{"id":1296,"date":"2013-06-21T14:00:55","date_gmt":"2013-06-21T14:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.all-creatures.org\/blog\/?p=1296"},"modified":"2013-06-27T13:18:44","modified_gmt":"2013-06-27T13:18:44","slug":"christian-perfection-23-sanctification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.all-creatures.org\/blog\/christian-perfection-23-sanctification\/","title":{"rendered":"Christian Perfection – 23: Sanctification"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christian Perfection – 23:\u00a0Sanctification<\/h2>\n
\"Lamb<\/a>
Lamb of God<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By: Frank L. Hoffman
\nJesus said, “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is\u00a0 perfect.”\u00a0 (Matthew 5:48)
\n(Wesley’s writings are in bold)<\/p>\n

In this Chapter, we will be looking at the discussions that\u00a0 took place at the Methodist Annual Conferences of 1745 and 1746.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 These discussions are summarized in the 17th part of A Plain Account Of\u00a0 Christian Perfection<\/span>, and address the subject of, and the inward condition\u00a0 of, a person’s sanctification.<\/p>\n

Our second Conference began August 1, 1745.\u00a0 The next morning\u00a0\u00a0 we spoke of sanctification as follows:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Question.\u00a0 When does inward sanctification begin? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Answer.\u00a0 In the moment a man is justified. (Yet sin \u00a0 remains in him, yea, the seed of all sin, till he is sanctified \u00a0 throughout.)\u00a0 From that time a believer gradually dies to sin, and \u00a0 grows in grace.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I don’t believe that Wesley’s answer fully addresses the fact that for\u00a0 sanctification to begin, the person must be willing to have herself or himself\u00a0 “set apart” (the meaning of sanctification) from the evil of this world.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Furthermore, such a person must be willing to be “set apart” for a sacred or\u00a0 holy purpose, which means that he or she can no longer be passive by avoiding\u00a0 evil, but he or she must be willing to take a stand against such evil.<\/p>\n

Let’s look at an example of this passive and active condition of a\u00a0 “believer”.\u00a0 We can be extremely thirsty and absolutely and fervently\u00a0 believe that a glass of water can quench our thirst (which is the truth).\u00a0\u00a0 We may even tell others.\u00a0 However, if we don’t take the step of faith to\u00a0 actually drink the water, we will remain thirsty; and if we persist, we could\u00a0 actually die in our thirst.<\/p>\n

Our knowledge and belief “justified” us to understand that our thirst\u00a0 was caused by a lack of water, and that the water could quench our thirst.\u00a0\u00a0 This is not a one time occurrence, but a lifelong condition.\u00a0 Our “thirst”\u00a0 is an example of the awareness of the evil around us and the sin in our lives,\u00a0 and our dissatisfaction with it.\u00a0 The water is an example of the cleansing\u00a0 power of the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n

For sanctification to truly and fully take place in our lives, we must\u00a0 feel a “thirst” for holiness and righteousness, and a desire to eliminate the\u00a0 “dryness” of the evil of this world and the sin in our lives.\u00a0 We also must\u00a0 desire to fully partake of the cleansing and refreshing “water” of the Holy\u00a0 Spirit.<\/p>\n

Let’s look at the second question of the conference.<\/p>\n

“Q.\u00a0 Is this ordinarily given till a little before death?<\/strong><\/p>\n

“A.\u00a0 It is not, to those who expect it no sooner.<\/strong><\/p>\n

By giving this answer in this particular way, Wesley seems to be\u00a0 countering the old and false belief that a person was “safer” to be saved just\u00a0 before death, so that they could not “lose” their salvation.\u00a0 This was a\u00a0 way of living in our sins until just before our death, and then confessing them\u00a0 and expecting God to forgive us, even though we knowingly and willfully sinned\u00a0 against the Lord, and knowingly rejected the unction of the Holy Spirit up until\u00a0 that time.<\/p>\n

If we are truly saved, then we should also desire to do the will of the\u00a0 Lord our God, immediately.\u00a0 In other words, we expect to be “justified” at\u00a0 the moment of our confession of faith; and we also should expect the\u00a0 “sanctification” process to begin immediately with the infilling of the Holy\u00a0 Spirit, to whom we also desire to listen.\u00a0 A person who is saved should\u00a0 desire to be “set apart” from the sins and corruption of this world, and to live\u00a0 as an example of God’s heavenly will upon this earth.<\/p>\n

