Holiness
Perfection, Part 1

Is holiness perfection? Perfection is a serious misunderstanding of sanctification in the Christian life. It comes in various strains but there is a commonality in all lines of perfectionism. Here is a usual definition:
It is possible for believers in this life to attain a state in which they comply with the requirements of the law under which they now live or to the law adjusted to their ability and needs. Berkof, Systematic Theology, p. 538.
The underpinning for perfectionism is based on Paul’s language of being “dead to sin” and “free from sin”. This, the reasoning goes, should enable the believer to love God with all his heart. Any honest Christian knows that perfection is not part of their life. Nevertheless, such teaching is present in the contemporary church.

One strain of Wesleyan thought is that the original obligation of the Christian is not an original moral obligation but a Gospel requirement of faith, obedience and love. John Wesley taught Christian perfection, not absolute perfection, distinguishing between sanctification [beginning at the point of justification] of which all experience and entire sanctification [the experience of being made perfect in love]. Lindstrom, Wesley and Sanctification, p. 127. It is here Wesley has an affinity with Pentecostalism where Easter is separate from Pentecost and there is a “second blessing” for each true believer.

By a second blessing, those who are “born again” Christians may have a second experience that leads to an upgraded quality of Christian living. Only after this second experience is genuine holiness of life achieved. Wesley’s “entire sanctification” takes the sin out of the born again believer and changes his disposition away from sin and toward love for good. The “higher life” teachers after Wesley changed the idea to a “spirit filling” second experience which permits God’s perfection with still imperfect motives.

In addition to two types of believers, Wesley also created two types of sin: voluntary [ethical] and involuntary [legal], arguing that sin can exist in its legal form with perfection. John Wesley, A Plain Account of Christian Perfection, pp. 42-3, 45-6. Wesley seems not to have appreciated the saying attributed to Anselm of Canterbury:
You have not yet considered how great the weight of sin is.
The failure to understand sin’s gravity may be what led Wesley to his views. His perfectionism is not perfectionism at all. He has actually lowered the standard of Christian conduct below that of which God has required. He has also externalized sin, saying it is only conscious sin for which the believer is responsible. This is an approach that can easily lead to legalism.

There is no warrant for perfection in the Bible. Biblical saints are constantly confessing sin (Ps 51:1-4; Dan’l 9:15-18; Is. 6:5; 64:6). Noah, Moses and David all fell short of the glory of God. Calls to holiness, as in 1 Pet. 1:15, 16, are for all, not just those receiving the “second blessing”. To maintain holiness is something less than God has ordained is not Scriptural. And, a second blessing as a universal requirement without which there is authentic holiness is nowhere taught in the Bible. Perfection will be attained when the Savior appears and we become like Him (Rom 8:29; 1 John 3:2). But, not until then.