It is certain that nothing less than these three affirmations will suffice in understanding the basic nature of the people of God. It is a matter of historical record that at the time of the Wesleyan awakening in England, in the mid-eighteenth century, the institutional Church was suffering lapses in all three components of the definition. Reformation and holy living, this agenda was the heartbeat of the early Methodists, first in the British Isles and then in America. John and Charles Wesley aimed at nothing less than reviving the Christian spirit of Great Britain, on the one hand, and the restoration of vital faith to the established Church, on the other. This is the taproot of the Methodist tradition in all its branches, and remains the driving force of Wesleyan spirituality.
Vital spirituality is composed of a call and a cross.
We see this in the ministry of our Lord Jesus. He called people to follow Him and He also told them to deny themselves and to bear their cross every day. Living with God is glorious and costly. It requires all our attention and devotion. I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.