We believe good works are the necessary fruits of faith and follow regeneration but they do not have the virtue to remove our sins or to avert divine judgement. We believe good works, pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ , spring from a true and living faith, for through and by them, faith is made evident.
We insist that persoanl salvation always involves Christian mission and service to the world. By joining heart and hand, we assert that personal religion, evangelical witness, and Christian social action are reciprocal and mutually reinforcing.
Scriptual holiness entails more than persoanl piety; love of God is always linked with love of a neighbor, a passion for justice and renewal in the life of the world.
Finally we emphasize the nurturing and serving function of Christian fellowship in the Church. The personal experience of faith is nourished by the worshiping community.
For Wesley there is no religion, but social religion. There is no holiness, but social holiness. The communal forms of faith in the Wesleyan tradition not only promote personal growth; they also eqip and mobilize us for mission and service to the world.
The outreach of the church springs from the working of the Spirit. As United Methodists, we respond to that working through a connectional polity based upon mutual responsiveness and accountability. Connectional ties bind us together in faith and service in our global witness, enabling faith to become active in love and intensifying our desire for peace and justice in the world.
