January 19

Read: I Thessalonians 5:15-26

Abstain from all appearance of evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly (I Thessalonians 5:22-23).

Entire Sanctification

The Salvation Army has formulated its faith in an experience of holiness as follows: “The Bible, as well as the experience of Christians generally, shows that regeneration, although a very great change, is not the complete purifying of man’s nature. Thus Paul writes to some of his converts: ‘And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ’ (I Corinthians 3:1).

“When a man is regenerated, he receives from the Holy Spirit power to conquer outward sin, yet sinful feelings and desires may still be present. The love of God is shed abroad in his heart, and he enjoys the presence and help of the Holy Spirit, but that love and the Holy Spirit have not always full control, and consequently cannot Jill the soul. The man becomes in some measure a partaker of God’s nature, but ungodlike inclinations and tendencies may still remain.

“We believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be ‘wholly sanctified’ and that their ‘whole spirit and soul and body’ may ‘be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (I Thessalonians 5:23).

“That is to say, We believe that after conversion there remain in the heart of the believer inclinations to evil, or roots of bitterness, which, unless overpowered by divine grace, produce actual sin; but that these evil tendencies can be entirely taken away by the Spirit of God, and the whole heart, thus cleansed from everything contrary to the will of God, or entirely sanctified, will then produce the fruit of the Spirit only. And we believe that persons thus entirely sanctified may, by the power of God, be kept unblamable and unreprovable before Him” (Handbook of Doctrine).

Deepen in me Thy work of grace, Teach me to do Thy will; Help me to live a spotless life, Thy holy laws fulfill.

— The Salvation Army Tune Book