Christian perfection

In traditional Calvinism and high church Anglicanism, perfection was viewed as a gift bestowed on righteous persons only after their death (see Glorification). John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was responsible for reviving the idea of spiritual perfection in Protestantism.[21] Wesley's views were elaborated in A Plain Account of Christian Perfection, published in 1777.

According to Noble, Wesley transformed Christian perfection as found in church tradition by interpreting it through a Protestant lens that understood sanctification in light of justification by grace through faith working by love.[22] Wesley believed that regeneration (or the new birth), which occurred simultaneously with justification, was the beginning of sanctification.[23] From his reading of Romans 6 and First John 3:9, Wesley concluded that a consequence of the new birth was power over sin. In a sermon titled "Christian Perfection", Wesley preached that "A Christian is so far perfect as not to commit sin."[24]

"The term “sinless perfection” was one which Wesley never used because of its ambiguity."[25] However, John Fletcher clarified the Wesleyan doctrine by stating "that the doctrine of an evangelically sinless perfection is truly Scriptural."[26] And "I say evangelically sinless, because, without the word evangelically, the phrase “sinless perfection” gives an occasion of cavilling to those who seek it."[27] Wesleyans are able to hold this doctrine based upon Wesley's definition of actual sin:

"Nothing is sin, strictly speaking, but a voluntary transgression of a known law of God. Therefore, every voluntary breach of the law of love is sin; and nothing else, if we speak properly. To strain the matter farther is only to make way for Calvinism. There may be ten thousand wandering thoughts, and forgetful intervals, without any breach of love, though not without transgressing the Adamic law. But Calvinists would fain confound these together. Let love fill your heart, and it is enough!"[28]

Involuntary transgressions (such as those arising from ignorance, error, and evil tempers), according to Wesley, were not properly called sins.[29] Therefore, regenerated Christians would continue to be guilty of involuntary transgressions and would need to practice regular confession. Furthermore, Christians continued to face temptation, and Wesley acknowledged that it was possible for a regenerated Christian to commit voluntary sin (if, in the words of Noble, the Christian ceased "actively trusting in God through Christ and living in the divine presence"), which would also necessitate confession of sin.[30]

The power over sin received at regeneration was just the lowest stage of Christian perfection according to Wesley. Based on First John 2, Wesley proposed three stages in the Christian life: little children, young men, and finally fathers.[31] Young men were defined as those who had experienced victory over temptation and evil thoughts. Fathers were defined as mature Christians who were filled with the love of God.[32]

Wesley believed this last stage of Christian maturity was made possible by what he called entire sanctification (a phrase derived from First Thessalonians 5:23). In Wesley's theology, entire sanctification was a work of grace received by faith that removed inbred or original sin, and this allowed the Christian to enter a state of perfect love—"Love excluding sin" as stated in the sermon "The Scripture Way of Salvation".[33] Wesley described it as having "purity of intention", "dedicating all the life to God", "loving God with all our heart", and as being the "renewal of the heart in the whole image of God".[33] A life of perfect love meant living in a way that was centered on loving God and one's neighbor.[34] In his Sermon called "The Circumcision of the Heart" Wesley described it like this:

"It is that habitual disposition of soul which, in the sacred writings, is termed holiness; and which directly implies, the being cleansed from sin, 'from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit;' and, by consequence, the being endued with those virtues which were also in Christ Jesus; the being so 'renewed in the spirit of our mind,' as to be 'perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect.'"[35]

Even this was not an absolute perfection. The entirely sanctified Christian was perfect in love, meaning that the heart is undivided in its love for God or that it loves nothing that conflicts with its love for God. Christians perfected in love were still subject to conditions of the Fall and liable to commit unintentional transgressions. In consequence, these Christians still had to depend on forgiveness through Christ's atonement.[36] However, with Wesley's concept of sin, he did believe in freedom from sin. In fact, he described it like this "Certainly sanctification (in the proper sense) is “an instantaneous deliverance from all sin;” and includes “an instantaneous power then given.”[37]

