KESWICK is a City in England. “Keswick theology” refers to the view of sanctification shared by the prominent propagators of the early Keswick movement.
Keswick theology, also known as the Higher Life movement or Keswickianism, is a Protestant theological tradition within evangelical Christianity. It originated in England in the early 19th century and has been influenced by the teachings of John Wesley, John William Fletcher, and Adam Clarke. Let me break down some key points about Keswick theology:
Two Primary Crises:
Keswick theology teaches that the Christian life consists of two primary crises or major turning points:
1. Justification: This is the initial experience of salvation, where a person is declared righteous through faith in Jesus Christ.
2. Sanctification: This refers to the ongoing process of becoming more like Christ after salvation. According to Keswick theology, these two crises happen at different times in the life of a believer.
The Second Blessing: After salvation, Keswick theology emphasizes the need for another encounter with the Holy Spirit. This encounter is often referred to as:
– Entire sanctification
– The second blessing
– The second touch
This second experience with the Spirit is believed to be necessary for progressing into holiness or the “deeper” things of God. Some Keswick teachers even suggest that sinless perfection is possible after receiving this “second blessing.”
Overemphasis and Tensions: While both justification and sanctification are vital aspects of the Christian life, Keswick theology tends to overemphasize the distinction between them. This overemphasis can lead to the perception of two different “classes” of Christians: those who are not being sanctified and those who are.
Additionally, Keswick theology suggests that the initiation of sanctification depends on the believer’s decision after salvation. However, Scripture teaches that both God’s sovereignty and human volition play essential roles in the believer’s journey.
Historical Context:
The annual Keswick Convention has been organized since 1875, bringing together various Christian leaders. Notable figures associated with Keswick theology include missionaries Hudson Taylor and Amy Carmichael, devotional writer Oswald Chambers, and evangelist Billy Graham.
In summary, Keswick theology emphasizes the need for a second encounter with the Holy Spirit after salvation, but it’s essential to maintain a balanced understanding of both justification and sanctification in the Christian life.
Large portions of contemporary fundamentalism and evangelicalism chronologically separate the moments when believers first experience justification and begin progressive sanctification. This is evident in the way many believers narrate their salvation testimony: “I was saved at the age of eight, and I surrendered to Christ at the age of twelve,” or “I accepted Christ as my Savior at eight, and as my Lord at twelve.”
Keswick, located in the picturesque Lake District of northwest England, has been hosting a weeklong meeting in July for the Keswick Convention since 1875. In this essay, “the early Keswick movement” refers to a period from 1875 to 19205 that was characterized by its conservative evangelical nature and was distinguished by the belief that the majority of Christians are living in defeat and that the secret to living the victorious Christian life is consecration followed by Spirit-filling; and stimulated by annual conventions at Keswick, England, and literature by its propagators.
I. A HISTORICAL SURVEY OF THE EARLY
KESWICK MOVEMENT
Since no theological movement exists in a vacuum, this section traces significant leaders of major movements and institutions that influenced Keswick theology (forerunners) or were influenced by it (successors) as well as Keswick’s primary proponents (propagators).
FORERUNNERS
Wesleyan perfectionism influenced the holiness movement, which in turn influenced the early Keswick movement primarily through the higher life movement as well as Methodist and Oberlin perfectionism.
Wesleyan Perfectionism: Perfect Love Toward God and Man
Wesleyan perfectionism influenced Keswick theology, so it is not surprising that Wesleyan theologians note similarities between the Wesleyan and Keswick views of sanctification John Wesley (1703–91) established Christian perfection, carefully qualifying that it is not absolute sinless perfection.
Wesley modifies “perfection” with the adjective “Christian” to stress that only Christians could experience this kind of perfection, which is different than Adamic perfection, angelic perfection, or God’s unique, absolute perfection. This qualification hinges on Wesley’s narrow definition of sin as “a voluntary transgression of a known law.” He limits “sin” to only intentional sinful acts. He admits that “the best of men” commit “involuntary transgressions” for which they need Christ’s atonement, but such people may still
properly be called “perfect” or “sinless.” When sin is defined accordingly, Wesley does not object to the term “sinless perfection,” but he refrains from using it to avoid confusion. Wesley uses various terms to describe this second work of grace: Christian perfection, salvation from all [willful] sin, entire sanctification, perfect love (1 John 4:18), holiness, purity of intention, full salvation, second blessing, second rest, and dedicating all the life to God. Its essence is unreserved love for God with one’s whole being and, consequently, love for fellow humans. This complete sanctification occurs instantaneously at a point in time subsequent to one’s justification, but God’s gradual working both precedes and follows it.
