Sermons On Gospel Themes

Finney's theology is difficult to classify, observable in his masterwork, Religious Revivals. In this, he emphasizes the involvement of a person's will in salvation. Whether he believed the will was free to repent or not repent, or whether he viewed God as inclining the will irresistibly, is not made clear. Finney affirmed salvation by grace through faith alone, not by works or by obedience. Finney also affirmed that works were the evidence of faith. Finney remarks that "I have felt greater hesitancy in forming and expressing my views upon this Perseverance of the saints, than upon almost any other question in theology." At the same time, he took the presence of unrepented sin in the life of a professing Christian as evidence that they must immediately repent or be lost. Finney draws support for this position from Peter's treatment of the baptized Simon and Paul's instruction of discipline to the Corinthian church. This type of teaching underscores the strong emphasis on personal holiness.