In the fall of 1978 Mr. Sargent Shriver delivered a chapel address at the University of Chicago to a distinguished group of theologians, philosophers, sociologists, historians, scientists, and leaders of the laity. As he forewarned, he did not present a "polished discourse worthy of an 18th century French salon, or even of Rockefeller chapel." Rather, his words were challenging and pointed.

He quoted the Mexican philosopher-historian, Octavio Paz, who said:

Shriver then asked what can be done about the world these haunting, stunning words describe. Note his own answer: "I suggest we commence the long hard task, where scholars are needed as much as saints, of lifting ourselves from the 'pursuit of happiness,' to an additional and new level of political thought and moral vigor; to 'the pursuit of holiness.'"

Even with the implied Pelagianism, the challenge is intriguing. And to all Wesleyans, particularly members of the Wesleyan Theological Society, it should be compelling.

The lively discussions of recent meetings of this body suggest a serious desire to pursue "an understanding of holiness." Such a pursuit is imperative, for theology must inform preaching. Where there is poor theology, proclamation of the Christian message will be muffled or unbalanced. If the fine points of Wesleyan theology (assuming there is such a thing) are neglected, the Wesleyan perspective itself will become unclear or distorted.

We not only have a right to pursue an understanding of Christian holiness, but indeed an obligation as "scholars" to do so. Furthermore, we have been called as "saints" to pursue holiness itself, or holy living, as revealed in Christ. These twin "pursuits" may be more closely related in terms of cause and effect than some are willing to acknowledge. It seems clear that a faulty understanding of holiness can hinder the full development of the life of holiness.

It is to Shriver's challenge extended from outside our immediate tradition-the pursuit of holiness-that I want to direct remarks this evening. By "holiness" I mean that divinely stimulated movement or process of grace and obedience, which extends from Christian conversion to the believer's final destiny of glorification. We affirm, of course, the reality of what we know as "entire sanctification," a God-given moment or crisis of faith and covenant which issues in increasingly responsible discipleship and immersion in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.

But Wesleyan thought has been truest to itself when it has given priority in the gospel message to redemption, or holiness broadly conceived, with entire sanctification as one of its essential phases. Wesley himself made this clear to all who would lay claim to his theological mantle. He observed:

Even more explicitly, he stated in his Notes on the New Testament: "Forgiveness is the beginning of redemption [holiness], as the resurrection is the completion of it."3

This Wesleyan order of priority is Pauline, for the Apostle wrote to the Corinthians: "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins. . ., that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures" (1 Cor. 15:3-4, RSV).

My purpose here is: (1) to affirm by Scripture that one who begins to walk as a Christian begins to walk as a holy person; (2) to identify some fundamental themes of holy living; and (3) to portray the totality and wholeness of the life of holiness. The discussion presupposes the necessity and reality of the crises of regeneration and entire sanctification within the believer's life.4

In The Character of a Methodist and The Principles of a Methodist (1742), in his Plain Account of Genuine Christianity (first edition, 1753), and in his sermons, John Wesley frequently undertook to delineate the character of a true Christian.5 Indeed, his entire work and emphasis on holiness he thought of as the "recovery of primitive Christianity."6

We may ask: What is that holiness we are to pursue"? Is there a holiness life-style or life-experience, a model or realizable ideal, that in Scripture is descriptive for all Christians, which is not merely appropriate for a distinct class of believers? Is there a vocation for the whole church, and not for a particular elite within it? Wesleyan adherents believe there is.

The Apostle Paul pointed to this "way" of life in writing to the Roman Christians: "I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable [spiritual] service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" (Rom. 12:1-2).

J. B. Phillips' paraphrase (of verse 2) is well known: "Do not allow the world around you to squeeze you into its mould." His lucid turn of words exegetically is well-founded for the word "conformed" has its root in schema, from which we get our English term "scheme." The Germans express the meaning of "world" with Zeitgeist, the "spirit of the age." Paul's admonition then is, "Do not allow yourself to be overcome by the secularism of the world-its schemes, aims, goals, drives, purposes, and aspirations.

