1/19/2021;
The ancient Fathers and Mothers of our faith taught 3 stages of growing in Christ:
Purgative- the first stage of recognizing, repenting, and separating from the world and the things that tempt and keep us in bondage to sin.
Illuminative- the second stage of studying the Word, being in the midst of believers, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, and cultivating the fruit of the Spirit.
Unitive- the third stage of living consistently in Christ, experiencing close communion with the Lord, and serving out of a heart of gratitude and obedience.
“…the bulk of our hearers must be purged before they are fed; else we only feed the disease. “
(The Letters of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M., ed. John Telford (London: The Epworth Press, 1931), III, p. 34. This letter was written April 12, 1750.)
“Even well-intentioned preaching on the love of God could veer toward a dangerous sentimentalism and result in the feeding of the disease of sin rather than effecting its cure.”
(Wesley and the Law, William M. Arnett in The Asbury Seminarian)