Tag Archives: Christian Perfection

Book Announcement and Summer Book Club Invitation

31 Monday May 2021

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Seedbed has just published my newest book, Perfect Love: Recovering Entire Sanctification – The Lost Power of the Methodist Movement. I have more excitement and nervous energy about this book than any other book I have written. I wrote two books from a sense of direct calling from God to write on a particular topic at a particular time. The first one was The Class Meeting. This book is the second. After a conversation with Andy Miller at Seedbed, I sensed it was time to invite John Wesley’s spiritual heirs to boldly claim the doctrine he believed was the reason God breathed life into Methodism in the first place.

Since I started writing the book, I have seen people experience powerful and dramatic growth in holiness. And I know of at least one recent testimony to entire sanctification. And I am confident there are others! God is up to something in our tribe.

It is time to recover entire sanctification, the lost power of the Methodist movement.

Seedbed is hosting a Summer Book Club and you are invited to join! This group will be unlike other book clubs. We will not merely read a book and discuss interesting ideas together. We are joining together to press in after God and ask him to give us the indescribably precious gift of perfect love. We are going to read, yes. But, more importantly, we are going to pray. And we are going to seek all that God has for us. After all, as my friend and Seedbed Sower in Chief J. D. Walt says, “The best of the gospel is the rest of the gospel.”

I hope you will join me. You need this. And Methodism needs this.

Kevin M. Watson teaches, writes, and preaches to empower community, discipleship, and stewardship of our heritage. Click here to get future posts emailed to you.

Full Salvation Now: The Reason for Methodism

30 Tuesday Jul 2019

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What Are We Here For?

These are trying times in Methodism, perhaps more so for those connected to the United Methodist Church than others at the moment. I have been surprised over the past few months that I have felt an excitement and a growing sense of anticipation.

Don’t get me wrong, it is very easy for me to find things to be discouraged or even angry about the current state of United Methodism. And to be honest, I no longer have hope for the current configuration of United Methodism.

But there is an undercurrent of expectation in my spirit when I think about the future of Methodism.

Unsettled and even chaotic times can provide an opportunity for reevaluation and they can be clarifying. They can help people refocus on the basic purpose or mission that provides the deeper reason for their ongoing commitment in the midst of disappointment and uncertainty.

I am convinced that there is really one reason that Methodism exists.

I wonder what you would say the reason for Methodism is if you had to limit yourself to one thing? My guess is that if this question were asked in local churches, at Annual Conferences, or General Conference that we would get a bewildering array of not just different, but mutually exclusive answers. Which is, of course, one of the main reasons that we are where we are.

Methodism has experienced a loss of identity. This process has been going on for about a hundred years, though it started in many places well before then. Methodists no longer know who we are as a people. We no longer know who God intends for us to be, our purpose. Why is there a Methodism? Aren’t there more than enough options in contemporary Christianity? Why did God raise up Methodists?

Here is my answer: If we pursue anything other than what John Wesley referred to as the grand depositum that God has given to us, then that new thing will be dead on arrival, stillborn. And I am equally convinced that if a people recommitment themselves to this grand depositum that God will breathe new life into this people for their sake and for the sake of a desperate and hurting world.

The grand depositum that God has given to Methodists is the doctrine of Christian perfection, or entire sanctification.

On February 8, 1766 John Wesley, the key founder of the Wesleyan/Methodist tradition, wrote a letter to one of the early Methodist preachers. After the brief greeting of “My Dear Brother” he got straight to the point.

 

Where Christian perfection is not strongly and explicitly preached, there is seldom any remarkable blessing from God; and, consequently, little addition to the society, and little life in the members of it. Therefore, if Jacob Rowell is grown faint, and says but little about it, do you supply his lack of service. Speak and spare not. Let not regard for any man induce you to betray the truth of God. Till you press the believers to expect full salvation now, you must not look for any revival.

 

In a time when the need for the revival of Methodism seems as obvious as ever, what would John Wesley say about the prospects of revival? Based on the above letter, he would say we have no right to expect revival because we have not been pressing Christians to expect full salvation now.

What Has Happened to Methodism?

Some might argue that Wesley’s convictions developed and changed over time and that his insistent emphasis on pressing believers to expect full salvation now was one of those things that changed. But less than a year before his death, John Wesley wrote yet another letter, this time to Robert Carr Brackenbury, that once again insisted on the essential importance of entire sanctification for the very reason for Methodism’s existence.