Wesley’s primary contribution to the doctrine of sanctification is that he is the father of widespread evangelical views that separate justification and sanctification in a way that the Reformed view does not.
Wesley’s followers further developed his doctrine of Christian perfection, and several key leaders such as Palmer and Mahan emphasized the crisis of sanctification as opposed to Wesley’s emphasis on the subsequent process (process-crisis-process). This gradual shift emphasizing the crisis began with John William Fletcher (1729–85), who used Spirit-baptism language for Christian perfection, and was followed by
Adam Clarke (1762–1832), who emphasized the crisis of Christian perfection to a greater degree than both Wesley and Fletcher. The holiness movement modified the views of Wesley, Fletcher, and Clarke by
placing an even stronger emphasis on the crisis of Christian perfection.
The Holiness Movement: Modified; Wesleyan Perfectionism
The blending of Wesleyan perfectionism and American revivalism produced the holiness movement,13 which began in 1835 with Phoebe Palmer’s participation in the Tuesday meetings. The three most significant movements within the holiness movement were Methodist perfectionism, Oberlin perfectionism, and the higher life movement.
Methodist Perfectionism: Emphasis on the Crisis of Christian Perfection
Though it claimed to follow Wesley’s perfectionism, Methodist perfectionism placed a nearly exclusive emphasis on the crisis of Christian perfection rather than the subsequent process. This shift in emphasis is due primarily to Phoebe Worrall Palmer (1807–74), who despite her claim to propagate Wesley’s teaching, modified it considerably by following the innovations of Fletcher and Clarke. The emphasis of her teaching, known as “altar theology,” is that there is “a shorter way” to holiness. Besides Palmer’s written works, the most significant vehicle through which her “altar theology” spread rapidly was the holiness camp meetings, which were re-popularized in America in 1867. These camp meetings “institutionalized” Palmer’s doctrine of sanctification, and the early Keswick Convention became “in some ways a British equivalent of the camp meeting movement.”
Oberlin Perfectionism: The Perfection of a Human’s Autonomous Free Will
Oberlin perfectionism views holiness as the perfection of a human’s autonomous free will. Its primary propagators were Charles Grandison Finney (1792–1875), Oberlin College’s first theology professor (1835–66) and second president (1851–66), and Asa Mahan (1799–1889), Oberlin’s first president (1835–50). It is remarkably similar to Wesleyan perfectionism. Both Finney and Mahan limit Christian perfection to a believer’s intention to obey the moral law, and both view Spirit-baptism as the crisis subsequent to justification that begins Christian perfection. Finney views sanctification as the entire consecration of a person’s autonomous free will to obey the moral law, and Mahan stresses Spirit-baptism as the post-regeneration crisis of Christian perfection even more than Finney. Mahan led the transition from Methodist and Oberlin perfectionism to the ecumenical higher life movement and prepared the way for the Keswick movement.
The Higher Life Movement: Immediate Sanctification by Faith, Trans denominational
The higher life movement began with the publication of William E. Boardman’s immensely popular and influential The Higher Christian Life in 1858 and dissolved with Robert Pearsall Smith’s removal from public ministry in 1875. It was trans denominational and not primarily Methodist, and it combined emphases from Wesleyan, Methodist, and Oberlin perfectionism, modifying their doctrine of sanctification with terminology that did not offend non-Methodists. For William Edwin Boardman (1810–86), who professed to be justified at eighteen and sanctified at thirty-two, the essence of the higher Christian life is a temporal separation of justification from sanctification. He began and led the higher life movement for over a decade until he was overshadowed by a husband-wife team in the early 1870s: Robert Pearsall Smith (1827–98) and Hannah Whittall Smith (1832–1911). Robert and Hannah zealously spread their crisis experiences with others through personal conversations, public speaking, and most enduringly through Hannah’s writing. The message of her most influential book, The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, is essentially twofold: “entire surrender” or “entire abandonment” (i.e., “let go”) and “absolute faith” (i.e., “let God”).16 Foundational to her message is a disjunction between justification and sanctification, which explains the nature of her appeals to believers to surrender to the Lord, who “is able to save you fully, now, in this life, from the power and dominion of
sin.” Only some believers experience this special deliverance, which she identifies with Spirit-baptism. Interestingly, although Hannah’s The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life endures as a devotional “classic,” Robert and Hannah Smith did not have “happy” lives. The higher life movement was the immediate predecessor to the Keswick movement. Its series of conventions and other meetings spawned the Keswick Convention, and Keswick historians acknowledge this connection and revere the Smiths and their teaching.
