Holiness / Nazarene (Wesleyan-Holiness Movement)

Entire sanctification / Christian perfection - a definite 'second work of grace' subsequent to justification, in which the believer's inbred sin nature is cleansed and the heart is 'perfected in love,' often received as a datable crisis experience.

Their basis
Wesley's 'Plain Account of Christian Perfection.' They cite 1 Thessalonians 5:23 ('may God sanctify you entirely'), Matthew 5:48 ('be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect'), Hebrews 12:14 ('the holiness without which no one will see the Lord'), Deuteronomy 30:6 (God circumcises the heart 'to love the LORD with all your heart'), and 1 John 4:17-18 (love made perfect). Jesus' prayer 'sanctify them' (John 17:17) is read as a distinct, definite work.

Scripture answers
Scripture calls holiness the goal but describes sanctification chiefly as a lifelong, progressive work, not a once-for-all cleansing that ends the inner struggle. Paul, an apostle, still says 'not that I have already... been made perfect, but I press on' (Phil 3:12), and describes an ongoing war with indwelling sin (Rom 7:18-25). John warns 'if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves' (1 John 1:8). 'Perfect' (teleios) in Matt 5:48 means mature/complete, not flawless. We ARE positionally sanctified in Christ (Heb 10:10; 1 Cor 6:11) and are BEING sanctified (2 Cor 3:18) - Hebrews 10:14 holds both together: 'by one offering he has perfected forever those who are BEING sanctified.' God Himself completes it, at Christ's return (1 Thess 5:23-24, 'He who calls you is faithful; he will do it'; 1 John 3:2). Beware requiring a second, datable experience as the norm Scripture does not mandate for all.

Philippians 3:12Romans 7:18-251 John 1:82 Corinthians 3:18Hebrews 10:141 Thessalonians 5:23-241 Peter 1:15-16

In fairness: They are right about the thing that matters most: God genuinely commands holiness - 'Be holy, for I am holy' (1 Pet 1:15-16), and 'without holiness no one will see the Lord' (Heb 12:14). Their careful teachers affirm continued growth after the crisis and mean by 'perfection' Wesley's 'perfect LOVE,' not sinless flawlessness. Much of the modern church treats sanctification too casually; the Holiness refusal to make peace with sin, and its confidence that grace actually transforms, is a needed and biblical witness.

Conditional security (Arminianism) - a truly saved believer can fall from grace and forfeit salvation through willful, unrepented sin or apostasy.

Their basis
Following Arminius and Wesley against Calvinism. They cite Hebrews 6:4-6 and 10:26-29 (falling away after enlightenment), John 15:2,6 (branches taken away and burned), Galatians 5:4 ('you have fallen away from grace'), 1 Corinthians 9:27 (Paul fears being 'disqualified'), and 2 Peter 2:20-22.

Scripture answers
The New Testament gives strong assurance that Christ keeps His own: 'I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand' (John 10:28-29); 'nothing... will separate us from the love of God' (Rom 8:38-39); 'He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion' (Phil 1:6); believers are 'sealed' with the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13-14). The warning passages call for perseverance and often show that those who fall away 'were not of us' (1 John 2:19). God's keeping and our persevering are held together (John 6:39; 1 Pet 1:5).

John 10:28-29Romans 8:38-39Philippians 1:6Ephesians 1:13-141 John 2:191 Peter 1:5

In fairness: This is a genuine within-the-family debate (Arminian vs. Calvinist) among true Christians, not a gospel-denying error. The warning passages ARE real Scripture and are meant to be heeded, not explained away; the Holiness stress on continuing in faith guards against cheap, presumptuous 'once-saved' license (Heb 3:14; Col 1:23).

Strict separation from 'worldliness' - historic rules (the 'General Rules' / Covenant of Christian Conduct): total abstinence from alcohol and tobacco, and prohibitions on dancing, theater/movies, gambling, lotteries, secret societies, and certain dress or entertainment.

Their basis
1 Thessalonians 5:22 ('abstain from every appearance/form of evil'), 2 Corinthians 6:17 ('come out from among them and be separate'), Romans 12:2 ('do not be conformed to this world'), 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit), and 1 John 2:15 ('do not love the world').

Scripture answers
Holy, distinct living is right, but Scripture warns against binding consciences with man-made rules as though they were God's law. Jesus rebuked 'teaching as doctrines the commandments of men... you leave the commandment of God and hold to human tradition' (Mark 7:7-8). Paul: 'Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch... these have an appearance of wisdom... but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh' (Col 2:20-23), and warned of those who forbid what 'God created to be received with thanksgiving' (1 Tim 4:3-5). On disputable matters, 'let each be fully convinced in his own mind' and do not pass judgment (Rom 14:1-17); 'for freedom Christ has set us free' (Gal 5:1). The Bible condemns drunkenness (Eph 5:18), not the mere touch of a cup.

Mark 7:7-8Colossians 2:20-23Romans 14:1-17Galatians 5:1Ephesians 5:181 Timothy 4:3-5

In fairness: Their instinct is biblical: believers ARE called to be set apart and not conformed to the world (Rom 12:2; 1 Pet 2:11), and abstaining from alcohol and gambling has spared many real families real ruin - a loving, wise application in a culture of excess. The error is only when a wise personal or communal standard hardens into a test of salvation or spirituality that Scripture itself does not impose (Rom 14:3-4).

Crisis-experience revivalism - salvation and especially sanctification are often expected as datable, felt experiences ('getting saved,' then 'getting sanctified'), pressed at the altar, sometimes making the testimony of a second definite experience a mark of the truly consecrated.

Their basis
The revival tradition and texts read as instantaneous: Acts 15:8-9 (hearts 'cleansed by faith'), Romans 12:1 ('present your bodies a living sacrifice' as a decisive act of consecration), and personal-testimony patterns of a definite moment of full surrender.

Scripture answers
God does meet people in real, sometimes datable moments - but Scripture does not make a second crisis experience the required pattern for every believer, nor faith a matter of feelings. 'We walk by faith, not by sight' (2 Cor 5:7); the fruit of the Spirit grows over time (Gal 5:22-23) 'from one degree of glory to another' (2 Cor 3:18). Assurance rests on Christ's finished work and God's promise, not on the intensity of an altar experience (1 John 5:11-13; Rom 8:16). Pressing a required 'second blessing' can wound tender consciences.

2 Corinthians 5:7Galatians 5:22-232 Corinthians 3:181 John 5:11-13Romans 8:16Romans 12:1

In fairness: Their heart-religion is a corrective to dead formalism: real conversion and real consecration DO involve the will and often a decisive surrender (Rom 12:1), and God is honored when people earnestly seek Him rather than settle for nominal faith. Wesley's 'heart strangely warmed' points to a genuine, personal encounter the New Testament knows well (Acts 16:14).