The Means of Grace and the Holy Life
As taught in the Holiness tradition
How the Holiness tradition sustains the sanctified life through God's means of grace
The Holiness tradition is often summarized by its most striking claim, the expectation of entire sanctification in this life. Yet that claim raises a practical question the tradition answers with equal seriousness: once a believer has been cleansed and filled with love, how is the holy life sustained and increased day after day? The answer the tradition gives, following John Wesley closely, is that God has appointed ordinary channels through which grace flows into the soul, and that holiness is not a possession to be hoarded but a life to be maintained, watered, and grown through faithful use of those channels.
By the end of this lesson
- Define the means of grace as the Holiness tradition does, following Wesley, as God-appointed outward channels through which sanctifying grace is conveyed, while recognizing they have no inherent power apart from the Spirit.
- Identify the chief means named in the tradition (prayer, searching the Scriptures, the Lord's Supper, Christian fellowship, and fasting) and locate them in Acts 2:42 and 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22.
- Explain how the tradition uses the means to sustain and grow the holy life after entire sanctification, distinguishing this maintaining function from the moment of cleansing itself.
- Describe how the Holiness emphasis on the means differs from Reformed and Lutheran accounts of an always-incomplete gradual sanctification, and how it guards against both quietist neglect and mechanical merit.
- Connect Wesley's pairing of works of piety with works of mercy to a daily discipline of devotion and active love of neighbor.
Scripture
The full lesson, its study guide and questions, and an AI tutor that answers from Scripture with citations are free with an account.