Doctrine of Holiness
I cannot say enough positive things about this class. Dr. Brown of GBS has a wonderful gift of knowing God's Word. The main thrust of this class was in regards to personal Holiness; much like the title of the class suggest, however; if this class were a tree, then holiness would have to be the trunk. The branches themselves would consist of how that holiness plays out in every area of our day to day lives.
This class provided a lot of understanding on others topics such as sanctification, and entire sanctification. In this class we had the privileged of listening to one of the best, well- thought out, and delivered messages on holiness that I have ever heard. The name of the audio CD was "Called Unto Holiness" by Dr. Allan Brown. It can be purchased for $25.00 dollars by clicking the provided link. I can personally tell you that it is worth every penny.
The assignments that I have selected to display on this page complement each other rather well. In the left column I have attached an entrance survey that I took in this class before beginning the class. At this point I had a minimum amount of knowledge about holiness, and sanctification. In the right had column is my reflection paper from the last week of class. When contrasting the two papers, you are able to witness the change in my heart, and in my understanding that occurred over a twelve week period of time.
This class provided a lot of understanding on others topics such as sanctification, and entire sanctification. In this class we had the privileged of listening to one of the best, well- thought out, and delivered messages on holiness that I have ever heard. The name of the audio CD was "Called Unto Holiness" by Dr. Allan Brown. It can be purchased for $25.00 dollars by clicking the provided link. I can personally tell you that it is worth every penny.
The assignments that I have selected to display on this page complement each other rather well. In the left column I have attached an entrance survey that I took in this class before beginning the class. At this point I had a minimum amount of knowledge about holiness, and sanctification. In the right had column is my reflection paper from the last week of class. When contrasting the two papers, you are able to witness the change in my heart, and in my understanding that occurred over a twelve week period of time.
(Week 1: Spring 2012)
Entrance Inventory 1. What is holiness? Before our classes showing up in our class widow, I had listened to the first teaching/sermon from the audio disc “Called unto Holiness.” That being said I will answer all of the proceeding questions without my new-found knowledge from the teachings. Holiness is what and who God is. The Bible tells me to “be ye holy, as thy Lord your God is Holy.” Therefore my understanding is that God is Holy. My understanding of holiness before listing to the first lecture was that holiness is Christlikeness. 2. What is sanctification? Sanctification is the moment of initial conversion of a believer. When we have a repentance of the heart and ask Jesus to be our Lord and Savior, He comes into our hearts and lives. It is at this moment that He justifies us from our sins, and at this moment He sanctifies us unto service in His Kingdom. In other words sanctification is when we are set apart unto God. 3. What is the difference between sanctification and entire sanctification? The best definition I have acquired to distinguish the two apart is this; “when you get sanctified you give all your sins to Jesus, when you get entirely sanctified you give all of yourself to Jesus.” 4. How can a person know when he is entirely sanctified? In my short five years walking with the Lord, there have been certain individuals who have really stood out to me. These individuals live lives of victory, and you can tell that they are led by the spirit. When I asked them about living, and walking in victory it was brought to my attention about entire sanctification, or the baptism of the Holy Ghost. I have spent countless hours seeking answers to this question and so many similar ones in regards to this field. In short I have learned that you know you are entirely sanctified when you no longer struggle with habitual sin. 5. What difference in practical living does entire sanctification make in a Christian’s life? To my understanding it makes all the difference in the world. I understand at this point the individual is able to live and walk in victory. It is at this point that the individual does not practice habitual sin or have any appetite or desire to do so. I also understand this glorious promise to bring about the true understanding of their identity in Christ. 6. Can a person “lose” entire sanctification without losing his salvation, or does he lose both at the same time? I do not know the answer to this question; however, I do believe that you would lose both at the same time. I look forward to obtaining the historical evidence of scripture as to not be ignorant on this subject. 