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Fitness for Life's Journey by David P. Whitelaw The New Testament teaches that a holy life is essential to Christian discipleship. And it leaves no doubt about its meaning. To be holy means being formed in the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. It means that through the promised Holy Spirit, the resurrected Christ shapes us according to His own holy will. A holy life is the norm of Christian life, not the possession of a select few. Nor should the holy life be associated with wild claims about human accomplishment or human perfection. Holy living is simply another word for faithful Christian discipleship. Another word the New Testament uses for holy living is "sanctification" (Romans 6:20-23, NRSV). Again, the word is but another way of describing the free work of Christ in us, reconciling us to God and transforming us in His likeness. Like most Christians, Nazarenes take very seriously the call to holy living. We believe that the holy life is both a present provision of Christ's life, death, and resurrection, and His clear command to us. Nazarenes believe this so strongly that we have placed both the promise and the call into our Articles of Faith. For Nazarenes to speak adequately of Christian discipleship, we must speak often of sanctification, of the holy life. We believe that our existence as a denomination in Christ's Church depends upon a faithful declaration of Christ's provision for and call to the holy life. All of this we believe to be but a way of bearing witness to God's grace. Sanctity (or holiness) is first of all a word used to describe the nature and character of God (Isaiah 6:3; I Peter 1:16). We use it in worship, not in lightweight chitchat or vain speculation. Sanctification is also a weighty word that calls for clear and careful understanding (John 17:17). At the same time, the word is so light that a child can handle it, like lace that can be gently touched and fondly cherished (Matthew 11:25). The New Testament speaks of entire sanctification in clear terms. First, it pictures the Christian life as a race or as a journey (Hebrews 12:1-2, 14). Entire sanctification simply means being prepared for the journey. It means being focused on running the race with the best of one's energies. Entire sanctification is the way God equips us with all of His resources for the contest, at each stage of the Christian race or journey (Philippians3:8-15). Second, entire sanctification means "to be set apart for God," hence, "to be made holy." This is God's doing (I Thessalonians 5:23-24). Being "set apart" derives from God's holiness or integrity (Isaiah 57:15). It tells of the character of the High and Holy One who came near to us in the lowly infant Jesus, and who gives us His life in its fullness (Colossians 2:9-15) through Christ's life, death, and resurrection (Luke 1:52, 74-75; John 10:10). Entire sanctification is the Christian life lived in the Spirit's fullness (Ephesians 5:18). The ordinary is filled and under girded by God's grace. Entire sanctification is an essential part of our calling and leads us to Christlikeness. Christians believe the Christian journey begins by grace (Ephesians2:8). We are led by prevenient grace (showing the way) to enter into saving grace (justification and sanctification). There are acts of initiation (baptism being one of these) that bring us into full identity with God's people. Grace is profoundly twofold. First, God's grace is accessible to us in forgiveness through faith. Then, entire sanctification is the completion of this Christian initiation. Initiation leads into a lifelong journey in Christ, the end of which is good (Philippians 1:6). The journey is completed in a great wedding celebration in which Christ receives His bride. The trials of the journey will be forgotten in a joyful homecoming in the kingdom of God. That which was begun as a good work ends in a supreme good that has no end, only new beginnings (Revelation 21:1-3). This is Christian teaching. Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Pentecostal, Anglican, and Evangelical Christians agree that Christ has come, Christ has died, Christ is risen, and the Spirit has been given to the Church. The God who comes to us through Jesus the Son, by the Holy Spirit, is now creating, redeeming, and renewing all things. The Spirit moves the whole creation toward redemption and sanctification (Ephesians 1:10). Sanctification in the end shall be entire for all the earth. Nazarenes solidly agree with Protestant Christianity that justification (conversion or the new birth in Christ) occurs by grace and through faith alone. This is God's free, gracious gift. We are also in fundamental agreement that conversion should flow into a lifelong growth in God's grace. Protestants normally describe this as growth in sanctification, by which they mean growth in Christlikeness or growth in Christ's image. Nazarenes agree completely that growth in the likeness of Christ in all areas of life must always characterize the Christian journey. But unlike some, Nazarenes confidently believe that through the same grace and faith exercised in conversion, God wants now to fill us with His Holy Spirit as promised (John 15:26-16:15; Acts 1:6-8; 2:1-4). We believe that in clear and decisive action, the Holy Spirit can cleanse the yielded Christian of all that would oppose Christ's Lordship. In other words, the Holy Spirit can even now establish Christ as the undisputed, reigning Lord in one's life. He can empower us for victorious Christian living, for witness, and for service in the church and in the world. None of this is our doing; it is all of God. This is what Nazarenes mean by entire sanctification. By applying to each yielded Christian what Christ in His life, death, and resurrection provided, the Holy Spirit can even now make love for God and humankind the norm of life. Nazarenes believe that Christ through the Spirit can enable us to obey the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-39; John 14:13-16; Acts 1:8). He can now inscribe the Law of God - His covenant of holy love - on our hearts (Hebrews 10:9-16). He can enable us daily to present ourselves to God as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1-2). Here and now, and not in some undetermined and postponed future, we can experience the liberating freedom of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:2-4). Nazarenes simply take God at His word when He promises to pour His love into our lives through the Holy Spirit the Father gives to us (Romans 5:5; I John 2:5). Simply put, Nazarenes believe that engaging in the Christian journey in all its richness depends upon adequate preparation. The new birth and the fullness of the Holy Spirit in His sanctifying presence are that preparation. Or we may think of a runner preparing for a long distance race. He or she has completed the warm-up exercises and has laid aside all that would impede running the race (Hebrews 12:1-2). The prize is before the Christian runner. Now, fully equipped with God's resources, the Christian runs confidently, knowing that what God has begun, He will indeed complete. -David P. Whitelaw is professor of historical and practical theology at Point Loma Nazarene University and copastor of the Church of the Nazarene in Mid-City, California. |
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