How is sanctification lived out?
Holiness of heart and life, which includes works of piety and works of mercy.
Catechism for the Global Methodist Church, question 68
26You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.
14Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so may the LORD, the God of Hosts, be with you, as you have said.
22But now having been set free from sin and having become enslaved to God, you have your fruit leading to holiness, and the end is eternal life.
1I therefore plead with you, brothers, through the compassions of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, well-pleasing to God, which is your spiritual ministry.
1Therefore, beloved, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of the flesh and of the spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
14Pursue peace with all and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
5And you yourselves, like living stones, are being built a spiritual house into a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 9But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.
12Rejoicing in hope, enduring in affliction, continuing steadfastly in prayer.
4For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
23For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread. 24And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." 25In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." 26For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.
16Always rejoice. 17Pray without ceasing. 18Give thanks in everything, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
24And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
13Is anyone among you enduring hardship? Let that one pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let that one sing praise. 14Is anyone among you weak? Let that one summon the elders of the assembly, and let them pray over him, having anointed him with olive oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer of faith will save the one who is weak, and the Lord will raise him; and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. 16Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective petition of a righteous person is powerful.
10You shall give to him and your heart shall not be evil when you give to him, for on account of this word the LORD your God will bless you in all your deed and in all the sending of your hand. 11Since there will never cease to be poor in the land, I therefore command you: Open your hand freely to your brother, to the afflicted, and to the needy in your land.
3Judge the poor and the orphan; give justice to the afflicted and the poor. 4Rescue the poor and the needy from the hand of the wicked; deliver them.
17He who is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed.
1The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bear tidings to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and to open release to those who are bound.
8He has told you, O man, what is good, and what the LORD requires of you: but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.
21Jesus said to him, If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in the heavens, and come, follow me.
31When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his throne of glory. 32And all the Gentiles will be assembled before him, and he will separate them from one another, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33And he will set the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34Then the king will say to those out from his right, 'Come, you who are blessed of my father; inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world.' 35For I was hungry and you gave me food to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me water to drink; I was a stranger and you welcomed me. 36I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you cared for me; I was in prison and you came to visit me. 37Then the just will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungering and feed you, or thirsting and give you drink?' 38When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and come to visit you? 40And the king will answer and say to them, 'Amen, I say to you, upon however much you did to one of these brothers of mine, the least, you did to me.' 41Then he will say also to those on his left, 'Go from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.' 42For I was hungry and you gave me no food; I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. 43I was a stranger and you did not welcome me; I was naked and you did not clothe me; I was sick and in prison and you did not visit me. 44Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungering or thirsting or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not serve you?' 45Then he will answer them, saying, 'Amen, I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of these, the least, you did not do it to me.' 46And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
42But woe to you Pharisees, for you tithe mint and rue and every plant, and you pass by judgment and the love of God; these you ought to have done without neglecting the others.
44All who believed were together, and they held everything in common. 45They sold their possessions and property and distributed them to all according to each one's need.
13Contributing to the needs of the saints, pursuing hospitality.
The catechism has just defined sanctification as God's work of cleansing and renewal. This question asks what that work looks like in practice. The answer uses Wesley's own phrase, "holiness of heart and life," and names the two kinds of practice that fill it out: works of piety and works of mercy. Article XI of the Confession of Faith supplies the doctrine behind the phrase, teaching that those who are born again "are enabled to live in accordance with God's will," and Article X calls good works "the necessary fruits of faith."
Holiness of heart and life joins the inward and the outward. The Lord tells Israel, "You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy" (Leviticus 20:26), and Peter applies the same language to the church, "a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession" (1 Peter 2:9). Paul describes the believer as "having been set free from sin" with "fruit leading to holiness" (Romans 6:22), and pleads with the Romans "to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, well-pleasing to God" (Romans 12:1). Hebrews states the requirement: "the holiness without which no one will see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14).
Works of piety are the practices Wesley called the means of grace. Prayer: "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Scripture: "whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction" (Romans 15:4). The Lord's Supper: "do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me" (1 Corinthians 11:25). Worship with the church: (Hebrews 10:25). Confession and mutual prayer (James 5:16). Works of mercy are directed toward the neighbor. "Open your hand freely to your brother, to the afflicted, and to the needy in your land" (Deuteronomy 15:11). Micah's summary is "to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8). Jesus counts the feeding, clothing, and visiting of the least as done to himself: "upon however much you did to one of these brothers of mine, the least, you did to me" (Matthew 25:40).
The two kinds of works belong together, and Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for keeping one while passing by "judgment and the love of God" (Luke 11:42). For a Methodist, sanctification is lived out in a pattern: weekly worship and the sacrament, daily prayer and Scripture, and a standing habit of giving, visiting, and serving. Wesley's General Rules organize the Methodist life around the same two headings.