Christian Perfection II

At a glance

Relevant Scripture

“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

Matthew 5:48 KJV

UECF.NET summary

Building on the previous lecture's case that perfect holiness is both commanded and attainable, Finney now asks why, in practice, so few Christians ever seem to reach it. He refuses to blame God's provision and instead diagnoses a habit of mind he calls seeking sanctification by works. This habit disguises itself in several ways: some strive to live respectably enough that God could not fairly condemn them; others try to accumulate enough good deeds to recommend themselves to God's mercy; still others treat coming to Christ the way an anxious sinner treats conversion, assuming they must first work themselves into the right frame of distress or resolve before they are ready to be sanctified. Finney's point in each case is the same: any of these strategies substitutes self-generated effort for simple trust, and an act that does not spring from faith already at work in the heart cannot itself produce that faith. Holiness, on this reasoning, cannot be earned into existence by trying harder; it can only be received.

The second, subtler cause he names is that believers generally receive Christ in only one of his offered relations — as the one who removes the guilt and penalty of sin — and never press on to know him in the others Scripture assigns him: wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Having found peace through the cross, most converts settle into ordinary Christian life still governed largely by their own resources, and are caught off guard when pride, temper, or old appetites reassert themselves, because they have never learned to bring those particular weaknesses to Christ as king and sanctifier. Finney insists this is not a failure of the gospel's supply but of the believer's grasp of it: every attribute of Christ's fullness answers to some specific defect of character, and the remedy for any recurring sin is to receive Christ freshly in exactly the relation that sin exposes. He closes by warning that outward religious busyness — more meetings, more resolutions, more visible zeal — is no substitute for this and can even harden a congregation further if it becomes a way of manufacturing feeling instead of resting on Christ by faith.

Main theological themes

• Sanctification, like justification, is received by faith in Christ rather than produced by effort, resolution, or preparatory works.
• Most believers receive Christ only as their pardon and never press on to know Him as wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and king over the whole life.
• Visible religious activity is not evidence of holiness and can, without faith at its root, harden a congregation rather than sanctify it.

Key ideas

• The 'religion of works' takes many forms — living well enough to make damnation seem unjust, doing good to earn God's mercy, and 'preparing' oneself with distress or resolve before daring to come to Christ — but all of them substitute effort for faith.
• An act that does not spring from faith and love already present in the heart is itself sin, so no amount of striving to become ready can manufacture the very faith it is meant to precede.
• Believers commonly stop with Christ as the one who forgives, never learning to receive Him, as 1 Corinthians 1:30 promises, as their wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption as well.
• Multiplying meetings, resolutions, or visible zeal is not the same as growth in holiness, and where it replaces simple faith it can leave a congregation more hardened than before.

Important concepts

• The religion of works — Finney's label for any strategy — moral respectability, accumulated good deeds, or self-imposed preparation — that tries to secure or produce holiness apart from simple faith in Christ.
• Receiving Christ in all His relations — The conviction, drawn from 1 Corinthians 1:30, that Christ is given to believers not only as pardon but as wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption — each to be laid hold of by faith as its specific need arises.
• Preparationism — The mistaken idea, applied by Finney to both unconverted seekers and struggling believers, that one must pass through a set season of distress, effort, or resolve before it is proper to simply trust Christ.

Related Bible references

• 1 Corinthians 1:30
• Galatians 3:2–3
• John 15:4–5
• Hebrews 4:2
• Colossians 2:6–7

Practical Christian application

• Notice the next time you try to 'get right with God' by resolving harder or doing more, and instead stop and simply ask Christ, by name, for the specific grace you lack.
• Identify one relation in which you have never really applied to Christ — as wisdom for a confusing decision, or as king over one habit — and bring that need to Him this week.
• Before adding another religious activity to your schedule, examine whether it flows from faith already at work in you, or is an attempt to manufacture a feeling you do not yet have.

Questions for study