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Day-By-Day Growth in Grace by Diane Leclerc Through his upbringing, his religious education, and his own private reading of great spiritual books, John Wesley very early developed a passion for the holy life. As a young man, Wesley was rigorous in his own spiritual exercises and exemplary in his care for the poor and the imprisoned. He went to Georgia as a missionary as an act of devotion to God. Yet, something was missing in his life until his heart was "strangely warmed" during a prayer meeting in 1738. Many persons have attempted to label this experience; it is still open to interpretation because Wesley never labeled it himself. But something quite definite can be said about that experience in Wesley's life: from that moment on, he connected holiness and grace. So should we. The very heart of what Nazarenes believe and teach is the confidence that the holy life is lived by the grace given to us through Christ. God has called us to be a holy people, to be holy as He is holy (I Peter 1:15). The wonder of this call to a holy life is that what God asks, He enables Christians to do. The Wesleyan conception of God's grace couldn't be stronger. Rather than seeing grace as merely covering over our sins and our sinful nature, as if we were putting a white robe over filthy rags, we affirm that God can radically transform us from within. We believe that God's intention is to recreate us to be what He originally made us to be. We may continue to struggle with personal pain and with what Wesley calls "infirmities," but the constant struggle against the power of sin can cease; the sin that entangles us and keeps us from reflecting the image of the Author and Perfecter of our faith can be thrown off (Hebrews 12:1-2). We believe that God can change us and that through the Holy Spirit we can grow toward our fullest potential. But to do so, we must remain open to God's rich and abundant grace in all areas of our lives. Unfortunately, the way that God grows us in holiness has often been misunderstood. In the 1760's, Wesley himself had to face a major misunderstanding of his own doctrine. Two leaders in one of his Methodist Societies began to preach that the experience of entire sanctification makes Christians perfect in the most absolute sense. They erroneously believed that there was really no room for growth after entire sanctification because sanctified Christians entered a phase of spiritual life like that of the angels. Wesley quickly and strongly condemned such a teaching. Growth is not only possible, but also required after the experience of entire sanctification. In other words, we should not assume that this experience, however, essential, means that we have "arrived." The American Holiness Movement of the 19th century attempted to be true to Wesley's teachings as it interpreted them. However, some aspects of the doctrine of Christian perfection were emphasized to the detriment of other equally important aspects. One such regretful move of some (and only some) holiness preaching implied that Christian growth before an experience of entire sanctification was of little consequence. In fact, some interpreters minimized the importance of the new birth itself! But a more correct understanding of Wesley's theology clearly recognizes the tremendous importance of conversion (which Wesley's followers have called initial sanctification) and the growth in grace that immediately follows saving faith. For Wesley, God's grace can work in such a way that entire sanctification is experienced as the next quiet step in a life that continually grows in faith and holiness from the beginning. We should not depend on one or two thunderous moments when we hope to be drenched in enough grace to last forever. Rather, it is our privilege and responsibility to open ourselves daily to God's activity so that we might steadily grow in holiness and love, toward God and our neighbor. And so the question becomes, how may we keep ourselves open to God's grace? We believe that God calls us to a holy life and that by His grace we must be changed more and more into Christ's likeness. But how is God's enabling, renewing, and transforming grace given to us? The answer is, through what we call "the means of grace." Through personal prayer and Bible study, through listening to the preached Word, through receiving Holy Communion, and through fellowship with and accountability to other Christians, God gives His grace in abundance. As we attend to these "means," these conduits of grace, with our whole being we grow in our ability to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves. So the Christian life is not static but rather a dynamic, ever richer journey entrusted to God's care. He freely gives himself to us, and His gift is sufficient to keep us day by day. ----Diane Leclerc is an ordained elder, former pastor, and is presently professor of historical theology at Northwest Nazarene College. |
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