Doctrine #10
We believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be wholly sanctified, and that their whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
What are the 2 most prominent biblical words for holiness?
Qodesh: (Hebrew) refers to what is sanctified; made holy.
Hagios: (Greek) refers to those made holy; saints
What are 3 aspects of Sanctification?
- Belonging to God
- Being separated to God
- Being holy in character
The difference between Consecration and Sanctification
Consecration: Dedicating act done by man
Sanctification: Act by which god bestows His holiness on that which is consecrated
Explain the concept of Holiness as a crisis and process
Often experienced as a crisis, that is a decisive turning point and decision, sanctification becomes a lifelong process. It’s marked as an “already but not yet reality.” In other words, we are already sanctified but not yet sinlessly perfect.
Describe the work of the Trinity in holiness
1) Through sanctification the covenant relationship is restored. (Christ’s atonement).
2) It is the will of God the Father to sanctify us and strengthen our hearts for holiness.
3) It is the work of Christ on the cross that gives possibility of sanctification, justification, and regeneration
What will the result of God’s provision result in, in the life of the disciple?
A holy life. To be God’s dwelling place and be His servant. To holiness of conduct, holy character, and holy influence.
What are the various terms/descriptions of the experience of holiness according to H.O.D?
- Entire Sanctification- Belief that sanctification affects the whole personality and reaches to the depths of the soul.
- Full salvation: The completion of Christ’s saving work in our hearts. “Saving Grace.”
- Infilling the Holy Spirit: Phrase used to describe the fullness by which we are empowered to live the Christian life and to be witnesses to our faith.
- Baptism of the Holy Spirit: The holiness experience; dying to ourselves and emerging to as new persons in Christ.
- Second blessing: Distinguishes the experience of sanctification from the experience of justification and regeneration, following the teaching of John Wesley.
- Blessing of a clean heart: A term that emphasizes the removal of unworthy, self-centered attitudes of the mind and heart.
Perfect love: God’s love we use instead of our own flawed love. This love is given through His sanctifying power.
Four Critical Truths about Holiness
- Sanctification- being made holy is central to Christian faith.
a. Christ came to fulfill the OT.
b. Genuine character change is the goal.
c. The call to be holy is to share the holy character (not the essence) of Yahweh.
d. The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions both demonstrate this centrality. - Sanctification is by faith. Wesley is a good example of the Church tradition.
a. Attempts to live a godly life in one’s own strength only brings condemnation.
b. Right relation with God cannot be earned, only received. - Sin is a matter of actions and disposition. To live the life of God
a. It’s necessary not only to avoid the acts of sin.
b. But also the disposition of sin. - Sin is a matter of imperfection and intention.
- As Wesley said, any deviation from God’s perfection is sin and is in need of atonement.
a. No one achieves sinlessness in this sense.
b. Thus, the Lord’s Prayer
- As Wesley said, any deviation from God’s perfection is sin and is in need of atonement.
- On the other hand, one need not live in continuous undefined guilt.
a. We can be delivered from conscious, intentional breaking of God’s known commands.
b. Wesley’s “sin rightly so-called.”
c. But we should not excuse what is really conscious sin as imperfection.
Three Critical Disnictions
1) There is a crisis and process in sanctification, and neither should be dismissed at the expense of the other.
- The crisis deals with the issue of enmity- the crisis of the will.
- The process deals with performance.
2) A pure heart is not a heart delivered from weakness and fallibility.
- To have received purifying grace is not to be relieved from the necessity for self-criticism.
3) To be tempted and to find in oneself an inclination to respond is not necessarily evidence of a wrong disposition.
- For instance, feelings of anger may only be the temptation.
- What we do with those feelings and why, are the critical questions.
- Not to feel anger may be more of a result of heredity than of grace.
How it is possible for a person to be given to God with undivided devotion and yet be imperfect in their performance. Biblical example.
1 Chronicles 28:9
9 “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.”
Elaborate on the Greek words teleios/teleioo and the concept of Christian perfection
Teleios/teleioo: They speak of arrival at a goal, of completeness, of wholeness.
Section D: “Now the God of “peace” that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Define the Hebrew word hesed
Hesed- No single word can translate all it means. (Love, kindness, unfailing love, great love, mercy, unfailing kindness, devotion, favor, approval, faithfulness, loyalty, grace, and glory.
**To be true to someone who hasn’t been true to you. Undeserved love.
Be familar with the most well- known OT reference for hesed
Slow to anger. Self-giving. “The Golden Calf Story.”
Answer the question “How Does God’s hesed show itself?”
Simple kindness, goodness, compassion, faithfulness, righteousness, justice, and redemption. It is eternal.
