A series recap—and a look at what comes next
What does it mean to be human? What has sin done to us? And how does God’s grace bring us into new life with Christ? In Season 2, Episodes 1-6 of the Riverside Church Podcast’s Wesleyan Perspectives series, hosts Brian and Seth have worked through these questions one step at a time, following a path from creation and the image of God to salvation and the assurance of faith.
The series began by setting an important ground rule: the goal is not to make Scripture fit a Wesleyan tradition. Scripture is the authority; Wesleyan theology is a way of understanding what the Bible teaches. That distinction shapes the conversations that follow, especially when we compare Wesleyan convictions with other Christian perspectives.
Created in God’s image, affected by sin
Episode 2 started at the beginning: Genesis 1 and the claim that all people are made in the image of God. Human beings are created for relationship with God and for a life of meaningful responsibility in the world. Sin has deeply damaged that image, but it has not erased it. People remain image-bearers, even in a world marked by brokenness.
Episode 3 explored how that brokenness began and why it matters. The Fall was more than an isolated act of disobedience: sin affects human life and creation, and people cannot repair the damage or save themselves by their own efforts. On this point, they noted substantial common ground among Wesleyans and Calvinists: humanity needs God’s grace. Their differences emerge in how they understand grace and the human response to it.
Grace that comes before and a real response
In episode 4, the conversation turned to who can be saved. The hosts emphasized that the invitation to salvation is for all, while distinguishing that belief from universalism (the claim that everyone will ultimately be saved). In the Wesleyan view presented in the episode, God’s prevenient grace comes before a person’s response, drawing and enabling people to turn toward God. That response is real, but it can also be resisted.
This emphasis on grace does not mean people save themselves. It means that God takes the initiative and makes a response possible. The series repeatedly returns to this balance: salvation begins with God’s work, while human beings are genuinely invited to respond.
Salvation is more than a future destination
Episode 5 asked what it means to be saved. The answer, the hosts argued, is bigger than receiving forgiveness or securing a place in heaven. Salvation is the beginning of new life and restoration toward what God created humanity to be.
The episode described several biblical pictures of salvation: justification, regeneration, adoption and reconciliation. These are not presented as separate steps in a timeline, but as ways of describing what God does. Justification addresses our guilt and standing before God; regeneration is the new spiritual life God gives. That new life is real, but it does not mean instant maturity. The ongoing growth of the Christian life is called sanctification.
Can I know that I’m saved?
Episode 6 took up the question of assurance: can believers have confidence that they belong to God? Drawing especially on Romans 8, the hosts described the Holy Spirit’s witness as central to assurance. They also discussed the believer’s recognition of signs of spiritual life such as repentance, love, obedience, and the fruit of the Spirit as part of that confidence.
The episode cautioned against two opposite mistakes. Assurance is not a feeling that gives someone permission to ignore repentance or spiritual growth. Nor is salvation earned by good behavior. A transformed life is presented as evidence of God’s work, not payment for it. The hosts also distinguished assurance of present faith from the separate question of whether a person can later turn away from that relationship with Christ. Doubt or struggle, on its own, should not be treated as proof that someone has abandoned the faith.
What comes next?
The series has moved from humanity’s creation, through the damage of sin, to God’s grace, the meaning of salvation and the possibility of assurance. Together, these conversations point toward a larger theme: God’s work is not only to forgive, but to restore people toward the life and likeness for which they were created.
Next, the hosts preview a closer look at the atonement, including the questions, “Who did Jesus die for?” and “Who can be saved?” After that, they plan to take on the relationship between God’s sovereignty and human free will. These topics will carry the series further into the questions of how God saves and how people respond.
Wesleyan Perspectives continues to invite listeners to examine Scripture carefully, engage theological differences charitably, and consider what it means to live out the gospel in everyday life.