Greetings from Pastor Brett.

I would like to share an essay I recently submitted for an on-going ed class entitled: The Theology of Christian Holiness. This class gets at the heart of what it means to be Methodist, in the truest, Wesleyan sense.

Have you ever heard of the term, "entire sanctification?" Wesley said this was the "grand depositum" of the people called Methodists; it is the primary gift given to us to share with the world. It is also one of the most misunderstood concepts in evangelical theology. This short essay, I think, makes it easier to grasp. It answers common questions like: "What does it mean to be 'saved'?" "Is it more than saying a prayer?" "What necessary role if any do works play in the life of a believer?" "What more does God have for me?" Common questions like these are the reasons why I want to share it. I pray it is a blessing. And, that it stirs you to walk in closer relationship with the God who loves and gave Himself for you.


THE HOLY SPIRIT’S WORK IN SANCTIFICATION:
A WESLEYAN PERSPECTIVE

The Holy Spirit’s work in sanctification is a promised, necessary, and ongoing work in the life of the believer. Sanctification is the process begun at rebirth—comprising justification and regeneration—whereby the Spirit of God fills the believer with life, love for God, the ability to mortify the deeds of the flesh, and the capacity to walk in holiness. Not initiated by man, but in every way responsive to God, this continual process takes place within the context of relationship: the regenerated spirit of man respirating with the Spirit of God, a reality grounded in faith and realized by works of the soul and body that are holy, even as He is holy.

The Old Testament promised God would place within man a “new heart,” one that would desire to know him and walk in his ways. Ezekiel 36:26-27 promises: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you . . . I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes.” This prophetic promise highlights a fundamental truth: holiness cannot be manufactured by an external code. The Holy Spirit's work in sanctification starts here, at the site of human brokenness, by bringing a radical, internal transformation that replaces an unyielding nature with one capable of divine intimacy.

Without this transformative work, reliance on God’s laws keeps man trapped in his sinful state. The external commandment is holy and good, but provides no power to change the human heart. Instead, it acts as a mirror that provokes the latent, inward rebellion of the flesh; the law exposes the condition of the soil, but it cannot cultivate it. Therefore, the Old Testament promise of the Spirit is not a promise of a better ruleset, but a promise of a completely new internal operating system. Transformation was necessary. Jesus provided the way. And God’s Spirit filling the lives of believers is its realization. The Holy Spirit steps in to replace the stubborn, unresponsive heart of stone with a heart of living flesh that is relationally capable and practically desirous of walking in God’s ways.

While Christ’s sacrifice provides the objective framework for this redemption, the possibility of relationship is not the same as the sharing of relationship. For this reason, the person and work of the Holy Spirit are central to the relationship God has always intended to share with humanity. Scripturally, faith is required to receive God’s gift of forgiveness in Jesus’s salvific work. Righteousness is given to all who believe, resulting in justification.

At the moment one is justified, the wall of sin separating humanity from God is removed, and the life of God rushes in, regenerating. Wesley refers to this two-faceted work as the new birth. In this moment, “a real as well as relative change” occurs; “the love of God [is] shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost given unto us; producing life in the soul.” This, Wesley asserted, is the “gate of sanctification.” A profound change occurs. God himself, in the person of the Holy Spirit, takes up residence within man. These initial works of restored relationship with God represent the Wesleyan understanding of “initial,” or beginning work of sanctification. The Holy Spirit is clearly present here as the life-restoring, love-issuing presence of God. This internal transformation makes sustained intimacy possible. But a new birth begins a new life.

The Holy Spirit’s initial work of sanctification does not signal the end of this grace, but rather the opening and stepping through of Wesley’s “gate.” This change makes possible a longer, ongoing work whereby the life of God permeates ever more deeply into the life of the believer. The initial phase breaks the dominion of sin, but the deep-burrowed root of sin remains. And like a root that runs deep, pulling out means digging down. The Spirit’s ongoing work in sanctification is this digging down—a cooperative effort where the believer surrenders the soil of his soul to the Spirit’s spade. He is then equally obedient to dispose of those fragments of sin unearthed and to sow new seeds given him by the Spirit.

Wesley describes this ongoing work as “gradual sanctification.” This subsequent phase requires an active partnership where the believer learns to respond to the loving leading of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gradually sanctifies believers by prompting and enabling them to navigate a new and often trying landscape of life. Suffering and trial, in many ways, characterize the process. It is “taking up your cross” and “being crucified with Christ.” This phase of Wesley’s understanding of sanctification is what Paul refers to as “putting off the old man,” being “renewed in the spirit of your mind,” and putting on “the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

Gradual sanctification is the living out of the cleansing made possible in Christ. Desires of the flesh and the acts that flow from them are gradually replaced with fresh fruits of the Spirit. More than willpower or good intent, it is the Holy Spirit who enables believers to deny themselves and follow Jesus by taking up their cross—a deeper sacrifice of oneself that goes far beyond consecration. The Holy Spirit not only makes this possible, but lovingly leads and powerfully enables the work. The features of the spiritual babe gradually become more defined like a child’s face becoming a man’s. Through this trying process of self-crucifixion, the Holy Spirit draws the believer—away from his self-destructive inner focus and into authentic, Christlike maturation.