Rather, the Apostle enjoined, "Be transformed by the renewing of your minds." The word "transformed" is metamorphousthe (present continuous tense). A form of the word is used to describe our Lord's "transfiguration," when His countenance shone as the face of an angel (Matt. 17:2; Mark 9:2). The Christian ideal, then, is to be continuously changed (metamorphosed) into the radiance and spirit of Christ, by whom and in whom believers have found salvation. This Christian "style of life" is stated explicitly by Paul to the Corinthians: "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed (metamorphoumetha) into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Cor. 3:18).

Christlikeness is Holiness-an assertion which is supported by the biblical statement that in Christ dwelt all the "fullness [including holiness] of the Godhead bodily" (Col. 2:9). Thus we may claim that the life-style of holiness is increasing transformation by grace, and in grace, into the spirit and mind of Christ. The phrase Christianus alter Christus, "the Christian a second Christ," may sound almost blasphemous to uninstructed ears, but what else is the meaning of holiness? For what else has Christ redeemed us? Paul admonished: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Phil 2:5)-love, humility, unselfishness, compassion, and the spirit of servitude.

To be Christian is to be like Christ. To be like Christ is to be holy. Therefore, to be "Christian" is to be holy. To be becoming increasingly "Christian" is to be becoming increasingly like Christ, and increasingly holy. In short, Christlikeness is holiness, and increasing Christlikeness is increasing holiness.

This truth is confirmed by the fact that Paul, in his epistles, addressed the New Testament believers as "saints" (hagioi), literally, "holy ones" (e.g., Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:2; Eph. 4:12). Life in Christ, then, clearly involves a life of holiness, or holy living. The character of the Christian life is holiness or godliness-increasing conformity to the love of God expressed in Jesus Christ throughout every aspect of one's personal and social life. The believer's life of holiness does not make him a saint, but manifests him as a saint.

Holiness, then, is not a concept that is extraneous to the meaning of Christian faith; it is not a life that is "added to" the normal life of a believer as an option; it is not an experience that is designed to get the believer "high" quicker and for longer. Rather, holiness is at the heart of Christian faith-the core of its message; it is the norm of Christian living-the constraint of its ethic; and, it is a vital and personal relationship with God in Christ through the Holy Spirit that is ever deepened, expanded, and enriched as the Christian walks in obedience-the communion of its God-given life.

Yet we in the Wesleyan tradition have drawn justifiable criticism because of our too frequent disregard of this biblical equation of holiness and the totality of the Christian life. W. M. Greathouse has stated categorically that our

Unfortunately, much of popular understanding of holiness, both within and without the recognized holiness circles, has not grasped Wesley's and Fletcher's strong biblical orientation and has thought of holiness, at best as the "deluxe edition" of the Christian life; or at worst, as an unnecessary, or even dangerous, trapping that could best be dispensed with.

We have acknowledged that holiness is central in Scripture. But have we made it so in our theology as well? Our sometimes shallow understandings at this point challenge us to compare again our thought and practice with biblical norms and teachings.

What, then, are some primary elements of the holiness life-style as shaped by Scripture? Several motifs basic to the over-all biblical mosaic are here suggested, all of which to some degree characterize all Christians in their pilgrimage to final spiritual fulfillment.

1. The holiness "style of life" is distinct in its separation. Throughout Scripture "separation" is included in the idea of holiness. In the Old Testament period, things were "set apart" (sanctified) for holy purposes. They became "holy" by their relation to God, e.g., the ark (2 Chron. 35:3), the Sabbaths (Exod. 20:8, 11), feasts of numerous types (Isa. 30:29), the priests' garments (Exod. 28:2), or the temple (Hab. 2:20). Even in the New Testament there is a "ceremonial" or "positional" holiness which describes prophets (Acts 3:21), apostles (Eph. 3:5), believing spouses (1 Cor. 7:14), and the temple and its altar (Matt. 23:17, 19; 1 Cor. 9:13).

