A History of Christian Doctrine #3 - Online Christian Library

A History of Christian Doctrine
This was a real experience. I must wait until He came.”
Third, speaking in tongues was invariably the initial
evidence of this experience. “Dear reader, the Spirit may
not deal with you just as He did with me; but when He
comes within you, to take up His abode, He will speak in
tongues and magnify God.”
Durham’s baptism in the Holy Spirit was glorious. He
fell prostrate on the floor for three hours, his whole body
shook one section at a time, and finally he spoke in
tongues for a long time. This experience completely overshadowed
his 1901 blessing. He concluded that sanctification
was not a separate work of grace subsequent to
conversion but that the baptism of the Holy Ghost with
the sign of tongues was the true experience that a converted
person should seek. He reinterpreted his 1901
experience as a renewal of his conversion in 1898.
From the time he received the Holy Ghost, Durham
could never again preach on sanctification as a separate
work of grace. Instead, “the Spirit began to reveal in my
heart the finished work of Christ on the Cross of Calvary.
. . . The Spirit kept revealing in my heart the precious
Gospel as preached by the Apostles: identification
with Jesus Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.” 42
In 1910, Durham began to preach what he called “the
finished work of Calvary.” He taught that there was no
second work known as sanctification. Instead, sanctification
is an integral part of conversion and an ongoing
process. To be holy, we do not need to seek a second work
of grace, but we simply need to appropriate the benefits
of the finished work of Calvary. We can begin living the
sanctified life immediately by realizing that with His
blood Jesus purchased everything we need. He explained,
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