Wesley started the letter by noting that his health was declining as his “body seems nearly to have done its work and be almost worn out.” Perhaps it was facing his impending death that caused Wesley to reflect on the big picture of his life and involvement in Methodism. It was in this context that Wesley offered a powerful description of why God had “raised up” Methodism. Wesley wrote:

 

I am glad brother D — has more light with regard to full sanctification. This doctrine is the grand depositum which God has lodged with the people called Methodists; and for the sake of propagating this chiefly He appeared to have raised us up.

 

As Wesley looked back over the more than fifty years of Methodism and thought about the work that he had seen God do during these years, he zeroed in on one particular doctrine as the key explanation for why God had done this surprising thing in his lifetime. The belief in entire sanctification, or full sanctification, was the reason for Methodism.

Methodism exists because God gave us a particular corporate calling – to preach and teach that through faith in Jesus Christ it is possible experience full salvation from sin’s power in your life.

Wesley believed that God raised Methodism up in order to preach and teach Christian perfection. We have so thoroughly failed to steward our own theological heritage that few Methodists have ever heard of Christian perfection. Even fewer Methodists have a sound understanding of Christian perfection. And fewer still have a deep conviction not only that God makes full salvation possible, but that it is possible right now.

It is past time for us to once again press the believers to expect full salvation now.

Kevin M. Watson is a professor at Candler School of Theology, Emory University. He teaches, writes, and preaches to empower community, discipleship, and stewardship of our heritage. Click here to get future posts emailed to you.

Christian Perfection: The Reason for Methodism

27 Monday May 2013

Posted by in Methodist History, Wesley

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John Wesley Statue, Savannah, GA credit: Daniel X. O’Neil

On September 15, 1790, John Wesley wrote a letter to Robert Carr Brackenbury. Wesley wrote that his “body seems nearly to have done its work and to be almost worn out.” This acknowledgment of his own mortality seems to have led Wesley to reflect on his life and his involvement in Methodism. Wesley’s description of his sense of God’s purpose for “raising up” the “people called Methodists” is now fairly well known:

I am glad brother D — has more light with regard to full sanctification. This doctrine is the grand depositum which God has lodged with the people called Methodists; and for the sake of propagating this chiefly He appeared to have raised us up.

In other words, Wesley believed that there was a particular reason for Methodism. Methodists existed because God had given them a particular corporate calling – to spread the teaching about the possibility of full sanctification.

Wesley argued for and preached entire sanctification, full sanctification, or Christian perfection throughout his ministry.

In the essay “The Principles of a Methodist Farther Explained”, which was published in 1746, Wesley argued that “holiness… is religion itself” (Works, 9:227).

Forty years later in “Thoughts upon Methodism”, he described Methodism as follows, “Methodism… is only plain scriptural religion, guarded by a few prudential regulations. The essence of it is holiness of heart and life” (Works, 9:529).

Wesley defined Christian perfection in “A Plain Account of Christian Perfection” (1777) as:

In one view, it is purity of intention, dedicating all the life to God. It is the giving God all our heart; it is one desire and design ruling all our tempers. It is the devoting, not a part, but all our soul, body, and substance to God. In another view, it is all the mind which was in Christ, enabling us to walk as Christ walked. It is the circumcision of the heart from all filthiness, all inward as well as outward pollution. It is a renewal of the heart in the whole image of God, the full likeness of Him that created it. In yet another, it is the loving God with all our heart, and our neighbour as ourselves. (Works, Jackson, 11:444)

When Wesley talked about growth in holiness, and the ultimate goal of being made perfect in love, or being entirely sanctified, he was adamant that sanctification is by faith, just as justification is by faith.

In one of his best known sermons, “The Scripture Way of Salvation” (1765), Wesley described the faith by which Christians are entirely sanctified as a faith that:

1. God has promised this in Scripture.

2. What God promises, God is able to do.

3. God is able and willing to do it now.

4. God actually does this.

Wesley concluded the sermon by exhorting his audience to seek this faith now:

And by this token you may surely know whether you seek it by faith or by works. If by works, you want something to be done first, before you are sanctified. You think, I must first be or do thus or thus. Then you are seeking it by works unto this day. If you seek it by faith, you may expect it as you are; and expect it now. It is of importance to observe, that there is an inseparable connexion between these three points, –expect it by faith; expect it as you are; and expect it now! To deny one of them, is to deny them all; to allow one, is to allow them all. Do you believe we are sanctified by faith? Be true then to your principle; and look for this blessing just as you are, neither better nor worse; as a poor sinner that has still nothing to pay, nothing to plead, but “Christ died.” And if you look for it as you are, then expect it now. Stay for nothing: why should you? Christ is ready; and He is all you want. He is waiting for you: He is at the door! (Works, 2:169.)

