Honestly, Can It Be?
“What you have just said is quite true.” (John 4:18)
Expanded Passage: John 4:16-19
In 1738, Charles Wesley wrote that the Spirit of God “chased away the darkness of my unbelief,” and a few days later, his brother John declared his own newly found freedom from sin as “the free grace of God in Christ.” A year later, John’s sermon and Charles’ hymn, both entitled “Free Grace,” were published.
When Jesus told the Samaritan woman to go get her husband, she replied, “I have no husband” (v. 17). Jesus said she had told the truth and that he knew her history. Later she said he knew “everything I ever did” (John 4:29). According to the hymn, renamed “And Can It Be That I Should Gain,” the Wesleys had been bound in sin and darkness, but now could sing, “Amazing love! how can it be / That Thou, my God, should die for me?” I imagine the woman running to her town, loudly singing, “No condemnation now I dread; / Jesus, and all in Him is mine! / My chains fell off, my heart was free; / I rose, went forth and followed Thee.”
The woman, a worshiper of God, honestly sought the truth. She evangelized her whole town. The Wesley brothers, products of a Christian home and Christian university, honestly sought the truth. Charles wrote 6,500 hymns. John preached 40,000 sermons. Before we can share our faith, we need to allow the Holy Spirit to evaluate our hearts.
Grow your faith and witness with honest confession.
Priscilla Hammond is an ordained pastor and associate professor in the Benson School of Business at Southern Wesleyan University (SC).
© 2025 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
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