Across the Spectrum by Paul Eddy

Author:Paul Eddy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Evangelicalism, Theology--Doctrinal, REL067000
ISBN: 9781585582853
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2002-06-01T04:00:00+00:00

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Entire Sanctification as Perfect Love

(The Wesleyan View)

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The Wesleyan view of sanctification begins with the insight that in the Bible the concept of holiness centers on relationship with God. It denotes not what believers are separated from but to whom they are consecrated. The temple, the priests, the temple objects, and so on were holy because they belonged exclusively to God. Holiness or sanctification, therefore, refers first and foremost to an exclusive relationship with Christ, the holy One. It is a matter of the heart, of right relationship, and is not to be judged in terms of a predetermined set of objective religious standards.

The Biblical Argument

A right relationship with God entails cleansing from sin. The notion of cleansing permeates Scripture. Words such as wash, purge, prune, and so on, writes Charles Carter, “transcend their material sense and refer to a work of God that relieves the human heart of its impurity as earthly detergents remove material contamination. The emphasis is on the thoroughness of the cleansing rather than on the choice of the figure under which it is presented.”8 The focus of cleansing is the removal of the cause of the defilement, namely, inbred sin. “Purge me with hyssop,” requests David, “and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. . . . Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin” (Ps. 51:7, 2). The thorough cleansing from the pollution of inbred sin makes possible a relationship of unbroken fellowship with Christ.

The promise of unbroken fellowship is reenforced by the biblical view of sin. Sin is not a thing, like a decayed tooth, but an attitude of the heart—a disposition of pride that God promises to cleanse from the life of the consecrated believer. This cleansing explains John’s perplexing words: “Those who have been born of God do not sin, because God’s seed abides in them; they cannot sin, because they have been born of God” (1 John 3:9). If sin is understood in a legal sense—i.e., any breaking of God’s law, accidental or deliberate—then John’s words are difficult to explain, since no one is perfect in external conduct. But if sin is a matter of the heart, and if the heart is cleansed from inbred sin, a believer can be perfect in attitude or heart even though his or her external actions may, at some point, be defective. This gift of God’s grace, through the Holy Spirit, that cleanses the heart from inbred sin and fills it with the love of God is available to every believer following conversion. Wesleyans call this gift entire sanctification. Paul, himself, refers to this idea when he prays, “May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless” (1 Thess. 5:23).

According to the Wesleyan view, the first gift of grace is forgiveness of sin through the Son. Entire sanctification is the second gift of grace.

Wesleyans take seriously the scriptural

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