As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“With this large sampling of [NT] appeals to be sanctified (1) by striving and (2) in pursuit of approval, where did the idea emerge that we should ‘cease striving’ and eschew ‘approval’?” - DBTS Blog
By William W. Combs. Reproduced with permission from DBSJ 11 (2006). Read the series.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Reproduced with permission from DBSJ 11 (2006). Read the series.
(Dedication in Romans 12:1–2, continued)
Banner of Truth recommends J.C. Ryle’s book: “In a most understated way he demolishes the biblical-sounding but utterly unbiblical approach of the Keswick movement which taught sanctification by faith. Seven times he raises Keswick teachings, only to respond laconically: ‘I doubt it.’ Then follows 21 essays, each based on a biblical text.”
Republished from The Faith Pulpit (March 2002). First posted at SI in 2009.
(Related audio: 2007 interview with Robert Delnay).
Years ago a few Fundamentalists had occasion to identify with the Keswick movement, also known as the “deeper life,” or “victorious life.” Others have slurred the movement in somewhat the same way that New Evangelicals have slurred the Scofield Reference Bible. The point is worth some notice.
While the movement traces back to the perfectionist movements that in the 1860’s produced Holiness, it went in a somewhat different direction. Credit seems to go to William Boardman, who in the 1860’s was preaching a higher life, and to Pearsall Smith and his wife Hannah Whitehall Smith. Smith held meetings in England in the early 1870’s, making considerable impact. Then in the summer of 1875, Smith badly smudged his reputation and left the ministry. Thereupon Canon T. D. Harfoed-Battersby, vicar of St. John’s church in Keswick, up in the Lake District, not far from the Scottish border, announced a week of meetings in Keswick near his church. The meetings were to be a time for spiritual refreshing and earnest seeking after God, and they began a series which has continued to the present.
The Impact of Keswick Theology on Fundamentalism Comment: The beginning of a series on the positive impact of Keswick theology on Fundamentalism.
Dr. Andrew David Nasellli (a.k.a. Andy Naselli), has completed some excellent doctrinal and historical study in the area of sanctification. How do believers grow to be like their Lord? What should they expect the experience of growing in holiness to be like?
Discussion