SUMMERS ON HOUNESS EMORY UNIVERSITY1 LIBRARY GIFT OF Mary Bcr.d o.rith HOLINESS: A TREATISE ON SANCTIFICATION, AS SET FORTH IN NTetu Testament. BY T. 0. SUMMERS, D. D. RICHMOND AND LOUISVILLE: PUBLISHED BY JOHN EARLY, FOR THE METHODIST IilTSCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH. 1851. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year of our Lord 1850, BY JOHN EARLY, in the Clerk's Office of the Eastern District of Virginia DEDICATION. TO THE REV. BISHOP SOULE. Reverend and vert Dear Sir :—The religious community among whom, for the past half century, you have been so distinguished as a minister of Christ, will consider this inscription as presumptive evidence of the agreement of the fol¬ lowing pages with their interpretation of the word of God. Should they honor them with a perusal, it is believed they will not be disappointed in this respect. No reference, however, is made to their publications in this little treatise. The author has taken up the subject of Holi¬ ness de novo ; and, without being oblivi¬ ous of what has been written on it by 4 DEDICATION, theologians of different schools, he has endeavored to ascertain the mind of the Spirit, as embodied in the teachings of the New Testament Scriptures. In doing this, he has produced a very small work: he could have made it twice as large with half the labor. He has been able to put it into a small space by excluding extraneous and impertinent matter—at the same time, he is not aware that any material point has been overlooked in the inquiry. Though it is designed for circulation among the people at large, it exhibits no affectation of sim¬ plicity. The author has written in his own style—he is not disposed to make the experiment of writing in any other. The first two chapters, on account of their philological character, may have a forbidding aspect to some ; they will see, however, that the subject could not be DEDICATION. 5 adequately discussed without determin¬ ing the sense of the terms by which it is designated in the volume of inspiration. Rest assured, dear sir, that the readers of this inscription will unite with the writer in blessing God that you are still preserved among us, and in devoutly praying that your valuable life may be long preserved, that you may still direct the wanderers of earth into the way of holiness, the only path which leads to God. If the use which is here made of your name requires an apology, it is found in the sincere affection and profound esteem of The Author. HOLINESS. CHAPTER I. terms defining it. Holiness is moral goodness—integrity of moral character and conduct. The holiness of God comprehends all his moral perfec¬ tions : the holiness of man comprehends all the graces and virtues with which he was originally endowed by his Creator, or those which are proper to his renewed nature. The inspired penmen of the New Testa¬ ment employ a variety of terms which are rendered holiness by our translators. The first of these terms which we shall notice is uaioTTjr: " That we might serve him—in holi¬ ness and righteousness," Luke i. 75. " And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness" Eph. iv. 24. According to some, holiness in these passages denotes the observances ren¬ dered to God; righteousness, the duties to men. But the term holiness properly em- 8 HOLINESS. braces the duties of the second table, as well as those of the first; and oaiog is used of the one as well as of the other. " The term oaiog," says Dr. Campbell, " is properly posi¬ tive, and implies in its utmost extent both piety and benevolence." " Ckasid in the Old Testament, and hosios in the New, (except when used substantively, where it may be rendered saint,) ought, when it respects the disposition towards God, to be translated pious: when it respects the disposition to¬ wards men, gracious, hind, humane.". It commonly has a specific and not a generic sense, and is thus used in connection with other epithets, variously qualifying a subject, Thus Christ is said to be ooiog, unanog, ay'iav- Tog, iu our translation, " holy, harmless, un- defiled." But the term holy, as Campbell observes, " being general in its signification, adds nothing to the import of the other epi¬ thets, especially of amiantos, undejiled, and consequently does not hit the exact meaning of the word hosios, which here probably de¬ notes pious." "It seems to have been the intention of the.sacred writer to comprehend, in few words, his whole moral character re¬ specting God, the rest of mankind, and him- HOLINESS. 9 self." Paul says, a bishop must be " a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, boiov, temperate," Titus i. 8. Here the general term, holy, is not sufficiently expres¬ sive, as it is adapted to the other epithets as well as to that for which it stands. All the virtues here specified are comprehended in holiness. The passage is thus paraphrased in Taylor's Calmet: " A Christian bishop must be the stranger's friend, the good man's lover, ^teady in his deportment, just towards alholy, much rather beneficent, ex- "htenjdfng ^his bounty beyond the stranger whose friend he is, or the good man of whom he is the lover, to the miserable and the dis- ' tressed." Campbell thinks it ought in this p]ace to be rendered humane. This corre¬ sponds with' our rendering of Acts xiii. 34, where, as in the LXX. of Is. lv. 3, tu oaia an¬ swers to the Hebrew chased, " the sure mercies of David." Taylor thinks that the word always implies bounty or charity: Campbell thinks that in one or two instances it may be found in a more extended sense, and may be rendered sanctijication, " a word rather more expressive of what concerns manners than holiness is." The distinction 10 HOLINESS. between these two terms is worthy of note: holiness, from the Saxon, halig, means whole¬ ness, entireness, integrity of moral character and conduct:—sanctification, from the Latin, sanctificatio, sancio, implies the process by which this moral perfection is realized. Thus we predicate sanctification of men who are naturally destitute of moral goodness, and who must be subjected to a sanctifying pro¬ cess before they can possess it; but we can¬ not predicate sanctification of angels, who are naturally, or of God, who is absolutely, holy; though we can speak of the holiness of cingels and the holiness of God. The term ayiacydg means, properly, sancti¬ fication. " For this is the will of God, even your sanctification," 1 Thess. iv. 3, 4. .In the seventh verse the same word is rendered, holiness: li For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness." So also Rom. vi. 19: " Yield your members servants to righteousness unto ayiaoyov, holiness." The word comes directly from uyulf, to sanctify, and preserves the verbal idea. The term ayviaydg, from ayvtfa, in a similar way, suggests the action, producing the result. Thus, Acts xxi. 26—" the days of purifica- HOLINESS. 11 tion." The verb occurs, James iv. 8: "Purify, ayvioare, your hearts, ye double- minded." 1 John iii. 3 : "Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." Sanctification is, therefore, the proper rendering of ayiaoyoc' and uyviofioq is properly rendered, purification, as they come from ayiog, holy, through the verbs to sanctify, to purify. This is not the case with aytuavvv, which comes from dyiog, holy, and expresses the idea of holiness, without any reference to the action producing it. Thus in Horn. i. 4 : " The Spirit of dyiuavvqg, holiness." We have the same word in 1 Thess. iii. 13: "To the end he may establish your hearts un¬ blamable in holiness." 