Wesley's concept of Christian perfection had both gradual and instantaneous elements. In his 1765 sermon "The Scripture Way of Salvation", Wesley emphasized the instantaneous side, stating, "Do you believe we are sanctified by faith? Be true, then, to your principle and look for this blessing just as you are, neither better nor worse; as a poor sinner that has still nothing to pay, nothing to plead but 'Christ died'. And if you look for it as you are, then expect it now".[38]

In "Thoughts on Christian Perfection" (1759), Wesley stressed the gradual aspect of perfection, writing that it was to be received "in a zealous keeping of all the commandments; in watchfulness and painfulness; in denying ourselves and taking up our cross daily; as well as in earnest prayer and fasting and a close attendance on all the ordinances of God . . . it is true we receive it by simple faith; but God does not, will not, give that faith unless we seek it with all diligence in the way which he hath ordained".[29] In addition, Wesley also believed that Christian perfection, once received, might be forfeited.[38]

John Wesley taught that outward holiness in the form of "right words and right actions" should reflect the inner transformation experienced through the second work of grace.[39]

Calling it "the grand depositum" of the Methodist faith, Wesley specifically taught that the propagation of the doctrine of entire sanctification to the rest of Christendom was the main reason that God raised up the Methodists in the world.[40][41] After Wesley's death, his teachings on Christian perfection remained important to the Methodist church, but, according to historian David Bebbington, "the tradition fell into decay."[42] As later generations of Methodists sought greater respectability in the eyes of other Christian denominations, they turned to "a watered-down version" of the doctrine outlined by William Arthur (who served as Secretary of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society) in his popular work The Tongue of Fire, published in 1856. While Arthur encouraged readers to pray for a greater experience of the Holy Spirit, he de-emphasized the instantaneous aspect of Christian perfection. According to Bebbington, this eliminated the distinctiveness of Wesleyan entire sanctification, and by the 1860s, the idea that Christian perfection was a decisive second blessing or stage in Christian sanctification had fallen out of favor among Methodists.[42]

In contemporary Methodist Churches, Christian perfection remains official doctrine and both its gradual and instantaneous aspects are recognized.[43] A Catechism for the use of the people called Methodists teaches:[43]

Through the Holy Spirit God has given us His love so that we may love Him in return with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and our neighbour as ourselves. This is a gift offered to all Christians, and by responding we affirm that there is no limit to what the grace of God is able to do in a human life. By giving us the Holy Spirit, God assures us of His love for us and enables us to love as He, in Christ, loves us. When God's love is perfected in us, we so represent Christ to our neighbours that they see Him in us without hindrance from us. Perfect love, as Christian perfect is often called, is the result of, and can only be maintained by, complete dependence on Jesus Christ. It is given either gradually or at one moment...[43]

Candidates for ordination are asked the following question, "Do you expect to be made perfect in love in this life?"[44] In the Methodist Church of Great Britain, the distinctive Wesleyan teachings are summed up in the phrase "All need to be saved; all can be saved; all can know they are saved; all can be saved to the uttermost" (the word "uttermost" referring to Christian perfection).[45]

The Confession of Faith, one of the Doctrinal Standards of The United Methodist Church, teaches that entire sanctification may be bestowed upon the believer gradually or instantaneously:

We believe sanctification is the work of God's grace through the Word and the Spirit, by which those who have been born again are cleansed from sin in their thoughts, words and acts, and are enabled to live in accordance with God's will, and to strive for holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

Entire sanctification is a state of perfect love, righteousness and true holiness which every regenerate believer may obtain by being delivered from the power of sin, by loving God with all the heart, soul, mind and strength, and by loving one's neighbor as one's self. Through faith in Jesus Christ this gracious gift may be received in this life both gradually and instantaneously, and should be sought earnestly by every child of God.

