Romans 12:1–2 and the Doctrine of Sanctification, Part 3
Reproduced with permission from DBSJ 11 (2006). Read the series.
Openness & Holiness: Friends or Enemies?
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“…have you ever noticed that Christians who heavily emphasize holiness often lack openness and honesty? Have you ever noticed that Christians who heavily emphasize openness and honesty often lack holiness?” - Pursuing the Pursuer
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Romans 12:1–2 and the Doctrine of Sanctification, Part 1
By William W. Combs1 Reproduced with permission from DBSJ 11 (2006).
Romans 12:1–2 is one of the most well-known texts of Scripture. Its familiarity stems, I believe, from its perceived theological importance. This text is commonly viewed as having great import for the Christian’s spiritual life, and thus it is one of the passages most often memorized by children in Sunday School and teenagers in the youth group.
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“...one of our great failings as sinful human beings is that we are prone to make God small and safe.”
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“…the brilliance and the power of Sproul’s book is that it shows us a God who is holy, holy, holy. And really, there’s nothing the English language offers that can adequately explain what’s bound up in that three-fold repetition of ‘holy’…. When I look at much of contemporary evangelicalism, I see churches that so obviously do not regard God as holy, not to mention holy, holy, holy. Their small worship proves they worship a small God.
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Holiness Is Not Self-Serving: The Purity Culture’s Sins
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“Viewing sex as a consumer act steers our young men into a self-serving view of sex that, apart from the grace of God, they take with them into marriage. We shouldn’t teach sexual abstinence before marriage because doing so makes for a better sex life in marriage….
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How to Have Personal Standards Without Being a Legalist
Reposted from Pursuing the Pursuer, with permission.
“Your skirt length is a heart problem.”
“Music with a 2-4 beat is demonic.”
“Christians should never step foot in a movie theater.”
Maybe you remember hearing things like this in your church.
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Theology Thursday - "Entire Sanctification" & the Christian Life
What is “sinless perfection?” What do the so-called “holiness churches” believe about growth in Christ and sanctification? Is there really a difference between, say, a Nazarene church and a Baptist congregation about the Holy Spirit’s work in a believer’s life? Today, we allow a Nazarene theologian, H. Orton Wiley, to explain for himself.
In this excerpt, Wiley explains what “Christian perfection” means:1
Christian perfection in the critical sense, represents the more positive aspect of the one experience, known theologically either as entire sanctification or Christian perfection. Entire sanctification, however, is a term which applies more to the aspect of a cleansing from sin, or the making holy; while Christian perfection emphasizes especially the standard of privilege secured to the believer by the atoning work of Jesus Christ.
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