The Missing Link

Daily Scripture Readings

Monday Deuteronomy 30:4–6 

Tuesday Jeremiah 31:31–34

Wednesday Ezekiel 36:24–29

Thursday John 1:32–34

Friday Acts 1:4-5

Saturday Psalm 51

Opening Prayer

Father, would You please share with us all of who You are. Pour out upon us Your Spirit. Fill us with Your life, Your light, Your love. Form in us the image of Your Son. Remake in us Your likeness. Make us holy. Make us wholly Yours. Cleanse us. Restore us. Fill us. And empty us of sin and self for the sake of loving You with all of who we are and loving our neighbors as ourselves— that we, Your Church, might be poured out for the sake of Your world and to Your glory. In the Name of Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, we pray. Amen.

—Rev. Adam Godbold 

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Reconstructing the Doctrine of Holiness *

by Rev. Dr. Chris Lohrstofer, Ph.D.

John Wesley famously saw the doctrine of Holiness as “the grand depositum” of Methodism. It was the very reason why the Methodist revival was blessed and brought into being.

Wesley’s own account of the movement’s beginning stated, “In 1729, two young men, in England, reading the Bible, saw they could not be saved without holiness, followed after it, and incited others so to do.” Wesley was clear: The message of holiness was central to his understanding of salvation. 

Post-Wesley, the doctrine fell into a varied use in American Methodism, with some de-emphasizing it or even leaving it out of the potential salvation experiences in this life and some stressing it but bifurcating it, making it a different or added work to salvation.

Moving into a new Methodist movement we ask, “How do we reconstruct a doctrine of Holiness that speaks in today’s Church and yet is true to our Wesleyan foundation?” I suggest three key factors that must be a part of reconstructing a Wesleyan doctrine of Holiness.

1. The doctrine of Holiness should be firmly planted in the Scripture.

Wesleyans are often at a loss for words when asked to explain scripturally the concept of sanctification. There are prooftexts, but does the doctrine fit into the overall scope and story of scripture? The Old Testament has an underlying message of a promised New Covenant which would be a transforming of our heart through the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Wesley saw the scriptures as promising and proclaiming a heart experience with the Spirit.

1. The doctrine of Holiness should be wholistically viewed as salvation.

Salvation for Wesley was about renewing the image of God in humans. Salvation and sanctification are not bifurcated works. Salvation is holiness. It is what God is doing in the hearts of those who are redeemed. 

1. The doctrine of Holiness should be focused on love.

Within the ranks of various Wesleyan groups, the emphasis for holiness is varied. Some see it focused on power, some on the gifts of the Spirit. Some focus on a standard of morality. Wesley focused his view of holiness on the concept of love— love expelling all other affections, love reflecting the very nature of God.

* A synopsis of his chapter in Reconstructing Methodism: Crucial Issues Facing the Global Methodist Church