The theme of missions is always rather explicit or implicit every time there is the purest experience of God in biblical holiness. This book makes a case that as God sanctified or set apart His people, in every biblical and historical instance, He had in mind an objective of self-giving life of reaching out to one's neighbors, whether afar or nearby. This book is the most comprehensive trace of interconnection between holiness and missions through scripture- Old and New Testaments- and through Church history. A case is made that the doctrine of sanctification essentially conveys the very utmost Christian consecration to the transforming holiness of God and logically connects that to the dynamic outworking of this same consecration in utmost outworking of trinitarian love. It is found when we study and do thorough scrutiny of lives and practices of what Richard J. Foster has identified as "streams of living water" or "Great Traditions of Christian Faith." These streams run deep in scriptures, both Old and New Testaments. The themes are found in the life of Christ and in the ministration of the Holy Spirit during Pentecost. It is pervasive in Pauline literature and missionary engagements, and are identifiable throughout the history of Christian thought. The language of holiness changed over time but the essential resultant life of missions remained a clear product of a sanctified life. In church history, this book traces this among the Martyrs, the Monks, the Mystics, the Moravians, the Methodists, and among the Holiness-Pentecostal Movements.
