John Wesley had been an Anglican clergyman for many years before he became a Christian. He had been a missionary in Georgia – and still was not a Christian.
His conversion experience happened on the evening of 24th May 1738. Wesley had gone very unwillingly to a non-conformist meeting in London where someone was reading Martin Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans.
Let me read to you what Wesley himself wrote about the transformation that occurred as he listened to Luther’s preface:
“About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation: and an assurance was given me, that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."— The Journal of John Wesley.