!, ilij;r'i.i''M'i« ^i 1 • :'•■'■ ;;i'i'r';it?; WH ! lli'il; iJir" ■r ■■■■ \ tihvavy of 'the 'theological ^tmimvy PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY PRESENTED BY Rufus H. LeFevre BX'^878 .5.H1Z5 jV I , \ --' «t .'i. -. /- jf^-'' ^^^ IJ. ' [W^i APR 21 ias. yjimki HOLINESS; THE HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIEE. By JACOlB HOKE. Tlae pvix*e in heart shall see God.' DAYTON, OHIO: United Brethren Printing Establishment, 1870. E?rTERED ACCOKDlNfi TO AOT OF CONGRESS, IN THE OFFICE OF THE tlBRAKIAS Ot CoNGREftS, AT WASHINGTON, D. C, CONTENTS CHAPTER I. The Legal and the Evangelical States 9 CHAPTER 11. Sanctification a Work Distinct from JustificatkA", AND Subsequent to it 27 CHAPTER III. Is Sanctification the Result of Growth, or an Instantaneous Acquisition? iKi CHAPTER IV. Perfect Love 48 CHAPTER, V. Holiness — What it is not, and what it is oh CHAPTER VI. Objections Answered lb CHAPTER VII. Consecration 95 PREFACE "And ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and spirit, which are God's." I. Cor. vi. 19—20. "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." James iv. 17. In these scriptures are embodied our reasons for appear- ing thus prominently before the church in defence of what we conceive to be important truth. Obedience to duty, therefore, and not any desire to pro- voke controversy, impels us to an humble effort to meet some of the objections entertained by many pious Christians to the doctrine of "Holiness, or the Higher Christian Life,"' believing that many of those objections, though honestly entertained, would disappear, before a proper understand- ing of the subject. Notwithstanding the many aids furnished to a correct understanding of the doctrine of holiness, multitudes mis- apprehend its true nature. Opinions are formed from terms and technicalities, not from a careful analysis of the facts represented by those terms, thus leading to the belief that more is claimed by the advocates of this doctrine than the truth warrants. While scriptural terms are not to be ignored in deference to fastidious considerations, we are not disposed to contend for terms or technicalities, nor do we hold ourself, nor the doc- trines we advocate, responsible for the extravagances and inconsistencies of some whose zeal is contrary to knowledge. With all due respect for those who differ from us, we claim to have God and his word on our side. With those whose opposition sometimes finds utterance in uncharitable and intemperate expressions, we have no controversy to wage. In the face of the truth taught in Mark ix. 38 — 40, it would PREFACE. V be expected that they would, at least, be in sympathy with the general cause we aim to promote, of which, however unkind and uncharitable expressions furnish no evidence. We aim at immediate practical results. The doctrine of holiness we conceive to be of special necessity to arrest the tidal wave of worldliness and formality that threatens the perpetuity of vital religion. That Satan does take advantage of this theme to blind, deceive, and ruin souls, we freely admit. Disregarding the plain Bible precepts touching worldly conformity and asso- ciations, many such identify themselves prominently with our subject as professors or seekers, thus inflicting untold evil upon the Savior in the house of his friends. We dis- claim all such inconsistencies, and claim that our theme does not encourage, in the least, any departure from scriptural propriety. Before any one can intelligently repudiate the doctrine of scriptural holiness, he should be able to explain, upon some other consistent theory, the following scriptures: "That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to J^ strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.^ That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith ; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and hight; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might he filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abun- dantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worket.h in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." Eph. iii : 16—21 At the solicitation of those high in oflScial position in the church, in wliosp judgment we have confidence, we revise fo publication in this form, our articles lately contributed to lio ReligiouB T'!(>scope. in the hope that sincere inquirers af r truth ni:)v '. < h»nf»fitted, and God glorified. •"UAMBKRSBURfi PeVN. INTRODUCTION. The leading design of the plan of salvation is to restore man to complete holiness. The types and shadows of the ceremonial law were designed to teach the necessity of moral purity. The precepts of the Bible, and the teachings of the prophets, point unerringly toward the same consum- mation. The provisions of grace, and the promises of God bring the blessing of complete deliverance from sin to the mouth and heart of every man who desires to be saved. No one need be mistaken as to the nature of this attainment, for the blessed Jesus has come and left us a perfect example of what Bible holiness is. "Every one that is perfect shall be as the Master." "He that saith he abideth in-=ftim, ought himself so to walk even as he walked." "He has left us an example that we should walk in his steps." No true Christian can oppose this great salvation. He that feels any opposition to it in his heart may well doubt the correctness of his moral state. There is no surer evi- dence of the need of a deeper work of grace than a feeling of hatred toward the doctrine or the experience of holiness. Every truly regenerated heart has born within it a holy aspiration after complete conformity to the Divine image. "Oh, for a heart to praise my God, A heart from sin set free," is the daily language of the soul to which God has imparted the principle of the new life. Young converts may much INTRODUCTION. Vll more easily be led to embrace Christ as a full Savior from all sin, than those who have neglected to follow out the first holy impulses of their newly regenerated hearts. *'They that hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled." The experience of every one who has earnestly sought this grace, even before he has obtained the witness of the Spirit that he has been accepted, is evidence to him that God wills his sanctification. Who has ever earnestly sought for the entire sanctification of his nature without feeling a con- scious nearness of God, encouraging him to still press forward toward the mark of his high calling? On the other hand, who that has opposed the doctrine of complete holiness has not realized a withdrawal of the light of God's counte- nance, and a consequent hardening of the heart? He who opposes this blessed truth fights against God. He pleads for Baal, and encourages sin and unbelief. The church at this age has no greater want than a thor- ough revival