Chapter 20: The Mighty Work of the Holy Spirit

THE “HOW” OF HOLINESS

CONTENT:

We know that God sanctifies, but how does He do it?

This is where the most acute controversy lies.

Is sanctification a crisis or a process? An event or a journey?

Many are taught to "receive" holiness in one moment, just like forgiveness.

OUR ROADMAP - THREE GUIDING QUESTIONS

CONTENT:

Is Sanctification something to be "Received"?

Is Sanctification an "Experience"?

Is Sanctification Something That Happens "Suddenly"?

Q1: IS SANCTIFICATION SOMETHING TO BE "RECEIVED”?

CONTENT:

This is the view that holiness is an "it"—a "thing" to be accepted in one moment.

Let's examine the Scriptures used to support this.

MISUSED TEXT 1: ACTS 26:18

TITLE: Refuting "Reception" (1/4)

THE TEXT: "...that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me." (Acts 26:18)

THE CLAIM: "See! It says 'sanctified by faith,' just like justification."

MLJ'S REFUTATION:

"Sanctified" here means positional sanctification (to be "set apart"), not the process of inward cleansing.

This "setting apart" happens at conversion.

THE PROOF (Other Texts):

: "...but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified..." (Notice sanctification with justification).

: "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience..." (Sanctification leading to obedience).

MISUSED TEXT 2: 1 JOHN 1:7

TITLE: Refuting "Reception" (2/4)

THE TEXT: "...the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin." (1 John 1:7)

THE CLAIM: "This is a one-time cleansing from the sin nature."

MLJ'S REFUTATION:

This verse describes a continuous cleansing that happens while we "walk in the light." It's not a one-time event.

THE PROOF (The Immediate Context):

The very next thought proves this. John expects us to sin:

: "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father..."

"He is not telling them that they can receive something and never sin again."

THE CRUCIAL TEXT: ROMANS 8:2

TITLE: Refuting "Reception" (3/4)

THE TEXT: "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." (Romans 8:2)

THE CLAIM:

This is the "principle of counteraction."

This is a "second blessing" that many Christians (stuck in Romans 7) have not yet "received."

MLJ'S REFUTATION:

"This... is a very serious misrepresentation... this, of course, is really crucial."

We must understand what this verse actually says.

DECONSTRUCTING ROMANS 8:2

TITLE: What Romans 8:2 Really Means

MLJ'S ANALYSIS:

1. The Grammar (The Tense):

"...hath made me free..."

This is the Greek Aorist tense. It describes a past, completed, once-and-for-all event.

It is not a continuous "setting free." It is something that has happened.

2. The Context (The Argument):

This verse is a summary of Romans 6 and 7, not a new step.

: We are already "dead to sin" and "made free from sin."

: We are "dead to the law" and "married to another" (Christ).

THE CONCLUSION:

"Romans 8:2 is not a second experience... I am not a Christian at all unless this is true of me. That is the Apostle's teaching."

THE KNOCK-DOWN ARGUMENT

TITLE: Refuting "Reception" (4/4)

CONTENT:

If sanctification is simply "received," why is the New Testament filled with commands and exhortations?

THE SCRIPTURAL EXHORTATIONS:

: "Abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul."

: "Let him that stole steal no more..."

: "Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed..."

: "Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts..."

MLJ'S QUOTE: "These injunctions are quite pointless and a sheer waste of ink if sanctification is something that I can receive."

Q2 - IS SANCTIFICATION AN "EXPERIENCE"?

TITLE: Is Sanctification an "Experience"?

CONTENT:

This is the "teaching-by-testimony."

"I struggled with a bad temper... I had a marvellous experience... I never lost my temper again."

MLJ's Response:

"Of course, I accept the experiences without any hesitation at all."

"Thank God, I am able to testify to some such experiences myself..."

BUT... "there is no evidence at all in the New Testament that that kind of experience means sanctification."

WHY "EXPERIENCE" IS THE WRONG CATEGORY

TITLE: The Problem with "Teaching by Experience"

CONTENT:

1. It's Not Universal: Many honest believers seek this and don't get it. Is God's method a failure for them?

2. It's Not Unique: MLJ notes that non-Christian cults (like Christian Science) and psychology can produce similar "sudden deliverances."

3. It's Not Logical: If it works for one sin (like temper), why not all sins? This would lead to sinless perfection, which no one claims.

The Principle: "We must not base our doctrine on experiences but on the teaching of the word of God."

A TALE OF TWO SAINTS (THE TWO DRUNKARDS)

TITLE: The Case of the Two Drunkards

CONTENT:

MLJ tells of two men in his church. Both were saved. Both became saints.

SAINT 1: "From the night of his conversion the taste for strong drink had been taken right out of his life."

SAINT 2: "...often told us that he knew what it was at times to have a most awful struggle... but, thank God, God always enabled him to walk past."

THE CONCLUSION:

Which one was sanctified? Both.

God's method was different, but the process was true for both.

THE KEY ILLUSTRATION: THE FIELD

TITLE: The Field: Process vs. Stimulus

CONTENT:

Sanctification IS: The life and growth in the seed. It is the process and the condition. It's always happening, even if slowly.

Experiences ARE: The showers of rain and bursts of sunshine. They are a stimulus. They promote and accelerate the growth.

THE CORE ERROR:

"People foolishly call that experience sanctification. But it is not."

"It is there... that you get this terrible error of confusing these two things that are so essentially different."

Q3: IS IT "SUDDEN"?

TITLE: Is Sanctification Something That Happens "Suddenly"?

CONTENT:

This is the logical result of the first two errors.

If it's "received" like a package or is one big "experience," it must be sudden.

But if sanctification is growth, it cannot be sudden.

THE WITNESS OF SCRIPTURE: GROWTH

TITLE: God's Method is Growth, Not Crisis

CONTENT:

The Bible always uses the language of biological growth.

: "And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ."

: "I write unto you, little children... I write unto you, fathers... I write unto you, young men..."

(Parable of the Seed): "First the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear."

MLJ: "You do not suddenly jump from birth to adulthood."

THE OLD TESTAMENT ANALOGY

TITLE: The Pattern of Salvation: Israel

CONTENT:

JUSTIFICATION (Sudden):

Deliverance from Egypt.

Happened in one night.

The enemies were drowned in the Red Sea, once and for all.

SANCTIFICATION (Process):

The rest of their lives.

They still had to fight enemies (the Amalekites, etc.).

They even had to fight in the Promised Land (Canaan).

"They were in the sanctified position, but they still had enemies to fight."

THE GRAND CONCLUSION

TITLE: What IS Sanctification?

CONTENT:

It is NOT a one-time "reception."

It is NOT a singular "experience."

It is NOT a "sudden" event.

IT IS a process that begins at regeneration.

IT IS a growth we participate in (by obeying the commands).

IT IS stimulated by blessed experiences (the "sun and rain").

THE FINAL GOAL: "FROM GLORY TO GLORY"

TITLE: The Goal of the Process

THE KEY TEXT:

"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."

THE FINAL WORD:

"Sanctification is a growth, a development; it is a going forward."

"It will go on and on until finally, in glory, we shall be perfect, without spot and without blemish."