Though Christian perfection is not often taught or preached by contemporary Methodists, it is still part of official United Methodist teaching.

“The Confession of Faith of the Evangelical United Brethren Church”, which is part of United Methodism’s doctrinal standards, contains this beautiful statement on Christian perfection:

Article XI—Sanctification and Christian Perfection

We believe sanctification is the work of God’s grace through the Word and the Spirit, by which those who have been born again are cleansed from sin in their thoughts, words and acts, and are enabled to live in accordance with God’s will, and to strive for holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

Entire sanctification is a state of perfect love, righteousness and true holiness which every regenerate believer may obtain by being delivered from the power of sin, by loving God with all the heart, soul, mind and strength, and by loving one’s neighbor as one’s self. Through faith in Jesus Christ this gracious gift may be received in this life both gradually and instantaneously, and should be sought earnestly by every child of God.

We believe this experience does not deliver us from the infirmities, ignorance, and mistakes common to man, nor from the possibilities of further sin. The Christian must continue on guard against spiritual pride and seek to gain victory over every temptation to sin. He must respond wholly to the will of God so that sin will lose its power over him; and the world, the flesh, and the devil are put under his feet. Thus he rules over these enemies with watchfulness through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Book of Discipline, 75.)

In addition to official United Methodist doctrine, every pastor who is ordained in the UMC must answer these three questions:

1. Are you going on to perfection?

2. Do you expect to be made perfect in love in this life?

3. Are you earnestly striving after it?

The anticipated answer to each of these questions is: “Yes, by the grace of God.”

Proclaiming and defending Christian perfection was one of Wesley’s deep passions, largely because he believed that God had given this teaching to Methodism in order to spread the good news that we can actually live fully for God in this life.

I am a Methodist because I believe, by the grace of God and the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, that we can experience freedom from sin now. I believe we have been entrusted with the most audacious, bold, and positive vision for the possibilities of transformation that are available on this side of Easter. I do not believe that the Christian life must be one of futility or frustration, where one does the best they can but is not able to completely give their lives in obedience to Christ.

By faith in Jesus, all who are created in the image of God can experience not only the joy of having our sin cancelled, but the deeper joy of experiencing God break the power of cancelled sin, as Charles Wesley so eloquently put it.

Teaching and preaching the possibility of being made perfect in love for God and neighbor, and seeking to actually become entirely sanctified are the reasons Methodism was “raised up.”

May we remember who we are and why the Holy Spirit brought us to life.

Kevin M. Watson teaches, writes, and preaches to empower community, discipleship, and stewardship of our heritage. Connect with Kevin here. Get future posts emailed to you here. Affiliate links used in this post.

Love Feast

16 Friday Mar 2012

Posted by in Christian Living, Life, Methodist History, Wesley

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On February 18, 1750 John Wesley wrote in his Journal:

“Today, likewise, wherever we assembled together, God caused his power to be known, but particularly at the love-feast. The honest simplicity with which several spoke, in declaring the manner of God’s dealings with them, set the hearts of others on fire, and the flame spread more and more, till, having stayed near an hour longer than usual, we were constrained to part.” (Works 20:321)

Recently, I have been experiencing the way that God does seem to cause his power to be known when people speak with “honest simplicity” about the ways they have experienced God’s work in their lives. Yesterday, I was able to be a part of a love feast with Seattle Pacific Seminary students. We took an hour and a half in the middle of finals to share some light food and talk about how we have experienced God over the past few months.

The best part was that Wesley’s testimony to the power of the love feast in the above account came to life for me in a new way. As we shared with each other, I gained an experiential understanding of what the early Methodists experienced at this love feast when the Holy Spirit “set the hearts of others on fire, and the flame spread more and more.” And I think all of us left feeling like we had been renewed by our encounter with the living God.

In fact, I have been experiencing God’s presence in my life in new ways over the last month or so. I have been blessed several times in the last month with a tangible experience of God’s presence as I have been a part of conversations where people spoke with honesty and simplicity about “the manner of God’s dealings with them.” I have left each of these conversations with a deeper awareness of God’s goodness and his steadfast love for me.