2 Cor. vii. 1: " Per¬ fecting holiness in the fear of God." Of similar force is the term dycorrig, which comes directly from ayiog, " that we might be partakers of his ayioTTjroc, holiness," Heb. xii. 10. The apostle does not say, "his dyiaa/iov, sanctification;" which is the word he uses in the 14th verse : " Follow peace with all men, and ayiaoyov, sanctification, without which no man shall see the Lord." From dywe, holy, we have uyog, purity: 12 HOLINESS. from this we derive ayvoc, pure : " Keep thy¬ self pure" 1 Tim. v. 22 :■—" Even as he is pure," 1 John iii. 3. From this we have ayveca, purity : " Be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity," 1 Tim. iv. 12 :— " The younger women as sisters, with all purity," 1 Tim. v. 2. The word ayioc, from which those nouns are derived, according to many etymologists, comes from a, negative, and yf/, the earth, yielding the sense of separate from the earth: by others it is derived from uyor, expiation, purity, a sacred thing, from afu, to venerate. The etymology is uncertain. The radical meaning of the word is easily ascertained. It has three appropriations in the Scripture —natural, ceremonial, and moral. In a na¬ tural sense it means clean, free from filth. Thus the Israelitish camp was to be kept holy, that is, clean, Deut. xxiii. 12-14. The house of the Lord was sanctified by Hezekiah when he caused the filthiness to be carried forth out of the holy place. 2 Chron. xxix. The secular use of the term, however, is not always strictly literal. The second use of the word is ceremonial. HOLINESS. 13 Thus the Israelites sanctified themselves and were accounted holy, ayioi, by refraining from unclean food and from coming in con¬ tact with carcasses, etc., Lev. xi. And inas¬ much as some ceremonial purification was usually employed to set apart men to reli¬ gious offices, those who were thus consecrated were called holy, even when the ceremonial service had not been observed. Thus Jere¬ miah was sanctified, r/ylaica, from the womb, consecrated by God to the prophetic office. Jer. i. 5. In the ceremonial sense of the term the entire Jewish nation was holy, being consecrated to God by circumcision. The word is used, thirdly, in a moral sense. This metaphorical meaning is to be attached to the word in many places in the New Testament. But it has been observed that kadash, uyioq, is never used of Old Testa¬ ment worthies, except where there is an allu¬ sion to a sacred office. It is perhaps used in the same sense of John the Baptist, in Mark vi. 20: " Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and a holy, and observed him: and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly." He is called just, in reference to his moral, and holy, in 14 HOLINESS. reference to his official, character. This dis¬ tinction, which we do not remember to have seen noticed by the critics, is sustained by the latter part of the verse, and also by the paral¬ lel place in Matthew xiv. 5: " And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet." The moral idea attached to the term is prominently brought out in many places in the New Testament. So Eph. i. 4: —" That we should be holy and without blame." Col. i. 22: " To present you holy, and unblamable, and unreprovable in his sight." So 1 Pet. i. 15, 16: " As he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is writ¬ ten, Be ye holy; for I am holy." In this last passage tjiere is a reference to Lev. xi., where the word is used in a ceremonial sense ; but it is to be observed that ceremonial holiness was typical of moral purity, so that there was no impropriety in referring to the injunction in Leviticus, especially as there was no dan¬ ger of the apostle's being misunderstood. There are two other words, nearly related to the foregoing, of frequent occurrence in the New Testament. One is nadcipoTrft. HOLINESS. 15 This noun, indeed, occurs but once, viz., in Heb. ix. 13 :—" Sanctifietb to the purifying of the flesh." But the adjective, Kadapog, from which it is derived, is found in several places: e. g.—"Blessed are the pure in heart." Matt. v. 8. "He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. For he knew who should betray him : there¬ fore said he, Ye are not all clean," John xiii. 10,11.—" Charity out of a pure heart," 1 Tim. i. 5.—" A pure conscience," iii. 9.— " Pure religion," Jas. i. 27. From this word comes the verb ica6api&, to cleanse—in a spiritual sense, to take away the pollution of sin: Acts xv. 9, " Purifying their hearts by faith." 2 Cor. vii. 1, " Let us cleanse our¬ selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit." 1 John i. 7, 9, " The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin." Brom this verb is derived the noun, nadapia- yor, a purification. John ii. 6," The purify¬ ing of the Jews." iii. 25, " Then there arose a question—about purifying." Lukeii. 22, " The days of her purification." 2 Pet. i. 9, " And hath forgotten that he vt&spurged from his old sins"—the purification from his old 16 HOLINESS. sins. So the leper was commanded to make the customary offering for his cleansing., Mark i. 42. In Heb. i. 3, Christ is said to have "purged our sins," literally, made a purification of our sins. All these words come from the verb Kddaipu, composed of Kara, intensive, and aipu, to remove. It therefore means to purge, to cleanse, to remove filth, and is accordingly used transitively, with an accusative of the thing removed. Our word cleanse is some¬ times used in a similar manner. Thus Dr. Watts: " 'Twas he who cleansed our foulest sins." It is generally, however, used of the ob¬ ject from which a thing is removed: Heb. x. 2 —" The worshipers once purged, (cleansed,) would have had no more conscience of sins." Johnxv. 2—" E very branch that bear eth fruit hepurgeth it"—" cleaneth by pruning," sajs Dr. Campbell; and the idea of cleaning is evidently correct, as it is immediately added : " Now ye are clean." This cleaning may be effected by pruning, or by the removal of any encumbrance that might be attached to the branches, preventing the production of much fruit. The spiritual application of this horti¬ cultural imagery is evident and striking. HOLINESS. 17 It is worthy of remark, that in 2 Cor. vii. 1 we are exhorted, aadapusupev, to cleanse our¬ selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting sanctification, aytuovvqv, in the fear of God; and in Eph. v. 26, Christ is said to ayiaori, sanctify the Church, Kadapioag, " cleansing it by the washing of water, through the word." Our ayiucvvrj, sanctification, is therefore effected by a Kadapicpog, a cleansing process. The words are not perfectly sy¬ nonymous, though they may be used inter¬ changeably. In Jas. iv. 8 we read," Cleanse, KadaptcaTE, your hands, ye sinners, and purify, ay via are, your hearts, ye double-minded." In Matt. v. 8 we read, " Blessed are the pure in heart"—aadapoi—an allusion, perhaps, to Ps. xxiv. 4—in the LXX. Ps. xxiii. 4—" He that hath clean hands and a pure hearC— nadapog. Both terms express the idea of sanctifica¬ tion, with this difference, however: Kafapio- pog implies a cleansing from sin—ayiuavvtj, with its cognates, imports the same, with the additional notion of consecration to God. 'O awmg gives us the idea of positive holiness, in its diversified developments of piety and virtue. 2 18 holiness. CHAPTER II. distinguished from atonement and jus¬ tification. It is of great importance to ascertain the pre¬ cise etymological import of the terms by which holiness is designated in the Scripture. It would, perhaps, be difficult to adduce a passage in which the removal of the guilt of sin, or the repeal of the sentence of condem¬ nation, is expressed by any of those terms. We do not, indeed, assert that they are not used in the sense of expiation and of absolu¬ tion. They are so used ; but rarely, if ever, in the New Testament. The idea of expia¬ tion may be intended in Heb. i. 3:—" When he had by himself purged our sinswhere the term Kadapiagov is employed; unless the apostle spoke by prolepsis of the purification resulting from the death of Christ. In this sense, calling the things that are not as though they were, believers of every age may look back to the time of the Saviour's sacrifice, and date their sanctification from that period; as if he washed them from their sins in his own 'blood, at the time the fountain was opened. HOLINESS. 