Many of us have traveled the journey of being converted to Christ in Pentecostal churches only to suffer from fear and guilt imposed by passionate preachers with bad theology. That was my story. I was converted at fifteen years old and Spirit-filled about a year later. Between conversion and Spirit-baptism I struggled with sanctification. I loved Jesus, enjoyed reading Scripture, and had a passion for ministry. But I struggled with temptations common to all teenagers.
During this time, our church scheduled a week-long revival. The evangelist informed us on the first night that he would be preaching about holiness and sanctification all week. By the end of the week, he had convinced me that I was not saved and could not be saved. His bad theology of holiness sent me into a despair that lasted for years. The only remedy for bad theology is good theology. Dale Coulter has written a good theology of holiness that is informed and accessible to a popular audience.
Coulter insists that salvation is much more than the forgiveness of sins and a ticket to heaven. Holiness is more than a “set of rules and regulations that must be kept in order to escape hell and enter heaven” (45). Rather, God’s purpose in salvation is the “transformation of the person into a child of God so that she can reach her complete potential in union and fellowship with God” (65f). Holiness is not a “performance-based Christianity,” but a relationship with God. Coulter presents a Pentecostal via salutis that guides the reader from the corruption of sin to the beauty of perfection (47).
Humans are sinful, fallen, and disordered and need to be made righteous, set upright, and ordered. Coulter defines sin as “a self-inflicted disease” that has its origin “with a failure to recognize God as God” (21). In other words, original sin is idolatry (Romans 1:23). A broken relationship with God leads to a “self-inflicted blindness,” “self-destructive behavior,” and sinful patterns that lead to “such disorder that the individual is no longer capable of relating to God, himself, others, or even creation in appropriate ways” (23ff). Sin is an inborn social disease that misdirects humanity’s natural and acquired desires so that they are manifested in uncontrolled passions (32ff).
The remedy for human sinfulness is “the divine medicine of Christ and the Spirit” (80, 107ff). In the Incarnation, God the Son has assumed human nature. The fully divine Christ is also fully human, that is, the Son has assumed the totality of human nature – flesh, spirit, soul, heart and will. At Pentecost, God has poured out the Holy Spirit who “reproduces Christ’s life, death, and resurrection in us” and forms a new human community. The Spirit enables and anoints believers to fulfill their divine call to be a holy people as witnesses to God’s saving works (110f).
Coulter continues his efforts at correcting bad theology with good theology by clarifying some biblical terms. In Protestant theology, there are probably no concepts more complex than predestination and election – words that indicate “God’s plan of action for the universe.” Election speaks to God’s choice; predestination speaks to when God made the choice. Coulter explains, “Election and predestination both refer to what God wills to do” in “the implementation of His place of action for the universe” (124f).
In the Old Testament, God elected a people, the descendants of Abraham who are faithful to the covenant, to be his witnesses to all the nations of the Earth. All of the descendants of Abraham are chosen, but not all were faithful. It is those who are faithful that comprise the covenant community. God’s “ultimate aim of Israel’s election is to extend God’s message of salvation to the entire world” (130). Coulter insists that election pertains primarily to the remnant of people of Israel as God’s chosen people, that is, the minority who has remained in faithful covenant with God. Election does not speak to individuals, but to the faithful community. Predestination is God’s will to have a holy people, chosen from the nations of the world (136).
In the New Testament, God has predestined and elected a person, Jesus Christ, who is the fulfillment of the promises and covenants God made with Israel. Christ is the promised seed of Abraham that will bless all the peoples of the earth (Genesis 12:3; 17:7; Galatians 3:16). Furthermore, the true and faithful Israelites are those who have pledged faithfulness to Jesus Christ as Lord and God (Romans 9:8; 10:9-10). Coulter declares, “God predetermines that Christ will be the One through whom the world will be reconciled” (136). Predestination does not mean that God has arbitrarily elected certain humans to be saved, and others to be condemned. Rather, predestination speaks to God’s plan for the Son to be incarnate and the Spirit to be poured out so that all those who believe and live in faithfulness to God will be united with the Triune God (142f).
Humans have a secondary role to play in salvation – they must cooperate with God in the process of salvation (147). Coulter likens the process of salvation to that of being healed of disease. Sin is the terminal infection; Christ and the Holy Spirit are the “divine medicine,” the “antibiotic” which “God repeatedly administers” to heal humans who believe and cooperate with divine grace (150ff). The initial dose of this divine medicine is prevenient grace – grace that enables humans to cooperate with God, grace that awakens the human conscience so their sinful condition can be understood (161f). Prevenient grace enables humans who are sick and dying from sin to place their faith in God. Faith is not simply a one-time decision, but an ongoing decision – living a life of faithfulness (165ff). The human condition is so infected with sin, that long-term treatment requires additional doses of grace.
The life of faithfulness is signified by three words: passion, holiness, and shalom. Coulter defines passion as “a temporary period of intense emotional activity in which emotions explode outward in attraction to someone or something else” (175). If the believer is to be victorious, then “we must allow God to set our hearts on fire with renewed energy” (174). Passion for God is fuel for living the holy life – it makes God pleasing to us. Passion speaks of intimacy with God and must be cultivated through corporate and private worship.
The pursuit of holiness signifies the formation of a Christ-like character by cultivating the fruit of the Spirit. Through the Spirit, the faithful believer develops virtues, skills, and habits which are to be perfected through faithful practices. Here Coulter employees a baseball metaphor. It reminded me of something I heard long ago when my young son, Aaron, was learning Tai-kwon-do. He was demonstrating one of his moves and was stopped by his coach who told him that he was doing it wrong. Aaron replied, “That’s the way I practiced it.” The coach replied, “Practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.” The road to perfection is the perfect imitation of Christ. By cultivating the fruit of the Spirit and through the perfect imitation of Christ, the believer is perfected in the love of God.
Finally, Coulter speaks of shalom. This the is goal of the redemptive journey – the beauty of perfection which is defined as “peace with themselves, peace with one another, peace with creation and peace with God” (217). God has healed the created order. New creation is signified by stability, beauty, love, and happiness.
Dale Coulter has written a wonder primer on Christian soteriology envisioned as holiness. I wish that this book had been available to me when I was in despair over my own sanctification. I recommend this book to young believers who are suffering from the despair of legalism and bad theology. Coulter has presented a good theology.
*This review is of the Pathway Press 2004 edition. A revised edition is available from Seymour Press 2021.