We believe this experience does not deliver us from the infirmities, ignorance, and mistakes common to man, nor from the possibilities of further sin. The Christian must continue on guard against spiritual pride and seek to gain victory over every temptation to sin. He must respond wholly to the will of God so that sin will lose its power over him; and the world, the flesh, and the devil are put under his feet. Thus he rules over these enemies with watchfulness through the power of the Holy Spirit.[2]

James Heidinger II, former president of the Good News movement, an evangelical caucus within the United Methodist Church, has emphasized the significance of the doctrine of entire sanctification within Methodism: "There is no question about the importance of the doctrine of perfection in the history of Methodism. Wesley believed that this emphasis was a peculiar heritage given to the Methodists in trust for the whole Church."[46] However, he has also noted that uncertainty, among some, exists within the denomination over the teaching: "Our discomfort with this doctrine today is seen in services of ordination when candidates are asked, 'Are you going on to perfection?' Our misunderstanding about this often brings uneasy chuckles and quick disclaimers that we certainly don’t claim to be 'perfect' in our Christian life."[46] Brian Beck, former President of the Methodist Conference in Britain, expressed his personal opinion in 2000 that "The doctrine [of sanctification] remains with us in Charles Wesley's hymns, but the formative framework, and even, I suspect, the spiritual intention, have largely gone".[47] Writing on the need for improved spiritual formation within the British Methodist Church and the US-based United Methodist Church, Methodist theologian Randy L. Maddox commented that the terms "holiness of heart and life" and "Christian Perfection" were considered "prone to moralistic, static and unrealistic connotations, resulting in the growing uncomfortableness with and neglect of this aspect of our Wesleyan heritage".[48] The Rev. Dr. Kevin M. Watson, a United Methodist clergyman and Assistant Professor of Historical Theology and Wesleyan Studies at Seattle Pacific University, implores fellow pastors: "Teaching and preaching the possibility of being made perfect in love for God and neighbor, and seeking to actually become entirely sanctified are the reasons Methodism was 'raised up.' May we remember who we are and why the Holy Spirit brought us to life."[49]

In the 19th century, there were Methodists who sought to revitalize the doctrine of Christian perfection or holiness, which had, in the words of religion scholar Randall Balmer, "faded into the background" as mainline Methodists gained respectability and became solidly middle class. While it originated as a revival movement within the Methodist Episcopal Church, the holiness movement grew to be interdenominational and gave rise to a number of Wesleyan-holiness denominations, including the Free Methodist Church, Church of the Nazarene, the Church of God (Anderson, Indiana), The Salvation Army, and the Wesleyan Methodist Church.[50][51]

An early promoter of holiness was American Methodist Phoebe Palmer. Through her evangelism and writings, Palmer articulated an "altar theology" that outlined a "shorter way" to entire sanctification, achieved through placing oneself on a metaphorical altar by sacrificing worldly desires. As long as the Christian placed themselves on the altar and had faith that it was God's will to accomplish sanctification, the Christian could be assured that God would sanctify them. In the words of historian Jeffrey Williams, "Palmer made sanctification an instantaneous act accomplished through the exercise of faith."[52] Many holiness denominations require pastors to profess that they have already experienced entire sanctification.[53] This emphasis on the instantaneous nature of Christian perfection rather than its gradual side is a defining feature of the Wesleyan-holiness movement.[54] The Discipline of the Bible Methodist Connection of Churches thus teaches that:[55]

"We believe that entire sanctification is that work of the Holy Spirit by which the child of God is cleansed from inherited depravity and empowered for more effective service through faith in Jesus Christ. It is subsequent to regeneration and is accomplished in a moment of time when the believer presents himself a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God. The Spirit-filled believer is thus enabled to love God with an undivided heart."[56]

A second defining emphasis of the Holiness movement is the complete destruction and eradication of the sin nature. H. Orton Wiley, the premier Holiness systematic theologian, quotes R. T. Williams explaining:

"It is folly to try to pass as a believer in holiness and at the same time question its doctrine of eradication. There cannot be such a thing as holiness in its final analysis without the eradication of sin. Holiness and suppression are incompatible terms. “The old man” and counteraction make a pale and sickly kind of holiness doctrine. It is holiness and eradication or holiness not at all."[57]

Another key aspect of the Holiness movement is their close adherence to Wesley's definition of sin. Wesley stated in a letter:

