BE SURE YOU ARE SAVED
The God of the Bible is holy. Holiness is the all-essential attribute of God's character. This is His basic nature. Therefore, He yearns to produce a holy people with whom He may commune and have fellowship. God's Word teaches that men are saved in order that they might be sanctified wholly.
Asbury Lowery said: "Without holiness angels could not be angels; Christians could not be Christians; and God could not be God." [1]
To be sure, all who are soundly, scripturally saved or born again have the right to heaven; for no one truly saved is lost. Now, God intends these, His children, to experience a second work of grace, a thorough sanctification which alone fits them for heaven.
Heaven is a holy place,
prepared for a holy people;
sin can never enter there.
So then, the Bible urges God's children, i.e., those who have been born again of the Holy Spirit, to take a second step and be "filled" with the Spirit. This is called entire sanctification. This sanctification is for sons, the Spirit born! The birth [2] of the Spirit always precedes the baptism [3] with the Spirit. This means that only those persons who have been genuinely saved are proper subjects for entire sanctification. No one can intelligently and heartily seek the second work of grace until clearly in possession of the first. Truly, it means very much to profess being a Christian!
A Christian is the highest character which any human being can bear on earth. The title comes from God: therefore, a holy character is required to wear the name. Without this proper holy character it is religiously dishonest and absolute folly to call one a Christian. [4]
There is a growing tendency in Christendom at present to place the standard for the Christian life so low to appease the pleasure loving and worldly minded people of our day. It is popular to do so but in thus lowering the standard of true scriptural salvation many have been deceived. The Lord Jesus said, "If the blind lead the blind both shall fall into the ditch" (Matt. 15:14). How serious are these words. Jesus made it plain that the deceived ones and the deceivers shall both fall and perish together.
Rev. B. T. Roberts warned: "To place the standard too high, discourages, or too low, deludes and destroys. It is difficult to conceive of any greater harm that a man can do than to deceive multitudes to their eternal ruin." [5]
Man's greatest blessing is to know God personally; and if ever you are to be sanctified wholly and "filled with the Spirit" you must surely come to know you are a child of God. This is the first step; you may and must have this solid knowledge and assurance.
Notice carefully that the following are not suitable candidates for entire sanctification.
1. The Unconverted Person Is Not A Proper Candidate For Entire Sanctification.
We mean, of course, the non converted, the unregenerate, i.e., he who has never been "born again." Such a person is not a proper candidate for entire sanctification. When Jesus gave the promise of "another Comforter" to His disciples, He made it clear that this Comforter (the Holy Spirit) was One "whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him" (John 14:17). This was not true of the Lord's disciples; for Jesus continued saying, "He dwelleth with you and shall be in you" (John 14:17). Further, three times in John 17 Jesus declared to the Father that these disciples "were not of the world" (John 17:6, 14, 16). The unsaved person is yet "dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2:1). Therefore, one must be quickened to life by the Holy Spirit; for only living Christians qualify for the experience of entire sanctification.
2. The Backslider Is Not A Proper Candidate For Entire Sanctification.
Occasionally, an earnest seeker for sanctification will discover he has "slidden back" of light, i.e., God's revealed will concerning his daily walk in moral truth and duty. He is walking behind light and is now experiencing guilt, condemnation and a measure of spiritual darkness. He must, therefore, humble himself and make the proper adjustment. This may require restitution, such as an apology or confession, and will likely prove embarrassing; but it must be done.
E. J. Wilson once said, "To be sanctified wholly you must be as straight as a gun barrel and as clean as a hound's tooth!"
A return to cross bearing and discipleship will bring the Spirit's approval and the wanderer will once again find his spiritual skies clearing. With his conscience cleared he will then know exactly where he stands with the Lord.
Dr. Dale Yocum explains how the Lord worked with those needing restoration to grace in the following excerpt:
"He sought to prepare them for the coming of the Spirit. Peter had backslidden and needed restoration. Jesus counseled with him, as is recorded in John 21:26-29.
"Thomas was unbelieving; and Jesus dealt with him about that, as we find in John 20:26-29.
"When the Holy Ghost came they were living in unity, expectancy, and readiness for Him. Their schisms and quarrels had been rectified. There was nothing in their past which now remained to bar the glorious coming of the Spirit in His fullness." [6]
3. A Deceived But Professing Person Is Not A Candidate For Entire Sanctification.
A man was kneeling in prayer at a public altar seeking to be saved. An earnest and, no doubt, well meaning Christian worker said to him, "Believe, my friend! Believe and you shall be saved, for the Bible says, 'Believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved!'" (Acts 16:31).
The seeker remained quiet; and the worker prodded further, "Do you believe in Jesus?"
"Yes," he replied.
"Then you are saved!" shouted the worker.
"No, I am not saved," the kneeling man answered. "For the Bible also says, 'Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon' (Isaiah 55:7) and I haven't done that yet! No, I am not saved!"
This man knew that sincere repentance is the true basis for a saving faith. There is a crying need for clear Bible teaching on repentance, restitution and separation from the world. We fear many have little, if any, of the promised witness of the "Spirit" (Romans 8:15-16); thus, salvation to many is becoming increasingly a "head thing" without the inner "blessed assurance" our forefathers sang so joyously about.
Concerning those who imagine themselves Christians and are not, John Wesley pointedly said:
"These abound not only in all parts of our land, but in most part of the habitable world. That they are not Christians is clear and undeniable if we believe the oracles of God. For...
