In John chapter 12 when the inquiring Greeks came seeking an audience with Jesus we are not told what their motives were. It would seem obvious that they were seeking light and truth. Whatever their motive was it gave Jesus an occasion to unveil the central principle of the atonement. It is called the grain-of-wheat principle.
In John 12:24 Jesus declares “except a (corn) grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”
In His death on the cross Jesus answered the question and fulfilled the purpose of His coming into the world. It was “for this cause He came unto this hour” (vs.27).
The choice was, “‘Should I save my own life and let a guilty race march on to hell, or will I indeed be “the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.’” It was on the cross that Jesus gave His life in order that “the prince of this world be cast out.”
The message of the cross is that He became our substitution; this truth we gladly accept. However the cross means more than our substitution. It also demands our fellowship. We, as His children, must identify with Him in the crucifixion of our old man (Romans 6:6).
While much is preached and taught concerning the New Birth, and necessarily so, we too often fail to declare that the old man must be crucified. The Birth of the Spirit initiates one into eternal life, and the subsequent work of the Baptism with the Spirit, cleanses the new Christian from the old man (Carnality). The former involves a cradle but the latter requires a cross.
Much is made of the imputed righteousness of Christ but little is made of the imparted righteousness of Christ. This causes many to declare that they are holy-in-Christ while being vile and sinful in themselves. Adam Clarke, rightly states with Scriptural logic that “righteousness imputed, righteousness imparted and righteousness practiced are always found together. God never imputes unless He imparts and imparted righteousness immediately withers when not practiced.”
To a Christian, who is hungering and thirsting after righteousness, this is good news. As one who is diseased in body, discovers the possibility of physical healing would rejoice over the good news. Just so, when a new born Christian discovers that provisions have been made for the remains of sin’s disease in the man-soul through the efficacy of His blood, he too would rejoice and hunger and thirst until he experienced total deliverance from inbred sin. That is truly the good news of the Gospel.
There is nothing more beautiful than holiness, more attractive than purity, or more enduring than love. These are the cardinal qualities of entire sanctification.
This truth must be declared with great fervor and articulated with scriptural clarity. If one is enjoying the life of perfect love, this truth should never be preached, taught, or witnessed ambiguously.
We have the word of Christ and the work of Calvary as our foundational basis. The truth of True Scriptural Holiness can stand any scrutiny. When it is challenged by its opponents, holiness people need to, again, acquaint themselves with some basic facts of Bible exegesis, and when confronted by troublesome texts one must measure them with one question: Is the passage interpreted in harmony with the central theme of the Bible, which is man’s total redemption from sin?
This truth is Biblical, rational, experiential, and practical. I want to share a testimony I recently received from one who, after 8 years is rejoicing in the beauty of holiness. He writes:
“Early on in my walk with Christ, in my hunger for more of Him, I started asking Him what it meant to be entirely sanctified and baptized with the Holy Spirit. I remember looking up any word I could think of in the concordance to help me find scriptures that would give me some light. My mother always had a dictionary with her as she studied the Bible. I quickly discovered how spiritual and insightful Webster could be.
The Lord brought Jerry Renkenberger into my life and we began having wonderful in-depth conversations of the Scriptures that continue to this day. One day Jerry brought back cassette tapes from the Hendersonville Campmeeting and introduced me to you. I heard you communicate the holiness message like I’d never heard before. My spirit was in instant agreement as I heard you verbalize what was in my heart. You can ask Jerry, I would sit down and try to take notes from those tapes and I would wind up writing down practically every word on the tape. I would say to Jerry, ‘how am I to summarize that, every word seemed critical to the subject?’ Between myself and my friends who ‘really get it,’ the message of heart holiness is obvious all through the Bible. Once we receive the blessing by faith, the Word really opens up.
I will continue spreading God’s messageof heart holiness, that a heart can be perfected in love, to anyone who will listen.“
Robert (Bobby) Gums
It is difficult to add to such a burning testimony. I’m confident that no one ever entered into the experience of entire sanctification who felt that he would get along very well without the experience. It must be understood that no impossible thing is required of the soul. God’s Commandments are equally His enablements. What He requires of His children He has made adequate provisions through the efficacy of the cross.
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