19 For the remission of sins the apostle uses the term a(j>eai.g, Eph. i. 7 : " We have re¬ demption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins;" and wapeatg, Horn. iii. 25 :—" The remission of sips that are past." For redemp¬ tion he uses the word cnrolvrpcxyig, Rom. iii. 24:—" The redemption that is in Christ Je¬ sus for expiation, or atonement, llaarrjpiov, Rom. iii. 25 :—" Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation:" for reconciliation, KaraXkayrt, Rom. v. 11:—" We have now re¬ ceived the atonement," or reconciliation: 2 Cor. v. 18, 19 : " God was in Christ recon¬ ciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath com¬ mitted unto us the word of reconciliation." These terms are obviously expressive of acts of grace, performed for us: the act desig¬ nated by atonement and its equivalents being performed by the Saviour when he offered himself without spot to God—that designated by pardon or forgiveness, being accomplished in our behalf when by faith we receive the atonement. This act of absolution is com¬ monly called justification, as in Rom. v. 16— " The judgment was by one to condemnation ; but the free gift is of many offenses unto 20 HOLINESS. justification"—dinaiufia. In Rom. v. 18, the term dacaiwcnc is used in a similar sense: " As by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." The same word is used in Horn. iv. 25 : " Who was delivered for our offenses, and raised again for owe justification" On the contrary, the terms which stand for purification, sanctification, and holiness, are expressive of acts performed in, or upon, us and by us. This is obvious from the following passa¬ ges : " God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us *, and put no differ¬ ence between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith," Acts xv. 8, 9. " And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly: and I pray God your whole spirit, and soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thess. v. 23. " For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who HOLINESS. 21 through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God ?" Heb. ix. 13, 14. These texts unequivocally teach that the act expressed by the terms in question, takes place in, or upon, the parties sanctified. The following as plainly specify an act perforated by the parties: " Having, therefore, these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." 2 Cor. vii. 1. " Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double-minded," Jas. iv. 8. " Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth, through the Spirit, unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently," 1 Pet. i. 22. " And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure," 1 John iii. 3. The effect produced by justification is a change in our condition and relation: that produced by sanctification is a change in our nature and conduct. Hence the former is technically styled a relative work—the latter a real work. The one admits us to the divine 22 HOLINESS. favor and accounts us righteous, through the merits of Christ: the other restores us to the divine image and makes us righteous, through the grace of the Holy Ghost. This is the ground of that distinction which is observed in the Scripture:—" That they may receive forgiveness of sins, [justifica¬ tion] and inheritance among them which are sanctified," Acts xxvi. 18. " Of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, [that is, justifica¬ tion^ and sanctification, and redemption," 1 Cor. i. 30. Both acts, indeed, belong to one and the same economy of recovering mercy. They are inseparably connected; and together constitute that application of the atonement, which makes us personally and savingly in¬ terested in the blood of the cross. Justification without sanctification would be of no advantage to us. What if our sins were pardoned—what if we were restored to the favor of God ? If our hearts were not renewed and our lives regulated by the Spirit of grace, we should forfeit our justifi¬ cation as soon as received: we should in¬ volve ourselves immediately in guilt and con- HOLINESS. 23 demnation. To retain the divine favor, we must be born again. Sanctification without justification is a simple absurdity. The former pre-supposes the latter; for when the act of pardon takes place we are in a state of moral obliquity— in the strong language of the apostle—" dead in trespasses and sins." " To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justi- fieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." We are ungodly up to the moment of our justification or pardon: conse¬ quently there can bd no sanctification with¬ out justification. This is evident, further¬ more, from the fact that obedience begins with purification, and love to God is the es¬ sence of obedience: but we cannot love God, except under a sense of his love to us—this we have alone in justification. Besides: while lying under a sense of condemnation and exposure to eternal wrath, we cannot ad¬ dress ourselves to the discharge of the duties involved in sanctification and holiness, with that cheerfulness and alacrity which charac¬ terize Scriptural obedience. " My yoke is easy and my burden is light." " And not only so, but we also joy in God, through our 24 HOLINESS. Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement." " Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say, Rejoice." The seal of pardoning mercy is the ground of this enjoyment. Although, therefore, justification and sanc- tification take place coetaneously, yet it may be said with propriety, that we are sanctified because we are justified. In stating this point philosophically we must assign priority to justification. None are made holy—none can be made holy—but those who are par¬ doned. The opinion of those divines in the Romish and Anglican churches, who main¬ tain that we are justified by sanctification, or that we attain unto the pardon of sin by a process of holy living,—comprehending, as the Romish annotators on Rom. iii. 28 ex¬ press it, " a faith which takes in hope, love, repentance, and the use of the sacraments" —is without any foundation in experience, reason, or revelation. So, too, according to our argument, is the confounding of justification with sanctifica¬ tion, by making them identical, or differing only as a part differs from the whole. This is done by the Council of Trent. They say, HOLINESS. 25 (Sess. vi. c. vii.)—" Justification is not merely remission of sins, but also sanctification, and the renewal of the inner man, by the volun¬ tary reception of grace and divine gifts." The Council accordingly reprobated the opinion of one of their doctors, Marinier, who maintained, what we have proved, that the word justification is used in the Scriptures in a forensic sense, as opposed to condemnation. They contended, on the contrary, that to justify means to make righteous, not to de¬ clare righteous; and that inherent grace is necessary to make us accepted in the Be¬ loved. This last point shows that the differ¬ ence between them and us is not merely verbal—it is substantial, fundamental. For, according to our view, no man can be justi¬ fied, absolved from guilt and condemnation, if he must first possess inherent righteous¬ ness, which the Tridentine fathers declare is the formal cause of our justification. We maintain that that faith which worketh by love and purifieth the heart, is first instru¬ mental in securing our justification, whereby we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Inasmuch as justification is an act of God's 26 HOLINESS. free grace, the meritorious cause of which is the atonement of Christ—as it is an act done for us, changing our legal relation to God— as it is an act of absolution, passed in heaven and sealed upon the heart by the Holy Ghost —it is impossible to conceive how it can ad¬ mit of degrees. A man may be more or Jess sanctified, more or less holy, he may grow in knowledge and virtue; but how he can be more or less justified, more or less pardoned, how he may grow, or increase, in forgiveness of sin, we cannot divine. The fathefs of Trent never would have affirmed an " in¬ crease of actual justification," had they not first confounded justification with sanctifica- tion. This appears from the tenth chapter of the sixth session, where you have only to substitute sanctification for justification, and then all that is affirmed of going from strength to strength, of being renewed day by day, of increasing in faith, hope, and charity, is un¬ doubtedly true. While there can be no de¬ grees in pardon, so that babes, young men, and fathers, are all on a level in this regard —how wide are the extremes, how extended the intermediate stages, between the spiritual birth and ultimate perfection of believers in HOLINESS. 