Perfect Love as a Definate Blessing

It took four thousand years for the sacred Scriptures to fully unfold — "to import God into knowledge," in the phrase of Dr. Bushnell. The patriarchal and Jewish dispensations were devoted to revealing and firmly impressing the Divine unity on one nation surrounded by polytheism. If the triune personality of God had been taught before God's oneness of substance was securely established, it might have asked too much of humanity in its early stage of theological learning. For more than three thousand years, the first words taught to every child in the Jewish nursery were these: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord." Under the dispensations before Christianity, faith in this truth, when it produced obedience, was saving. It is saving now for all who have received no higher revelation. So why do we need a clearer and more definite manifestation of the nature of God? Why should he reveal the unthinkable fact of his threefold personality, and call us to a faith that rises so far above reason? This is a question even angels might approach with bashful tread. It is certain that he has not taken me into his counsels. Here I walk by faith. And faith says that the fuller revelation of God, and the new requirement of faith in the Trinity, come from his gracious purpose to give richer blessings to the believer in a dispensation "rather glorious."

Fletcher's Doctrine of Three Dispensations (rewritten)

John Fletcher

John Fletcher, in his well‑known portrait of St. Paul as the model evangelical preacher, insists — strongly — that a minister cannot do his work well without a clear understanding of what he calls the three great eras of spiritual life. He names them the dispensation of the Father, the dispensation of the Son, and the dispensation of the Holy Ghost.

Anyone unfamiliar with the distinct experiences of these three dispensations, Fletcher argues, will struggle to apply Gospel truth correctly or fully fulfill their ministry. Although these dispensations appeared successively in history, they now exist at the same time. Among people accepted by God and living on the earth today, some are living primarily in the dispensation of the Father, some in that of the Son, and others in the dispensation of the Holy Spirit.

The Higher Life Prayer. (Rewritten).

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every familya in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

"Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen." — Ephesians 3:14-21 NRSV.

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In the third chapter of Ephesians (verses 14–21), Paul opens the door of his prayer closet just enough for us to overhear what he is saying to God. Across the centuries, believers have leaned in and been deeply moved by what they’ve heard. We’re invited to listen — not as intruders, but as reverent guests. This kind of eavesdropping is honorable.

Like Jesus himself, Paul’s most urgent prayers are not aimed at hardened unbelievers — “the world” — but at those who already belong to Christ. His concern is “the perfecting of the saints.” Before we trace the powerful requests of this remarkable prayer, it helps to pause and look at the people he is praying for.

Who Were the Ephesians?

The Ephesian church was made up of people who, by almost any measure, lacked sophistication, stability, and moral polish—certainly far less than members of many modern congregations. Most were poor and working class. Historically, these are the kinds of people who respond first when Christ is preached in a community.

The Abiding Comforter (Rewritten)

[Jesus said:] “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you." — John 14:15-17 NRSV. 

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Many people who read the New Testament struggle to find the sharp, instantaneous spiritual transition that modern advocates of Christian perfection insist should follow conversion. And honestly, that confusion makes sense. It usually comes from failing to recognize that several biblical ideas are actually pointing to the same spiritual reality: the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the fullness of the Spirit, the anointing that teaches and remains, and the promised abiding Comforter (παράκλητος). 

When Jesus promised the Comforter, He was not talking about someone whose sole job was emotional consolation. The Greek word παράκλητος (paraklētos) carries a much broader meaning. It can just as accurately be translated helper, advocate, teacher, guide, or counselor.

For the purposes of this essay, we will use the older term "Comforter." But, remember: It carries with it a wealth of meaning.

The Anointing (Rewritten)

“As for you, the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and so you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, abide in him.” — 1 John 2:27 NRSV.

The anointing is not an abstract force or influence — it is a person. Scripture says He teaches, and teaching belongs to a living agent. The idea of anointing comes from the ancient practice of consecrating kings and priests. When someone was set apart from ordinary life to serve in a sacred role, they were anointed with oil. In the same way, when God sets apart His kings and priests, He pours out something far greater: the anointing of the Holy Spirit — the baptism of the Spirit — the blessed Comforter who remains forever. 