Wesley points to various “means of grace” to identify and express the Holy Spirit’s work in sanctification. Within this relational paradigm, the Spirit works through specific activities to reshape believers. These means of grace re-form the inwardly twisted bent of humanity upward and outward. Wesley’s framework includes works of piety such as prayer, searching the Scriptures, corporate worship, fasting, and the Lord’s Supper. Through these spiritual disciplines, the Holy Spirit draws the believer's attention upward, anchoring their mind and heart in the divine nature of God. The Holy Spirit also authors works of mercy to draw believers outward in love, moving them to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick or imprisoned, and instruct the ignorant. These means of grace are the rehabilitation that follows the surgery of rebirth.

Neglecting these works of piety and mercy makes it unreasonable for believers to expect to be sanctified, or even to maintain their faith. Doing so is tantamount to shunning the Holy Spirit. Within the Wesleyan framework, these works are not independent human efforts to earn salvation, but rather the vital means of spiritual respiration. Just as physical life demands breathing in and breathing out, the spiritual life requires receiving the Spirit’s grace through piety and reacting to it through charity. The means of grace are the appropriate spiritual opportunities and guidance crucial for helping believers grow, acting as the exact spaces where the believer positions themselves to receive the Spirit's transforming breath.

The current of gradual sanctification flows toward entire sanctification. Entire sanctification represents the depth of God's sanctifying work in the strata of the regenerate soul. While surrender and consecration are necessary steps where the believer opens the door, it is the Holy Spirit who does the cleansing work. In entire sanctification, the Holy Spirit thoroughly cleanses the deepest chambers of the soul, entirely removing the root of sin and continually filling the heart with love. At this stage, a deeper relationship with the Holy Spirit steers the ship; love for God and others drives the person. Their life becomes an unhindered, rhythmic reaction to the person of the Holy Spirit. This may last for moments, days, weeks, or years this side of heaven. Yet, whatever the subjective experience, maturation means more.

The Holy Spirit’s work in sanctification is a promised, necessary, and ongoing tapestry of grace. From the initial spark of regeneration to the steady march of gradual growth, and into the depths of entire sanctification, the process of transformation is a product of divine initiative. Salvation is not achieved through human effort alone; it is a living, breathing relationship with the God of creation. By understanding this process, church leaders are equipped to provide appropriate spiritual opportunities to effectively disciple others, encouraging them to turn their spiritual gaze away from themselves and toward the Spirit who restores, transforms, and fills the soul with perfect love.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Arminius, Jacobus. "Disputation XLIX: On the Sanctification of Man." In The Works of James Arminius. Translated by James Nichols. Vol. 2. Reprint, Grand Rapids: Baker, 1986.

Allison, Gregg R., and Andreas J. Köstenberger. The Holy Spirit. Theology for the People of God. Nashville: B&H Academic, 2020.

Lohrstorfer, Chris. “Lecture Eight: The Holy Spirit, Continued Again.” ST606. Class lecture at Wesley Biblical Seminary, Ridgeland, MS, 21 October, 2026.

——. “Lecture Seven: The Holy Spirit, Continued.” ST606. Class lecture at Wesley Biblical Seminary, Ridgeland, MS, 2 October, 2026.

——. “Lecture Six: The Holy Spirit.” ST606. Class lecture at Wesley Biblical Seminary, Ridgeland, MS, 25 September, 2026.

——. Learning to Breathe: Mastering the Art of Spiritual Respiration. St. Louis: CreateSpace, 2018.

Luther, Martin. Lectures on Romans. Edited by Hilton C. Oswald. Vol. 25 of Luther’s Works. Edited by Jaroslav Pelikan. St. Louis: Concordia, 1972.

Scougal, Henry. The Life of God in the Soul of Man. Wheaton: Crossway, 2022.

Wesley, John. "Sermon 16: The Means of Grace." In The Bicentennial Edition of the Works of John Wesley. Edited by Albert C. Outler. Vol. 2. Nashville: Abingdon, 1984.

——. "Sermon 43: The Scripture Way of Salvation." In The Sermons of John Wesley. 1872 edition. Reprinted, Nampa, ID: Wesley Center for Applied Theology, 1999. nnu.edu.

——. "Sermon 45: The New Birth." In The Sermons of John Wesley. 1872 edition. Reprinted, Nampa, ID: Wesley Center for Applied Theology, 1999. nnu.edu.