7. List as many passages as you can that you really believe teach a definite second work of grace. I have read countless books on this subject, and I have talked to countless individuals about their entire sanctification. However after fifteen years of drinking and drug abuse I have a lot of trouble retaining certain types of information such as scripture addresses. I can remember the scriptures themselves most of the times but not always book, chapter, and verse. For example I know in one of Paul’s letter’s he prays “That the Lord will sanctify you through and through.” I know in one of Peter’s two letters that Peter is quoting Deuteronomy when he says “be ye holy.” I wish my mind did not work this way, but it does. Most people do not ever make it back mentally from the depths that I sunk to, and therefore I am lucky to be able to retain anything at all. However this is unsatisfactory to me, I refuse to settle for this limited remembrance. I spend countless hours renewing my mind (Romans 12:2)… (Some I can retain), so I know it is possible. My current Spiritual Condition I am very hungry for entire sanctification to cleanse me through and through. I read a wonderful book in my Christian Beliefs class last semester called “Healing for damaged emotions.” In this book I learned that I suffer from Christian perfectionism. Someone in the book said that “this is a wonder gift from God if properly cultivated at a young age.” However my gift was not cultivated at that age. This currently affects my relationship with God. I know what the scriptures say about God’s love for me, however getting that knowledge from my head to my heart again is to completely different things. I use the word “again” for a reason. After graduating from Teen Challenge I had this heart knowledge, however I made some compromises in my walk and I lost it. I have since then tried every hour of every day to regain this heart knowledge only to wind up without it. The more I pray the more I find a list of things I am doing wrong, and area’s that I am falling short in. At times it feels like there is sandpaper in my skin. God speaks to me very clearly in regards to helping other Christians, although in regards to how to gain my victory I receive silence. At the same time I know what the Bible requires of me, although I lack the ability or the discipline to carry it out. So I show up for marching orders every day, I draw near (more than most) in hopes that today will be the day that something will “jar loose” in my head and travel to my heart. I have lost my joy unspeakable; however I dare not go back the way I came, that direction leads to shear death, chaos, and destruction. There was a lesson on “temptation” in my Christian Beliefs class that was life changing for me; it was there that I learned
13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. I now know I have the ability to overcome. In short I know that God has called me to preach, however that is not why I am here. Being a former addict I have two speeds; stop and full throttle. It is the same in my walk with the Lord; I am either all in, or not. I am here to become equipped to be “all in.” To me my walk is a matter of life and death. And that is why I am here. In conclusion, I have been saved five years, the first two and a half were good, and the second half has been a struggle. Questions I would like answered this semester: I would like a blueprint on how to absolute surrender to God, once you have gone astray and are trying to come back to live a life of holiness. (practical application) |
(Week 12: Spring 2012)
Reflection Paper Doctrine of Holiness Part 1: On the class syllabus for Doctrine of Holiness, there were two “values and affective” objectives. The syllabus stated that at the end of this course the student should: A. You should feel at home with your Bible as you learn how to use Scripture to explain the difference between sanctification and entire sanctification. I feel comfortable in my ability to do this. I had a conversation regarding Holiness, sanctification and entire sanctification with a pastor just last week. I was able to repeat the things that I have learned in this course from memory. Although, I was not able to repeat 100% of everything that I learned this semester, I was however able to address a good amount of it. In addition, if time had allowed I believe that the conversation would have continued for some time. The pastor was very happy to have another person to talk about these issues with. He is an inner city mission’s pastor and he usually does not get to have too many conversations about this kind of theology. B. You should be convinced that God wills that His children experience the reality of entire sanctification. I am 100% convinced that it is God’s will for me to be entirely sanctified. However I am currently resting and trusting in faith on these promises. Technically the correct answer to this question should be “Yes I am entirely sanctified.” However, my thought process does not allow me to work that way. To explain: reality takes a while to reregister in my mind. For example: It was not until after about a month of attending this college that it actually registered that “Oh my God, I am an actual college student.” Or another example would be about four months after my release from Teen Challenge, when I finally realized that I was once again a free man. Also when I sobered up after fifteen years, it was not until about two years later that I realized I was truly free from it. Therefore, it will take a bit for it to register that I am actually entirely sanctified. Part 2: On the class syllabus there were three skills and behavioral objectives . . . dealing with problems you should now be able to solve and abilities you should now possess. A. You should be more biblically informed when counseling with