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The Holiness movement is a Christian movement that emerged chiefly within 19th-century Methodism,[1][2] and to a lesser extent influenced other traditions such as Quakerism, Anabaptism, and Restorationism.[3][4] Churches aligned with the holiness movement teach that the life of a born again Christian should be free of sin.[5][6] The movement is historically distinguished by its emphasis on the doctrine of a second work of grace,[7][8] which is called entire sanctification or Christian perfection.[9][10] The word Holiness refers specifically to this belief in entire sanctification as an instantaneous, definite second work of grace, in which original sin is cleansed, the heart is made perfect in love, and the believer is empowered to serve God.[11] For the Holiness movement, "the term 'perfection' signifies completeness of Christian character; its freedom from all sin, and possession of all the graces of the Spirit, complete in kind."[12] A number of Christian denominations, parachurch organizations, and movements emphasize those Holiness beliefs as central doctrine.[13][14]
In addition to the regular holding of church services in the morning and evening of the Lord's Day, and usually having a midweek Wednesday church service,[15] within parts of denominations or entire denominations aligned with the holiness movement, camp meetings and tent revivals are organized throughout the year—especially in the summertime. These are aimed at preaching the New Birth (first work of grace) and entire sanctification (second work of grace), along with calling backsliders to repentance.[16] Churches in the holiness tradition emphasize a sober lifestyle, especially with regard to clean speech, modesty, and teetotalism.[15]
In the second half of the nineteenth century, the Holiness Movement developed rapidly within Methodist churches in America. The Holiness Movement upheld the doctrine of entire sanctification, which emphasized the instantaneous character of this second blessing as a "second definite work of grace."
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was invoked but never defined (see the help page).The Methodists were also first to coin the phrase baptism of the Holy Spirit as applied to a second and sanctifying grace (experience) of God. (Cf. John Fletcher of Madeley, Methodism's earliest formal theologian.) The Methodists meant by their "baptism" something different from the Pentecostals, but the view that this is an experience of grace separate from and after salvation was the same.
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