In this chapter we will deal with the following concepts:
1. Hiding nakedness.
2. The Gift of God; a package of three works.
3. Running up the down escelator.
4. Without sin by William Booth.
Adam and eve thought that by covering their sin they could fool God and pretend to be innocent of their failure. It is a great tragedy that many, even church leaders, condone sinning as an act of immaturity. The scripture is clear:
2 Cor. 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Ephes. 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
1 Thes. 3:13 To the end he may stablish your hearts unblamable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
God wills that his children be blameless. Those who waste time polishing rotten fruit are only building superficial presentations for the consumption of a world duped by it's own lie. Are we so naive that we cannot see the phony presentation of external holiness? Think about it. Are you not grossed out at those who put on a phony pulpit voice and pretend to prophecy as though they were speaking for God?. Those who cherish secret sins are constantly tooting a horn of self-worship. These mutations of the church are causing hundreds to stay away from our fellowship because they are constantly polishing themselves for the benefit of personal gain. We must avoid this abomination to God. As a child I recall the words of "Do Lord" , "if Jesus puts the polish on you'll outshine the sun." If your desire is to express the holiness of God leave the polishing to God.
The gift of God is a package of three works; pardon, purity, and glory. The first two are experienced in this life and the third, glorification is to come in the next life. All three are instantaneous works. Many confuse the term purity with maturity. The second work of grace is vital to the believer because it is this action by the Holy Spirit that purges the soul of inbred sin. Thus the heart is completely free from all sin and is perfectly motivated by the presence of God.
The first work pardon, also known as justification, includes:
1) Forgiveness of individual acts of sinning we have committed against God.
2) Adoption - We are enrolled as a member of God's family and inherit its privileges.
3) Regeneration - we are given power to resist temptation and overcome the urge to sin.
4) We also receive at regeneration the desire for "Entire Sanctification."
The second work of grace is Purity. This instantaneous action of God the Holy Spirit is preceded by four specific conditions that must be met by the justified believer. Look at the way it is described in the 1923 Handbook of Doctrine :
THE BESTOWAL OF SANCTIFICATION, as of every other gift of God's grace, is CONDITIONAL--it depends upon the whole-hearted co-operation of the person to be benefited.
Assuming that regeneration has already taken place, the necessary conditions are: conviction, renunciation, consecration, faith.
1. THE FIRST CONDITION OF SANCTIFICATION IS CONVICTION; which includes: realizing the inward sin that exists; hating it, no matter what form it may assume; seeing holiness to be a duty and a privilege; earnestly desiring deliverance from sin; and believing its removal possible. (Isaiah 6:5)...
2.THE SECOND CONDITION OF SANCTIFICATION IS RENUNCIATION; that is, giving up everything opposed to the will of God. (Hebrews 12:1)...
3. THE THIRD CONDITION OF SANCTIFICATION IS CONSECRATION; that is, the dedication to God of ourselves and all we possess, to live only to please Him and do His will. (Romans 12:1)
4. THE FOURTH CONDITION OF SANCTIFICATION IS FAITH; that is, the act of simple heart-trust by which the soul commits itself to God and believes that He does now sanctify according to His promise. (I John 1:9)
As you read the earlier Doctrine books you can clearly see that our founding fathers believed that inbred sin can be entirely eradicated so that we may live without sin. The following is the tenth doctrine as listed in the 1913 The Doctrines of the Salvation Army:
We believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be "wholly sanctified"," and that "the whole spirit, and soul and body" may be "preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." That is to say, we believe that after conversion their remains in the heart of the believer inclinations to evil, or roots of bitterness, which, unless overpowered by Divine grace, produce actual sin; but that these evil tendencies can be entirely taken away by the spirit of God, and the whole heart, thus cleansed from everything contrary to the will of God, or entirely sanctified, will then produce the fruit of the Spirit only. And we believe that persons thus entirely sanctified may, by the power of God, be kept unblamable and unreprovable before God.