27 Christ—how vast the difference between Paul the aged, and Timothy, whom he calls his own son in the faith, or his son Onesimus, whom he has begotten in his bonds! A re¬ cognition of this distinction is of great practi¬ cal importance. 28 holiness. CHAPTER III DISTINGUISHED FROM REPENTANCE AND REGENERATION. The Scriptural terms for holiness have been considered by some interchangeable with those rendered repentance and regeneration, as well as with those which signify atonement and justification. It is easy to account for this. Repentance and regeneration affect the character of man. They produce a change in his nature—having reference to his moral improvement; and so far they cor¬ respond with sanctification. Yet there is a difference, which ought to be noted. The term which our translators render re¬ pentance, is fierdvoia, derived from fiera, after, or denoting change, and voeu, to think. It means, therefore, an after-thought, or change of the mind ; and is always expressive of the change from evil to good. " It is-so called," says Athanasius, " because it transfers the mind from evil to good." It is not sorrow for the evil; but it is frequently superinduced by sorrow.' Thus the apostle, 2 Cor. vii. 8-10, —" Though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, geTag&ofiai, though I did re- HOLINESS. 29 pent, nETEfjeldfiriv: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season. Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrow¬ ed to repentance, fier&voiav: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance, /ietu- voiav, to salvation, not to be repented of, ufMTa[ieXriTov: but the sorrow of the world worketh death." In our version there is a paronomasia, or play upon the word, which is not in the original. When the apostle says he does not repeht, though he did repent, having made them sorry, he means, he does not regret it, though he did regret it. When he says, godly sorrow worketh re¬ pentance unto salvation, not to be re¬ pented of, he means, not to be regretted. The word is entirely different where he says, "Ye sorrowed to repentance" godly sor¬ row worketh repentance to salvation." This does not mean regret. Hence he does not say ufieravdriTov, which means unalterablybad, but &fiETapkXi]Tov, not to be regretted: godly sorrow worketh a change of mind conducive to salvation, not to be regretted. Compare 80 HOLINESS. Ex. xiii. 17, LXX. This change of the mind also generates sorrow—ingenuous grief on ac¬ count of our sins—which, indeed, is one of the tests of its genuineness. Still, sorrow or re¬ gret is no part of the essence of this duty. Some render the word, reformation, which is at the opposite pole from penance: the lat¬ ter being no sense of the word—the former inadequately representing its meaning. Re¬ formation generally refers to the outward conduct, but metanoia expresses an intellec¬ tual operation. If it be genuine and evan¬ gelical, it will affect both the heart and the life. It is not reformation, but it always leads to it. Hence it is spoken of as the in- cipiency of a religious course. " Repent ye, and believe the gospel." Mark i. 15. " Re¬ pent, and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the re¬ mission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Acts ii. 38. " Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out." Acts iii. 19. " Repent, therefore, of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee." Acts viii. 22. " They should repent and turn to God, HOLINESS. 31 and do works meet for repentance." Acts xxvi. 20. In none of these cases is the term jiETaixelofiai, but fieravoeu, to transfer the mind from bad to good. And this change is spoken of as preceding faith—baptism—con¬ version, or turning to God—forgiveness of sins—reformation of life, or the production of good works. Of course, therefore, me- tanoia is not sanctification or holiness. But if we render this word repentance, and give it a popular theological definition, embracing the several elements of conviction of sin, con¬ fession of sin, sorrow for sin, and renuncia¬ tion of sin—which, though they are not all embracod in the duty prescribed by the word rendered repentance, are nevertheless indis¬ pensable, as they in part precede, in part fol¬ low, and in part are of the essence of that duty—still this is not identical with sanctifi¬ cation or holiness. It cannot, indeed, be performed except by the grace of the Holy Ghost, yet when performed it is, to a greater extent than sanctification, the work of man. In one sense, sanctification is the work of man—we must cleanse ourselves, as we must repent—but in a higher sense it is the work of God. He makes us holy, by making us 32 HOLINESS. partakers of the divine nature. Repentance precedes justification: sanctification does not. And although it be admitted that repentance, in the popular sense, .follows, as well as pre¬ cedes, justification,—as the Christian will re¬ gret, confess, and abandon every moral evil that he might contract, or that he might dis¬ cover attached to him, in any part of his life —yet that repentance will not purify or change the heart. This is a work which must be effected by the direct agency of the Holy Ghost. The .act of repentance, in this ease, terminates in the act of faith, and then comes the cleansing act—the sanctification of the Spirit and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Some of the old divines embrace under the term repentance, every duty of the Chris¬ tian life, and thus make it identical with holi¬ ness. But this is a very arbitrary and un¬ reasonable extension of the term. It is not sanctification or holiness; but only a means leading to its attainment, or, at most, an ele¬ ment entering into its constitution. The term regeneration is used but twice in our translation of the New Testament. The first place is Matt. xix. 28, where our Lord HOLINESS. 33 tells his disciples: " Ye which have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Our translators connect the phrase, " in the regeneration," with the preceding words, and the interpre¬ tation usually assigned has reference to the spiritual renovation which was begun by John the Baptist and continued to the end of Christ's ministry. But the most approved pointing of the passage connects that phrase with what follows—"In the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory." Without referring to Millena- rian notions, there are two principal inter¬ pretations of the passage thus pointed. The first refers the regeneration to the new state of things which took place after Christ was exalted to the mediatorial throne, and the apostles were invested with ministerial au¬ thority. The second, and most approved, refers the regeneration to the resurrection to judgment, when there will be a general reno¬ vation—a new heaven and a new earth. Regeneration, in this passage, does not, there¬ fore, mean sanctification. 3 3-1 HOLINESS. The other place in -which the word occurs is Titus iii. 5 : " Not by works of righteous¬ ness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of re¬ generations, and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us, abundantly,, through Jesus Christ our Saviour." Upon a misconstruction of this passage the preposterous doctrine of " baptismal re¬ generation," so called, has been principally grounded. This is an absurdity which scarcely deserves a serious refutation. How can any man believe that a change of hearty a renewal of our spiritual nature, can be ef¬ fected by water, howsoever or by whomso¬ ever applied ? How can any man think that the Holy Ghost uses the water which is ap¬ plied to the body, to cleanse the sin of the soul ?