PROPAGATORS
A survey of Keswick theology’s propagators cannot comprehensively cover the dozens of people who preached and taught at the Keswick Convention from 1875 to 1920. This survey highlights sixteen outstanding figures: eight were convention leaders, and the other eight also were (and are) well-known proponents of Keswick theology. All of them experienced a crisis in which they entered the rest of faith.
Eight Leaders of the Early Keswick Convention
1–2. Thomas Dundas Harford-Battersby (1823–83) and Robert Wilson (1824–1905) were Keswick’s founders. Canon HarfordBattersby and Wilson, his close Quaker friend, attended the Oxford Convention (1874), a higher life meeting led by R. P. Smith, and Harford-Battersby experienced his crisis. They next attended the
Brighton Convention (1875), which stirred them so greatly that they decided to hold a similar meeting in their hometown of Keswick just three weeks later. R. P. Smith agreed to serve as the chairman of the Keswick meeting, but his doctrinal and moral fall required him to cancel, giving Harford-Battersby just two or three days notice before visitors arrived in Keswick for the meeting. Harford-Battersby served as the chairman, a position he continued until his death in 1883. Wilson, who later served as Keswick’s third chairman, unselfishly took care of the logistical details such as preparing the tent for the meeting.
3. James Elder Cumming (1830–1917) was Keswick’s exemplar. The Scottish minister had a reputation of being rather irritable, but that changed when he experienced his crisis at Keswick in 1882. He returned to speak at Keswick for the next twenty-four consecutive years until 1906.
4. Evan Henry Hopkins (1837–1918) was Keswick’s formative theologian. Hopkins experienced his higher life crisis of surrender and faith in 1873 when R. P. Smith and Boardman were informally speaking on the higher Christian life throughout England, and it was through one of Hopkins’s messages at the Oxford Convention that Harford-Battersby entered the rest of faith and then founded the Keswick Convention.22 Hopkins did not attend the first Keswick Convention because he was occupied with replacing R. P. Smith as the new
editor of The Christian’s Pathway to Power, which he changed to The Life of Faith, but he appeared as a leader at the Keswick Convention for the next forty consecutive years (1876–1915). He was perhaps the
single most respected and influential early Keswick leader, and he is unanimously recognized as the theologian of the early Keswick movement.
5. Hanmer William Webb-Peploe (1837–1923) was Keswick’s orator. The Anglican clergyman experienced his higher life crisis in 1874, and he remained a regular, popular preacher at Keswick, speaking at twenty-eight Conventions
6. Handley Carr Glyn Moule (1841–1920) was Keswick’s scholar. He served as the principal of Ridley Hall in Cambridge (1880–99) and the Bishop of Durham (1901–20). He initially did not view the Keswick movement favorably, but he experienced his crisis of surrender and faith in 1884 after listening to Evan Hopkins. He
spoke at the Keswick Convention a total of thirteen times, first in 1886 and last in 1919.
7. Frederick Brotherton Meyer (1847–1929) was Keswick’s international ambassador. His first crisis experience occurred in 1884, and a second followed in 1887, illustrating the three steps he proclaimed that people should experience: (1) conversion, (2) consecration, and (3) the anointing of the Spirit. The Baptist minister spoke at the largely Anglican Keswick Convention twenty-six times, and he successfully spread the Keswick message to America and beyond.
8. Charles Armstrong Fox (1836–1900) was Keswick’s poet, his best-known poem being “The Marred Face.” Illness prevented Fox from speaking at the Keswick Convention until 1879, but he was then able to speak there every year through 1899 (except for 1897 because of illness). After his first convention, he gave the closing address on the final evening of each convention he attended.
Eight Other Prominent Propagators of Keswick Theology
Though the following eight people may not have been as prominent and regular speakers at the Keswick Convention as the eight mentioned above, they were highly influential in disseminating Keswick theology.
Though the following eight people may not have been as prominent and regular speakers at the Keswick Convention as the eight mentioned above, they were highly influential in disseminating Keswick
theology.
1- Andrew Murray (1828–1917) was Keswick’s foremost devotional author. He was “the Father of the Keswick Movement in South Africa,” and he came to the Keswick Convention as a listener in 1882 and a speaker in 1895, when he was by far the most popular speaker. He authored over 250 books (all devotional).