However, in the New Testament the primary meaning of holiness is internalized The temple regarded as holy is the "household of God," with all the saints, "Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone" (Eph. 2:19-20). The "holy sacrifice" demanded is the living sacrifice of the believer's body (Rom. 12:1).

A fundamental characteristic of the holiness style of life, then, is separation for service (cf. Heb. 9:13-14; Titus 2:14). Negatively, this involves separation from the world and sin as a prerequisite for service; and positively, separation to God for the world as an instrument of service.

The central idea of Christianity is moral purification (ethical sanctification) of the heart from sin (Isa. 6; Acts 15:8-9). This cleansing from sin is by faith (Acts 26:18), and encompasses an internal renovation of the self (John 3; also 17). John the Baptist spoke of the baptism with the Holy Spirit who would "thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but [would] burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire" (Matt. 3:11-12). This separation is not between the tares and the wheat, or the wicked and the righteous; but between the wheat and the chaff, or that which clings to it by nature. The coming of the Holy Spirit is to cleanse from all sin-both outwardly and inwardly.8

Envisioned in the New Testament is a life-style which presupposes a cleansing of the selfish aims and impulses, urges and goals of the world. Paul stressed the necessity of this cleansing, or crucifixion of the flesh: "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit" (Rom. 8:5). "And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts" (Gal. 5:24).

This cleansing will manifest itself in a life-style that is uniquely different from that of the world. In his collection of essays titled in English, Against the Stream, Karl Barth insists that "the sanctified Christian is not called to live a mildly respectable life; he is called to swim against the stream, to witness to God's judgment over every status quo."9 To commit oneself to Christ is to answer the call away from the things of the world.

But that aspect of the life-style of holiness which is separation for service includes, positively, separation to God for the world. God separates a people to Himself through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (see 1 Cor. 1:30-31). Therefore, Peter declared: "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light" (1 Pet. 2:9, RSV- cf. Also Deut. 7:6).

The separation that is a part of the holiness life-style is not geographic separation from men and their needs, but a spiritual separation to God as an instrument of service. However, this separation is more than mere human dedication to certain worthy goals which will benefit mankind-as noble as this may be. Rather, it is the offering up of one's total self to God for the service of men. This yielding of the whole man is absolutely necessary if one is to be distinctively Christian; for, as Augustine reminded us: [Human] "Love feeds the hungry, but so does pride."

But in addition, this radical separation in commitment must be accompanied by a divine empowering and enduement of love10-God's kind of love-"shed abroad" [literally, "poured out"] in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us" (Rom. 5:5).

Wesley saw the necessity of this gracious bestowment, and thus finally rejected the holiness of Thomas a Kempis because it issues in a strenuous program of self-denigration aimed merely at total resignation, which becomes a kind of detached fatalism. The holiness advanced by the "quietists" (e.g., Madame Guyon) at first attracted Wesley, but then repelled him because of its antinomian and subjective tendencies. He saw clearly that holiness is more than consecration-it is a divine cleansing and empowering; and that if one is to be true to the New Testament, one must take seriously the affirmative life-style of "holiness" in the world-God's love poured out through human vessels in this life.

Any separation that is mere withdrawal from the world of broken persons who yearn in desperation for a display of God's love is false and unbiblical. And the practice of all such spurious separation is a betrayal of the New Testament portrait of holiness. Paul Rees stated it clearly: "If we are authentically Christian, nothing that is authentically human is beyond the pale of our concern. . . ."11 Dag Hammerskjold, the late Secretary-General of the United Nations, was most biblical when he said: "In our era the road to holiness necessarily passes through the world of action."12

To be holy is to be sent "into the world"-cleansed from sin and armed with love. It is to give oneself, made new by grace, in complete devotement to the redemptive purpose of God. Even the "Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).

