January 12

Read: John 17:15-17

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48).

Sanctification And Christian Perfection

In their confession of faith under the heading “Sanctification and Christian Perfection,” Christians of the Evangelical United Brethren church affirm: “We believe sanctification is the work of God’s grace through the Word and the Spirit, by which those who have been born again are cleansed from sin in their thoughts, words and acts, and are enabled to live in accordance with God’s will, and to strive for holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

“Entire sanctification is a state of perfect love, righteousness and true holiness which every regenerate believer may obtain by being delivered from the power of sin, by loving God with all the heart, soul, mind and strength, and by loving one’s neighbor as one’s self. Through faith in Jesus Christ this gracious gift may be received in this life both gradually and instantaneously, and should be sought earnestly by every child of God.

“We believe this experience does not deliver us from infirmities, ignorance and mistakes common to man, nor from the possibilities of further sin. The Christian must continue on guard against spiritual pride and seek to gain victory over every temptation to sin. He must respond wholly to the will of God so that sin will lose its power over him; and the world, the flesh and the devil are put under his feet. Thus he rules over these enemies with watchfulness through the power of the Holy Spirit” (Discipline, 1963, Par. XI).

There is a place of quiet rest, Near to the heart of God; A place where sin cannot molest, Near to the heart of God.

— C. B. McAfee