—that he broods upon it—as some rave about the matter—to make it prolific, as in the creation of the world? How can any man imagine that the inward grace of spiritual regeneration is so tied to baptism, that al¬ though baptism, when improperly received, does not regenerate, yet there is no regenera¬ tion without it ? In such cases, as baptism cannot be repeated, there can be afterwards HOLINESS. 35 no regeneration for the unworthy recipient, though he might seek it carefully with tears. Those also who fall away, can never be re¬ stored by the renewing of their mind, as baptism cannot be repeated. How absurd, too, to suppose that an infant is spiritually unregenerate before baptism, and spiritually regenerate by and after its administration. Common sense will satisfy a thinking man that baptism effects no spiritual change in the unconscious babe. The experience of mil¬ lions of adults shows that regeneration, the new birth, the inward change wrought by the Holy Ghost, is produced before baptism, and after baptism, but very rarely in the act of baptism. Were it not for stubborn facts, we should not suppose that a doctrine so pre¬ posterous would do much injury in the world; but alas ! it has proved to be a blasting and a mildew to religion wherever it has obtain¬ ed ; and its range has been fearfully exten¬ sive. It is a part of the old leaven of popery, which has well-nigh leavebed the whole lump of protestantism. It is a prominent element in the doctrinal system of the Anglican Church. " Luther professed, through his life, that all he contended for in the sacra- 36 HOLINESS. mental controversy, was the efficacy of the sacraments. Well," says Calvin, in a letter to Melancthon, " it is agreed that they are not empty symbols, but really impart what they typify: that in baptism the efficacy of the Holy Ghost is present to cleanse and re¬ generate us." So then, if baptism have not this virtue, it is of no use at all. It is not an empty symbol, therefore it conveys the re¬ generating efficacy of the Holy Ghost! In this case, the Geneva reformer must have borrowed his logic as well as his theology from Rome. To escape the absurdity of "baptismal re¬ generation," some have supposed that by " the washing of regeneration" the apostle does not mean baptism, but the spiritual change, the clause succeeding being put in apposition, as exegetical in its bearing; as if it read, " the washing of regeneration, even the renewing of the Holy Ghost." There is nothing absurd in this interpretation ; but it is forced. And no relief is afforded by John iii. 5, to which we are referred, as a parallel passage. We believe it is a parallel text* and therefore think that this interpretation is forced as applied to it: " Except a man be HOLINESS. 37 born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." In like manner, Matt. iii. 11 is referred to: " He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." Now there is no more proof that in these texts the fire and water are the Holy Ghost, than there is that " the washing of re¬ generation," in the passage under review, is " the renewing of the Holy Ghost." Conse¬ quently, they do not support the interpreta¬ tion in question, which, as it is arbitrary and harsh, cannot be received. Nor can we admit the notion that the former clause means the new birth, spiritual regeneration, and the latter, something else. For " the renewing of the Holy Ghost" ob¬ viously embraces the new birth, if it is not restricted to it. We suppose that " the washing," Xovrpov, the laver or bath " of regeneration," means baptism. As baptism is the symbol of the new birth, the primitive fathers styled it ttaTiiyyevEcia, regeneration—the term used by the Jews in reference to their proselyte baptism. In ad¬ dition to its symbolical character, it is federal in its nature, exhibiting the promise and im- 38 HOLINESS. posing the obligation of a death unto sin and a new birth unto righteousness. It was natural enough to give it the name of that of which it is the representative and pledge. In the same way, we call the bread and wine in the Lord's Supper, the body and blood of Christ,—the former repre¬ senting the latter. The apostle may have used the term regeneration in this tropical sense. But it is to be observed, St. Paul does hot say: " According to his mercy he saved us by regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost." His language is—" The wash¬ ing" or laver " of regeneration." This may mean the washing effected by regeneration, or the washing symbolical of regeneration. If the former, then " regeneration" stands for baptism, according to the patristic idea : if the latter, then " the washing" means bap¬ tism, and regeneration means the renewing of the Holy Ghost—agreeably to the popular import of the term—and is joined to " the washing" to limit the idea. It is not every washing that is baptism—that washing is alone baptism which is the washing of re¬ generation—an application of the element as HOLINESS. 39 a solemn symbol and pledge of the regene¬ rating grace of the Holy Ghost. It is no valid objection to this interpreta¬ tion that baptism, as well as the renewing of the Holy Ghost, is made instrumental of our salvation. Everything that God promises or commands conduces to our salvation. And it is common in the Scriptures to associate baptism with some leading spiritual act re¬ quired of us as a condition of salvation. Thus the Saviour:—" Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Without bap¬ tism he cannot enter the visible kingdom: without the thing signified by baptism he cannot enter into the invisible. Peter says: " Repent, and.be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Acts ii. 38. So Ananias:— " Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, callings on the name of the Lord." Acts xxii. 16. And Peter: " Baptism doth now save us, (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ." 1 Pet. iii. 21. The Scriptures con- 40 HOLINESS. nect some great spiritual act with baptism, lest the saving effect should be attributed to the latter. Baptism represents our sanctifi- cation—stipulates it—promotes it by repre¬ senting and stipulating it, as well as by for¬ mally separating us from the world and in¬ troducing us to the Church, securing to us the. means of sanctification which the Church affords. But that which sanctifies us is tbfe renewing of the Holy Ghost, secured alone by repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. This is not a ritual, symbolical, external, but a moral, real, inter¬ nal regeneration. Our sanctification, therefore, begins in our regeneration but it does not end with it. Regeneration is an instantaneous work—it admits of po degrees, of no progression. We cannot be partially regenerate—we either are, or are not, born again. It is concomi¬ tant with our justification, which is like it in the particulars named, though in other re¬ spects different. The seal of justification is the witness of adoption, and the, testimony of the Spirit, that we are born of God. But sanctification, though identical with regene¬ ration, so far as the latter goes, differs from HOLINESS. 