The Dove Descending and Abiding (Rewritten)

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Harriet Beecher Stowe, in her fine essay on “Primitive Christian Experience,” uses the following language:

“The advantages to the Christian Church in setting before it distinct points of attainment, are very nearly the same in result as the advantages of preaching immediate regeneration in preference to indefinite exhortation to men to lead sober, righteous, and godly lives. It has been found, in the course of New England preaching, that pressing men to an immediate and definite point of conversion, produced immediate and definite results; and so it has been found among Christians, that pressing them to an immediate and definite point of attainment will, in like manner, result in marked and decided progress. For this reason it is, that, among the Moravian Christians, where the experience by them denominated full assurance of faith was much insisted on, there were more instances of high religious faith than in almost any other denomination.”

That is a strikingly practical insight, grounded in real observation.

Things From Which We Are Not Yet Delivered (Rewritten)

Christ offers to free believers in this life not only from sinful actions, but from the sinful, selfish bent that comes with fallen humanity. Now we need to name some things that do come from sin — and can look a lot like sin — but don’t actually have its moral character. In other words, they aren’t on the list of things Jesus promises to remove for us in the present life. They are —

First: Spiritual warfare — which, of course, includes temptation. Jesus himself faced temptation. “As he is, so are ye in this world.” “The disciple is not above his Lord.” The Christian life is a long battle, and our weapons come from Christ’s promised presence, the power of his word, and the gift of his Holy Spirit. Still, we do insist that we can be delivered from the most distressing and dangerous kind of war: a civil war — a revolt against Christ raging inside the believer’s own heart. 

Bible Texts Examined: What Scripture Really Says About Sin (Rewritten)

Much of the disagreement about sin comes down to a lack of precision. People often talk past one another because they mean different things by the word sin. In this discussion, we are not talking about involuntary human weakness or unavoidable imperfections. We are talking about willful violations of God’s known law — whether that law is written in Scripture or impressed on the conscience.

The idea of living without sin immediately alarms many people. To them, it sounds like taking the crown off Christ — the only sinless person to walk the earth — and placing it on human heads. But before reacting, we need to ask a deeper question: does sin in the human soul honor Christ, or does it dishonor Him?

Full Salvation is Available Now (Rewritten)

There’s no serious disagreement among Christians that full sanctification is necessary to enter Heaven. Where people often hesitate is on when that kind of purity can actually be reached. Many assume that as long as soul and body are joined together, the body must inevitably contaminate the spirit. According to this view, complete purity is impossible before death.

But this assumption rests on a very old mistake.

The idea that matter itself is inherently evil comes not from Scripture, but from ancient pagan philosophy—specifically from Gnosticism and Platonism. These systems taught that matter is eternal, un-created, and irreversibly corrupt. God, they claimed, merely shaped this flawed substance as best he could, but could never fully cleanse it. As a result, the soul was thought to remain defiled as long as it was trapped in the body, only to be purified later — after death — by some kind of fiery process.

Love’s Victory Over Original Sin (Rewritten)

What theologians often call original sin — sometimes described as inbred sin — is the inner condition of the heart from which sinful actions either arise or are always threatening to arise. It is an condition of inner selfishness in which human ego reigns. As long as this inner condition remains unchanged, love has not fully conquered the soul.

Regeneration — the new birth — introduces a real power that restrains original sin from regularly breaking out into actual sin. Still, occasional lapses may occur, often in moments of weakness or inattention, and usually without deliberate intent. These moments deeply grieve the justified believer. They feel humiliating, even condemning — but they are temporary defeats, not final ones. For believers who are well taught, there is always a return to Christ’s atoning blood and to the promise: “But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous....” (I John 2:1 NRSV).

Love at War (Rewritten)

As long as sin exists in the world, love cannot remain passive. Love must fight. Christ himself came out of the Father’s love not merely to soothe the world, but to confront it — to bring a sword against sin. The cross stands at the center of this conflict, a rallying point for forces hostile to evil. The sinful soul is like a fortified stronghold, crowded with enemies opposed to Christ. Love advances on that stronghold step by step, determined to conquer and fully possess it.

1. Pardon through Christ’s Atoning Blood

The first move of love is the offer of forgiveness through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ.

Love Revealed (Rewritten)

Love is a mystery. We can’t pin it down with a neat definition. The best we can do is describe the moments when it awakens in the soul. If human love already stretches beyond explanation, divine love goes infinitely further. It is an ocean so deep that neither human reason nor even angelic intellect can sound its depths. Anyone who has never personally known the love of God will find this subject closed to them intellectually. It opens only with the key of experience.

