Sanctification
is the process of being perfected by God, Entire sanctification is Christian
perfection. Unfortunately, that word brings up many images that get in our way
of truly understanding it. When Wesley talks about perfection his context is
different than ours. In fact, this is true of most of Wesley’s terms. So, what
is Wesley’s context? How does he define sanctification?
Wesley
was a Greek scholar, he also taught Greek at Oxford, not many of us have the
grounding in Greek that he had. His understanding of perfection is colored by
his affinity for the Greek. This puts us at a disadvantage right away; however,
Wesley did imply in his Sermon, The Scripture Way of Salvation that perfection
carries with it the sense of God’s perfect love. Wesley cast “the relationship
between justification (what God does for us, forgiveness of sin) and
sanctification (what God does in us, holiness of life)”[1] as the actions of God in
our lives. So, the Wesleyan definition of Sanctification would seem to be what
God does in us, through grace, to mold us more into the image of His son. It is
filling us with love and grace so that we become more and more the embodiment
of His perfect love.
For
Wesley, “The substantive change that could result from Christ’s righteousness
being imparted to the believer was not a one-time experience, but a matter of
daily concern and (hopefully) growth for everyone.”[2] In other words,
Sanctification is an ongoing process, rather than a one and done experience. It
is a journey. Whether we call it a journey of faith or one of Discipleship it
is more than anything else a journey of growth, spiritual growth.
This
spiritual growth is prompted by the continuing presence of both God’s
Sanctifying Grace from the moment of Salvation onward and the continuing
operation of His Prevenient Grace. These push us along, fanning the flame of
our faith. Increasing it and warming our hearts while transforming us into
better conduits of God’s grace both for ourselves and others. This enabling of
us to love God and love others with the perfect love of God is what
Sanctification is all about.
Next
time we will find that our faith journey is not a simple unidirectional upward
climb; Backsliding is a real possibility.
[1]
Richard P. Heitzenrater, Wesley and the People Called Methodists: Second
Edition Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. (p. 115).
[2]
Richard P. Heitzenrater, Wesley and the People Called Methodists: Second
Edition Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. (p. 115).