Through these conversations I have experienced my own brokenness more deeply than ever and my deep need for the healing that only God can bring. In one conversation, a dear friend reminded me of two qualities of God: gentle and jealous. I was reminded that God is gentle, that he is so tender and careful with us. God loves us deeply and perfectly at every single moment of our lives. He has never been disappointed in us.

And yet he is jealous. God wants all of us. He wants us to be wholly given to him and the purposes that he has for our lives.

This is why, as I tweeted a few days ago, I still believe entire sanctification is the grand depositum that God has given to the people called Methodist. The gospel is the good news of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ through the crucifixion and the resurrection. Christianity is the promise of salvation, of healing, of rescue to the broken, the hurting, the perishing. But just like the church cannot get to Easter Sunday without Good Friday, we cannot get to the hope for new life in Jesus Christ without recognizing our own brokenness. We cannot save ourselves, we need a savior. And thanks be to God, we are offered salvation through the person and work of Jesus.

I am convinced that the fullness of the gospel is not only hope for life after death. The fullness of the gospel is not a few strategies for improving your life at work or at home. And though I love The United Methodist Church and desperately want it to have a future that is filled with God’s presence, the fullness of the gospel is not survival.

The fullness of the gospel is that at every point of need in our lives God has already acted to meet the need. The fullness of the gospel is that salvation is freely offered to every single person. The fullness of the gospel is that sin is no longer necessary, because the Great Physician is ready to heal us of all that is not in accordance with his purposes. The fullness of the gospel is that we can experience forgiveness for all that we have done that we should not have done and that we can actually live the kind of life that God created us to live.

When I was in high school I read a quote by Henry David Thoreau that has haunted me every since I first read it, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” I think Thoreau is probably right. This would be very bad news, if this were all there news there is. But thanks be to God it isn’t. The good news is that we do not need to live lives of quiet desperation, it is not necessary or inevitable. We can live fully and obediently in God’s presence today!

As Paul says in a moving passage at the end of Romans 8, “I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 8:38)

Anything contrary to God’s purposes in our lives is no longer necessary. Which is not to say that it no longer has a hold on our lives. We cannot release ourselves. But God can and thanks be to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit that he is both able and willing.

These are some of the ways my heart has been set on fire as I have heard others share God’s “manner of dealing with them.” Thanks be to God for love feasts!

On Perfection

29 Friday Apr 2011

Posted by in Christian Living, Sermons, Wesley

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The following is a filled out manuscript of the sermon I preached in chapel at Perkins School of Theology yesterday (April 28, 2011).

The Scripture passage for my sermon was 1 Peter 1:13-16: Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.'”

My favorite part about eating Chinese food is by far the fortune cookie. No matter how great the food tastes, I can’t help but look forward to the moment when those plastic-wrapped brittle cookies arrive. On one occasion in particular, the waiter brought the cookies on a silver platter of promise. I was handed a cookie, ripped open the package, broke the cookie open and read: “You shall soon achieve…” Could this really be my fortune? I had to read the words again: “You shall soon achieve perfection.”

Now that is a fortune cookie! Since that day, I have wrestled with the meaning of “soon” since I received this fortune about a decade ago. Aside from my fortune cookie, it seems that we usually do not have positive association with the idea of perfection. People are often given the advice, “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.” And when we hear of a moral failure of a celebrity, politician, church leader, or friend or family member you will almost certainly hear someone say, “Nobody’s perfect.”

So what are we to do with the questions that The United Methodist Church asks those who will be ordained? Are you going on to perfection? Do you expect to be made perfect in love in this life? Are you earnestly striving after it? For many, these questions are embarrassingly naïve and we squirm in discomfort as the next generation of pastors answers the questions affirmatively. Or, as is often related, the body of ordained elders and deacons – who have already answered these questions – laughs nervously.

Why do we ask these questions? Nobody’s perfect, right?

What if our discomfort with the idea of being entirely sanctified, or being made perfect in love, is actually a reflection of our own preoccupation with ourselves and our unwillingness to be captivated by the grace of God? What if it reflects a realistic assessment of our own capabilities, but fails to recognize that God is in the picture too? What if what is at stake in whether we affirm, defend, and preach about the possibility of being cleansed from sin and actually becoming holy as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are holy has nothing to do with our ability? What if what is at stake is our faith in the power and sufficiency of God’s grace?

