embracing Jesus Christ.

More specifically, my Global Methodist denominational connection has a strong value for historically orthodox Wesleyan doctrine. We maintain the vitality of right thinking for right living. Even still, we cannot forget that a person can, in fact, have beautifully coherent and absolutely consistent Wesleyan theology and yet still have zero faith and zero true religion of the heart.

Even more specific, one of my roles in the Trinity Conference of the Global Methodist Church involves serving on the Board of Ministry and occasionally participating in ordination interviews. In these interviews, we pay exceedingly great attention to doctrine. However, if we do not seek questions that draw out a heart of saving faith and the evidence of a born-again life, then we have entirely missed the heart of the Gospel.

If we’re not careful, we may accidently ordain children of the devil to places of spiritual authority over the children of God.

Therefore, salvation comes by God’s grace alone and through faith in Christ alone. Orthodoxy is important—but it is not our salvation.