"Nothing is sin, strictly speaking, but a voluntary transgression of a known law of God. Therefore, every voluntary breach of the law of love is sin; and nothing else, if we speak properly. To strain the matter farther is only to make way for Calvinism. There may be ten thousand wandering thoughts, and forgetful intervals, without any breach of love, though not without transgressing the Adamic law. But Calvinists would fain confound these together. Let love fill your heart, and it is enough!"[58]

This understanding of sin leads adherents to Holiness doctrine to believe in the possibility of complete freedom from all sin, both inward and outward, as expressed by John Fletcher's statement "He who is possessed of love, is free from all sin."[59]

Wesleyan Pentecostal denominations also believe in entire sanctification. These denominations include the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee), the International Pentecostal Holiness Church, and the United Holy Church of America. For these Pentecostals, entire sanctification is the second in a series of three distinct blessings that Christians experience. The first work of grace is conversion (the new birth) and the third work of grace is the baptism in the Holy Spirit (which is marked by speaking in tongues). According to church historian and theologian Ted A. Campbell, this three-part pattern is often explained by stating "the Holy Spirit cannot fill an unclean vessel", so the cleansing of the heart that takes place in entire sanctification is necessary before a person can be filled or baptized with the Holy Spirit. Non-Wesleyan Pentecostal denominations, such as the Assemblies of God, reject the doctrine of entire sanctification.[53]

• Balmer, Randall Herbert (2002), Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism, Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, ISBN 978-0-664-22409-7, retrieved June 17, 2016.
• Bebbington, David W. (1989), Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s, London: Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-10464-7.
• Campbell, Ted A. (1996). Christian Confessions: A Historical Introduction. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 978-0-664-25650-0.
• Campbell, Ted A. (1999), Methodist Doctrine: The Essentials, Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, ISBN 978-0-687-03475-8.
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• Devine, Arthur (1911). "Christian and Religious Perfection". The Catholic Encyclopedia. 11. Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
• Garrigou-Lagrange, Reginald (2009). Christian Perfection and Contemplation. Saint Benedict Press, LLC, TAN Books. ISBN 978-0-89555-758-2.
• Heidinger, James V., II (June 18, 2013), "John Wesley and United Methodist Renewal", Good News, archived from the original on 2016-08-21, retrieved June 18, 2016.
• Macquiban, Timothy S. A. (2006), "Dialogue with the Wesleys: Remembering Origins", in Marsh, Clive (ed.), Methodist Theology Today, London: Continuum, pp. 17–28, ISBN 978-0-8264-8104-7.
• Maddox, Randy L. (2006), "'Letter from America': A United Methodist Perspective", in Marsh, Clive (ed.), Methodist Theology Today, London: Continuum, pp. 179–84, ISBN 978-0-8264-8104-7.
• McKim, Donald K. (2003). Presbyterian Questions, Presbyterian Answers: Exploring Christian Faith. Louisville, Kentucky: Geneva Press. ISBN 978-0-664-23478-2.
• Noble, T. A. (2013), Holy Trinity: Holy People: The Theology of Christian Perfecting, Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, ISBN 978-1-62032-720-3.
• Wainwright, Geoffrey (1999). "Methodism". In McGrath, Alister E. (ed.). The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Modern Christian Thought. Blackwell Publishers.
• Williams, Jeffrey (2010), Religion and Violence in Early American Methodism: Taking the Kingdom by Force, Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, ISBN 978-0-253-35444-0.

• Bernard of Clairvaux. On Loving God.

• Culbertson, Howard; Hahn, Roger; Nelson, Dean (1994). "How entire is Entire Sanctification?". Southern Nazarene University.
• Allan Brown (2012). "How to be Entirely Sanctified". God's Bible School and College.
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• Arthur, William (1900) [1856]. The Tongue of Fire, or, the True Power of Christianity. London: Harper and Brothers Publishers.

• Courey, D.J. (2015). What Has Wittenberg to Do with Azusa?: Luther's Theology of the Cross and Pentecostal Triumphalism. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-567-65631-5.