In our Scripture reading for today, the author of 1 Peter exhorts his audience to “set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming.” At a basic level, then, the instruction is to have hope because of the grace that is coming when Christ returns. As one scholar has paraphrased verse 13, “You have been born to a living hope; therefore hope. Live out your call.”

The content of the hope that verse 13 speaks of is further illuminated by verse 3: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” As Christians, we have hope because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The one who was crucified and died, that one, Jesus of Nazareth, he lives! Because of the resurrection, we have the right to have hope in the face of seeming hopelessness. On Good Friday, there was no hope. Jesus was dead. But just when the story seemed to have been concluded in the most final way possible, the period at the end of Jesus’ life exploded into the most amazing and wonderful news possible – Jesus lives! And among other things, for Christians this means that God’s grace is bigger than sin and death. God’s grace is more powerful than sin. Even in the face of death itself, because of the resurrection, we can say “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The resurrection has implications for every part of life, and it is good news. And the world is desperate for this kind of hope.

1 Peter continues in verse 14, “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.” In the light of the hope that we have in the resurrection of Jesus, the writer seems to be imploring us – there is no necessity for sin. And yet, the resistance to the Wesleyan understanding of entire sanctification often sounds like we are making the case that sin is necessary, that no matter what has happened, sin exists and cannot be extinguished. Nobody is perfect. We can’t do that. We shouldn’t expect pastors to affirm that they expect to be made perfect in love in this life. But if holiness is about what God is able to accomplish in us by the power of God’s grace, then why wouldn’t we expect pastors and laity to affirm that they expect God to accomplish in us what God’s wants to accomplish?

Perhaps there is a deeper issue. Perhaps we are afraid or unwilling to be transformed in the ways that God wants to transform us, rather than it being the case that God is not able to operate in our lives in these ways. It may be that we continue to be attracted to sin in ways that we are unwilling to acknowledge or recognize. It may be that we are afraid at what complete freedom for obedience to God would do to our lives as they currently exist. But do we really want to argue that sin is necessary for those who have been forgiven and renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit?

What do we think Jesus meant when he said that the greatest commandment was “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” I am convinced that by the grace of God, the children of God are truly able to keep these commandments. And expecting any less is not because we have accurately assessed God’s ability or God’s willingness to enable us to be faithful. Rather, it is a failure of our imaginations and our hope in the saving power of Christ. Or, it is another sin that God wants to free us from!

But someone will say, Is Christian perfection only about avoiding sin, or avoiding breaking a commandment or rule? Thanks be to God it is so much more! As our Scripture passage for today ends, “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’” Christian perfection is about holiness. It is about being renewed in the image of God so that we actually love God and love our neighbors. And in this passage, it is not offered up as a polite suggestion or an option. It is an imperative, a command, “Be holy!” As one scholar has put it, “A holy God demands a holy people, just as a God of hope creates a hopeful people.” (NIB, 258) Thus, this passage suggests that a stubborn refusal to believe in the possibility of deep holiness is not a polite and proper modesty or humility on our part, rather it is a sinful refusal to respond to God’s grace.

I know not all of us are Methodists, but for those of us who are, this is of particular urgency! Holiness and entire sanctification are in our DNA! In fact, John Wesley, believed that Methodism was raised up by God to preach and spread the doctrine of entire sanctification, the possibility that God is able and willing to save us to the uttermost!

In the sermon “The Scripture Way of Salvation”, here is how Wesley himself made the case for entire sanctification: Before we say anything else, we have to be clear that the foundation of sanctification and entire sanctification is faith, just as justification or forgiveness is by faith. The faith that saves from sin and perfects us in love, then, is faith that God has promised this in the Scriptures. Secondly, it involves faith that God is able to deliver on God’s promises. Third, it is a faith that God is able and willing to do it now. And finally, it is faith that God actually does it. Wesley ended this sermon with a powerful plea:

By this token may you surely know whether you seek it by faith or by works. If by works, you want something to be done first, before you are sanctified. You think, ‘I must first be or do thus or thus.’ Then you are seeking it by works unto this day. If you seek it by faith, you may expect it as you are: and if as you are, then expect it now. It is of importance to observe that there is an inseparable connection between these three points – expect it by faith, expect it as you are, and expect it now! To deny one of them is to deny them all: to allow one is to allow them all. Do you believe we are sanctified by faith? Be true then to your principle, and look for this blessing just as you are, neither better, nor worse; as a poor sinner that has still nothing to pay, nothing to plead but ‘Christ died.’ And if you look for it as you are, then expect it now. Stay for nothing. Why should you? Christ is ready. And he is all you want. He is waiting for you. He is at the door! Let your inmost soul cry out,
Come in, come in, thou heavenly Guest!
Nor hence again remove:
But sup with me, and let the feast
Be everlasting love.

