I’m currently preaching a series on Sunday nights about the Four-fold Gospel of the Christian & Missionary Alliance. Our denomination’s founder, A.B. Simpson, was the first to articulate these four truths derived from Scripture that most of the evangelicals of his time understood. These four tenets of the gospel have Christ as their center and source and genuine believers as the beneficiaries. I spoke about Christ as our Savior the week before, but last night was devoted to the second of the four tenets, Christ as our Sanctifier.
For those familiar with the history of the Alliance, it is a known fact that Simpson was a leader in the “holiness” movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. That movement would eventually lead to the founding of the C&MA, but it also contributed significantly to the development of several Pentecostal denominations. Unfortunately, many of those leaders in later generations would take the ideals of “the deeper life” to a place that Simpson had never intended it to go. As a result, many unbiblical activities would become manifest in some of the Pentecostal churches, all in the name of the Holy Spirit.
However, we still have great appreciation in the Alliance for the role of the Holy Spirit in implementing the work of Christ for our sanctification. The Bible refers to Christ as the one who is our sanctifier. (Heb. 2:11) Therefore, sanctification is one of the blessings that believers are granted as a result of Christ’s redemptive work on our behalf. It is God’s will that we experience sanctification (I Thess. 4:3), which is described in both the past tense (positional sanctification – I Cor. 1:2; 6:11) and present tense (progressive sanctification – I Thess. 4:1). Most theologians agree about these aspects of sanctification.
But it’s the crisis of sanctification that still generates a lot of concern and misunderstanding. Years after his conversion, Simpson had experienced a profound encounter with Christ that dramatically raised his spiritual awareness and maturity. He called it a “divine holiness” that came as a result of his full and complete surrender to Christ. It wasn’t a “second work of grace” or the “baptism of the Holy Spirit” to him. It was all about appropriating the work that Christ had already accomplished for His children. It was all about dying to the flesh and living under the control of the Holy Spirit. But it was a definitive moment that was just as real to him as Paul’s transformation on the Damascus Road.
While preaching about this crisis of sanctification last night, I used an illustration from the movies that I t
hought would help us better appreciate how it works. I referred to the movie Star Wars, and particularly to Hans Solo’s spaceship, the “Millennium Falcon.” If you’ve seen the movie you know that the “Millennium Falcon” was equipped with a device that could generate a faster-than-light travel known as hyperspace. It didn’t always work, but when it did work the ship would travel at such high speeds that the stars around them would become blurred streaks of light zooming past.
When we experience a crisis of sanctification, it’s similar to a hyperspace growth in our Christian life. For years after salvation we are growing gradually and steadily, progressing more and more into the likeness of Christ. (like the Millennium Falcon at normal speed) But then something supernatural happens – we have an encounter with Christ that boosts our spiritual growth to a greater distance and at a greater rate than ever before. (like the Millennium Falcon in hyperspace) After the crisis, we continue progressing in our Christian walk, abounding more and more in personal discipleship. (like the Millennium Falcon nearing its approach to a particular destination) Throughout the entire journey, our spiritual growth is progressing. But at one particular period the growth is extraordinary and irreversible.
This is what the Lord wants for our sanctification. Only He can bring about that kind of growth in our lives as we unreservedly surrender to His control through the Holy Spirit. When this happens, there will be a instant of marked, sustained growth in our relationship to Him. We should always be able to look back to the time that Christ became, in this sense of crisis, our Santifier.