2–3. James Hudson Taylor (1832–1905) and Amy Wilson Carmichael (1867–1951) were Keswick’s foremost missionaries. The Keswick Convention began to focus on both consecration and missions beginning in 1886–87. Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission, estimated that Keswick produced two-thirds of his missionaries. He experienced the higher life in 1869, and he visited Keswick in 1883 and 1887 and officially spoke in 1893. The first missionary whom the Keswick Convention supported was Amy Carmichael, the adopted daughter of Robert Wilson. She served in Japan for one year and in
India for fifty-six
4 – Frances Ridley Havergal (1836–79) was Keswick’s hymnist. After experiencing her crisis in 1873, she became known as “the consecration poet,” and she “thus was able before her early death to write those hymns indelibly identified with Keswick: Like a river glorious is God’s perfect peace [1878] and Take my Life and let it be [1874].”
5 – Arthur Tappan Pierson (1837–1911) was Keswick’s American ambassador. He did not experience his higher life crisis that identified him with the Keswick movement until 1895. He spoke at eight Keswick Conventions from 1897 to 1909, and he promoted Keswick theology in his writing and preaching, spreading it at key conferences such as Northfield.
6–8. William Henry Griffith Thomas (1861–1924), Charles Gallaudet Trumbull (1872–1941), and Robert Crawford McQuilkin (1886–1952) were Keswick’s leaders of the victorious life movement, which was the
American version of the Keswick movement
It began in 1913 and continued for decades, so it does not figure prominently in the years of this historical survey (1875–1920). It began, however, within this survey’s timeframe and adhered to the basic theology of sanctification in the early Keswick movement, even though its conferences and writings were not officially connected with the Keswick Convention.
SUCCESSORS
Of particular interest is how the Keswick movement spawned the following four succeeding movements or institutions that have greatly influenced American evangelicalism. The theology of these movements is not identical with Keswick theology, and they have been influenced by far more than just Keswick theology. Keswick’s influence on them, however, is significant, as demonstrated by their similarities regarding sanctification.
Albert Benjamin Simpson (1844–1919): Founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance
A. B. Simpson founded two nondenominational mission agencies in 1887 that merged in 1897 as the Christian and Missionary Alliance, which was not technically part of the holiness movement but was sympathetic with it. Simpson, who authored over one hundred books, experienced his higher life crisis in 1874 by reading Boardman’s The Higher Christian Life. His view of sanctification was similar to the Wesleyan and Keswick views (though he drew more on Catholic mysticism), and it significantly influenced Pentecostalism (though he did not believe that speaking in tongues is an evidence of the crisis).
Moody, Torrey, and Gray: Leaders of Moody Bible Institute
Moody Bible Institute’s first three leaders enthusiastically broadcasted elements of Keswick theology.
1- Dwight Lyman Moody (1837–99) was in one sense both a forerunner and successor of Keswick theology. He indirectly influenced the early Keswick movement with his 1873–75 evangelistic meetings in England that plowed the soil for well-received higher life conferences and publications, and his later crusading emphasis on the necessity of a crisis experience subsequent to conversion reflects the influence of Keswick theology. He never entirely embraced Keswick theology, but he was publicly sympathetic with it and allowed it to spread at his popular Northfield Conferences. He passionately emphasized the baptism of the Holy Spirit as an experience subsequent to conversion resulting in power for service, an emphasis continued by leaders such as A. J. Gordon, A. T. Pierson, C. I. Scofield, R. A. Torrey, and James M. Gray.
2 – Reuben Archer Torrey (1856–1928), one of Moody’s closest friends, shared speaking platforms in America with many Keswick speakers, and he spoke at the Keswick Convention in 1904 on his most passionate subject: how to receive the baptism of the Spirit. Torrey further accented Moody’s emphasis on Spirit-baptism as a post regeneration crisis resulting in power for service, and he is the most frequently quoted non-Pentecostal in Pentecostal literature.
3 – James Martin Gray (1851–1935) was sympathetic with Moody and Torrey’s theology of sanctification, but he did not place Spiritbaptism subsequent to conversion as a separate experience. His view is
the most similar to Keswick theology by emphasizing Spirit-filling as the secret key to victorious living and Spirit-anointing as the means for power in service.
Pentecostalism: Product of Wesleyan Perfectionism, the Holiness Movement, the Early Keswick
Movement, Simpson, Moody, and Torrey Theologically, Pentecostalism, which traditionally began at the turn
of the twentieth century, maintains that believers should experience Spirit-baptism after conversion and initially demonstrate this by speaking in tongues. It also shares views on healing similar to those of W. E.
