In 2025, The War Cry took a look at the doctrines of The Salvation Army through the In The Love of Jesus series. Central to The Salvation Army’s theology is the doctrine of holiness. Take a look at the following articles from throughout the year that help unpack holiness and what it means for Christian life.

Is The Salvation Army a Church?

Yes! At our very essence, The Salvation Army is a church. It’s right in our mission statement: “The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church. Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by the love of God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.”

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Kept By Grace: The Power of Continued Obedient Faith in Salvation

Writing to Salvation Army soldiers in “The Salvationist” in 1879, General William Booth summed up the primary purpose of The Salvation Army in a forthright statement: “We are a salvation people — this is our specialty — getting people saved and keeping them saved, and then getting somebody else saved … Clear your vision … You are to be a worker together with God for the salvation of your fellow men.”

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Holiness Starts Now: Living Free from Sin According to Romans 6

The word “holiness” is frequently misunderstood. More than that, it’s misunderstood in multiple ways. For some, holiness is about behavior modification, a legalistic keeping of the rules. For others, holiness is a nice ideal but ultimately unreachable. I’ll occasionally meet someone who thinks of holiness as an attribute of God that He doesn’t share with us. More often I meet people who think of holiness as a spiritual bonus level of sorts, which is only achieved by really spiritual people nearer to the end of their lives than the beginning. This last misunderstanding will be our focus here as we discover that holiness isn’t for later. It’s for now. 

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Transforming Grace Explained: A Wesleyan View of Holiness & Salvation

The Christian message is a gospel, a gracious summons to put one’s sole hope for life in what God has done for us, and desires to do within us.  The grace of God has been revealed in the objective, saving work of Jesus Christ. Salvation is grounded in grace but requires a personal response to the Divine initiative. John Wesley (1703-1791) strongly asserted the primacy of divine grace in the work of salvation but also found it important to emphasize the role of responsible human participation in this gracious work. Thus, he sought to maintain a dynamic relation between divine grace and our response.

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His Way in Me: How Jesus Leads Us into Holiness & Transformation

I’ve heard the remarkable book of Hebrews described as “enigmatically beautiful.”  There are several themes within it that are unusual but very important. One is the priesthood of Jesus. Even if we may not talk often about our absolute need of a priest — one who mediates, stands for us, offers what we cannot, brings to us what we don’t deserve — without Jesus our Priest we would last as long as a hair thrown into a blast furnace! The Holy One has come to bring the perfection of God and the radical brokenness of humanity together as our Great High Priest.

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Imperfect Holiness: What It Means to Grow in Christlikeness

I have been a follower of Jesus Christ all my adult life. Because of this, I assumed I had at least a modest understanding of holiness. I was wrong. As I took a closer look into biblical holiness, I discovered that, at best, my knowledge of holiness was incomplete, and, at worst, completely wrong. Four basic questions provide clarity. These are questions that every believer should be able to answer with confidence. 

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Assurance of Salvation: What It Is and Why It Matters

Our experience of salvation is something many of us think about, as it is one of the most, if not the most, significant things that ever happens to us. People can often recall exactly when and where they made a decision for Christ. The eighth doctrine of The Salvation Army states, “We believe that we are justified by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and that he that believeth hath the witness in himself.” Let’s focus on the second half of the doctrine, as there are many who are somewhat nervous about their salvation.  

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The Most Often Asked Question on Holiness

The question I am asked more than any other goes something like this: Is sanctification a crisis or a process? My answer is both! Christians have always grappled with being holy. Many believe that we are only ever “holy” by process or growth alone. Words like “striving” or “pursuing” define their understanding of being made holy. Paul’s words are the common reference, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (Philippians 3:12 NIV). But that is not Paul’s—or the Lord’s—last word on holiness. 

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