A History of Christian Doctrine #3 - Online Christian Library

The Finished Work Controversy
“The living faith that justifies a man, brings him into
Christ, the Sanctifier, in Whom he is complete, not with
regard to sanctification only, but everything else that pertains
to his salvation.” 43
Durham objected that the “second work of grace theory
has done more to blind the eyes of people to the simple
truth of the Gospel than any other one theory,” because it
had led many “truly saved people” to believe they were not
saved until they received the second work. “They are told
that when God pardoned them He left them full of sin and
corruption, and that it requires a second work of grace to
save them from hell.” In reality, when a person repents and
believes, he “is saved from sin, death, and hell, is a real
child of God, possesses eternal life, does not need another
work of grace, but needs to abide in Christ, receive and
walk in the Spirit, hold fast the faith, grow in grace and in
the knowledge of God and of Christ.” 44
At conversion, the believer not only receives justification
(forgiveness of sins) but also sanctification (purity of
heart). “God in conversion brings a man into Christ and
makes him holy by washing away all his sins, inward and
outward, and giving him a new, clean heart, thus making
a new creature out of him.” 45
To Durham, the doctrine of a second work of grace
detracted from the gospel and the Atonement by implying
that Christ’s atoning sacrifice was not powerful enough to
deal completely with a person’s sin when he repented and
believed. Thus he insisted, “The Finished Work is by far
the most important teaching in the Bible.” 46
The Controversy Erupts
Durham first proclaimed the Finished Work message
45