A History of Christian Doctrine #3 - Online Christian Library

A History of Christian Doctrine
we are immediately cleansed and set apart from sin and
given a holy nature. The old nature still resides within us,
however. Therefore, sanctification must also be progressive.
We must continue to pursue holiness (sanctification)
unto the coming of the Lord (Hebrews 12:14). As
we walk in the Spirit, we become more and more like
Christ and less and less like the world. “But we all, with
unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the
Lord, are being transformed into the same image from
glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (II Corinthians
3:18, NKJV). The ultimate goal of this process of
sanctification is perfection at the coming of the Lord:
“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely;
and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved
blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”
(I Thessalonians 5:23, NKJV).
Conclusions
Despite his short Pentecostal ministry of five years,
William Durham was a powerful, unusually anointed
preacher who exerted tremendous and lasting influence
within the developing Pentecostal movement. The
Finished Work doctrine was not unique to him, of course.
In a general sense it was characteristic of mainline
Protestant theology. A century before, most Methodists
had abandoned the idea of sanctification as a second
work of grace, and some non-Pentecostal contemporaries
of Durham in the Holiness movement had formulated
essentially the same doctrine in their own context.
Nevertheless, Durham almost single-handedly introduced
this message to Pentecostals, redirected the course of the
movement, and broadened its theological appeal. As a
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