Boardman, Andrew Murray, and A. B. Simpson.
Historically, Pentecostalism is rooted in Wesleyan perfectionism (Wesley, Fletcher, and Clarke), Methodist perfectionism (Palmer and the camp meetings), Oberlin perfectionism (Finney and Mahan), the higher life movement (Boardman and the Smiths), the early Keswick movement (especially F. B. Meyer, Andrew Murray, A. T. Pierson, and A. J. Gordon), and the theology of A. B. Simpson, D. L. Moody, and R. A. Torrey. Common to all of these leaders and movements is the belief in two crisis events, one for conversion and one for a special
sanctification, which are normally separated chronologically. Keswick was a crucial element in the formation of Pentecostalism, which subsequently dwarfed Keswick in size and evangelical influence.
Dallas Theological Seminary: Bastion of the Chaferian View of Sanctification
The Keswick and Chaferian views of sanctification are similar but not identical. The Keswick view predated and highly influenced the Chaferian view, which is named after Lewis Sperry Chafer, who cofounded Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) in 1924. DTS is probably the most influential factor for the prevalence of a Keswick-like view of sanctification in modern fundamentalism and evangelicalism.
1- Cyrus Ingerson Scofield (1843–1921) is especially significant to DTS’s theology of sanctification because of his close, father-like relationship with Chafer. His famous reference Bible “more or less canonized Keswick teachings,” which he embraced while departing from the language of Moody, Torrey, and Meyer, insisting that Spirit-baptism occurs at conversion for all NT believers.
2- Lewis Sperry Chafer (1871–1952), who zealously spread victorious life teaching, divides all human beings into three distinct categories: natural (unregenerate), carnal (regenerate but characterized by an unregenerate lifestyle), and spiritual (regenerate and Spiritfilled). People may experience “two great spiritual changes”: “the change from the ‘natural’ man to the saved man, and the change from the ‘carnal’ man to the ‘spiritual’ man.”
3- John Flipse Walvoord (1910–2002), who served in leadership roles at DTS from 1935 until his death, perpetuates Chafer’s Keswicklike view of sanctification. Carnal believers must surrender “once and
for all” by accepting Christ “as Lord,” resulting in the start of “progressive sanctification.” He agrees with the Keswick perspective in Five Views on Sanctification, qualifying that the only point that could use more clarity is to distinguish Spirit-baptism as a once-for-all act at conversion and Spirit-filling as the secret “means of transforming the Christian life.”
4- Charles Caldwell Ryrie (1925–), an influential DTS professor (1953–58, 1962–83), likewise promotes a Keswick-like view of sanctification by emphasizing “dedication,” a once-for-all-time crisis that is never repeated and transitions belivers from being carnal to spiritual. Like his predecessors, he sharply contrasts Spirit-filling with Spirit-baptism, and he strongly denies that Christ must be Lord to be Savior.
The Models of Sanctification (Brief Overview)
Eight different models for spiritual growth or sanctification have been identified. These are: the
contemplative-mystical, the sacerdotal, the Lutheran, Reformed, Wesleyan-Holiness, Pentecostal,
Keswick, and the Augustinian-Dispensational model.
The first two are largely found within Roman Catholic theology, but elements are also found in some Protestant views. The Lutheran view as stated generally by the Missouri Synod is that, “The Holy Spirit sanctifies me (makes me holy) by bringing me to faith in Christ, so that I might have the blessings of redemption and lead a godly life.”
Furthermore, they see sanctification in two ways, in a more general sense to refer to “the whole work of
the Holy Spirit by which He brings us to faith and also enables us to lead a godly life,” and in a more
restricted sense to refer to “that part of the Holy Spirit’s work by which he directs and empowers the
believer to lead a godly life”
The Augustinian-Dispensational model was identified as such by Dr. John Walvoord, but in this paper it will be labeled the Chaferian model. Of course, there are also many who create eclectic blends, perhaps not realizing the internal inconsistencies or contradictions included when disparate systems are illegitimately married.
Five Significant models: Reformed, Wesleyan-Holiness, Keswick, Chaferian, and Pentecostal.
The Reformed Model
This model emphasizes the Sovereignty of God in Sanctification as in Salvation. Experiential sanctification is guaranteed to the elect and in time by the Sovereignty of God. This model holds to a gradual removal of man’s depravity and tendency to sin which is replaced by holiness. Major proponents are: B.B. Warfield, Anthony Hokema, John Murray, Andrew Naselli, and Thomas
Schreiner.
