Heb. 13:12
Therefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
As our selected text clearly teaches, there is no question about God’s will when it comes to our sanctification. It is His will that His people be sanctified. What is sometimes unclear is how this sanctification is achieved.
As a holiness movement, the experience of holiness is fundamentally vital to our very existence. Without it we might as well call ourselves anything, for we have not only lost the very thing that makes us distinct, but we have also lost a basic requirement for heaven. Despite its’ importance, on the fringes of our movement the battle is all-but-lost for this precious experience of heart purity. Even in the more conservative side of the movement there is a fierce battle raging. This battle threatens to keep souls away from the experience, either by discouragement or by deception.
The enemy of our souls does not care how he trips us up, just as long as in the end we miss heaven. If we tend to be off "dead center" even slightly in any certain direction, that is the very direction he will push us so that we might totally err on that end.
Although the devil has many tactics that he uses to keep us from obtaining this enabling work of grace, there is probably no other single tool that he uses more than the "encouraging," yet deceptive words: "Take it by faith."
Let me first define "Take-it-by-faithism," as I call it. This prevalent theory is the counterpart to the Calvinist movement’s "Easy-believism." What "Easy-believism" is to the Calvinist in salvation, "Take-it-by-faithism" is to the Wesleyan-Armenian in the second work of grace. As "Easy-believism" is merely a head belief, so also is "Take-it-by-faithism." The former is a counterfeited short-cut to real salvation, while the latter is a counterfeited short-cut to genuine heart purity. In the same way that "Easy-believism" eliminates the unpleasant step of repentance, "Take-it-by-faithism" eliminates the unpleasant step of death to self.
This doctrine, I believe, is a choice tool of Satan because it is so plausible or deceptive. Let’s look at a couple reasons why this is so: 1) Because to a certain point it is true. Paul clearly confirms this in Romans 5:2; "by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand." However, faith is achieved only when God supplies the grace to believe, and when man exercises his faith empowered by that grace. It is not something that we can arbitrarily muster up.
"Take-it-by-faithism" is also very deceptive 2) because that is exactly what the old carnal self wants to do. The carnal man wants to take a short-cut, jump the fence, take it by faith, and then hope that it will work.
"Take-it-by-faithism" implies force. Literally, it is the attempt to take by force that which has not been paid for. There is a price to pay if a man will be sanctified wholly, and until that price is paid, God will not provide the grace to believe that the work is done. To attempt to believe before the price is paid is indeed attempted coercion.
Finally, "take it by faithism" simply does not work. Nine times out of ten, when a man is encouraged to take it by faith and he does, that man will either be back at the altar seeking to be sanctified all over again, or end up living under a cloud of uncertainty in regards to his "sanctified" experience. The exception to this is the man who has made a complete consecration, has died to self, and is on believing ground at the time that he is exhorted to take it by faith. We ought to be extremely careful who we exhort to "believe," or else we could share responsibility for the multitude of souls who are wandering in the wilderness as did the children of Israel.
Could this be one of the reasons why the church is so spiritually anemic? Is it also the reason why so many people live with question marks about their "sanctified experience?" Could this explain why so few hear, as Isaiah did, the words of God: ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Could it, as well, explain why so few are answering, as did the prophet, ‘Here am I; send me?’ I am convinced that there is a direct cause-and-effect connection between these two phenomenons. Few, like Isaiah, have had a true revelation of the holy nature of God or of the sinful nature of their unsanctified heart. They have taken "by faith" that which they have not truly been convinced is necessary. This is not a paradox; what it is, is a contradiction between profession and fact.
Let’s look at the other side: the "death route." There is also a solid scriptural basis for this belief as well. I will only give a couple references: John 12:24; and Romans 12: 1, which reads: "I beseech you therefore, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service".
"Death route" proponents have their problems as well. Just as soon as the devil sees that a man pulls away from "take-it-by-faithism" and leans toward the "death-route" position, he begins to try to push him to extremes on that side of the issue.
I see at least two dangers that all members of the "death-route" camp should carefully avoid. 1) There is the danger of causing seekers to believe that the death-route is so long, and that victory is always ‘way out there in the distant future. This kills faith and gives birth to discouragement. Men should be made to understand that the death route can be long, but need not be if they will swiftly mind God.
2) Some proponents of the "death route" paint the journey as one so long, so gruesome, and so undesirable, that some believers never even attempt the journey. They fail to point out the joy, blessing, and satisfaction that accompany every act of obedience as we walk this route.
In the final analysis, it is not "take-it-by-faithism" versus "the death route," rather it is both "the death route" and faith. However, let us not forget that it is first the "death route," then faith.
