The concept of entire sanctification is supported by Scripture.
- God would not command the impossible. A mature, complete, continuing response to grace is enjoined repeatedly in Scripture (Ex 19:6; John 5:14; 2 Cor 7:1, 13:1; Heb 6:1, 12:14; 1 Pet 1:15-16). God would not require holiness in this life (Deut 6:5; Luke 10:27; Rom 6:11) if it were intrinsically impossible.
- God would not promise complete responsiveness to grace if it were intrinsically unattainable. A complete and mature life of loving holiness is clearly promised in scripture (Deut 30:6; Psalm 119:1-3; Isa 1:18; Jer 33:8; Ezek 36:25; Mat 5:6; 1 Thes 5:23, 24; Heb 7:25; 1 John 1:7-9).
- The apostles repeatedly prayed for the full and complete life of holiness and perfect love (John 17:20-23; 2 Cor 13:9-11; Eph 3:14-21; Col 4:12; Heb 13:20-21; 1 Pet 5:10). Were they deluded?
- Scripture identifies a few entirely sanctified persons (Gen 5:18-24; Gen 6:9; Job 1:8; Acts 11:24). A single instance establishes attainability.
- Certain texts that appear to argue for un-attainability can be explained on different grounds (Eccles 7:20; 2 Chron 6:36; Job 25:4; 1 John 1:8-10).
(Oden, v3, p 241-244)
But is it a gradual process that may require many years and may not fully culminate in this life or is it an instantaneous second work of grace, following regeneration, which all believers should anticipate during their lifetimes? This is a hard question, and strong opinions exist on both sides. It has caused division in the Wesleyan/Arminian community since the time of John Wesley and Adam Clarke.
Here is the assessment of J. Kenneth Grider given in A Wesleyan Holiness Theology, p 393 – 399.
“Both John and Charles Wesley and the Holiness Movement writers taught, and the present Holiness writers teach, that entire sanctification is instantaneous. Wesley himself also taught gradual sanctification, by which he seems to have meant a gradual cleansing of original sin. And George Allen Turner and Mildred Wynkoop likewise teach that, besides instantaneous entire sanctification, there is a gradual sanctification in which original sin is cleansed away piecemeal.
Almost all Holiness Movement writers, however, have followed Adam Clarke – who at least sometimes taught that entire sanctification, like regeneration, is instantaneous and not gradual – although many of them have used the phrase ‘gradual sanctification’ or ‘progressive sanctification’ to mean only our gradual preparation. Daniel Steele, H. Orton Wiley, S. S. White, W. T. Purkiser, Richard S. Taylor and numerous other Holiness writers have taken this kind of view…
Wesley and Clarke Contrasted. John Wesley taught that prior to entire sanctification there is a gradual sanctification that is preparatory. By this gradual sanctification, he seemed to mean a gradual lessening of original sin. He spoke of a ‘gradual mortification of sin.’ In the same work, A Plain Account, which he revised rather late in his life, so that we may understand it to be his mature thought, he suggests that entire sanctification is analogous to a slow physical death; and this might mean that original sin is gradually lessened. He says, ‘A man may be dying for some time; yet he does not, properly speaking, die, till the soul is separated from the body…In like manner, he may be dying to sin for some time; yet he is not dead to sin, till sin is separated from his soul.’
…’When we begin to believe, then sanctification begins. And as faith increases, holiness increases, till we are created anew.’ If entire sanctification can begin, and if it can increase as faith increases, we seem to be talking about a process of gradual sanctification. Wynkoop thinks so. Commenting on these words of Wesley, she says, ‘In this passage the process aspect of sanctification is clearly indicated.’ George Allen Turner also interprets Wesley in this way. He says, ‘In Wesleyan teaching regeneration is the positive side of justification and is instantaneous, while sanctification is the gradual work of the Spirit in inner transformation, although there is a time when this process may be consummated instantly in response to faith. If regeneration is taken to mean a new beginning and sanctification a process of making holy, then the two may be said to be distinct’ …
Adam Clarke, younger contemporary of Wesley viewed the matter differently. He writes, ‘In no part of the Scriptures are we directed to seek holiness gradatim. We are to come to God as well for an instantaneous and complete purification from all sin as for an instantaneous pardon. Neither the gradatim pardon nor the seriatim purification exists in the Bible’ …
On this issue of gradual sanctification, the Holiness Movement understood Clarke’s view to be Scriptural, instead of Wesley’s.”
Samuel Wakefield likewise attributes a statement to Wesley which bears on this discussion.
“Regeneration is a part of sanctification, not the whole; it is the gate to it, the entrance into it. When we are born again then our sanctification, our inward and outward holiness, begins; and thenceforward we are gradually to ‘grow up into him who is our head.’ This expression of the apostle admirably illustrates the difference between one and the other, and further points out the exact analogy there is between natural and spiritual things. A child is born of a woman in a moment, or at least in a very short time; afterward he gradually and slowly grows, till he attains to the stature of a man. In like manner a child is born of God in a short time, if not in a moment. But it is by slow degrees that he afterward grows up to the measure of the full stature of Christ. The same relation, therefore, which there is between our natural birth and our growth, there is also between our new birth and our sanctification.” (Wesley Works, Vol 1, p 406) (Wakefield, p 432)
It would appear that George Allen Turner’s interpretation of John Wesley’s teaching was correct when he wrote:
“In Wesleyan teaching regeneration is the positive side of justification and is instantaneous, while sanctification is the gradual work of the Spirit in inner transformation, although there is a time when this process may be consummated instantly in response to faith” (Turner, quoted in Grider, p 398)
(See also Sections 3.15, 3.17, 4.1 and 4.6 of Theology Corner)
