Holiness Churches can be
characterized by their attempt to seek perfection in the Christian life,
separating from all others, even other Christians, who do not share their
understanding of faith.
These churches took the work of John
Wesley, the founder of Methodism, a step further. Wesley taught that the search
for perfection had two phases, with a person first seeking to live without sin,
and then to live with love. Being free from sin is holiness, with the person
eventually being free even from temptations. Later Wesley defined perfection as
occurring only when it moved to the phase of love.
Many holiness churches were formed from Methodist churches, and many even use the term “Methodist” in their name. Holiness churches, however, stress the idea of the “second blessing.”
In the Holiness view, the second
blessing is the end result of the process of becoming holy. First, the person
must go through the “born again” experience, accepting Christ as personal
savior. After holiness has developed, the second blessing occurs, when the Holy
Spirit cleanses the person and dwells within.
In the 1800s, a different
understanding began to growóthe idea that sanctification actually occurs
at the beginning of the process. It came to be thought of as an instantaneous
gift of the Holy Spirit.
In the last half of the nineteenth
century the focus centered on lifestyle. Splits developed over approaches to
television, clothing, divorce, cosmetics, women’s hair styles, coed swimming,
etc.
Among the holiness groups, sacraments have not been an important part of church life. Some churches do have two sacramentsóBaptism and the Lord's Supper. Others consider Baptism and the Lord's Supper to be ordinances, not sacraments. Some churches add footwashing as a third ordinance. Finally, other churches, most notably the Salvation Army, have neither ordinances nor sacraments.