The Wesleyan-Holiness Model
This model emphasizes a second point of crisis (sometimes called “Second-Work of Grace”) after salvation when the believer is sanctified by an immediate act of God as the normal extension or completion of the believer’s salvation. The sin nature is removed making holy living possible. It is seen as Christian Perfectionism. Charles Wesley himself did not take this to the extreme of becoming sinless as those following him. Major proponents are: Charles Wesley, Melvin Dieter, Asa Mahan, John Fletcher, Charles Finney, Mildred Wynkoop, Phobe and Walter Palmer.
The Keswick or Victorious Life Model
This model is an attempt to promote a higher standard of personal holiness among believers. The sin nature is powerful, but can be brought into subjection by the Holy Spirit. The believer is urged receive the sanctification work of the Holy Spirit by faith through an act of entire consecration to God. It is a “Let go and Let God” act. This act follows salvation and is also by faith to receive sanctification just as salvation was received by faith. The believer is to “die to self” and totally surrender to God thereby receiving the “fulness of the Spirit.” The result of this act is victory in Christian Service. Major proponents are: William E. Boardman, Robert Wilson, Thomas D. Hartford-Battersby, Evan H. Hopkins, Andrew Murray, F.B. Meyer, Charles Turnbull, and J. Robertson McQuilkin.
The Chaferian Model
This model emphasizes the two natures of the believer. On earth there is a battle between the Spirit against the flesh [sin nature] or the new nature against the old nature. In its original presentation it begins with an act of dedication. Afterward, human activity is emphasized by abiding in Christ through the confession of sin, the filling of the Holy Spirit and the believer growing in grace under the Word of God. A modified Chaferian model minimizes or excludes an initial act of dedication making the issue one of abiding in Christ or walking in (by means of) the Spirit, under the filling of the Holy Spirit. Major Proponents are Lewis S. Chafer, John F. Walvoord, Charles C. Ryrie, and Dwight Pentecost.
The Pentecostal Model
Pentecostal views on sanctification are widely divergent. Classic Pentecostalism tends towards the Wesleyan-Holiness model using their experience of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and speaking in
tongues as the Second-Work of Grace. This removes sin so as to make holy living easier. Other branches emphasize a more Keswick model of crucifying the sin nature which is a scriptural impossibility. This enables them to live a more holy life. The clearest model is set forth by the Assemblies of God branch. They see a three stage sanctification of “Positional Sanctification,” “Progressive Sanctification”- which is the experiential aspect, and “Ultimate Sanctification” or the glorification of the believer. The confusion of the “Baptism of the Spirit” with the “Filling of the Spirit” experientially clouds their view of Progressive Sanctification. Major proponents are: Stanley M. Horton, Timothy P. Jenney; Myer Pearlman, G. Raymond Carlson.
The Means of Victory in the Christian Life
Reformed model: The Sovereignty of God is set forth as the means of individual believer victory. As the believer cooperates with God, He in His Sovereignty, gradually sees to the removal of evil and sin from the life of the believer replacing it with spiritual growth and holiness. Human involvement is minimal.
The Wesley-Holiness model; The basis of victory is a second work of grace where the believer in a crisis act receives sanctification seeing love and holiness perfected in them by the removal of the sin nature so that they can move forward in victory.
The Keswick model; Victory is attained as the believer totally surrenders to God in a “Let go and Let God”
experience. The believer then sets themselves to the work of the Lord not to attain victory, but because
they already have victory. The sinful temptations may exist, but the sinful responses of the heart have
been conquered.
The Pentecostal model; Specifics of the basis of victory are hard to pin down in the Pentecostal model due to the experiential and varied nature of the various splinter groups. The common thread is that sanctification
after salvation involves an experience with the Holy Spirit which empowers the believer in many experiential ways to have victory.
The Chaferian model; As an unbeliever one sinful nature is possessed. At salvation the believer gains a new nature which is in conflict with the old sinful nature. Through dependence on the Holy Spirit by His filling/control the believer has victory in walking in the Spirit, abiding in Christ, and maintaining close
fellowship with God. Sin hinders the victory, but is handled by the cleansing and forgiveness of confession. Spiritual growth and victory takes place as the believer walks by means of the Spirit as well as the other representations of this new position: Walking in Him, in Truth, in the Light, in Love, in Newness of Life, and in Wisdom.
Erick Chepkwony, TH.D 