A Presentation of Perfection - Media Sabda Org

1906-1910
1906
In January of 1906, George Watson wrote an article called "How Holiness Is Lost." In the article
Watson makes reference to what he called "primitive holiness." The term "primitive holiness" was
derived from the biblical story of Eve in the Garden of Eden before she fell into sin. Watson believed
that we could learn from Eve how not to fall from grace. He said,
If we turn to Genesis 3:6, we find a condensed statement of the various consecutive
steps in the downfall of our race. And if we have the description of the fall of one
pure and holy person, it will furnish a Key to interpret the fall of other souls from
purity. [1]
Watson believed there were six steps in Eve's fall from "primitive holiness." The steps were: (1)
The woman saw the tree; (2) it was good for food; (3) it was pleasant to the eyes; (4) the perversion
of reason; (5) the revolt of the will; and (6) the communicating of sin to others.
He made some interesting applications in Step Six. He taught that Eve watered down what God
had said about the forbidden fruit and eventually convinced Adam to eat. Consequently, Watson
wrote,
How many have fallen from holiness because they took the liberty to misquote the
Lord and tone down the Word of God. Many a preacher has lost holiness, he hardly
knew how, when the secret was that he took the liberty of changing and toning down
the exact Bible truth on holiness in his sermons and testimony. [2]
At the end of the article he went on to warn the people not to follow in the same path that Eve
took in losing her "primitive holiness" experience.
Another article written during 1906 was authored by A. M. Hills. It was called, "The Third
Blessing." Hills attempted to set the record straight on what it meant to be entirely sanctified. He said
he got weary of people trying to juggle with Scripture to support their pet theories. G. Campbell
Morgan was cited as an example. Hills stated,
Morgan, of England, wants to avoid the Second Blessing of Sanctification, so plainly
taught by a hundred passages in the New Testament. He finds it convenient,
therefore, to deny that any of the followers of Jesus were converted until Pentecost,
and therefore there is no second blessing for him or anyone else. [3]
Another example Hills gave of people attempting to support their own ideas from Scripture was
the concept of "The Third Blessing." Proponents of this view taught that a Christian can experience
the baptism with fire as a separate third work of grace.