Wesleyan-Methodist soteriology is Arminian: God desires all people to be saved, Christ died for all without exception, and God's prevenient grace (grace that goes before and enables response) is given to all people, restoring sufficient free will to respond to the Gospel. Justification is by faith alone, not by works, as Wesley emphatically taught. However, sanctification is given equal emphasis — Wesley insisted that the goal of salvation is not merely pardon but holistic transformation, culminating in what he called 'entire sanctification' or 'Christian perfection': a state of perfect love in which the heart is purified of all contrary motives and fully oriented toward God.

Entire sanctification is the most distinctive Wesleyan doctrine and distinguishes Methodism from both Reformed theology (which locates perfect sanctification in glorification, not in the present life) and Lutheran theology (which emphasizes simul iustus et peccator — simultaneously justified and sinful). Wesley drew on the Eastern Orthodox concept of theosis and the Catholic mystical tradition. The Methodist Articles of Religion and Wesley's Standard Sermons (particularly Sermon 40, 'Christian Perfection') elaborate this doctrine. Apostasy — losing one's salvation through willful continued sin — is also possible in Wesleyan theology, consistent with its Arminian commitments.