Love is not something the mind manufactures. It does not come from logic or analysis. It arises freely from the soul when it encounters what it loves. God is not merely loving — God is love made visible. And God’s perfect love toward humanity is meant to awaken a corresponding love for God in the human heart. The mirror that reflects this love may be cracked and uneven. Human souls, even at their best on earth and even under grace, are fractured by weakness and enduring flaws. Still, a person’s love for God can surge forward with the full strength of their being.

Righteousness Leading to Sanctifcation (Rewritten)

 "I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness." — Romans 6:19 KJV.

 "I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification." — Romans 6:19 NRSV.

Ἀνθρώπινον λέγω διὰ τὴν ἀσθένειαν τῆς σαρκὸς ὑμῶν. ὥσπερ γὰρ παρεστήσατε τὰ μέλη ὑμῶν δοῦλα τῇ ἀκαθαρσίᾳ καὶ τῇ ἀνομίᾳ εἰς τὴν ἀνομίαν, οὕτως νῦν παραστήσατε τὰ μέλη ὑμῶν δοῦλα τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ εἰς ἁγιασμόν. — Romans 6:19

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In the King James Version of the Bible, the phrase reads “righteousness unto holiness.” This does not refer to the initial holiness that comes with regeneration, but — as Dean Alford explains — to perfect holiness. In other words, believers are called to “present their members as servants to righteousness, leading to — resulting in — perfect holiness.”

Heart Circumcision (Rewritten)

Abraham’s spiritual life unfolds through three major turning points — three decisive moments that mark his growth in faith and obedience.

The first came when he was called to leave his country and his relatives at God’s command. This moment mirrors the call of the Holy Spirit that eventually reaches every sinner: a call to turn away from known sin as preparation for saving faith in Christ.

The Probation for Holiness (Rewritten)

John Wesley

Advocates of entire sanctification — figures like Wesley, Fletcher, and Watson — have always insisted that this blessing is just as clearly identified and graciously promised in Scripture as justification, regeneration, adoption, and the witness of the Spirit. Yet despite these strong claims, many sincere believers struggle with real intellectual and biblical questions about whether this experience is truly distinct. They wonder why God did not make this great blessing so unmistakably clear that doubt and debate would be impossible.

If this privilege really stands above all other benefits of the atonement the way Mont Blanc towers over the lesser mountains of Europe, why doesn’t it rise just as obviously before everyone’s eyes? Why isn’t it impossible to misunderstand or dismiss?

The Three Kinds of Perfection (Rewritten)

When the Bible talks about “perfection” in relation to human beings, it doesn’t mean just one thing. In fact, much of the confusion around the idea of Christian perfection comes from blending together three very different meanings. Once we separate them, the picture becomes much clearer.

The Meaning of Being “Sons of God” (Rewritten)

To think clearly about Christian faith — and to stay true to what Scripture actually teaches — we need to be careful with phrases like “sons of God,” “children of God,” and “the Fatherhood of God.” These terms are often used loosely today, but the Bible uses them with precision.

Strictly speaking, there is only one being who is truly and literally the Son of God: Jesus Christ. He alone is Son by nature. His relationship to God is eternal, grounded in the divine nature itself, not created in time. That is why Scripture calls Him “the only begotten Son.” God is never described as the Creator of Jesus, but always as His Father. Christ’s sonship is unique and completely unshared.

The Sons of God and Our Place in God’s Story (AI Rewrite)

Where do human beings really fit in God’s creation? This isn’t just an abstract question for philosophers or theologians — it has real consequences for how we live. If a person truly understands who they are and what they are meant to become, it shapes their character, their choices, and their sense of purpose.

Scientists once speculated whether some future creature might surpass humanity, just as humanity surpasses animals. Observations from biology and geology were often brought into the discussion. But from a Christian perspective, the answer doesn’t rest in anatomy or evolution alone. Humanity holds a unique place because God Himself entered our human nature in Jesus Christ. That single fact elevates the human race beyond anything else that could ever walk the earth. God would not create a being greater than His own Son, who became fully human.

And yet, Scripture tells us something even more surprising: within humanity itself, a new order of life has already appeared — what the Bible calls the sons of God.