others who have difficulties in the Biblical truths covered in this course. Not only am I more Biblically informed on this issue, but I have actually started writing a book in my free time on the subject. It is about one man’s journey to entire sanctification. I intend to use the individuals in the Bible who went through this process as back up to my own journey; Peter, David, Barnabas. I figure by time I get to the end of it, the reality of being entirely sanctified will have set in and I will be able to explain it better. The majority of the book is about the process, where you feel like your prayers are hitting the ceiling, and have a hunger for more. In addition, I will address the stage where you ask yourself “what’s wrong with me?” When I entered into this stage of my walk, I thought that I was all alone and that I was the only person on the planet who had ever went through this. This class and a few other books have shown me that this is a Biblical process. B. You will have greater insights into the complexity of their problems and avoid prescribing over‐ly simplistic "solutions". I could not agree with this statement more! This is a problem in the Christians walk that cannot be solved with a simple solution. The only remedy is as Andrew Murray calls it “Absolute Surrender.” Absolutely surrendering everything is not and never will be a simplistic solution. Sadly, it usually comes to the point where your pain surpasses your fear of change, before you absolutely surrender your all to God. I have a tremendous amount of compassion and understanding to the individual going through this process. I went through this process for over two years before surrendering. The book mentioned in class “They found the secret” was a tremendous help to me, it was in that book that I realized that many a mighty men of God has went through this unbearable process and that I am not alone. C. You will be able to recognize concepts of holiness that are not biblical and explain where they deviate from the Biblical standard. I feel comfortable in my ability to accomplish this task. I keep extremely extensive notes. In addition, I keep it all in a single notebook, actually this class required the use of two entire notebooks; we covered a lot of material. Every reading assignment ever given and every lecture ever viewed are in my notebooks, not to mention my additional permanently attached notes that are attached to my Bible are always at my disposal. In the event that I cannot remember something, I will be able to refer to my extensive notes. Part 3: Relevance to Institutional and Divisional Objectives. At GBSC we are committed to helping you become an educated Christian. GBSC defines an educated Christian as “a faithful servant of Jesus Christ whose knowledge, values, and skills center in loving God, loving others, and loving learning.” This course is designed to meet the following College Objectives and Ministerial Education Division Objectives: Institutional Objectives: A. Institutional objective (1) a foundational knowledge of the Bible. I am so grateful for the Lord directing me to this school and class. I was very amazed to see all the deeper issues on scripture that I had been overlooking. I just want to be the best Minister and servant of the Lord that I can possibly be. That requires loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. This class has taught me how to love the Lord with all of my mind. I have always been very familiar with my bible, however; now I am more enlightened to the contents within it. B. Institutional objective (7) proficiency in critical thinking. This course partially fulfills this objective by exposing you to the contextual basis for entire sanctification. To be able to decide what you believe about what the Bible teaches on entire sanctification is a function of critical thinking. This objective will be assessed in the final course reflection paper. I believe that it is God’s will for me to be entirely sanctified. I believe that God commands it. I believe that In order for anything to be Holy, that it must be connected to the source of Holiness. I believe that God is the only source of Holiness. I believe that I must reckon myself dead to sin and that I must present myself as a living sacrifice to God. I believe that I must trust in God to do it. I also believe that I must rest assured that He has accomplished it. These beliefs have grown from studying the material from this class. In addition, I have reviewed and researched the scriptures on my own to come to these beliefs. Part 4: Ministerial Education Division Objectives: A. Divisional Objective (2) To gain a deepening appreciation and knowledge of Scripture and theology. This course hopefully will enable you to gain a deepening appreciation and knowledge of Scripture as it pertains to holiness. This objective will be assessed in the final course reflection paper. I believe that that if anyone has been given the call to preach and be a shepherd to the Lords people that he should have a solid, scriptural, theological understanding of the Doctrine of Holiness. People’s eternities are at stake here and many preachers today are walking themselves and their congregation blindfolded over a cliff into the depths of Hell. I do not understand why the Lord has allowed me the privilege of allowing my eyes and ears to truly understand this teaching, but I am sure eternally grateful that he has. |