09/06/2026
When I retired, I had a few goals in mind. One of them was to achieve Christian Perfection. In the Wesleyan tradition, the Bishop asks preachers whether they believe God can perfect them in love in this life and whether they are earnestly seeking it. I have sought that experience more seriously at times than at others. Still, I believe a few times, by God’s grace, I have received this level of God’s grace, but never have I lived it consistently for any length of time. So, in retirement, here I am trying to reach a goal I promised to seek over forty years ago. My Holy Spirit-inspired efforts beg the question.
How do we become sanctified? How does that occur?
1. It takes a predisposition. We know that we are a sinner. We know that we are Sinner. We know that we are a SINNER. We know that we are a SINNER. We know that we are a SINNER. Thus, knowing our sinfulness, we are deeply aware of our need for God. Not sorta, not kinda, not because it sounds good. We KNOW.
When I met our precious Lord, I was overwhelmed by a great sense of my need. I was bound for hell, not because of my sins but because I was a sinner. By that I mean, I sinned because it was in my nature to do so. Because of this, I felt two things after my conversion. One was a deep sense of relief, and the other a deep sense of needing more.
That need for more led me into a crisis of assurance. I saw my sin, not just my sins, so clearly. Yet, God had transformed me. I read the Bible ferociously. I could not get enough of God’s word. I prayed for everyone, and I found myself repulsed by everything that did not lead you to God. I listened to sermons on the radio, and when I could get permission (my dad was an insurance agent and a rancher, and we were busy with cattle on the weekends), I attended the Sunday night youth group at our United Methodist Church. In short, I could not get enough of God because I knew how wonderful, mighty, and loving he was/is. Yet there was this intense feeling of lack in my spiritual life. I later described this time as being like a whale stranded on the beach of spirituality.
All this started when I bowed beside my bed around noon on 19 October 1973. I did not have a spiritual mentor, and I would not until I attended Texas Tech in the fall of 1976. I did reach out to my pastor, but found little help there. My youth group leaders kept thinking that I would be a preacher someday and did not see my need for a deeper walk with Jesus. Further, seeing God’s hand in my life, the youth group elected me as the Worship chair for the next year. I was in charge of securing devotionals for our group and personally delivered many of them. Still, there was this turmoil within, while others saw greater things in me and believed more would be coming.
That spring, at the Texas Area 1 convention of Future Farmers of America, I was elected an Area officer. Because of that election, the State Association invited me and all other Area and State officers to attend a Leadership Convention in Dallas that summer. Several of my fellow Area officers were strong Christians, among them was Joel Green, who has since written many Christian books. Four of us talked about holding a prayer meeting in our rooms. Joel could not attend because of a family commitment. I knew I needed more of God, and God loved me immensely; therefore, I went gladly. That prayer meeting would change my life, because I saw my need.
I stood and stand in good company; Madame Guyon felt the same need. Julianne of Norwich felt this need. Joseph Fletcher felt this need. Peter Cartwright felt this need. In James Lawson’s book Deeper Experiences of Famous Christians, almost everyone felt that need before they had a breakthrough in their spiritual life. A deep knowledge of one’s need is a precursor for a deeper experience with God.
How deep does our knowledge need to be? In his devotional commentary on the Gospel of John called The Love Life, Danold Grey Barnhouse put it this way. Sometimes in the Christian centuries, a Christian looks at themself and says, “God, I am a zero.” Then the Holy Spirit comes and puts a 1 in front of that zero, making it 10. Other times, a Christian comes before God and says, “I am two zeros,” and God puts a one in front of it, and it becomes 100. Rarely, a Christian comes before God and says, “I am such a nothing that I am three zeros, and the Holy Spirit puts a 1 in front of that, and it becomes 1000.”
We need to know our need to receive the anointing of the Holy Spirit that brings about Christian Perfection. When we realize that need, then we have begun to open the door to the Holy Spirit.
2. It takes focus. You can seek sanctification because it will make you look better to others. Or, because you will feel better about yourself. You can ask God to change you so that he can use you. Some of these reasons sound noble and godly, and yet, maybe not so much.
Further, it is easy, when we are seeking sanctification, to focus on what we want God to remove in our lives. We want the sin out. Noble sounding. We may feel guilty and ashamed. Nothing wrong with that either. We may want to amount to something for God. A good thing certainly. Yet, all of these reasons can be selfish when we scratch below the surface. I have often sought sanctification for selfish or sinful reasons.
While I was working on my M.Div. at Asbury Seminary, students repeatedly debated the doctrine of entire sanctification. Some thought God removing our sin was too much; we could not be perfect, and redefining the word perfect would not satisfy them. Others insisted that there was nothing God could not do and that we should not limit God. Further, they insisted, Jesus commanded us to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect. Why would Jesus command us to the impossible without giving us the means to do it?
In my later life, I have become convinced that both sides were wrong. When we focus on our sin, we are focusing on the wrong thing. Whether we believe that God can remove our sinful nature or not, it is not what God removes; it is what he puts in because we want more of him. We focus on the lover of our soul, and he fills us with his love.