Is there something within you that is stirred by Wesley’s words? Could that be the Holy Spirit, inviting you to such faith, such hope in the amazing grace of God? 1 Peter calls us to “be holy in all we do because God is holy.” This holiness is rooted in the hope that we have in the grace that has drenched the world in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christ is risen! Sin no longer reigns. Even in the face of the continued presence of sin, Christians can proclaim that there is no inevitability of sin. It is allowed to continue to the extent that we invite it into our lives, but God through Jesus is able and willing to free us from the power of sin and free us for joyful obedience.

When we pushback against this understanding of Christian perfection, I wonder if part of it is that we feel like this is just another idea that reminds us that we are not measuring up. That we are not good enough. That we are not focused enough, disciplined enough, or whatever enough. But, like the gospel itself, any understanding of Christian perfection that seems like it is bad news is either a misrepresentation or a misunderstanding. Christian perfection is not intended to be another item to add to our spiritual to do list. It is a blessing that God wants to freely give to us. The only catch is that God will not work without our assent. Grace makes us able to recognize the promptings of the Holy Spirit, but still allows us to decide whether we will respond.

On second thought, that was a pretty Wesleyan fortune cookie! And perhaps the questions that we ask ordinands are neither embarrassing or naïve. Are you going on to perfection? Do you expect to be made perfect in love in this life? Are you earnestly striving after it? Note that the second question is not, do you expect to make yourself perfect, or even become perfect in love in this life? No. The question is, do you expect to be made perfect in love in this life? The answer to each of these questions can be and should be, “Yes, by the grace of God!”

Holiness is about God’s grace, not our goodness or our works. But we worship an all powerful, all loving God who desires to renew the divine image within each one of us, so that our lives are no longer plagued by the stains of sin, and so that we are able to enter into full communion with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. May the Triune God give us each the faith to believe that grace is bigger, more powerful, and more capable of transforming our lives than anything else. May we be holy as God is holy, even today!

Campbell on the Wesleyan Belief in Entire Sanctification

15 Monday Nov 2010

Posted by in Book Review, Christian Living, Methodist History, Wesley

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In a previous post, I recommended Ted A. Campbell’s Wesleyan Beliefs: Formal and Popular Expressions of the Core Beliefs of Wesleyan Communities. One of the highlights of the book is Campbell’s discussion of the continuing relevance of the Wesleyan doctrine of entire sanctification or Christian perfection. Campbell makes the most persuasive and helpful case for the ongoing value and relevance of the Wesleyan doctrine of entire sanctification that I have read in some time. Here is the key passage:

The doctrine of entire sanctification is a great gift at the heart of historic Wesleyan communities, a gift that, I am inclined to say, Wesleyan Christians could neglect only at the peril of losing what has been the heart of their distinctive beliefs. It is grounded in the consistent biblical mandate that the end (telos) or goal of human existence is complete love for God, and love for our neighbors as the natural concomitant and sign of love for God… I find John Wesley’s twofold rationale for the doctrine of entire sanctification unassailable:
1. God intends that we should love God completely.
2. God can accomplish what God intends.
Once these two points are understood, the doctrine of entire sanctification can be understood as the heart of biblical religion… It creates a space where ancient saintliness can meet modern life and thus it is a gift of grace for the contemporary world. (233)

Amen!

I Forgot to Mention… and a Link to a Good Post

22 Wednesday Apr 2009

Posted by in Accountability, Book Review, links

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In my post about Wesleyan essentials, I mentioned that one Wesleyan essential is the doctrine of Christian perfection, or entire sanctification. I should have mentioned that Steve Manskar (who blogs at Accountable Discipleship) has published an excellent book A Perfect Love: Understanding John Wesley’s A Plain Account of Christian Perfectionwhich is an updated version of Wesley’s Plain Account of Christian Perfection, with notes and questions. It is an excellent resource which makes what Wesley did, and did not, mean by Christian perfection accessible.

Second, Craig Adams has written a worthwhile post on key things to think about regarding Wesleyan renewal.