Is there a second work of grace in the Christian life?

Grace—God’s unmerited favor—is foundational to the gospel. Every Christian understands grace to be central to a relationship with Christ. We are saved by grace, through faith (Ephesians 2:8). We have “grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). We have grace sufficient to compensate for our weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12:9). Grace is a big part of the Christian life.

When Christians speak of a “second work of grace,” they usually refer to a specific spiritual blessing that God imparts in addition to salvation. Sometimes they call it the “second blessing.” Different Christian groups have different views of the purpose of a supposed second work of grace. And other Christian groups reject the notion of a definitive “second work” entirely.

The Pentecostal view. Pentecostal Christians believe that, after a person is saved, he or she can and should seek a second blessing or a second work of grace, which they call the “baptism of the Holy Spirit.” This second work of grace empowers or equips a believer to do God’s work.

According to Pentecostals, the initial evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit is speaking in tongues. The second blessing also gives power to live a righteous life and spread the Word. The Pentecostal church speaks of the baptism of the Holy Spirit as having both “subsequence” and “separability.” That is, Spirit baptism is subsequent to salvation and separate from it—it is a distinct second work of grace.

The Holiness view. Christians in the Wesleyan, Methodist, and Holiness traditions believe that, when God performs a second work of grace in a believer’s life, that believer is sanctified. Some go so far as to teach that believers can enter a state of sinless perfection. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, taught that the second blessing was an act of God whereby a believer was granted deliverance from both inward and actual sin and empowered to be wholeheartedly obedient to Christ. Wesley emphasized the need for individuals to pursue God’s work in their hearts, so that their every thought and act would be according to His will.

The Baptist and Reformed view. Baptist, Reformed, and many non-denominational Christians do not believe there is a second work of grace distinct from salvation. They point out that the term second blessing or second work of grace is not used in the Bible.

The Baptist/Reformed view understands the baptism of the Holy Spirit as occurring at salvation, along with the sealing and indwelling of the Spirit. All believers are baptized by the Spirit when they are saved. This was certainly true for the Corinthian believers: “We were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink” (1 Corinthians 12:13). No one in the church of Corinth was excluded from the baptism. Elsewhere, Paul specifies the timing of the Spirit’s seal: “You also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 1:13).

Scripture never commands believers to seek the baptism of the Spirit or to pray for it, for the simple reason that they already have it. This is different from the filling of the Spirit, which can happen at any time subsequent to salvation, as we respond to God in submission and obedience. We do have a command to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).

Not only were the members of the Corinthian church all Spirit-baptized, but they were also all sanctified. Paul addressed them as “the church of God . . . those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints” (1 Corinthians 1:2). Further, Hebrews 10:10 says, “By [God’s] will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” Sanctification is based on Christ’s work for us and comes as a result of faith. Scripture speaks of sanctification as both a position and a process (see 2 Corinthians 3:18). The ongoing process of growing to be like Christ is sometimes called “practical sanctification” or “progressive sanctification.” It is not a second work of grace so much as the continuing work of grace begun when we received Christ.

One difficulty with viewing Spirit baptism or sanctification as a distinct second work of grace is that it tends to create a two-tier Christian life. Some believers have the fullness of the Spirit; others don’t. Some are sanctified and have power over sin; others don’t. Dividing believers into the haves and have-nots is unhelpful. The Bible speaks of both the baptism of the Spirit and the sanctification of believers, but not in the context of a second blessing or a second stage of the life of faith.