It is this inward struggle with our willingness to avoid evil and remove\u00a0 the sin from our lives, and to be conformed back into the image of God, that is\u00a0 the point being addressed in the next question.<\/p>\n

“Q.\u00a0 But may we expect it sooner?<\/strong><\/p>\n

“A.\u00a0 Why not? For, although we grant…<\/strong><\/p>\n

(1) that the generality of believers, whom we have hitherto known, were not so sanctified till near death, <\/strong><\/p>\n

(2) that few of those to whom Saint Paul wrote his epistles were so at that time, nor <\/strong><\/p>\n

(3) he himself at the time of writing his former epistles, yet all this does not prove that we may not be so today.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I believe that the problem is really one of faith without works as\u00a0 opposed to faith with works, as James addresses it:<\/p>\n

James 2:14-20<\/p>\n

14.\u00a0 What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but\u00a0\u00a0 he has no works? Can that faith save him?<\/p>\n

15.\u00a0 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of\u00a0\u00a0 daily food,<\/p>\n

16.\u00a0 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be\u00a0\u00a0 filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what\u00a0\u00a0 use is that?<\/p>\n

17.\u00a0 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.<\/p>\n

18.\u00a0 But someone may well say, “You have faith, and I have works;\u00a0\u00a0 show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my\u00a0\u00a0 works.”<\/p>\n

19.\u00a0 You believe that God is one.\u00a0 You do well; the demons\u00a0\u00a0 also believe, and shudder.<\/p>\n

20.\u00a0 But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that\u00a0\u00a0 faith without works is useless? \u00a0 NAS<\/p>\n

Just because someone else doesn’t desire to achieve Christian\u00a0 perfection, does not mean that we shouldn’t either.\u00a0 Evil always wants\u00a0 company and seeks to degrade another person’s righteousness, as well as the\u00a0 God-given rights and wellbeing of all the animals.\u00a0 Thus, we are\u00a0 to separate ourselves from such influence, and then work to counter its desire\u00a0 from ourselves and others, which brings us to the next Conference question.<\/p>\n

“Q.\u00a0 In what manner should we preach sanctification?<\/strong><\/p>\n

“A.\u00a0 Scarce at all to those who are not pressing forward; \u00a0 to those who are, always by way of promise; always drawing, rather than \u00a0 driving.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

I believe this answer is telling us that it is almost unnecessary to\u00a0 preach sanctification to those who are truly seeking to become conformed back\u00a0 into the image of God, and to become perfect as He is perfect.\u00a0 The\u00a0 preaching and teaching of sanctification is mostly for those who are the\u00a0 “takers” of this world, for those who want to go along with the ebb and flow of\u00a0 worldly ways of society, and for those who say they believe, but show little or no evidence in\u00a0 their lives of being conformed back into the image of God.<\/p>\n

Wesley continues:<\/p>\n

Our third Conference began Tuesday, May 26, 1746.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In this we carefully read over the minutes of the two preceding\u00a0\u00a0 Conferences, to observe whether anything contained therein might be retrenched\u00a0\u00a0 or altered on more mature consideration.\u00a0 But we did not see cause to\u00a0\u00a0 alter in any respect what we had agreed upon before.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It all really boils down to a simple question.\u00a0 Do we truly desire\u00a0 to become perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect, or are we trying to find\u00a0 excuses why we are not?<\/p>\n

If we truly desire to become perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect,\u00a0 then God is actively sanctifying us.\u00a0 But if we are still trying to find\u00a0 excuses, then the sanctification process is not operating within us.\u00a0 The\u00a0 sanctification process should make all who have it work to bring about the\u00a0 Peaceable Kingdom in the here and now.\u00a0\u00a0 Christian perfection is\u00a0 living in the heavenly will of our Father even while we are still upon this\u00a0 earth: it is a seeking to eliminate all pain and suffering and death of both\u00a0 humans and non-humans.<\/p>\n

Go on to: Christian Perfection \u2013 24: Entire Sanctification \u2013 Part 1<\/a><\/p>\n

Since \"date\"