My first post on sanctification was a "test drive", so to speak. My hope is to explore this topic in-depth for a while, starting with Scriptures that are important for understanding what Methodists mean when we say "sanctification". There are a few things that we need to get out of the way first:
1) One thing that I love about being a Christian in the Methodist/Wesleyan tradition (I'll use these terms interchangeably) is the Methodist focus on God's grace. A Wesleyan view holds that God's grace is revealed in the life of the believer in three forms of grace (or possibly four, if you listen to Richard Heitzenrater). We typically call this the "Wesleyan Way of Salvation", or the ordo salutis if you wanna get downright fancy about it. Just to be clear, this is not a 3-step program for salvation nor is the ordo salutis comparable to the "Romans Road" or "sinner's prayer" or anything like that. It's a way that Methodists have conceived of the operation of God's grace in the lives of people. And it's beautiful, at least to me. The three "forms" of grace are prevenient grace, justifying grace, and sanctifying grace. The possible fourth form is convicting grace (which might be seen as prevenient grace, but that's another subject for another time). The main point here is that the focus is on God's grace - an unearned gift given to us because God loves us.
2) I also know that if I'm serious about quoting Scripture and going "in-depth", I'll have to do more than simply say "this Greek word means that" or "the Bible says…" (and that's a whole post in and of itself right there). Pulling Scripture out of its context is not helpful nor should anyone simply assume that what I happen to say about this or that Scripture is beyond dispute. I happen to believe, at least when it comes to discussing Scripture or teaching about Scripture, it's helpful to "show your work". So, if I'm going to make a passage or verse a central part of a posting, I'll make an effort to provide context and to "show my work".
3) A further hope for me is to increase my knowledge of Wesleyan theology, back to John Wesley himself. I'm going to be reading through A Plain Account of Christian Perfection this summer and will appreciate any recommendations for further study from any of my Methodist colleagues reading this blog.
Ok, now to what I wanted to talk about today as it relates to my thinking about sanctification and the Scripture I spoke about last week. The verse I quoted (Matthew 5:48) occurs right in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, which is an extended discourse by Jesus in which Matthew connects Jesus' teaching with Moses (see Exodus 19-24). Jesus is reinterpreting the "old law" and is presenting a new law. The Sermon begins with the Beatitudes, which should let people know pretty quickly that Jesus is not interested in perpetuating the status quo: "Blessed are (insert people whom we don't think of as being blessed), for they shall (do stuff/receive stuff that doesn't exactly match up how they are 'blessed')" - for example, "blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth". I'm not sure if the Romans were necessarily worried about the meek overthrowing the Empire. Kind of begs the question, what does Jesus mean by "inherit the earth"? What does that look like? When might the meek actually inherit the earth? We could do this all the way through Matthew 5 and I'd never actually talk about sanctification...and this actually goes on all the way through chapter 7. I love Scripture.
Jesus then talks about the distinctiveness of those who would follow him - we are salt and light. These are pretty well-known verses that highlight the importance of how we actually live our lives in the presence of other people. Jesus continues by stating something extremely important in verse 17, stating that he has not come to get rid of the law, but to fulfill the law (which is a different word than the word that is translated "perfect" in verse 48). Verse 20 anticipates what Jesus will say in verse 48: "For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Jesus then proceeds to teach us what this righteousness looks like. It is not located only in our external behavior - what we think and what we hold in our hearts matters a great deal. This is not a difficult lesson to perceive - the inner condition of a person impacts and gives rise to behaviors. But it's amazing how often we forget it. Are we actually surprised that when we fill our minds with junk, think negatively on a constant basis, hold grudges, harbor anger in our hearts - that these things will be manifested in our words and actions?
In verses 21-48, Jesus uses the formula "You have heard that it was said/it was also said…but I say to you…" 6 times, dealing with (1) murder and anger; (2) adultery and lust; (3) divorce; (4) swearing oaths; (5) retributive violence; (6) a believer's response to the "enemy". This is heavy, deep stuff and one could almost spend a lifetime exploring the meaning of Jesus' teaching in these verses alone. Jesus gets to the heart of human relationships and the connection between what is in our hearts/minds and our actions. If you want to be convicted quickly, read over this chapter and think about how we live in our world presently. Something Jesus teaches here is going to catch everyone coming up short somewhere at some time. And then Jesus hits us with verse 48: "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." And if you've been reading closely the previous 47 verses, your jaw may very well be on the floor. I can't imagine the impact this teaching had on those who heard it for the first time.
Here we can see the importance of the word τέλειος and how the differing possibilities of meanings might open up for us a deeper understanding of what Jesus is teaching us. I mentioned that the word might mean complete or fulfilled or matured. The NRSV translates it as "perfect" (as does the NIV and KJV). John Wesley connects this verse with Matthew 22:37 (otherwise known as "The Greatest Commandment"): "'You shall love the Lord you God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind' This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second one is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." We remember what Jesus said in 5:17 about fulfilling the law. What the fulfilled law looks like is not perfect behavior, but perfect love. This is the point that Jesus is making with His teaching, with His life, and on the cross.
For Wesley, if we were loving God with our whole heart and loving our neighbors as ourselves, we would not feel it necessary to attach holiness to "perfect performance". "Perfection" for us today means flawless execution or perfect performance - perfection is attached to the outward appearance of a thing, at least as far as I understand the current concept of perfection. The appropriate word, in the Wesleyan tradition, would not be "fulfilled" or "perfect" or "mature" (good as those words may be), but holy. And here's where I love Wesleyan theology - it's not something we attain, we are given this holiness as grace as we grow in faith and in love. It's not us improving our behavior or making sure we get everything right, it's God working in and through us for the sake of His glory and for the sake of God's reconciling work through Christ for all the world. God makes us holy, we don't achieve it. It is grace, all the way down.
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