Holiness is involvement and investment expressing itself in love. Biblical separation is incarnational. Separation for service is indispensable to the holiness life-style.

2. The Holiness style of life is disciplined in its sanctity. The biblical reminder is: "God hath not called us unto [for the purpose] of uncleanness, but unto [for the purpose of] holiness" [sanctification], or sanctity (1 Thess. 4:7). It is unthinkable that the New Testament Christian could exist for the purpose of uncleanness, "for this is the will of God, even your sanctification" (1 Thess. 4:3). Thus Paul wrote to young Timothy: "Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity . . . If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work" (2 Tim. 2:19, 21). Again to the corinthians, the Apostle confided: "I keep my body under subjection ["bruise my body and make it my slave"-Weymouth], lest after I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway" ["disqualified"-RSV] (1 Cor. 9:27). P. T. Forsyth has stated it succinctly: "The final sanity is complete sanctity."13

Discipleship presupposes discipline, and when it is absent, Christ's disciple is not fulfilling his calling as one of the "saints." Paul found it necessary to exhort the careless Galatians to exercise the discipline of love for the sake of others: "Brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty as an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another (Gal. 5:13-14).

Holiness is spiritual fitness. It is keeping in shape so as to make optimum use of one's potential to minister. This understanding lay behind Susanna Wesley's wise counsel to young John: "Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off the relish of spiritual things, whatever increases the authority of your body over mind, that thing for you is sin."14

Wesleyan thought, when it has been most true to the biblical life-style of holiness, has emphasized the practical social value of disciplined living. The one design of Wesley was "to promote . . . vital, practical religion, and by the grace of God to beget, preserve and increase the life of God in the soul of man."15 His purpose was not to produce a group of spiritual recluses and ascetics, but rather to prepare believers for a life of ministry to persons in society. It has been pointed out that of Wesley's forty-four standard sermons, thirty-two deal with ethics, or religion in conduct.16 Indeed, Wesley's understanding of holiness developed in opposition to "the doctrine of predestination" and the idea of "the perseverance of the saints, which he thought led to carelessness in Christian living.17

3. The Holiness style of life is daring in its sacrifice. The early Christians called those who hazarded their lives for Christ parabolani or the "riskers," as Aquila and Priscilla, who risked their lives for Paul (Rom. 16:4; cf. also Phil. 2:29-30). To "pursue holiness" involves a venture in Christian living.

One's entire life must be risked, considered expendable for the cause of Christ. Personal ambitions and aspirations which run counter to Kingdom purposes are given up by a transformation of the self, in order that it may be a perfect instrument for the fulfillment of the will of God. There is a complete and total redirection of oneself, and a death to selfish aims and motivations. The New Testament Christian is one who delights in the daring and adventure of loving "God with all the heart, soul, mind and strength, and one's neighbor as himself."

God's call is for "riskers." The indwelling of the Spirit of God, which enables the disciple to stake all for Christ, involves unconditional commitment to Christ, and a death to the sinful self. John Fletcher, like good Wesleyans should, carefully distinguished "selfishness" and a "well ordered self-love."18 The "death" that is called for in Scripture is not "the death of self"-an unhappy and misleading phrase which is found often in our holiness nomenclature-but "the death to self." That is, selfish-seeking, selfish-defense, selfish-assertion are rejected.

It was for this purpose that Christ died "that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again" (2 Cor. 5:15). Or as Paul testified: "With Christ I have been crucified and still remain dead; and no longer is it the ego that lives, but Christ is living in me" (Gal. 2:20-literal translation). Paul's personal experience qualified him to admonish the Romans to consider themselves "to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 6:11); and therefore to yield themselves "unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and [their] members as instruments [or weapons] of righteousness unto God" (Rom. 6:13).

Jesus Himself required: "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross (amorist tenses), and follow (present continuous tense) me" (Mark 8:34). "Taking up the cross" means putting oneself in the position of a condemned man on his way to execution, that is, going to the place of death. The supreme task of the Christian is not merely to save his soul, but to "risk" it for the sake of God's world.

