What's the literal meaning?

For Wesley the literal sense of Scripture is its soteriological sense. When Wesley reads Scripture, he does so assuming that all of it contributes to the economy of salvation, as was evident in the way he could bring various texts throughout Scripture to bear on a particular theme in the sermons.— Reading the Way to Heaven, page 92

<idle musing>
But I think it is only fair to say that for Wesley, soteriology was more than just salvation as we understand it today. To him, sanctification was as much a part of soteriology as justification. There was no dichotomy in his theology between them.
</idle musing>