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My sermon betrayed the gospel. I was young, a-theological, and gripped by legalism. That toxic mix led to a litany of don’ts with no hint of the power of the cross, standing with Christ, or certainty of the believer’s sanctification. Instead, it left the hearers with more stuff to do if they...
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The deeper life. Deeper life adherents hold a range of views: the most extreme in perfectionism,
the Keswick teaching of full surrender, and the Pentecostal and charismatic view of the second blessing, among others. If we lump them all together under the category of deeper life, their unwitting error is twofold.
First, Jesus and his redemptive work is not enough. It’s enough for dealing with God’s wrath but inadequate for daily living in the outworking of the gospel’s saving purpose and power.
In their framework, sanctification becomes an additional experience sought through acts of full surrender or dying to self or “psychological passivity” or baptism of the Spirit leading to a deeper dimension of Christianity unknown by most.[7] Yet this extra experience falters at Paul’s declaration,
“In Him you have been made complete” (Colossians 2:10).
Second, the Christian life is focused on a personal crisis experience by which a new level of spirituality is reached, instead of a continuing journey of obedience (James 1:19–25), exercising spiritual disciplines (1 Timothy 4:6–16; 6:11–16), utilizing the means of grace (1 Timothy 4:13), living out the gospel in community (Ephesians 4–5), and receiving God’s discipline (Hebrews 12:1–11) until Christ is formed in us (Galatians 4:19).
While many godly people past and present hold aspects this view, it fails to rely upon the certainty of sanctification provided through Christ’s redemptive work and its application by the Holy Spirit pointing us to sufficiency in Christ.[8] It puts emphasis on an extra experience beyond faith in Christ, relying far too much on the level of one’s surrender or the intensity of his faith. One’s standing is elevated by the deeper life experience rather than forever settled in Christ.
2. Fundamentalism/legalism. Quite simply, while intending to give attention to obedience—which is assured in sanctification—legalism turns obedience into an external standard of acceptance. It shows unfortunate kinship with the Roman Catholic errors on sanctification.[9] The legalist measures his standing with God by the strictness of adherence to law—and what is added to law—rather than relying upon the righteousness of Christ alone (see Paul’s counter argument in Galatians). Legalism is performance driven. If one performs well, God is pleased; but slip-up, fail to meet the established expectations, then one falls into divine disfavor. Self-sanctification replaces the certainty of Christ’s sanctifying work by the Spirit. Instead of hope fixed on Christ, attention shifts to a sort-of fundamentalist targums—a brand of legalism as the standard for Christianity. But where is the sufficiency of Christ in the gospel? For all but the most self-righteous, it leaves a wake of guilt, despair, and fear.
3. Presumption leading to antinomianism. Sanctification in Christ does not exclude ongoing obedience (Ephesians 2:10; Philippians 2:12–13; Titus 2:11–14). Yet some presume upon sanctification in Christ and grace given as a license to indulge in whatever one desires. Paul tackled this problem in Romans 6, explaining that those who have become “obedient from the heart” have been freed from sin—as the controlling power in life—and now become “slaves of righteousness” (6:17–18). Consequently, those living in the grace of God have all the more reason to fight sin and to live as those alive from the dead (6:12–14). Instead of presumption, a proper understanding of sanctification leads to a spiritual warfare posture that recognizes the power of indwelling sin, while relying upon the effectiveness of Christ’s redemptive work in its application to daily life (Ephesians 6:10–20). That is the sanctified life.
Conclusion
Those “possessed by God” through Christ, to use Peterson’s phrase, are given the power and motivation to live in holiness. Their standing with God remains fixed in Christ. So their practice in sanctification
doesn’t elevate them to a higher life. It cannot account them more righteous than they already are in Christ
. It does not free them from the fight against sin and the discipline of obedience. I
nstead, slow but steady sanctification assures them, despite the struggles and battles along the journey, that Christ is bringing them to glory. That kind of sanctification teaching keeps us from adding stuff that distorts the power of the gospel.
Read carefully @Episkopos.
J.