"Christians are holy; these are unholy
"Christians love God; these love the world.
"Christians are humble; these are proud.
"Christians are gentle; these are passionate.
"Christians have the mind of Christ; these are at the utmost distance from Christ.
"Consequently, they are no more Christians than they are archangels. Yet they imagine themselves so to be, and they can give several reasons for it. For... they have been called so ever since they can remember; they were christened many years ago; they embrace the Christian opinions, vulgarly termed the Christian or catholic faith. They use the Christian modes of worship as their fathers did before them. They live what is called a good Christian life, as the rest of their neighbors do. And who shall presume to think or say that these men are no Christians though without one grain of true faith in Christ or a real, inward holiness; without ever having tasted the love of God or been "made partakers of the Holy Ghost." Ah, poor self-deceivers! Christians you are not, but you are enthusiasts in a high degree." [7]
A teacher in a Bible college declared that all that anyone needed to be assured of salvation was the Bible. "Just believe the Bible," he said.
One day he asked a student, "Are you saved?"
The student replied, "Sure!"
"How do you know this?" the instructor asked.
"I know I am saved because the Bible says I am. The Bible says, 'believe and thou shalt be saved'; and I have believed, so I'm saved."
The mistake here is confusing "head knowledge" with "heart faith." There is a difference between the two. We read that, "the devils also believe, and tremble" (James 2:19). Still they remain devils, unregenerate and unchanged in character. Likewise, mere head knowledge alone, without the ground work of repentance, separation from the world and a willingness to bear the cross of Jesus, is rank God dishonoring presumption and not true saving faith. This will never be given sanction by the Holy Spirit. Be warned! You will never proceed to entire sanctification until you know by the Spirit's own witness that you are saved. The birth of the Spirit always precedes the baptism of the Spirit. Sanctification is for sons, and the Holy Spirit will witness our Sonship!
The Bible is like a road map. It tells us what roads we must take to find God. Believing or exercising faith in Christ is one of these roads, but the Holy Spirit alone can tell us when we have found the Lord and His grace, and this will always be in harmony with the witness of the Scripture.
There is a clear illustration of this in the Old Testament concerning the Lord's dealings with Israel. The Lord had promised to "give" [8] to Israel the land of Canaan as their inheritance, and what God has promised He has power to perform. The exodus from Egypt preceded Israel's entrance into Canaan! Israel must "get out" from under the hand of Pharaoh and the taskmasters of Egypt before they could possibly enter into the land of promise. They simply had to "get out" before they could "get in." What Israel experienced physically and geographically each person must experience spiritually. We, too, must be delivered from our slavery to Satan and the bondage and practice of sin and worldliness before we can "move on" to the great experience of entire sanctification. Yes, Sanctification is for sons!
The following is a scriptural checklist for one who is truly a Christian. We urge you to carefully "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" (2 Cor. 13:5).
1. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Cor. 5:17). Can this be said of you by your family, friends and associates? Have you experienced a radical change in all aspects of your life?
2. "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God" (Romans 8:16). Have you this "witness" from the Spirit which is more than the approval of others? Sincere Christians may desire to assure you of salvation but it is dangerous to do so for no one can produce the inward assurance of salvation but God Himself. This is the witness of the spirit and the privilege of every true believer.
3. "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" (Romans 8:14). Are you teachable? "And the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out: and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice" (John 10:3, 4).
4. "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin" (1 John 3:9). "Whosoever is born of God sinneth not" (1 John 5:18). Have you quit the sin business? Do you live above the practice of deliberate sin? It has been said that living above sin is the low watermark of the Christian life -- the minimum.
5. "He that is begotten of God keepeth himself" (1 John 5:18). Do you guard the treasure of your soul, your spiritual birth? Are you carefully abstaining "from all appearance of evil" (1 Thess. 5:22)? Do you dress modestly, is your conversation clean, and are your business dealings honest? Do you strive for deep spirituality? To this end, do you watch and pray?
6. "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty" (2 Cor. 6:17-18). "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" (Romans 12:2). Are you free from your love of the world? Are you living a separate life -- the Christian life? Are you free from conformity to the world's customs, fashions, lusts and amusements? Are you free from the dictates of Satan and the children of night? "Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith" (1 John 5:4). Saving faith overcomes the world.
7. "We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren" (1 John 3:14). All who are truly born again love each other. The saints one used to shun mean more to him now than even his unsaved relatives. Do you love the saints and not merely endure them?
8. "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" (Matthew 7:21). Do you obey and do God's will? This is surely the key definition of a true Christian! Obedience! Do you obey? "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15). "If a man love me, he will keep my words" (John 14:23). "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city" (Rev. 22:14).
9. "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby" (1 Peter 2:2). "Receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls" (James 1:21). Living bodies must have food. Likewise, if the soul is alive, it will have an appetite for spiritual food. Christians must have the food of the Scripture. Do you have an appetite for the Word of God?
10. "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled" (Matthew 5:6). Do you hunger for righteousness? Antagonism to holiness and holy living comes from the unsaved. "Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity" (2 Tim. 2:19).
You simply must be saved, scripturally born again, before you can heartily and intelligently seek for entire sanctification! Sanctification is for sons! As one has aptly said,
"A man cannot go on until he has gone somewhere!"
No one can take a second step until he has taken his first. Be sure you are saved. This is the first step toward--
Even your sanctification!
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