41 it, in that it admits of degrees—it is a pro¬ gressive work. We can be sanctified in part, and we can be entirely sanctified. It differs from holiness, as the inception differs from the development. In the new birth all the principles of a holy nature are implanted in the soul; but they must take root downward and bring forth fruit upward; and this can¬ not be done to perfection until every root of bitterness is extracted by sanctifying grace. And after this is accomplished, there are de¬ grees of perfection in holiness. There is still room for development. When we no longer need the renewing of the Holy Ghost, in the work of regeneration-;—when we no longer need it in those cleansing operations which result in our entire sanctification—it is neces¬ sary that our inward man should be renewed day by day, by an application of that grace which keeps us clean—which strengthens all the holy principles and affections of our souls, and which can enlarge our capacity for di¬ vine communications until mortality is swal¬ lowed up of life. 42 HOLINESS. CHAPTER IV. the standard—exhibited didactically. The extent to which moral purity or holiness is attainable in this life is a question of great importance. It is a point which cannot be . determined by a priori reasonings, by argu¬ ments drawn from the capacities of the soul, or isolated passages of holy writ. The proper way to ascertain the standard is to make an extended induction from the word of God— grouping and comparing its multifarious teachings on the subject. In one large class of scriptures the standard of holiness is set forth in a didactic form. , In the sixth of Romans, the apostle says : " Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death ? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resur¬ rection: knowing this, that our old man is HOLINESS. 43 crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we be¬ lieve that we shall also live with him. Know¬ ing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once ; but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." This pas¬ sage is an answer to an objection brought against the doctrine of justification by faith, as if it tended to antinomianism and licen¬ tiousness, and a noble answer it is. For the apostle shows that the initiative rite by which believers profess their faith in Christ is sig¬ nificative of holiness,—pledges and promotes its production ;—that the object of our faith, the Lord Jesus, inr his death, burial, and resurrection, represents our death unto sin, as if crucified with him; our complete separa¬ tion from it, as if buried with him ; and our newness of life, as if raised with him from the dead. This crucifixion of the old man—this destruction of the body of sin—this being 44 HOLINESS. dead indeed unto sin and alive unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord—to all of which Christians are obliged by their profes¬ sion—indicate an exalted standard of holi¬ ness. Striking imagery and strong expres¬ sions of a similar character may be found in other parts of St. Paul's Epistles. He reminds the Ephesians (iv. 22-24) what they had been taught by Christ, as the truth is in Jesus: " That ye put off, concern¬ ing the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." According to this teach¬ ing the whole of our moral corruption is to be destroyed. A spiritual renovation is to take place ; and this is represented by our first creation: we were then made in the image of God—that image is to be restored: Kara Qeov, according to the Divine model. And this resemblance does not respect intel¬ lectuality, dominion, immortality—but righte¬ ousness and true holiness. He tells these same Gentile Christians that we have been chosen " that we should be holy, and with- HOLINESS. 45 out blame, before Him in love."—" For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before or. dained that we should walk in them." i. 4; ii. 10. Here we have an inward change, expressed by a new creation,—a spiritual change, the design and effect of which are the production and maintenance of good works. To the same effect is his language to Titus, (ii. 11-15:) " The grace of God, that bringeth salvation, hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we,should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might re¬ deem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works/' He here shows that the gospel which brings salvation to all men, inculcates the abnegation of impiety and vice, and the prac¬ tice of those duties which we owe to our¬ selves, our neighbor, and our God, besides which there is no duty binding upon us: these obligations are to be discharged under 46 HOLINESS. the influence of motives drawn from the world to come, and by the power of divine grace— it being the object of Christ's mission to re¬ deem us by power, as well as by price, cleans¬ ing us from sin that we might be peculiarly his people, zealous of good works. St. Peter teaches the same doctrine in nearly the same terms—1 Pet. ii. 9-12. A present and complete deliverance from sin is inculcated by John. (1 John i. 7-10:) " If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." The Gnostics denied that they ever had sinned, or that they had incurred blame by sin : this, the Apostle says, is self-deception and a contradiction of the word of God, which declares that all have sinned; hence a Saviour has been provided for all. There would be no need for a remedy wer.e there no disease : but there is HOLINESS. 47 a disease and an adequate remedy; for the blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin. We do not think, with some, that this implies expiation,—as this is an unusual meaning of the word, if indeed it ever has that import in the New Testament; nor do we see any rea¬ son for restricting it to the forgiveness of sin. But however that may be, there can be no question that in the ninth verse entire sancti- fication, as well as justification, is specified as the gracious consequence of the confession of our sins—he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all un¬ righteousness. There is not the shadow of contradiction in this statement. We have a sinful nature—we have all sinned; but upon given condition^ we may be cleansed from all sin—be purified as well as pardoned, and retain both our purity and our pardon; for the apostle immediately adds, " My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not." He proceeds to show them that this deliverance from sin was the grand de¬ sign of the Saviour's incarnation: " He was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sin- neth not." This he repeats: "For this pur- 48 H0LINES3. pose was the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Who¬ soever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him; and he can¬ not sin, because he is born of God." " He cannot sin willfully," say some: "he can¬ not sin habitually," say others: ov 6vvarat a/japraveiv, " he cannot sin," says John; and we want no other guard to his language but that which is contained in the preceding words: if a man is begotten of God, and the Divine seed, the vital principle of grace, the sanctification of the Spirit, remaineth in him, he cannot sin. 1 John iii. 5-9. Let the connection between the Christian and the source of his purity be broken off, and he is then as capable of sinning as our first parents, or the angels when they left their first estate; —let that connection be maintained, and he can no more sin than they could, while using the means provided for them to' preserve their rectitude, during their probation. This is the doctrine which pervades the whole Epistle. We cannot be cleansed from all sin with¬ out being filled with the fruits of righteous¬ ness, which are by Christ Jesus, to the glory HOLINESS. 