Once For All: The Daily Cross
No Second Work Of Grace
The
doctrine of a second work of grace teaches that after salvation the
believer must experience a second crisis event in which he receives a
deeper cleansing, a fuller sanctification, or a higher level of
holiness. It claims that the first work of grace saves, but the second
work of grace completes that salvation. This teaching appears in various
traditions under the umbrella of Christianity. Scripture does not teach
this. Scripture teaches one cleansing, one salvation, one offering, and
one grace. Sanctification is not a second blessing. It is the daily
expression of the first blessing, the believer walking in the life he
already possesses..
The believer’s life contains two
surrenders, but only one work of grace. The first surrender is the
fruit of repentance, the sinner turning from self to Christ in belief
and faith, receiving the once for all cleansing of salvation. The second
surrender is the believer yielding daily to Christ in sanctification,
the ongoing walk from faith to faith. This second surrender is not a
second work of grace, not a second cleansing, and not a second crisis
experience. It is the daily expression of the grace already given.
Scripture says, “Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many” (Hebrews 9:28). It also says, “By one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified”
(Hebrews 10:14). Christ offered Himself once for all. The saving work
of Christ is singular, complete, and never repeated. If Christ’s
offering is once for all, then salvation is once for all, cleansing is
once for all, and grace is once for all. There can be no second act of
grace because the first act of grace is perfect.
The
first surrender corresponds to this once for all offering. It is the
sinner’s repentance unto salvation, the turning of the heart to Christ
in faith. This surrender is instantaneous, complete, and never repeated.
It is the moment of the new birth, the moment when the believer is made
clean every whit.
The second surrender corresponds
to the daily washing of the feet. It is the believer’s daily yielding to
Christ in sanctification. It is continual, progressive, and expressed
in daily obedience. It is the believer’s walk from faith to faith, the
daily crucifixion of the flesh, the daily cleansing from the dust of the
world. Paul described this when he said, “I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31). Christ described it when He said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23).
Taking
up the cross daily is not a second experience, nor a second blessing,
nor a post conversion crisis event. A cross is not a symbol of
consecration. It is an instrument of execution. When Christ speaks of
the cross, He is speaking of death, and when He says daily, He is
speaking of the believer’s ongoing posture in sanctification. Taking up
the cross daily is the believer’s daily death to the old nature. It is
separation from the old man, the putting away of the flesh, the daily
surrender of self rule, and the continual yielding of the will. This is
not a second work of grace. It is the daily work of grace in the
believer’s walk, the believer applying the life already given.
The
believer resists the old man, denies the flesh, crucifies the self, and
strengthens the new man. None of this is a second cleansing or a second
blessing. It is the daily expression of the once for all cleansing of
salvation. Grace is not dispensed in installments. The believer does not
receive phase two holiness. The new man is complete at conversion, and
sanctification is the daily crucifixion of the old man.
Peter’s exchange with Christ in John 13:8 through 10 is the perfect illustration.
“Peter
saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I
wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him,
Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to
him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean
every whit, and ye are clean, but not all.”
Peter
first refused the washing. Christ answered that the refusal itself
revealed the problem. Refusing surrender is the sign of a lost man, not
of sanctification. Submission to Christ is the mark of belonging to
Christ. Alarmed, Peter asked for a full washing, but Christ corrected
him. Peter did not need to be washed entirely again. He was already
clean every whit. He needed only the daily cleansing of the feet, the
removal of the dust of the world.
The teaching of a
second work of grace cannot stand in light of these Scriptures. Christ
offered Himself once for all, and the believer is made clean every whit
at the moment of salvation. The daily cross, the daily cleansing of the
feet, the daily dying to the flesh, and the daily walk from faith to
faith are not second acts of grace, but the believer’s ongoing response
to the grace already received. The cross is taken up daily because the
believer lives in a world that presses upon the flesh, not because
salvation is incomplete. Sanctification is the daily application of the
once for all cleansing, the continual expression of the life already
given, and never a second blessing added to the first. The entire
pattern of Scripture shows one salvation and one grace, followed by a
lifelong walk in that grace, and nothing in the believer’s experience
requires or supports a second crisis event to complete what Christ
finished at Calvary.
~Tony
© A.K. Pritchard 2026 -
Free to use with proper attribution.