How Can I Be Entirely Sanctified?

Years ago while teaching on the doctrine and experience of entire sanctification, I created a list of steps to be sanctified. It was for the purpose of teaching and not setting a "this is the only way to begin" the walk on the holiness highway. I'm hopeful that if the reader is still carnal, these steps may be of some benefit to him or her.

Step 1:

You must be born again and not committing any willful sin.
Scripture Proof: I John 3:6: "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him."
I John 3:8-9: "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin...."

If you have a modern Bible translation that does speak with the same degree of certainty as the King James Version, you need to get rid of the modern translation and get a version based on the Textus Receptus that does not water down the commandment to "Go and sin no more."

Step 2:
Believe that sanctification is God's will for you.
Scripture Proof: I Thessalonians 4:3: "For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication...."

Step 3:
Consecrate your all to living for God by dying out to self of all carnal lusts and appetites.
Scripture Proof: 12:1-2: "I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable 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."

Explanation: Some might ask where is the dying out process seen in this verse. Paul is making a comparison of the Christian's living sacrifice to the sacrifices in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, the priests would slay the animal before placing it on the altar. Could you imagine the priest trying to cut up the animal before it was dead? Can you imaging the priests trying to place a live animal on the burning altar? No, the sacrifice must be DEAD before it is placed on the altar. In the same way, the believer seeking to be entirely sanctified, must be a living sacrifice but dead to all carnal traits, such as pride, anger, evil speaking, greed, envy, jealousy, selfishness, deceit, love of praise, vengeance, etc. You are to ask God to show you one by one whatever is in your heart that is displeasing to Him. As He does show you, admit what He has shown you and ask God to cleanse you from that wickedness. You will die out one trait at a time, but when you are finished, and God has nothing more to show you, you are not entirely sanctified yet. What you have done is man's part called consecration.

Step 4:
Believe in faith that God does the work now.
Scripture Proof: Acts 26:18: "To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me (Jesus is speaking, added by author)."

Step 5:
Tarry (wait) until the fire falls and the work is complete. You will know when the fire falls. The fire falls in many ways. To some, there is a quiet rest and assurance. To others, there is an outbreak of emotion, e.g. crying, laughing, shouting, running, etc. Others, may wait a day or so before they know they are entirely sanctified. Make sure to testify to someone what the Lord has done for you! Make it a practice to testify at every opportunity you can to what God's grace has done for you!
Scripture Proof: Luke 24:49: (Jesus speaking after the resurrection to His disciples) "And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high."

God bless you as you begin your walk on the Highway of Holiness!

Holiness: What Is It? by Samuel L. Brengle

HOLINESS -- WHAT IS IT?
"Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom, of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven" (Matt. vii. 21).
Now, "This is the will of God, even your sanctification ... For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness" (I Thess. iv. 3, 7). Without holiness, "no man can see the Lord" (Heb. xii. 14). Therefore, "Be ye holy!" (I Pet. i. 16). Any one who reads his Bible in sincerity, "not handling the word of God deceitfully" (2 Cor. iv. 2), will see that it plainly teaches that God expects His people to be holy, and that we must be holy to be happy and useful here and to enter the kingdom of Heaven hereafter.

When once a true man is convinced that the Bible teaches these facts and that this is God's will, he will next inquire, "What is this holiness? When can I get it, and how?"
There is much difference of opinion on all these points, although the Bible is simple and plain on each one to every honest seeker after truth.
The Bible tells us that holiness is perfect deliverance from sin. "The Blood of Jesus Christ ... cleanseth us from ALL sin" (I John 1:7). Not one bit of sin is left, for your old man is crucified with Him, "that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin" (Rom. vi. 6), for we are "made free from sin" (Rom. vi. 18).
And we are henceforth to reckon ourselves "dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. vi. 11).
The Bible also tells us that it is "perfect love," which must, in the very nature of the case, expel from the heart all hatred and every evil temper contrary to love, just as you must first empty a cup of all oil that may be in it before you can fill it with water.
Thus, holiness is a state in which there is no anger, malice, blasphemy, hypocrisy, envy, love of ease, selfish desires for good opinion of men, shame of the Cross, worldliness, deceit, debate, contention, covetousness, nor any evil desire or tendency in the heart.
It is a state in which there is no longer any doubt or fear.
It is a state in which God is loved and trusted with a perfect heart.
But though the heart may be perfect, the head may be very imperfect, and through the imperfections of his head -- of his memory, his judgment, his reason -- the holy man may make many mistakes. Yet God looks at the sincerity of his purpose, at the love and faith of his heart -- not at the imperfections of the head -- and calls him a holy man.
Holiness is not absolute perfection, which belongs to God only; nor is it angelic perfection; nor is it Adamic perfection -- for, no doubt, Adam had a perfect head as well as a perfect heart before he sinned against God. But it is Christian perfection -- such perfection and obedience of the heart as a poor fallen creature, aided by almighty power and boundless grace, can give.
It is that state of heart and life which consists in being and doing all the time -- not by fits and starts, but steadily -- just what God wants us to be and do.
Jesus said, "Make the tree good, and his fruit good" (Matt. xii. 33). Now, an apple-tree is an apple-tree all the time, and can bring forth nothing but apples. So holiness is that perfect renewal of our nature that makes us essentially good, so that we continually bring forth fruit unto God -- "the fruit of the Spirit," which "is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (Gal. v. 22, 23), with never a single work of the flesh grafted in among this heavenly fruitage.

