“…Christ, who is the head over every power and authority…”

It swept the US for much of the 19^th Century and the beginning of the 20^th.  It brought tens of thousands into the church for the first time.  It affected all of society, from US presidents on down.  It wasn’t quite the same as the First and Second Great Awakenings, but untold thousands found salvation in Christ on both sides of the Atlantic.  What was it, you ask.  The holiness revival, from 1824-1923, driven by such names as John Wesley, Charles Finney, Charles Spurgeon, William Booth and Phoebe Palmer.  And what were they seeking?  Holiness, purity, or in Wesley’s words, “entire sanctification”.

I first became intrigued by this movement while growing up spiritually in Bible college.  What was this “second blessing” like, I wondered.  Even D. L. Moody “got it” according to his own writings, reportedly buried deep in the basement of the school in downtown Chicago that bears his name.  And was a second blessing enough?  To read some holiness articles from the time, many pushed for multiple such experiences.  Undoubtedly the most important question to raise is, is it biblical?

Many new church denominations sprung up during this time as well.  One article written by the founder of one such denomination has the following:

In April my wife entered into the precious experience of perfect love. This and the above event [a conviction of being too critical] removed the deep prejudices of my heart against the doctrine of perfect holiness as a distinct experience. I became willing to ask God to enlighten me. I began to search the word of God in greater meekness than ever before, and in a few weeks the errors of my head were dispelled and I began to seek entire sanctification. Frequently the Holy Ghost powerfully baptized my soul, which enabled me to see more clearly my inherited depravity, and increased my longing for perfect purity. On the 6th of July at the altar in Mansfield, Ohio, “the very God of peace sanctified me wholly.” Oh, what a wonderful salvation. The blessed Spirit permeated my entire being and bore distinct testimony that “the temple of God was holy.” Since then I have had no consciousness of anything in me but love, even to enemies.

Realize first that by definition, holiness is a quality, state or condition.  The above writer, however, calls it an “experience” twice and is fixated in describing it as such, as most did at that time.  Second, his wife’s “experience of perfect love” wasn’t so perfect.  Seven years later, she embraced the idea of “martial celibacy” and “superholiness” and left her husband, condemning both him and his teachings.  How’s that for real holiness?  Third, is it really entire sanctification when we no longer have “consciousness of anything in me but love, even to enemies” this side of heaven?  Where do we find that in the Word?  Or could we call it “entire hallucination”?

In a corrective letter, Paul wrote to the Colossians that they (and by application, us) had “been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority” (2:10).  In the verse preceding it, Paul told them, “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form”.  Now let’s connect the dots.  All possible components of deity reside in Christ bodily.  We are also positionally in him.  That means that all of what God is, we already have as much as we can have on earth.  Nothing is left out, nothing omitted, nothing overlooked.  We have it…now…present tense…on earth!  Notice the past tense of Hebrews: “we have been made holy through the sacrifice …of Jesus Christ once for all” (10:10).  Verse 14 adds “forever”.  So, what was it the holiness seekers didn’t understand?

The connection to Christ being “the head of every power and authority” is situation specific.  The believers there bought into the lie that they were somehow incomplete or imperfect.  Thus, something else, something less than Christ — lesser spiritual authorities and powers — would make them full, complete, or can I say, “entirely sanctified”?  Substitute anything you’ve ever heard a believer seek to be better, holier, whatever.  Jesus is head over that too.  Just because it looks or sounds biblical doesn’t mean it is.  Am I against godly edifying experiences?  No.  Am I against seeking Christ in a deeper way or wanting to grow spiritually?  Of course not.  Only make sure it is indeed Christ himself you seek, not just an experience.

Christ has already sanctified us.  In your walk with him, are you seeking a whom or a what?