The Holiness style of life is the glad acceptance of this call to venture and daring. This attitude of heart is an internal "witness," or sign, which verifies to the risker his claim to Christian discipleship. The authentic Christian witness includes the joyful acceptance of the possibility of martyrdom, without the development of a "martyr-complex." No morbid approach to life which thrives on self-pity is consistent with Christian holiness.

Nor does the Christian, as Barth argues, seek to antagonize, or win the displeasure of the world. It has been pointed out that when Daniel was in the lion's den, he did not pull the lion's tail. Yet the Christian whose first loyalty is to Christ can expect the opposition of the world.19

Nevertheless, the true believer shares the spirit of his Master, "who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Heb. 12:2).

4. The Holiness style of life is discerning in its spirit. It is characterized by a profound sensitivity both to the leadership and to the reproof of the Holy Spirit. Paul underscored the significance of the guidance of the Spirit with his words: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" (Rom. 8:14). This New Testament ideal is illustrated by the record of the Spirit's guidance of the church at Antioch: "As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had . . . prayed . . . they sent them away. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Spirit, departed. . . ." (Acts 13:2-4).

This leadership of the Holy Spirit is the New Testament norm. Before Pentecost, the disciples cast lots in choosing a successor to Judas (Acts 1:26). But following Pentecost the biblical description is: "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us" (Acts 15:28).

The Holiness style of life is no stranger to this direction of the Spirit. This leadership is possible because the Holy Spirit indwells the believer, who becomes the Temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19-20). The believer is to be freely directed and motivated by the Holy Spirit, so that Paul could say: "They that are in the flesh [directed and motivated by the flesh] cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit [directed and motivated by the Spirit], if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Rom. 8:8-9). The Holiness style of life is sensitive not only to the leadership of the Holy Spirit, but also to His reproof Jesus promised the coming of "another Comforter," one like Himself, who would come to re-present and exalt Christ within the believer (John 16:14; also 14:26).

As the "Spirit of Truth" (John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13), the Holy Spirit reveals the truth to the believer, and brings him to true self-knowledge through the light of Christ. He "desires not sacrifice" but "truth in the inward parts" (Ps. 51:16, 6). A part of the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to convict and reprove. Thus Jesus made clear that "When he [the Holy Spirit] is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. . . . Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth. . . ." (John 16:8, 13).

The Holy Spirit comes to convict not merely of some unethical or questionable act-though He may do that; He comes primarily to reveal that which dethrones the Lord Jesus in one's life. He works from within the human person and makes known man's self-centeredness and hardness of heart.

The true believer does not resist this reproof, but welcomes it as for his good. He is not self-defensive, but open to the gentle chastisement of the Holy Spirit. He sees that the opposite of "doing evil" is not "doing good"-that is the futile way of human works and legalism. Rather, its opposite is "doing truth," or "being truth." He learns this from Him who is the Spirit of truth."

And when the truth is accepted and acted upon, the Spirit applies His divine comfort-His assurance. Jesus promised: "Blessed are they that mourn [over their sins] for they shall be comforted" (Matt. 5:4). The Spirit applies this comfort by taking the things of Christ and showing them to us (John 16:14). He shows the adequacy of Christ's sacrifice for us; that our "old man of sin" was crucified with Christ-not just mended, but ended-"that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin" (Rom. 6:6). The Spirit teaches us, "If any man sin, we have an Advocate [paraclete, or "Comforter"] with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and He is the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 2:1-2).

If the Holy Spirit brings assurance, then the fullness of assurance comes with the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, Paul admonished: "Be filled with the [Holy] Spirit" (Eph. 5:18). The disciple of Christ is to be filled with Him by whom he has become a new creature, with Him who has come into the heart. The Holy Spirit is to be the permanent gift to the Church, and not the occasional possession of a few choice believers. That is, the actual Christian faith and life reflect the supernatural transforming power of God, the assurance of being accepted by Him through the merits of the death of His Son, and the miraculous indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

But this assurance is never static, or once for all. It is dynamic, progressive, enlarging, and vital. The literal rendering of Paul's admonition is: "Be being filled with the Spirit." That is, "keep on being filled with the Spirit." He uses the same tense-the present continuous tense-as is used in I John 1:7: "But if we walk [continue walking] in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us [continues cleansing us] from all sin."

