67. How does God’s grace continue its work in us through the Word and the Spirit?
God’s sanctifying grace cleanses us from sin in our thoughts, words, and acts, and enables us to live in accordance with God’s will.
—
It is important once again that we be clear about who is active here. “Sanctifying grace” is not some agent doing the cleansing; God is doing the cleansing in the person of the Holy Spirit, and this process of sanctifying us is another manifestation of his generous kindness toward us (his “grace”). We are also reminded that, where our salvation is concerned, the popular theological slogan “Christ alone” is misleading. All three persons of the Trinity are involved in our salvation—and the Holy Spirit has been relegated to the back seat far too long. Thus, as Wesley stresses repeatedly, God has delivered those who trust in Jesus not only from the guilt of sin, but also its power. The former (justification) is what God “does for us through his Son”; the latter (sanctification) is what God “works in us by his Spirit” so that we become “actually just and righteous” (“Justification by Faith” II.1). And as Paul affirms, Christ did not hand himself over to death only to secure our redemption from past sins, but also to secure the Holy Spirit for all who commit themselves to Christ in faith (Gal. 3:2–5, 13–14).
God has sent us his Holy Spirit in order to make us genuinely righteous and holy if we diligently give ourselves ever over to the Spirit’s leading and empowering (Gal. 5:16–25). And a long obedience under the direction of the Spirit is precisely the path to final salvation (see Gal. 6:7–8). The sanctifying work of the Spirit is not an optional add–on to the “new birth”; it constitutes the “newness of life” for which we were born anew in the first place (Rom. 6:3–4; Eph. 4:22–24). Thus Charles Wesley, in his hymn “O Come and Dwell in Me,” leads us to pray:
O come and dwell in me, Spirit of power within,
And bring the glorious liberty from sorrow, fear, and sin.
—
This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more. (Jer. 31:33–34)
I say to you, keep walking in line with the Spirit and you will certainly not fulfill the desire of the flesh. . . . Since we have life by the Spirit, let us continue to walk in step with the Spirit. (Gal. 5:16, 25 DST)
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thess. 5:23 NIV)
See also Ps. 51:2, 7–12; Ezek. 36:25–27; Gal. 5:16–25; Titus 2:11–14; 1 John 1:7, 9; CoF XI
—
This is an excerpt from Christian Faith and Doctrine: An Annotated Catechism for the Global Methodist Church. Seedbed is pleased to partner with The Global Methodist Church to offer this companion resource to A Catechism of Christian Faith and Doctrine for the Global Methodist Church.
Perfect for:
- Teachers and leaders discipling and catechizing others
- New Believers in the Global Methodist Church and Christianity in general
- Seekers curious about the Christian faith or the Wesleyan tradition
This resource will help you:
- Encounter faithful teaching about God’s character and his saving work in our world
- Train disciples to understand, recall, profess, and enjoy the church’s essential teachings
- Understand and internalize the beauty of historic orthodoxy
- Become catechized in the richness of Wesleyan faith and practice