THE HOLINESS PEOPLE HAVE A GLORIOUS ANCESTRY

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love... to the praise of his glory." Eph. 1:3, 4, 12.

When we speak of the Holiness People, it is well at the outset that the reader should have a clear conception as to who these people are and where they are to be found. It would seem that for many the term is somewhat nebulous in character, not being clearly understood.

The truth is that the Holiness Movement, as so often it is called, is in the fullest sense -like the Christian Church of which it is a part -- not so much an organization as an organism. It is a vital, living thing.

When, therefore, such an expression is used it should be understood as indicating a clearly defined class of people who have a clearly defined testimony to a clearly defined experience.

Besides these people there are of course many who would not be ready to identify themselves with such a hard and fast line-up even should the meaning be made wide enough to include them, and there are many more who by reason of their insistence on what may seem to others to be excesses and extravagances could not be included by them.

Hence, among those who talk about the deeper experiences of grace there have come to be recognized three distinct lines of teaching, namely, the Keswickian, the Wesleyan, and the Pentecostal groups.

It will hardly be necessary for us here to say that for many years within recognized evangelical circles there have been two main streams of thought, one of which may be termed Wesleyan-Arminian, and the other Calvinistic. We say Wesleyan-Arminian because the Holiness Movement, as we are now discussing it, may be said to have its doctrinal basis in Arminian theology as interpreted by John and Charles Wesley and those of kindred thought with them.

In the days preceding the Wesleyan revival the teaching of Arminius had flourished, then had deteriorated into a stale and sickly Semi-Pelagianism. This teaching of Arminius Wesley rescued and re-energized, imparting to it a new emphasis of evangelism. Someone has aptly designated the Wesleyan emphasis as Arminianism on fire.

It will be seen, therefore, that the emphasis of the Holiness People is not the pet teaching of a modern sect, nor the standard of any one Church; its antecedents must be sought much farther back. That doctrinally, Wesley is their father, the Holiness People will freely admit. Yet they realize that the Methodism of the present day might not, as a whole, be prepared any longer to endorse this emphasis. They would not desire to place these people in what might become to them an embarrassing position by the seeming implication that modern Methodism endorses their doctrinal stand. The position of many within that Church would probably be that since Wesley's day, times have changed, and the emphasis of the Church must now be geared accordingly. Without seeking to cast reflection on the Church in question, it would probably be true to say that many of the rank and file of present day Methodism are not even acquainted with these doctrinal standards which marked the Church's beginnings, and many of its ministers make no attempt to conceal their disapproval of them.

The Holiness Movement is wider than any Church association, and certainly extends beyond any national boundary. It is both interdenominational and international. Those who profess to enjoy the experience for which the Movement stands and who consequently endorse the testimony which it gives and the doctrine on which it rests, are to be found in many churches and in many lands. Moreover, within the past few decades there have arisen new churches with the expressed determination to stand for and to stress this time honored truth.

Among those who enter into the enjoyment of this experience there is much about which they might otherwise honestly differ, and on which it is not at all essential that they should agree.

As to Ordinances:

Some have the conviction that these are of such importance that they dare not neglect them. Others, coming from entirely different backgrounds do not acknowledge their necessity. Even among those who feel the ordinance of baptism to be a Divine command there is a distinct difference of opinion as to the mode by which it should be administered. Much of this seems to be governed by earlier theological training or by present Church relationship and would suggest the need of a candid re-study of these things with an open Bible and an uncompromising reliance upon the light shed on its pages by the Holy Spirit.

Let us push our study yet further. While it is true that the father of the renaissance of this teaching was John Wesley, it is recognized that the Wesleyan Movement with its distinctive teaching was a revival rather than a new beginning.

One of the frequent designations used among the Holiness People is the expression Scriptural Holiness. Holiness according to John Wesley or any other Church leader, would be far from sufficient. Wesley, like the rest of men, was human, and consequently fallible. Whatever Wesley originated might at any time be subject to correction or might even be superseded by something else. If, however, it can be proven that what Wesley taught was not mere human speculation, but had its basis in Divine revelation, then the truth which he has handed down becomes as eternal as God Himself.

