Be holy because I am holy. Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.
The Christian life includes many demands, but perhaps none are as challenging or as misunderstood as the biblical command to "be holy" (Leviticus 11:44 and 1 Peter 1:16) or to "be perfect" (Matthew 5:48). How should we understand these charges?
In this volume, three scholars from the Wesleyan tradition offer a collective treatment of the theme of holiness that includes:
• exegesis of key biblical passages
• a survey across church history
• theological reflections on the relationship between entire sanctification and other doctrines
In addition, the coauthors constructively argue for a "neo-holiness" model that encourages the pursuit of Christian perfection but avoids the pitfalls of Pelagianism by incorporating historic understandings of grace and the work of the Holy Spirit with the best of the Wesleyan tradition.
Here, the commands to "be holy" and to "be perfect" take on new meaning. What may have been a burden becomes a blessing.
"John Wesley was convinced that God had raised up the Methodists to 'spread scriptural holiness throughout the land.' In many modern expressions of Christianity, a concern for holiness has been neglected-not only within evangelicalism generally but also within much of the Methodist tradition. This book seeks to recapture the vision of the Wesleys, showing that the doctrine is grounded in Scripture as well as the deep and broad Christian tradition. It will be a blessing to both fellow Wesleyans and Reformed Christians who will find much with which they can heartily agree."
Thomas H. McCall, Tennent Professor of Theology at Asbury Theological Seminary
