“The concept ‘faith working by love,’ as the ultimate hermeneutic for understanding God’s entire plan of salvation, strongly shaped his (Wesley) teachings on sanctification.”(13) The following are the three important sets of doctrine that are necessary to understand the Wesleyan perspective on sanctification—original sin and prevenient grace, continuum of law and love, and the nature and work of the Holy Spirit.
In regard to original sin and prevenient grace, the Wesleyans believe that the first man and woman were completely corrupted through their total disobedience. The only way restoration from this complete corruption can take place is through “God’s favor by merit of Christ alone.” The Wesleyans define prevenient grace as “the beginning of the process by which God begins to lighten the darkness of the Fall for all mean and women; it will bring those who faithfully receive it to saving grace, sanctifying grace, and grace for the life of love.”(25) In regard to the continuum of law and love, Wesleyans state the “essence of sanctification is love in action.”(27) In regard to the nature and work of the Holy Spirit, Wesleyans believe that “through the power of the indwelling Spirit the new people of God would be enabled to live in righteousness and true holiness all their lives.”(28)
Reformed Perspective
“We are being sanctified through growing into a fuller and richer union with Christ…As we grow closer to Christ, we grow closer to each other. We are sanctified thorough fellowship with those who are in Christ with us.”(63) The Reformers go on to say that not only is Christ the One who has brought to believers sanctification, but “He is our sanctification.” (63) In addition to Christ being the primary means of sanctification, Reformers state that there are two other means by which sanctification can be carried out—by the Truth and by faith.
In being sanctified by the Truth, Reformers are referring to the growth in and through the Scriptures. Reformers state, “the Bible is one of the chief means whereby God sanctifies His people.”(64) In being sanctified by faith, Reformers are referring to four particular avenues. First, they state that the “heart of sanctification” is believers “by faith we continue to grasp our union with Christ.”(64) Second, by faith believers “accept the fact that in Christ sin
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no longer has the mastery over us.”(65) Third, by faith believers “grasp the power of the Holy Spirit, which enables us to overcome sin and live for God.”(65) Fourth and final, they state “faith is not only a receptive organ but also an operative power. True faith by its very nature produces spiritual fruit.”(65)
Pentecostal Perspective
“In the local churches two aspects of sanctification were repeatedly emphasized. There were frequent calls for consecration and re-consecration to the service and worship of the Lord. There was also a great emphasis on the necessity for separation from the world.”(111) The three aspects of sanctification from the Pentecostal perspective are instantaneous sanctification, progressive sanctification, and entire sanctification.
Instantaneous sanctification (sometimes called positional sanctification to the Pentecostals) is stated as “the moment a person believes in Christ he is separated from sin and unto God.”(115) Progressive sanctification must “involve the whole person…the external effects and evidences of sanctification must be the result of an internal work…the Holy Spirit here is the agent, and His work is the most important means of our progressive sanctification.” (118) Entire sanctification (though there are disputes) within someone is when “their purpose or desire is to follow Christ and they are doing so the best they know by the help of the Holy Spirit, they are healthy Christians and participate in entire sanctification.”(123) Pentecostals recognize that the Holy Spirit is vitally necessary in sanctification.
Keswick Perspective
“So in order to accomplish the ultimate purpose of our existence, namely, to live in loving oneness with God, the sin barrier must be removed. The removal process is called sanctification, and it comes in three stages, all of which are God’s own work of grace.”(158) According to the Keswicks, there are three steps—positional sanctification, experiential sanctification, and complete/permanent sanctification.
Keswicks state that positional sanctification is “which the sinner is set apart from his or her sin for the purpose of becoming God’s own possession.”(158) Within positional sanctification, there are three subcategories—forgiveness, justification, and regeneration. The second step of experiential sanctification is “the outworking of one’s official position in daily life…This is available to all who are, by God’s grace, in the position of having been set apart from sin to God’s ownership.”(159) The final step of complete/permanent sanctification occurs “when the believer is totally
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transformed into the likeness of Jesus…one is no longer tainted with sin or even susceptible to it.”
Augustinian-Dispensational Perspective
“Although a believer in Christ still has the potential for grievous sin and personally cannot attain anything corresponding to God’s standard of sanctification, yet because of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit and His power and direction, a Christian can progressively grow in sanctification.”(220) Augustinian-dispensationalists have two significant identifying marks of progressive sanctification in the lives of believers—the believer’s service to God and the assurance of being a child of God.
