“The Free Methodist Way begins with Life-Giving Holiness because to our forebears, a radical transformation of heart and mind resulting in fully loving God and neighbor was considered the birthright of the child of God.”
This weeks devotion includes excerpts of Bishop Linda Adams article on Life-Giving Holiness. You can read the entire article at the link found in the resources section below.
Life Giving Holiness - Bishop Linda Adams:
After a communion service at New Hope Church in Rochester, New York, a spunky 6-year-old girl made a beeline for the kitchen. As the leftover communion cups were being emptied, she asked to drink some of the juice. Given the go-ahead, she exclaimed, “I need all the holiness I can get!”
Her novel idea that a few ounces of grape juice would boost her holiness may not be much more of a misunderstanding than some adults’ ideas. Expressing her need in the language of holiness makes her seem like an old-fashioned Free Methodist, since we don’t often use the term anymore.
The doctrine of entire sanctification was a hill the first Free Methodists were willing to die on. Benjamin Titus (B.T.) Roberts, our principal founder, embodied John Wesley’s desire to recover New Testament Christianity, summarized by the mandate to “raise up a holy people.” Free Methodists determined to be holy. Like John and Charles Wesley, from whose theology and hymns they gained much of their inspiration, early Free Methodists were sometimes misunderstood, mocked and maligned for their insistence that God both expects and empowers an all-encompassing holiness in the life of the believer.
The Free Methodist Way begins with Life-Giving Holiness because to our forebears, a radical transformation of heart and mind resulting in fully loving God and neighbor was considered the birthright of the child of God. For us as a movement to abandon holiness as a defining value would be as foolish as Esau throwing away his birthright for a bowl of stew (see Genesis 25:19–34). God wants 21st century Free Methodists to believe in and experience the Holy Spirit’s presence that makes us more like Jesus from the inside out. To be made holy brings freedom and life. This is our message!
The Letter Kills
At the outset, we need to admit that those of us who have been in this denominational family for many years have at times seen a pursuit of holiness that was not life-giving. If we picture the Highway of Holiness winding through varied terrain with generations of Free Methodists traveling along it, describing it and teaching others about it, we’ll notice some veering off into the Ditch ofLegalism. (Other movements have steered off-course into the opposite ditch of either License or Liberalism, but that hasn’t been our error.)
One of the problems with a rules-based approach is that rules and prohibitions multiply. As with the Pharisees in Jesus’ day, principled motivations get lost in the proliferation of laws. As an example from our past, I enjoy reading historical accounts of 19th century female preachers. One pioneering evangelist’s personal account told tales of courageous witness in taverns and brothels resulting in dramatic conversions, but then delved into her agony over the rule against decorative collars and buttons on women’s blouses. She so longed to be holy, to surrender fully to the Lord, to consecrate her whole self to God’s work — but she struggled mightily with guilt over wishing she didn’t have to alter her blouses to make them plain!
Eventually, we incorporated a balancing scriptural truth. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant — not of the letter but of the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6). Jesus’ sacrificial death and resurrection brought salvation by grace through faith, as Paul proclaimed in Ephesians 2:8–9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Grace for the Whole Journey
Wesleyan theology has been called an optimistic theology. Why? Because we believe in the possibilities of grace to radically change human hearts and lives this side of the grave. God has designed and provided for every step of the transforming journey, as the Holy Spirit interacts with people of free will, graciously leading us along the path until we see God face to face.
We affirm John Wesley’s Ordo Salutis, or Way of Salvation. Wesley taught that God first works in all people through Prevenient Grace, preparing hearts to open to God. God’s Convicting Grace makes us aware of our sin and willing to accept God’s remedy. Justifying Grace puts us into saving relationship with God through faith in the finished work of Christ; we are converted and assured that we are God’s beloved child. John Wesley said of the next phase in the outworking of God’s grace, Sanctifying Grace, “It is perhaps for this reason that God has raised up the Methodists.” God not only desires to make us holy but accomplishes holiness in us as we respond; the evidence of this holiness is pervasive love. Finally, through Glorifying Grace, at the moment of death God transforms us into immortality, and we are taken up into the life of God.
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