Further, I am convinced Wesley taught that we find sanctification by focusing on having more of God. He believed that God could and would remove our sin nature, but only by receiving more of the Holy Spirit —an anointing that forces sin out of our lives. The focus is on the positive, not the negative. I, and I fear many others, have focused on the negative. God subtracts by adding, and by reducing, we gain.
We seek God. We seek him to be the lover of our soul. We seek him to be the Lover of our soul. We seek him to be more of the LOVER of our soul. We seek him to be the LOVER of our soul. We seek him to be the LOVER of our soul.
At our prayer meeting, Bill Richburg, who was going to attend Asbury in a couple of years, Dale Berry, who was seeking ordination in a Southern Baptist church, and I met. We did not have a clue what we were doing, and I do not remember the other prayer requests. I had heard about the Holy Spirit in a radio sermon, and I believed I needed the Holy Spirit’s filling, so I asked. None of us knew much, but Bill thought it was a good idea for us to pray for me to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit. So, we prayed. For three hours and 45 minutes, we prayed. I do not know what I expected, but nothing was not it. Regardless, nothing was what I got. Finally, Bill said, “Brad, we have prayed, and we have prayed believing. Let us trust that God has heard and answered.” Somehow, that satisfied me, and we did not meet again during the week in Dallas.
Returning home, I noticed my periods of doubt were gone. Further, I found great victory over sin, and my love for others had increased and continued to increase. I became comfortable in the love of Jesus for me. I trusted his love. I still wanted more of Jesus, but the turmoil was gone. God had answered our prayers. I wanted more of God, and I got more of God, though not with thunderbolts or crashing thunder, or with any tangible gift. However, I was profoundly different. A difference I, and others, could see.
3. Humans need to follow a purpose beyond ourselves, and this is especially true when we are seeking sanctification. We must seek to glorify God. We want his glory and not our own. Completely.
Several years ago, Duke Divinity School published a series of videos (over 100!) of prominent Christian Leaders answering the question, “What makes Christian Leadership Christian?” Many of the answers were predictable. Loving. Just. Full of integrity. Most were good, a few were bad, but one stood out. That leader’s answer, “I ask God what he wants me to do, and I do it.”
That leader had given up the self-made concepts about what to do, why to do it, and its purpose. That leader discovered that we need to be like Jehosophat, saying in the temple, “Lord, we do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you. (2 Chronicles 20:12)” The King, like that leader, knew that he wanted to serve God, especially when his and his country’s back was against the wall. What were they going to do? Whatever God said, no more, no less.
The point of being sanctified is to put to death our self-will. We say to the Triune God, “I want what you want,” and I want it for the same reasons that you wish it. We mirror the thoughts of God and mirror the motivation of God, namely, agape love.
4. You join a group of like-minded believers and form a Wesley band or similar group. Kevin Watson states in his book, Perfect Love, that you cannot attain Christian perfection without such a group.
Why? Humans possess great powers of self-deception. My wife nails me, and so do my children. But I still need a group to which I can answer the following questions from John Wesley.
a. How is it with your soul?
b. What are your struggles and successes?
c. How might the Spirit and Scriptures be speaking in your life?
d. Do you have any sin that you want to confess?
e. Are there any secrets or hidden things you would like to share?
f. Should you want to share some sins or hidden things?
g. You could add one more. Have you just lied to me?
I have tried in vain to be part of such a group for over thirty years. I do have two close friends I text with every Sunday morning. Fifteen years ago, we met irregularly and took some Continuing Education trips together. I have shared things with them that no other human knows. When seriously tempted, I called on them and they answered. Without them, I would have fallen into grave sin. But we were never a band. Not really.
I have led/been part of accountability groups on three occasions, but we never quite coalesced into a band. We even asked the questions, but somehow the depth of transparency never quite got there. It takes two years, experts tell me, to really form a band, and we kept losing people and inviting others to join, which made the chemistry difficult.
I have a dear friend who knows more about my temptations than I do, but I never quite got there with him either. He was the closest, probably, but not quite. Further, we stopped meeting/calling a few years ago.
In short, I have come close enough to being in a band that I know Kevin Watson is correct, but not close enough for the Holy Spirit to use the power of a Wesleyan band to transform me.
Since retirement, my efforts have been more solo. Yes, there has been an effort to meet with others, but the group never quite gets together. Still, I can say that keeping my mind busy has greatly improved my thought life. Reading, listening to books, reading more devotional books, writing regularly, and researching topics more deeply have all helped. My mind falls into the gutter when I’m not busy. Also, being more intentional about fasting and prayer has helped.
Still, I suspect/know that regular band meetings would change things. However, I do not quite get there. However, I am feel I am closer to perfect love than I ever was. But, I must add, I hope.
All of the above is a tall order, but I believe that the Holy Spirit can make us holy in our lives. Now, not later. Now.
So, I find myself praying this prayer. Lord, I want more of you. I desire for you to perfect your love in me. However, I want to know the lover of my soul more than I want anything you can do for me or to me. Then, and only then, will I be satisfied. I am yours to make me what you will. Finally, Lord, lead me to a group of like-minded seekers. I want to help others, and I certainly need their help. In the name of Jesus Christ, who loved me first. Amen.