The Holiness style of life is a growing sensitivity to the new light and instruction given by the Holy Spirit. The true believer discerns both the Holy Spirit's guidance and His reproof and is grateful for the Spirit's assurance.

These fundamental, though not exhaustive, themes of holy living have been stated in general terms because they are intended to describe all those who have their existence "in Christ." That is, every genuine believer is characterized in some degree by each aspect of this Holiness portraiture.

Having pictured the New Testament Christian, there remains to be spoken an important word to emphasize the wholeness, continuity, and progression, of this life-style. That is, common to and running through all these descriptions is the fact that the life of Holiness is continuous and developing in its scope.

The Scriptures make clear that Holiness is the design of God's self-revelation in Jesus Christ. Holy Living, or Christlikeness, is the end toward which God is working in the life of every person. (Eph. 1:4; Heb. 12:10; John 17:17; Titus 2:14; 2 Thess. 2:13; Titus 3:5.)

Holiness is Salvation! To be converted to Christ is to be set on the road to moral and spiritual perfection, to a life of holiness. It is to begin to walk in the way of holiness. To be "saved" is to be holy; to be being saved is to be becoming holy.

There are indeed critical moments within this life of holiness-i.e., regeneration (conversion) and entire sanctification, both of which issue in holy living. But we should steadfastly resist all temptation to reduce the biblical teaching of holiness to either one of the crisis instants within the life of the believer. To yield deliberately to such temptation in a frantic effort to preserve the distinctiveness of our heritage, or inadvertently to give way to carelessness in preaching or constructing our theology of holiness, is to destroy the beauty and vitality of the biblical truth of sanctification, and to proclaim a "mini-gospel" in place of the "whole counsel of God."

Wesley was suspicious of exalting any particular moment of Christian experience because this tends to retard further spiritual progress and growth. In his first Conference with his Methodist ministers, 1744, this proposition was agreed to:

Wesley had great fear that the salvation or holiness which is generated by the Spirit and grace of God would not be worked out in "fear and trembling" (Phil. 2:12). He sought to avoid any apathy which would deter the demonstration of the fruit of the Spirit. He argued that any moment of genuine faith is not unrelated both to the previous and to the succeeding actions of the believer. Consequently, he objected to the idea and terminology of either a justified or sanctified "state," and substituted for it, in accordance with Scripture, a dynamic moment-by-moment relationship with God.

We who claim to follow in Wesley's tradition, must guard against a "hardening of the categories" (to use Dr. Paul Culbertson's colorful term). To become rigid in our understanding of holiness will be to detach our message from life and its ongoing dynamic processes, and therefore to become increasingly irrelevant. It will cause us to drive a wedge between our doctrine and our experience of holiness. It could well be that one reason our message too often has been either ignored or rejected, or even not faithfully preached by its adherents, is that we have not produced a well-rounded theology of holiness which preserves from the poverty of provincialism and the mentality of moralism.

And yet Wesley would not have wanted his objection to the use of the word "state," in the sense of a "static state," to minimize his lifelong insistence that believers now, joyously, by faith expect to enter (in the moment of entire sanctification) upon the life of perfect love in the wholly sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit.

For him, since it comes by faith, it is wrought instantaneously. "Certainly you may look for it now, if you believe it is by faith. " Works require time-the idea that you must do something or be something-and that is pride and self-righteousness. But "if you seek it by faith, you may expect it as you are, and if as you are, then expect it now." There "is an inseparable connection between these points-expect it by faith; expect it as you are; and expect it now! To deny one of them is to deny them all."

