“Do you believe in the second blessing?”
“To be sure I do,” answered a Christian whose reply voices the judgment
of many, “but I shouldn’t confine it to a second blessing. I believe in
hundreds of blessings after conversion.”
Whatever may be our view of such a term as “the second blessing,” let
us not lose the experience it describes by confusing these hundreds
of blessings with that distinct change which comes in a life when the
secret of complete victory is learned.
A noted Christian leader in England who was prejudiced against the
teaching of a “higher life” was prevailed upon to hear a message on the
subject. He approached the speaker, who was a friend of his, with this
criticism: “That is all well enough, but you are preaching lop-sided
truth. What we need is all-round truth.” “Yes,” was the reply, “but we
are preaching to lop-sided Christians. When we get them into the center
then we can give them all-round truth.”
Dr. Griffith Thomas, who relates this incident of the English
preachers, has pointed out that “the perfecting of the saints” means
literally “the adjusting of the saints.” It is as when a broken
shoulder needs to be set before the blood can flow properly and the
arm be used. It is this adjustment of “lop-sided Christians” which
marks the great change. Those who experience the change realize that
it is something different from any blessing they have received since
conversion, and different from any new experience of deepening that
will come in the life later.
What is this distinct change that comes in the life of the Christian?
It is clear that the Scriptures never hold before the believer two
_standards_ for the Christian life. The New Testament does recognize
that Christians may walk as “carnal,” whereas their true state is to
be spiritual (Gal. 6:1; 1 Cor. 3:1). It recognizes that Christians may
walk after the flesh or after the Spirit (Rom. 8:4; Gal. 5:16).