A Hypothetical Case

QUESTION: A. and B. are children of God having the witness of the Spirit to their adoption. both aspire after perfect love as the heritage of the believer. A. is suddenly killed in a railroad disaster. According to the Wesleyan theory he is instantaneously sanctified and taken to heaven. Why does God not do the same blessed work in B. who sat by his side and escaped unharmed? (2) Where in the Bible are we taught that he does not?

ANSWER: As there was an element of sovereignty in taking the one and leaving the other, so there may well be an element of sovereignty in the different conditions of their sanctification. B. will be sanctified wholly when, through his persevering faith, Christ is revealed to him by the Holy Ghost as altogether lovely, while A. was in the twinkling of an eye entirely purified when Christ was revealed to his disembodied spirit in the moment of his death. Both had title to heaven and both desired a fitness for their inheritance. The only arbitrariness in this case is the manner in which the transforming vision of the Son of God should take place. (2) This question resolves itself into another, namely, Where in the Scriptures are we taught that all regenerated persons are not wholly sanctified? We answer, All Scriptures which exhort the regenerate to cleanse themselves, and all in which prayer for entire purity of heart is offered in behalf of those who are already justified.

— Steele's Answers pp. 59, 60.