The Hope of South Africa - Full Salvation
What the holiness tradition offers a broken nation
South African Flag
I remember as a child growing up in church, we used to sing a song that said:
Jesus, life and hope to heal our land;
Saviour, reaching out with Your mighty hand
It's no secret that South Africa is a country in crisis. Widespread corruption at the highest levels, widespread unemployment in our communities, and widespread crime and violence in response, have created widespread fear and anxiety among many South Africans.
I believe that Jesus is still the hope of our nation! And I believe that the Saviour is still reaching out His mighty hand to the people of our lovely land.
A Failed Christian Nation
South Africa is, in a certain sense, a strong Christian nation. This is not to say that we are a theocracy - we are a democracy, and there is no forcing Christianity on our people. And yet, Christianity is everywhere in our land - there are the traditional churches in town centres, suburbs, and informal settlements; various independent churches meeting in shops, homes, or in open fields; billboards with Christian messages as you travel our streets; Christian radio and television shows still freely available; Christian schools affiliated to denominations or operating independently; and popular Christian leaders regularly calling us to fast and pray for our land.
Yet, we are a nation with great moral failure. "Thou shalt not murder", "Thou shalt not steal", "Thou shalt not bear false witness" are commandments that are ignored on a truly frightening scale. A general carelessness for the wellbeing of others is evident, especially on our roads! More and more there is an 'if you can't beat them, join them' type of mindset, even among professing Christians.
Wesley's Message
When John Wesley was alive, his country was also in a state of disarray. Mass poverty, political corruption, and class violence were problems that he and his people had to deal with daily. But as Wesley and the Methodists swept through England with their biblical message, slowly a change came over the nation. People's lives were changed - and society changed too.
You see, the Wesleyan message was one of full salvation. Instead of simply teaching that God forgives the sin of those who are penitent, and then leaves them to carry on living the same way without shame or guilt, the Methodist teaching was that God's salvation broke the power of your sin and enabled you to live a truly holy life in His honour.
The aim of salvation, for the Wesleys, was not forgiveness of sin. It was transformation into the likeness of Jesus Christ. Of course, forgiveness of sin is certainly the beginning of such transformation - but something more is offered by God! He offers us grace to forgive, and grace to sanctify - to make us holy.
After all, Scripture declares with great joy that "he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him" (Hebrews 7:25 ESV). Paul prays that "the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it." (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 ESV). Peter instructs that "as obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”" (1 Peter 1:14-16 ESV); while John wrote that "No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him." (1 John 3:6 ESV).
The Wesleys declared this message of full salvation or 'entire sanctification' message everywhere they went. John Wesley even taught that where this message was softened or left out, the Christians inevitably grew placid and cold in their faith. He encouraged Methodist preachers to always have their people trust God for the grace to live a truly holy life.
South Africans and Holiness
Perhaps you are beginning to see where I am going with this. I believe that the old song is right, that the hope of South Africa is Jesus Christ. But when I say that, I mean that it is the full salvation that Christ offers which will see change come to our land.
We have churches and professing Christians everywhere. But are we people who embrace half a gospel only? Have we raised up a generation of Christians who seek God's forgiveness, but never seek His transformation? Do we need to press home the message of 'entire sanctification' in the way that Wesley did - showing our people the glorious hope that we may not only be forgiven, but freed from sin to a life of holiness?
There is another song that we Nazarenes love to sing. It says:
Called unto holiness, church of our God
Purchase of Jesus, redeemed by His blood
Called from the world and its idols to flee
Called from the bondage of sin to be free!
Oh, that South Africans would recognize God's call to holiness! Oh that our country would be filled with Christians who flee the world and its idols, and leave behind the chains of their bondage to sin, in Jesus' name!
How much crime and corruption and dishonesty and recklessness would cease in our land, if those carrying the name of Christ would truly repent of all sin and live completely by the power of the Holy Spirit?
Compassion as Holiness
But it's not just about the sinful things we don't do. Holiness is largely about the good things that God calls us to do in His name. John Wesley also speaks to us here - he insisted that truly holy people practice works of mercy by feeding the hungry, visiting the sick and marginalized, clothing the poor, and caring for those on the margins of society. And the later holiness movement saw leaders re-orient their churches to focus on the poor - such as Phineas Bresee who called the original Church of the Nazarene to “be true to its commission; not great and elegant buildings, but to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, and wipe away the tears of sorrowing, and gather jewels for His diadem"; and William Booth who found the Salvation Army with a specific intent to reach the lower classes in his society.
Once more, this speaks to us as South African Christians. Do we carry the name of Christ, without reflecting His heart for those on the margins? Didn't Jesus teach that every time we do something for 'the least of these', He sees it as being done for Him?
Perhaps our moral failure is not only a lack of personal ethics, but a lack of concern for those around us who are in need. Al Truesdale and Bonnie Perry wrote these words in an article entitled Sanctification - A Comprehensive Provision:
"Real sanctification has nothing to do with isolated, introverted, and neurotic piety. Instead, it has everything to do with an all-consuming enthusiasm for God's disclosure of himself and His purposes for creation. Sanctification harnesses all dimensions of life for service to righteousness, mercy, justice, and love. This is the meaning of Christian wholeness." (Herald of Holiness, Volume 87 Number 9).
The Church in South Africa needs to recover an enthusiasm for mercy and justice, as part of salvation message. God's offer for each person is more than forgiveness, and more even that conquering of sin. It is a new purpose for living with the compassionate heart of God Himself.
How our country needs this!
Prayer As Holiness
Wesley also expected that truly holy people be committed to prayer in a deep way. He insisted that works of piety define the life of the saved - spiritual habits such as prayer, Scripture reading, fasting, celebrating the Lord's Supper, gathering with other Christians, and so on.
I wondered, as I read his words again recently, how many of our professing Christians do pray for this country - more than a simple "God bless our land" sort of prayer. I'm talking about prayer where we fast, and give up sleep, and shake the gates of heaven asking, seeking and knocking on our knees!
Imagine a South Africa, where all those churches all over the place contain praying people. People who are engaged in spiritual warfare for our country, praying that evil will not prevail, but that a true revival will come here.
The half-hearted Christian doesn't pray that way. The one who is seeking to be like Christ, and believing that they can be like Christ through the Spirit, does pray that way.
The Long Game
Of course, I have been generalizing, and have perhaps unfairly painted many with the same brush. There are Christians in our country who live ethically, who live compassionately, and who live prayerfully.
I'm not naive. I am aware that our country is in need of systemic change. We are a long way from turning around. But my deep belief is that our solution is not in politics - helpful as a new regime would be. Our solution is not in economics - helpful as a mended economy will be.
We need holiness.
We need the people of God to embrace the message of full salvation - to truly repent and turn from sin, to be filled with the Spirit, and to give themselves to the work of the kingdom without reservation.
The holiness movement may be over. But for South Africa to be saved, a new holiness movement must begin - right here.
Luke Powell is an ordained Nazarene elder and pastor at the Boksburg Church of the Nazarene.