"Look for this blessing just as you are," he said, as one who has "nothing to pay, nothing to plead, but 'Christ died' . . . He is at the door! Let your inmost soul cry out:

'Come in, come in, Thou Heavenly Guest!

Nor hence again remove;

But sup with me and let the feast

Be everlasting love.'"21

In underscoring the continuity, totality, and progressive character of the life of holiness, care must be taken, of course, to guarantee that we do not forfeit our obligation and privilege of declaring this glorious truth of entire sanctification. But this can be done best by placing the truth of entire sanctification in its proper setting within the total and larger framework of Christian thought and life.

And we must insist not only on its proper understanding and faithful proclamation, but also upon its reality in personal experience in communal and social relationships. May we accept anew the challenge laid down by Sargent Shriver and pray God to lift us from the "pursuit" of lesser things, to a "new level of . . . moral vigor; to the 'pursuit of holiness'"-the supreme pursuit.

Let us pray the words of the Wesleys' hymn:

Jesus! my life, Thyself apply,

Thy Holy Spirit breathe,

My vile affections crucify,

Conform me to thy death.

Scatter the last remains of sin,

And seal me thine abode;

O, make me glorious all within,

A temple built by God.

My inward holiness Thou art,

For faith hath made Thee mine;

With all Thy fullness fill my heart,

'Til all I am is Thine!22

1"Criterion," publication of the Divinity School, University of Chicago, Winter 1979.

2The Standard Sermons of John Wesley, ed. E. H. Sugden (2 vols.; London: The Epworth Press, 1921), 2:226-27.

3Notes, Col. 1:14.

4Much of this section and of the paper is taken by permission from the writer's The Holiness Pilgrimage: Reflections on the Life of Holiness (Kansas City, Mo.: Beacon Hill Press, 1973). See particularly the "Introduction" and Ch. 1.

5Albert Outler, ed., John Wesley (New York: Oxford University Press, 1964), p. 181.

6G. A. Turner, The More Excellent Way (Winona Lake, IN: Light and Life Press, 1952), p. 133.

7W. M. Greathouse, "The Dynamics of Sanctification" (Unpublished paper read at the Nazarene Theology Conference, Overland Park, Kansas, Dec. 4-6, 1969), pp. 1-2.

8H. Orton Wiley, Christian Theology, (Kansas City, Mo.: Beacon Hill Press, 1952). 2:444.

9Quoted in William Hordern, New Directions in Theology Today: Introduction (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1966), 1:104.

10Wiley, 2:491.

11Paul Rees, Don't Sleep Through the Revolution (Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1969), p. 21.

12Quoted by Alan Walker in Breakthrough: Rediscovery of the Holy Spirit (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1969), p. 38.

13Cited by J. Paul Taylor, Holiness-The Finished Foundation (Winona Lake, Indiana: Light and Life Press, 1963), p. 29.

14Quoted in Manual of the Church of the Nazarene (Kansas City, Mo: Nazarene Publishing House, 1968), p. 387.

15The Letters of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M., ed. John Telford (8 vols.; London: The Epworth Press, 1931), 3:192. Cited hereafter as LJW.

17LJW, 5:83.

18The Works of the Rev. John Fletcher (4 vols.; New York: Phillips & Hunt, 1883), 1:483.

19Hordern, 1:105.

20Methodist Conference Minutes, 1744-98 (London: John Mason, 1862), 1 :95-96.

21Cited by Outler, ed., John Wesley, p. 282; he is quoting from Charles Wesley, Hymns on God's Everlasting Love (1741) in G. Osborn, ed., Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley (1872), 3:66.

22John and Charles Wesley, Hymns and Sacred Poems (London, 1839), reprinted in The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley . . . (collected and arranged by G. Osborn; 13 vols., London, 1869), 1:284. Cited in unpublished manuscript by Timothy L. Smith, "The Pentecostal Theme in Early Wesleyan Hymnody," p. 7.