This is why we have "Holiness Meetings" in the Salvation Army. We believe that a "Second work of grace" is necessary to equip a believer for the work of building the kingdom of God. Without this work of the Spirit people continue to follow a worldly path of self polishing instead of true purity that can only be done by God Himself. The third work of grace is glorification. That point at which we face the judgement and Christ Himself will bestow an inheritance of Glory upon the faithful.
.Matthew 25:31-34 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: [32] And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: [33] And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. [34] Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
These three Works of grace are the completed "Gift of God"; eternal life.
Dr. Joe Seaborn says that a believer without entire sanctification is like a person running up the down escelator. True it can be done but every time you run into a person going down your progress is impeded. Those who believe that there is only one work of grace discover that life is and endless struggle with the urge to go down. The second work of grace removes the down orientation and gets us fitted with Christlikeness which changes us to the up escelator. We are born with preferences and they are all selfish. Our orientation is down. If left to himself man will create all kinds of perversion. It is our inherited orientation to use every means to feed our selfish appitite.
Because justification is an issue of justice and law. Sanctification is an issue of nature or orientation. The issues of nature cannot be forgiven they must be destroyed. It is God's intention that you move toward holiness and expand your skills and gifts in a process of maturity. This is virtually impossible without a change in orientation.
On the up escelator:
1. When we slow down to rest we continue to grow up although at a slower pace.
2. We are less likely to meet people going down. This reduces the temptation to stray.
3. There are others to show us the way up, and share in our growth and maturity.
4. The urgency to maintain position is no longer important. The next step is natural and easier to take.
5. We can move at a walking pace and not be exhausted.
Are you trying to run up the down escalator? Usually the greatest barrier to entire sanctification is unconfessed sin. Are there areas of secret orientation you have not surrendered to God? The fatigue and eventual collapse of a believer trying to run up the down escalator will cause you to sin. Seek with all your heart the blessing of entire sanctification and God will do as He promised.
The issue that is important here is not what we believe about the possibility of sanctification but when it happens. All churches believe in it. Most are convinced that it occurs at the same time as justification. others feel that it does not happen until death.
Testimony is the crux of the matter. If you feel that you were sanctified at your conversion then testify to it. Tell the people that you meet that the urge to sin is removed and there is no conflict of interest in your mind and spirit.
In 1969 The Salvation Army doctrine book was changed to reflect a more conventional approach to the process of holiness. Emphasis was changed from the eradication of the old man to the process of becoming Christ-like. I can not tell you that there is no confusion in regard to the change but I can tell you this: "On February 23rd, 1995 I surrendered my lustful thinking and resentment to God and He took my appetite for it away. Since that day I have grown beyond all imagination. " I simply did not understand that my nature was the problem. In reading earlier Doctrine Books of the Salvation Army I have concluded that our founding fathers were convinced that a second work of grace was required. The most confirming factor is the absence of testimonies to the blessing today.
The questions that you must wrestle with are:
1. Is it possible to be pure in heart. That is to be cleansed from all sin?
2. Has God provided for the eradication of the inclination to sinning.
3. Can you be sanctified wholly for the work of God.
My personal testimony is that the answer to all of the above is; yes. I now walk at perfect peace with God, and have assurance that He is in complete control of my life. I no longer wrestle with the selfish urge to be approved by the world.
God does not promise and then not deliver. If He can pardon He can purify. He will do it for you if you will simply surrender all that is lustful and worldly He will sanctify you wholly.
Great and glorious as is the change wrought in the heart at conversion, maybe deliverance is not complete. The power of sin is broken, but there are still certain evil tendencies left in the soul. There are what the Apostle terms" the roots of bitterness." These evils ordinarily grow and increase in power, involving the soul in constant conflict, and as the time goes by, often gain the mastery, and as a result, there is much sinning and repenting...
Tired of this conflict, hating these internal evils, weeping over the pride and malice, and envy and selfishness, that the soul still finds within, it rises up and cries out:
To this question God sends the answer back - "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, I will cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh, and I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep My judgements, and do them." "All things are possible to him that believeth." Then the soul believes, the sanctifying Spirit falls and the Third Stage is reached - which is Salvation from all sin.