49 and praise of God. The apostle has de¬ tailed to us the graces and virtues of the re¬ newed nature, and noted their Divine ori¬ gination. Pie says The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentle¬ ness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts." Gal. v. 22-24. St. Paul may have had in .view the " sacred nine," as he specified nine moral excellences —the Christian muses—which subserve a higher purpose in the evangelical economy than the daughters of Jupiter and Mnemo¬ syne in the old mythology. The latter refine and humanize mankind—the former make us partakers of the Divine nature, or rather constitute that nature, so far as its moral qualities can inhere in an earthly mold.. They are the fruit of the Spirit, as they re¬ sult from his operations, as the witness of adoption and the efficient cause of our reno¬ vation. They are called the fruit, not the fruits, of the Spirit, to indicate their essential identity—their inseparable connection and harmonious combination. " The works of the flesh," with which they are contrasted, can- 4 50 HOLINESS. not be blended into one homogeneous nature —the appetites, passions, and pursuits of the wicked continually come-in collision, so that all the vices cannot inhere in one and the same person: but all the virtues can; in¬ deed, they cannot subsist apart—they grow out of and sustain each other. " Love" is both the cause and effect of "joy" and " peace and when the heart is filled with those graces, it is impossible not to exercise the virtues of long-sufiering, gentleness, good¬ ness, or kind-heartedness, faith, that is, fideli¬ ty or sincerity, meekness, and temperance. These are all covered over by one and the same requisition, the perfect law; of which the apostle says, " Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all"—they are all produced by one and the same influence; so that the grace which develops itself in the form of one moral excellence, develops itself in the form of all the rest, as occasion may serve—and they are all. brought forth to one and the same end, the glory of God and the welfare of man. While, therefore, they contravene no law—for " against such there is no law" —they embody the substance of all law • the HOLINESS. 51 righteousness of the law being fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. "For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, and righteousness, and truth." Eph. v. 9. 52 HOLINESS. CHAPTER V. the standard—exhibited 'preceptive ly. There is a large class of Scriptures in which the standard of holiness is set forth in a pre¬ ceptive form. And here it may be proper to premise that there is no necessity of distinguishing be¬ tween legal and evangelical holiness, as if the one were opposed to the other. The holi¬ ness of which we speak is both legal and evangelical; for we " are not without law to God, but under the law to Christ." When the apostle says, " Ye are not under the law, but under graceand, "Ye are also dead to the law by the body of Christ," (Rom. vi. 14; vii. 4,) he means that we are freed from all obligation to observe the law of Moses, that being no longer in force. " The handwrit¬ ing of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us," has been blotted outrby Christ, who " took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross." Col. ii. 14. The ceremonial, part of the Mosaic economy is not binding upon us in any sense; and the moral part, substantially the same as what is called " the HOLINESS. 53 law of nature," is not, and never was, in force, as the instrument of justification or regenera¬ tion. In regard to these ends—and these are the ends specified by the apostle in the seventh of Romans—" Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." Rom. x. 4. But the moral law is now, always was, and always will be, in force, as the standard of holiness—the rule of the, present life, and of the future judg¬ ment. And it is worthy of this distinction, as it is a transcript of the Divine perfections; for " the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." In one sense, in¬ deed, it is a means of our sanctification, as it discovers our impurities and imperfections— the strength of inbred sin and the weakness of our moral nature—causing us to feel our need of the renewing and sustaining power of the Holy Ghost—and without this we can never be sanctified. The spirit or essence of the moral law is one and the same, whether binding on angels or men—on main in his primitive or in his fallen state. It cannot be better expressed than in the formula of inspiration: " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy 54 HOLINESS. heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great command¬ ment. And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Matt. xxii. 37-40. It is mani¬ fest that these commandments must be bind¬ ing on all the subjects of God's moral govern¬ ment—and in all cases the principle of obedi¬ ence must be the same. But the extent, the grade of obedience, will be in proportion to the capacity of those by whom it is rendered. The activity of angels, the energy of cheru¬ bim, the fervor of seraphim, can neither be exhibited by men, nor required of them. Nor can the degree of perfection which cha¬ racterized the obedience of our first parents before the fall, attach to the obedience of their descendants, who inherit the conse¬ quences of their fatal delinquency. Invinci¬ ble ignorance, infirmities of various kinds, temptations, and a thousand unfriendly cir¬ cumstances, occasion a disparity between the obedience of man in his. fallen and in his un- fallen state. They give occasion, too, to the development of various virtues—such as meekness, forbearance, resignation, fortitude, HOLINESS. 55 patience, and other elements of Christian per¬ fection—which cannot be ranked among the constituents of angelic or paradisiacal holiness. It is disputed whether or not the unavoida¬ ble imperfections in our obedience, growing out of the consequences of the fall, stand in need of the atoning blood. We suppose the mercy, merit, and grace of the atonement, apply to the fall with all its consequences; and the provisions of the atonement are available to us only when and so long as we believe in Christ. It is objected that atone¬ ment implies sin; but the imperfections in question are not sin, as they are unavoidable, and nothing is sin but that which may be avoided: therefore they do not need the atonement. But this objection loses sight of the fact that these imperfections are not atoned for and forgiven, as separate and inde¬ pendent evils, but as identified with the great transgression which entailed them: they are not chargeable upon us as individuals to •whom they are attached, and are not so atoned for; but they are chargeable upon our primogenitors, by whom they have been invincibly entailed upon us, and are atoned for accordingly—the benefit inuring to all o& HOLINESS. who have faith in the atoning blood. There are other questions on this subject which are sometimes agitated—unwisely, perhaps, as they do not lie within the scope of reason or revelation—they are more difficult than curi¬ ous, and more curious than useful. It is but little more than a truism to say that we can love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind, and that we can love our neigh¬ bor as ourselves,,if it be admitted that the capacity to love God and our neighbor has been restored by virtue of the atonement and the gift of the Holy Ghost. You are not called on to do an impossibility. To sup¬ pose this would border on blasphemy—it would charge God foolishly—it would make him " an austere man" indeed. An impos¬ sible duty is a palpable solecism. When therefore he calls upon us to love him, the command implies that we either possess the natural ability to love him, or, if not, that a gracious ability to do so accompanies the command. We need not add, that Scripture and experience abundantly prove the latter to be the case. If then we have a restored and gracious capacity to love God, it is no HOLINESS. 57 very hard matter if we are called upon to love him to the extent of that capacity. We must love God as much as we can—more than this cannot be required; less than this will fall short of our duty. It is our duty to place our complacential regards on him, as he is possessed of all pos¬ sible perfections, and therefore worthy of our highest esteerp. We must seek our happi¬ ness in him—we must delight ourselves in the Lord—so that we may address him in the fervid language of devotion: "Whom have I in heaven but thee ? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee." It is our duty to render him the gratitude of our hearts, as he is our Creator, Redeemer, and constant benefactor. We must respond to the apostolic requisition: " I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and per¬ fect will of God." Rom. xii. 1, 2. This is a passage of great importance. The apostle's 58 HOLINESS. language is metaphorical—the imagery is sacrificial. We are to present our bodies, that is, our whole selves: not a part of the victim, as in certain sacrifices, hut the whole, as in the holocaust—a living sacrifice, in allu¬ sion to the Levitical law, which required the animals to he brought alive to the altar—holy, acceptable to God, like the sacrificial victims, which were not accepted unless they were without spot and blemish—a reasonable ser¬ vice this, as the sacrifice is spiritual, not cor¬ poreal, the offering of ourselves, not an ir¬ rational victim. The requisition, moreover, involves nonconformity to the world, agreea¬ bly to the injunction of another apostle: " Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the F ather is not in him." 1 John ii. 15. It demands a moral transformation, by a renewing process, through which we are brought to know and approve that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God, which constitutes the rule of our life and the mea¬ sure of our duty. The obligation of gratitude is further stated by the apostle : " Ye are not your own—for ye are bought with a price ; therefore glorify God in your body, and in HOLINESS. 59 your spirit, which are God's. 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20. Here the duty is based upon the property which God has in us; and his proprietorship is not argued from creation, which makes us his, or preservation, which proves us his—but redemption, which gives him an additional, a superior, right in us and control over us, which we are called upon to recognize by living to his glory, in a practical consecration of our souls and bodies to his service. - The second command, " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," may be construed in a sense too rigid, or too lax. We are not required to love our fellow-men as we love ourselves, in respect to the degree of our af¬ fection—but with regard to the character of it. The adverb expresses similarity, not equality. We are to love ourselves first; and in this manner we are to learn how to love our neighbor. This is according to the golden precept: " Therefore, all things what¬ soever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." This involves the obli¬ gations of truth, and justice, and friendship, and mercy. It opposes the selfishness of our nature, and demands the cultivation and de- 60 HOLINESS. velopment of a world-wide benevolence. It is not satisfied witb a perfunctory discharge of those duties which respect our neighbor's rights of property,; person, and character, ac¬ cording to the prescription of lihe second table. It so influences the heart and con¬ trols the life, as to secure the fulfilling of the law: it meets the spirit as well as the letter of the requisition ; it is the very essence and soul of obedience; it is the sine, qua nan. Without it the highest intellectual accom¬ plishments, the rarest miraculous endow¬ ments, the greatest eleemosynary sacrifices, and even martyrdom for the truth, would profit us nothing. The apostle hath shown us, in a most masterly passage, the properties and developments of this heavenly principle, this divine affection, which he well styles the bond of perfectness. Charity, aydirri, love, suffereth long and is kind—when circumstan¬ ces would naturally lead to revenge and se¬ verity ; charity envieth not: charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up—opposed to vanity and pride; doth not behave itself unseemly, or out of character; seelceth not her own—is not selfish ; is not easily provoked, or exasperated at the provocations of others; thinketh no evil HOLINESS. 61 —meditateth no mischief, or revenge; re- joiceih not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth —that is, takes no pleasure in sin, hut only in righteousness; beareth all things—covereth the faults and infirmities of others, when no manifestly ;g<5od end can be subserved by their divulgation; Mlieveth all things, hopeth all things—that is, puts the best possible con¬ struction upon men's actions, and when facts are forbidding, indulges a hope that there may be some extenuating circumstances in the case, or that repentance may supervene; endureth all things—patiently submits to af¬ flictions of every kind, agreeably to the in¬ junction of St. James : " Let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." We are commanded to believe, and through faith are we saved: we are commanded to hope, and we are saved by hope—these graces are instrumental causes of that holiness with¬ out which no man shall see the Lord. But we are also commanded to love; and love is the formal cause of salvation:—the essence of holiness and the earnest of heaven. " And now abidetli faith, hope, charity: these three, but the greatest of these is charity." 62 holiness. CHAPTER VL the standard—exhibited promissorily. In numerous places of Scripture the standard of holiness is set forth in a promissory form. There is a fine passage to this effect in 2 Pet. i.—" Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have ob¬ tained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the know¬ ledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceed¬ ing great and precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." Here an escape from the corruption of the world and a par¬ ticipation of the divine nature is stated as the result of the promises. What that corrup¬ tion is, it is not difficult to determine: it comprehends all those moral evils which ob- HOLINESS. 63 tain in the world, through the influence of sinful desire. This agrees with James i. 15 : " When lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." And John says, (1 John ii. 16 :) " All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is'of the world." We can escape from this corruption only by sanctifying grace, agreeably to the language of Peter : " They have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." To be partakers of the divine nature, is to be born of the Spirit—to put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness—or, as Paul expresses it, to " be partakers of his holiness." The realization of these attainments is attributed to the exceeding great and precious promises, inasmuch as they set before our view a future state of purity and bliss, to be enjoyed by those only who are meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. Thus our Lord : " Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God," Matt. v. 8. Thus St. Paul: " Follow peace with all.men, and holi- 64 HOLINESS. ness, without which no man shall see the Lord," Heb. xii. 14. The converse, of coarse, is implied. They who are holy shall see him. Thus John: " Every man that hath this hope in him, purifieth himself, even as he is pure," 1 John iii. 3. There is a philosophical as well as an evangelical con¬ nection between the subject and the object of hope. We cannot hope for an object so transcendently glorious as heavenly blessed¬ ness, without experiencing an assimilating in¬ fluence : we cannot enjoy the vision of God by faith in this world, and expect to see him as he is in the world to come, without being " changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." In this respect "we are saved by hope." And as this is a powerful principle, an im¬ pulsive passion—influential in proportion to the grandeur of its object and the certainty of its ground—it cannot be possessed by us without superinducing a patient continuance in well-doing—a powerful and sustained ef¬ fort on our part to fulfill the conditions in¬ volved in the promises which elicit our hope. Hence the apostle adds: " .... I besides this" —or father, kcu avro tovto de, " For this very HOLINESS. 65 reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue," or courage to maintain your faith; " and to virtue knowledge," to preserve your courage from degenerating into rashness; " and to knowledge temperance," or a proper government of the appetites and passion's; " and to temperance patience," which bears all kinds of evils, under the hope of deliver¬ ance or reward; " and to patience godliness," comprehending the obligations of piety, or the duties specially growing out of our rela¬ tions to God; " and to godliness brotherly- kindness," T?jv i?ia.SE?i