The question then arises, where did Wesley get his teaching concerning what has come to be known as Second Blessing Holiness, and where did that teaching originate? If, as so often designated, it is Scriptural Holiness, then all its essential elements will be found within that one volume which we believe to be the Word of God. A careful examination of the Scriptures will reveal how fully this truth is taught therein. It becomes important therefore that we should indicate, at least in broad outline, what these Scriptures have to say concerning it.

We begin by making the broad and challenging statement that the entire Bible, in both Old and New Testaments, has one outstanding theme, namely, the Divine purpose to make men holy. Bishop Jesse T. Peck calls this purpose "The Central Idea of Christianity." It is that, indeed, but it is more. It is the central idea of all revelation, and of the eternal purposes of God.

It is conceivable that someone reading the statement we have just made will raise the question, "But is not the central theme of the Bible the great fact of Redemption, rather than the personal experience of Holiness?" We reply that Redemption may more correctly be termed the method with a view to the outstanding fact. It will not belittle the glorious redemptive agency when we say that Holiness is the triumphant purpose, while Redemption is the method used for its accomplishment.

God's command to His ancient people, Israel, was that as a nation they should be holy. With this end in view He insisted on their separation from the surrounding nations in order that they might become His personal representatives in the world. This insistence on national holiness concerning Israel was not lessened when passed on to the Church, but intensified and made internal. Here, of course, it becomes necessary to distinguish in that ancient economy between what was local and ceremonial, and what was to become universal and enduring.

Many of the outward ceremonial demands made upon Israel in those early days could not possibly apply to God's believing people today. Yet when God deals with the Church, His demands, rather than being lessened, are transposed, deepened and intensified. In short, in the New Testament, the command to be holy took on a moral aspect, the depth of which hitherto had been unknown.

Take for example, some of our Lord's amazing utterances in the Sermon on the Mount:

"Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill.... But I say unto you that whosoever is angry . . ." Matt. 5:21, 22.

"Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto you that whosoever looketh ... to lust ... hath committed ... already in his heart." Matt. 5:27, 28.

The Sanctification of the Old Testament was an outward setting apart, but the Sanctification of the New Testament has to do with a moral cleansing which reaches the deepest places of the inner life.

Following the closing of the Scripture canon, the teaching of Holiness along with other great evangelical truths, soon became checkered in its presentation, sometimes almost buried, yet never altogether lost. Then God began again to unearth these things, starting with the great doctrine of Justification by Faith, through the instrumentality of Martin Luther. Then two centuries later through John Wesley with the help of his brother Charles, He began to dig out of the debris the doctrine of Entire Sanctification. Here, at length, God had raised up His man, who, out of the confusion which prevailed, could bring to the Church a plain declaration as to what He had earlier revealed as His unfailing remedy for sin.

The rise of Methodism is rightly termed the Evangelical Revival of the 18th Century, in which there came to the Church the renaissance of the doctrine of Entire Sanctification. From that point onward the stream has flowed; not without its temporary set-backs in general, and in some cases what seemed to be an extinction altogether, but, although in places at times it has gone underground, it has always reappeared elsewhere. This great truth is now with the Church to stay.

Within that section of the Church which its founder declared was especially raised up to propagate this doctrine, the worldly and modernistic elements have repeatedly repudiated it. Yet within that great communion there is still a saving salt; men and women of God, often hard pressed, are standing loyally and determinedly for the great truth on which they conceive their church originally to have been founded and brought into being.

With the passing of the years, other churches and organizations have come into existence with the declared purpose of proclaiming this truth. In these United States of America and in countries beyond, there are now to be found strong churches, colleges and other institutions, not only Wesleyan-Arminian in doctrine, but stoutly and loyally witnessing to a present possession of the experience of Christian holiness. Their doctrinal standards affirm Holiness to be God's message for the Church today.

Nor is this truth and experience confined entirely to churches of avowed Wesleyan persuasion. Witnesses are to be found in various Protestant denominations whose affirmations of faith are non-Wesleyan in their theology of holiness.