2. The Meaning of Sanctification - Enter His Rest

APPENDIX
THE THIRTY TEXTS OF WESLEY
Many years ago it was discovered that John Wesley based his doctrine on entire
sanctification almost entirely upon thirty texts in the Bible. Of course, it is foolish to
suggest that thirty texts are not enough to establish a doctrine; for even one text would be
sufficient if all obscurity were removed. Dr. W. E. Sangster has treated these texts
separately in his book "The Path to Perfection".
The references are given here in order that students may have a compact array of
scriptural evidence on the subject. It is not meant, however, to indicate my personal
agreement with Wesley regarding the meaning of each text, nor would this listing rule out
other texts. This list is merely given for what it is worth: Ezekiel 36:25-26, 29; Matthew 5:8, 48;
6:10; Romans 2:29; 12:1; II Cor. 3:17 ff; 7:1, Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 3.14-19, Romans 13:13; I Cor.
11:31 ff; 4:3 ff; I Thess. 10; Philippians 15; I Thess. 5. Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 6:1, 7.25,10,14, John 8:34
ff; 27:20-23, I John 1:5, 7; 5:8-9, 2:6, 3:3, 8-10, John 3:36, 5:24, 6:47, I John 5:13; James 1:4.
ARE WE SAVED TO THE UTTERMOST?
Possibly millions of sermons have been preached on this famous text: “Wherefore he is
able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth
to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:25). But when the preacher of today takes up his
modern English translation and reads this text he finds himself at a loss, for in some
modern speech versions it is translated to mean that Christ saves forever those who come
to him. Thus the word which in the Authorized Version is rendered “uttermost” is made
to express duration, and not completeness.
What are the facts? The Greek word here translated “uttermost” is panteles, and it occurs
only twice in the New Testament — in the passage under consideration and in Luke
13:11. In the latter passage it means “completely.” “Behold there was a woman who had a
spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and utterly unable to lift up
herself.” In their vocabulary of the Greek New Testament Moulton and Milligan cite
numerous instances from the papyri in which this word is used to indicate now
completeness and now duration. So this is again another one of those cases where the
translator was thrown back upon his own judgment. He was not bound by the sources to
take either one of these meanings, but had a choice.
It is easy to see why some of the modern translators were led to the idea of duration. In
Hebrews 7, Christ is contrasted with the priests of the old law. They were priests who had
infirmity; Christ was a perfected priest. They were “not suffered to continue by reason of
death,” but he had an unchangeable priesthood. To indicate this temporal contrast the
translators interpreted the word panteles to mean “forever.” But they might just as well
have translated it “completely” or “utterly,” in conformity with abundance of authority
and a perfectly reasonable reading of the context of the passage. In that context we note
other contrasts besides that of time. Christ is not only greater than the priests of the
Jewish law because he lives forever, but he is also greater because he is not subject to
their weakness and incompleteness. Note the weakness of the Jewish priesthood standing
in contrast with Christ’s perfection. They are made after the law of carnal commandments
(vs. 16).
Their system was weak and unprofitable (vs. 18). It made nothing perfect ( Hebrews
7:19). Their priests were made without an oath (vs. 21). There were many of them, but
only one Christ (vs. 23). They had to offer for their own sins (vs. 27), and they had
infirmities (vs. 28). By implication they were unholy, defiled, and by nature sinners (vs.
26). These considerations show us how unnecessary it is to construe the “utterly” of verse