The Augustinian-dispensationalists believe that as a believer is progressing in their sanctification their ministry and service are affected according to the Scriptures. It is stated that, “The Spirit of God in His progressive sanctification also makes possible a Christian’s service for the Lord as a source to others of the ‘streams of living waters’.”(221) In addition to this, as the believer progresses in their sanctification, the assurance of both salvation and spirituality grows. Though they do believe that salvation is a divine work of Christ and rests securely in Him alone, this assurance displays itself in their walk with the Lord and spiritual growth.
Summary
In regard to the Wesleyan perspective, the doctrine of entire sanctification that is defined as “a personal definitive work of God’s sanctifying grace by which the war within oneself might cease and the heart be fully released from rebellion into wholehearted love for God and others…total death to sin and an entire image renewal in the image of God,” is concerning to me. I believe that sanctification begins at the moment of salvation and our progressive sanctification continues until the day we meet our Savior face-to-face, and at that moment we will be forever like our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I do not believe that we will fully be released from the flesh raging within our hearts and be “entirely sanctified” while we are here on this sin-cursed earth, as the Wesleyans do.
In regard to the Reformed perspective, they believe, “…sanctification in both the work of God and the responsibility of His people.”(68) This is a significant strength, in my personal belief, in the Reformed perspective on sanctification. It is important for believers to understand that while the work of sanctification does belong to God, we must be actively participating in it! Understanding the only way we are even able to actively participate in the sanctification process is because of the enablement of the Holy Spirit and the power given to us through God alone. John Murray stated it this way, “God’s
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working in us is not suspended because we work, nor our working suspended because God works. Neither is the relation strictly one of cooperation as if God did his part and we did ours… God works in us and we also work. But the relation is that because God works we work.”(71)
In regard to the “Holiness” Pentecostal perspective, their belief in the removal of original sin that leads to the easier living of a holy life is concerning. The Bible states that we live in a sin-cursed world, and until our Lord and Savior comes back, we will still be living with our sinful flesh. This does not mean that it is impossible to choose to live a holy life. Believers are called to be holy and can certainly pattern their life after Christ to serve and please Him, but believers will do so in a sin-cursed body and world.
In regard to the Keswick perspective, they bring up the idea of a “passive drift” when speaking of disobedience. They state that this drift is “failure to pursue actively God’s highest standards, through neglect of Bible meditation, prayer, or active church involvement, or through the accumulation of small, hardly conscious disobediences into a callous pattern of spiritual insensitivity, a person may leave his or her ‘first love’ and become lukewarm and actually obnoxious to God.”(163) It has been said many times that if one is not intentionally pursuing God, one will end up “backslidden.” The passive drift is as simple as neglecting your Bible study for a few days. When at the beginning choosing to neglect your Bible study time was hard, three weeks later it is easier to leave your Bible on the bookshelf. This is just one of many ways this active drift separates us from our Savior. This idea of falling prey to a passive drift is an area of sanctification that I believe more Christians should be aware of as it is affecting more and more believers in the church.
In regard to the Augustinian-dispensational perspective, a significant reminder to meditate on is this—“In Scripture, from beginning to end, sanctification is the work of God for human beings rather than their work for Him…Sanctification is all to the glory of God and an evidence of His infinite perfections.”(225-6) Though sanctification certainly requires diligence on the part of believers, it is primarily God at work in us and through us for His ultimate honor and glory. We are continually being sanctified to become more like His Son, Jesus Christ to display His “infinite perfections.”
Overall Five Views on Sanctification was an informative read on the various views of sanctification. There are certainly aspects of the book that need to be read with a discerning mind, as not every thought and viewpoint can be proven from the pages of Scripture. Some aspects of this book would be hard to understand for individuals who have not had some general knowledge or teaching on the beliefs of the Wesleyans, Reformers, Pentecostals, Keswicks, and the Augustinian-dispensationalists, though authors tried to give an overview. In regard to counseling, I can see that this book could be helpful to know how various people we counsel view sanctification, but I do not believe it is necessary to use as counselors can adequately prove from the sufficient Scripture what sanctification is, Who does the work of sanctification, and how we play a part in our sanctification.