Glory to God! It is possible, right down here, where sin and Satan have once ruined us, for the Son of God thus to transform us, by enabling us to "put off the old man" with his deeds, and to "put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness" (Eph. iv. 22, 24), being "renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him"
But some objector says, "Yes, all you say is true, only I don't believe we can be holy till the hour of death. The Christian life is a warfare, and we must fight the good fight of faith until we die, and then I believe God will give us dying grace."
A great many honest Christians hold exactly this view, and hence put forth no real effort to "stand perfect and complete in all the (present) will of God" (Col. iv. 12) for them. And though they pray daily, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven" (Matt. vi. 10), yet they do not believe it is possible for them to do the will of God, and so they really make Jesus the author of a vain prayer, which it is only idle mockery to repeat.
But it is as easy for me to be and to do what God wants me to be and to do in this life, every day, as it is for Gabriel to be and do what God wants of him. If this is not so, then God is neither good nor just in His requirements of me.
God requires me to love and serve Him with all my heart, and Gabriel can do no more than that. And by God's grace it is as easy for me as for the archangel. Besides, God promises me that if I will return unto the Lord and obey His voice ... with all my heart, and with all my soul, that He will circumcise my heart ... to love Him with all my heart, and all my soul (Deut. xxx. 2, 6). And again, He promises that He would "grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life" (Luke i. 74, 75).
This promise in itself ought to convince any honest soul that God means us to be holy in this life.
The good fight of faith is a fight to retain this blessing against the assaults of Satan, the fogs of doubt, and the attacks of an ignorant and unbelieving church and world.
It is not a fight against ourselves after we are sanctified, for Paul expressly declares that "we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against wicked spirits in heavenly places" (Eph. vi. 12; marginal reading).
Again, in the whole word of God, there is not one sentence to prove that this blessing is not received before death; and surely, it is only by accepting from God's hands His offered living grace that we can hope to be granted dying grace.
But the Bible declares (2 Cor. ix. 8) that "God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work" -- not at death but in this life, when grace is needed and where our good works are to be done. 

A Second Work of Grace

The following is from the book "This Is Entire Sanctification" by Ismael E. Amaya:

"One of the most important aspects of the experience of entire sanctification is that it is presented in the Bible as a second work of grace. This is very simple to comprehend for many sincere believers; however it is difficult for others. Many people accept holiness as a divine work, but not as a second experience reserved only for the believers regenerated by the blood of Jesus Christ Some accept it as imparted to the sinner in the experience of regeneration. This is not possible for several reasons:
In the first place, the need for a second work of grace stems from the nature of sin itself. Sin is twofold, consisting of (1) volitional acts (sins) of the individual (for which he is personally responsible) and (2) the inward pollution (sin) or the sin principle (which he has inherited and for which he is not personally responsible). For the first, man must seek forgiveness (the first work); but for the second, he needs cleansing (the second work). Furthermore, an unforgiven heart is not a candidate for cleansing.
It should be noted, too, that when the sinner comes to Christ he comes burdened by his own sins; comes in repentance and under deep conviction for the sins which he has committed. He may, and should, shed bitter tears of repentance. His heart and mind are concerned with only one thing -- to have the sins of the past forgiven, to have his load of guilt lifted. The experience of holiness is not his immediate concern. If he has not been taught about the "second blessing," the glorious experience he now enjoys, the relief from the burden of his sins, together with the emotion produced by that event so sublime, is completely satisfying. He cannot imagine that there is something better than the experience of conversion. The first work of grace is, indeed, a complete work.
The sense of need for a second work of grace may come to a person very soon, or more slowly, depending on his background, teaching, and experience. He may be already instructed in the way. He may be led to seek the experience through the study of the Scriptures, or through the testimonies of the persons who already have been sanctified. At the same time a sense of personal

need will begin to develop -- a desire for an experience that will help him to live a victorious Christian life. When this need increases to the extent that it gets to be a petition to God, then the individual starts seeking the experience of entire sanctification.
Then, too, the Bible presents clearly both experiences. The more we study about them, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and through prayer, the more clearly we see them. The two experiences are so different that in certain aspects they seem to be the opposite of each other...."

Have you received the second work of grace in your heart? If you have not and would like to know more, please contact us. We would consider it an honor and privilege to share Bible truths with you.