Entire Sanctification – Adam Clarke

Here is an edited version of Dr. Adam Clarke’s treatise on Entire Sanctification. It is a magnificent exposition of that great doctrine which is associated with the Wesleyan Methodist movement, but which was also an article of faith in many other denominations – including the Quakers, Salvation Army, Holiness, and early Pentecostal movements.

In reading it through and through in the course of editing, I have been more and more convinced of the truth of what he says. See how he demolishes the arguments of those who oppose him:

Even the erroneous Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory says that sin is so ingrained that death cannot destroy it completely…Only Protestants believe in a “deathbed purgatory.” How strenuously they argue that death is the complete deliverer from all [sin], as if it were revealed on every page of the Bible! In fact, there isn’t a single passage in the whole Bible that says any such thing. If it were true, then death, far from being the last enemy, would be the last and best friend…. The truth is, it is the blood of Jesus alone that cleanses from all unrighteousness.

I commend this article for your serious consideration. If more people believed this, what a difference it would make to the world!

• Entire Sanctification (76 KB) (Here is the original version, in case you don’t trust my editing skills!)

Adam Clarke (1760 – 1832) was a Methodist preacher and a notable scholar. His magnum opus, the “Commentary and Critical Notes on the Entire Bible,” was the culmination of 30 years of study. He was born in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, and during his lifetime he was not only a Methodist circuit preacher; he mastered ten languages and was awarded the honorary degree of Ll.D. by the University of Aberdeen. He died of cholera in London at the age of 72.