on the subject of holiness, — such a revival as will save us from worldliness, selfishness, and the various forms of pleasure-seeking which threaten to destroy the spiritual power of the churches. It can not be denied, that the great majority of professing Christians are living far beneath the Bible standard. The apostle calls such persons " carnal" instead of "spiritual," and to "walking as men" of the world, — ambitious, contentious, seeking and loving pleasure and promotion more than the honor that comes from God. On this account every true Christian rejoices at every honest effort to awaken the church from herlXikewarm state, and to stir up Christians to seek for the fullness of gospel salvation. A prayerful and honest perusal of the following pages will convince many of their need of a new baptism of love. Its clear logic, and its plain scriptural arguments, so kindly Vlll INTRODUCTION. and so earnestly pressed upon the heart and conscience, can not fail to be beneficial. He who sincerely desires to know the truth, and reads, prays, and believes with all his heart, shall be led into all truth. Whosoever will do his will, shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God. It is not the mere reader or hearer, but the doer that shall be blessed. May the blessing of God go with this little volume, and make it a means of full salvation to the readers, and lead them experimentally and practically to adopt the motto — a single eye, a pure heart, and a consecrated life. D. EDWARDS. HOLIlSrESS. CHAPTER I. THE LEGAL AND THE EVANGELICAL STATES. That tliere are multitudes in all our cliurclies, of sincere, honest souls, aspiring to a higher plane of Christian life than the pulpits or the literature of the churches generally offer, is patent to all whose^means of information enable them to ascertain the under- current of feeling that prevails ; and in the hope that we may instrumentally lead many of these to a realiza- tion of that higher attainment in the divine life which the gospel proposes to confer, we accept the duty we have, with much reluctance, undertaken. The Scriptures present two prominent phiases of Christian experience, as follows : I. The legal state, portrayed in Romans vii. 8 — 25. II. The evangelical state, or the state of liberty and deliverance, indicated in Romans viii., and elsewhere. The truths we wish to bring out with special promi- nence will appear in the following statement of the various methods of interpretation of Romans vii. : 2 10 HOLINESS. 1. One class of expositors assert that] the apostle, Id this chapter, draws the portrait of the Christian in his normal experience, and that any advancement be- yond this is, except in a few rare cases, and these at or near death, not to be expected. 2. Another theory is, that the apostle has no refer- ence whatever to a person in a justified state, but to a sinner under conviction for sin. 3. Still another interpretation is that the apostle- has in view one in a justified state, but unfortunately entangled in the wilderness of legality; one who linger& near Sinai, admidst its surroundings of sterility and bar- renness, while Zion and its pleasant associations are his privileged dwelling-place. The careful attention and comparison of the reader is invited to Gal. iv, 23—26 and Heb. xii. 18—21. Having thus stated the three theories of interpre- tation, let us examine somewhat into each of them, and ascertain, if we can, which is correct. The theorists of the first class ascribe to ignorance or fanaticism the theory that offers deliverance from the state of bondage so painfully expressed by the apostle. Indeed it would appear from their writings and their preaching that one of the most marked evidences of a gracious state is, with becoming sub- mission to an inexorable law, to exclaim "Oh, wretched man that I am ! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" In their experience, in their expressions, in their prayers, in their whole temper and spirit, a felt, ever-conscious realization of the fact of HOLINESS. 11 their beiug poor miserable sinners appears to be promi- nent, they never rising above this legal bondage into the light and liberty of the gospel. With apparent satisfaction, they plead in extenuation of their many secret and open sins, the declared fact that " The good that I would, I do not ; but the evil which I would not, that I do." Many others who realize the galling yoke that binds them, and would fain avail themselves of proffered deliverance, are left to their life-long bondage for want of light and information. Holding the theory that deliverance is not practicable this side the dying hour, they but seldom rise higher than their creed pro- poses. The judicious Albert Barnes truthfully ob- serves in substance that " in general a person has about as much religion as he believes he can attain in this life. If he believes in a high state of grace, he is likely to rise to that experience ; if, however, he does not believe in an elevated state of grace, he never rises above his own standard." In this fact is found the reason for the low type of piety in so large a part of Christendom. With many, conversion to God with an experimental evidence of that fact, fe not required as essential to true religion, much less holiness, separation from the world, and the mind and spirit of Jesus. Intemperance, profanity, and immorality, are winked at as infirmities rather than the evidence of actual alienation from God. The church, as a hospital, is made the receptacle of all the moral impurity that ungodly, unconverted men and women bring with them 12 HOLINESS. into it, where tliej^ are subjected to a course of treat- ment, not to cure, but to palliate their maladies. Surely a reformation is sadly needed here, or the mass of moral corruption that finds shelter in the church under the protecting wing of this deception of the enemy may endanger the life of the church itself, and necessitate the raising of another church to execute the gracious purposes of God. If the atonement of the Son of God does not con- template a higher and nobler type of Christianity, even in this militant state, then we are led to conclude that it is deficient in its provisions of mercy. If men are not to be saved from their sins; if they are doomed to a life-long bondage to the carnal mind , to lust, anger, pride, ambition, love of the world, and unbelief ; if they are the meanwhile to be mocked with glittering ex- pressions of a promised deliverance, always, however, placed in the remote future; all their tears and prayers and aspirations without remedy or avail : the conclu- sion is inevitable that the great remedial agency t)f heaven is not fully adapted to the necessities of the case, an effectual bar to which conclusion is found in the hope-inspiring declaration, '\Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them." No wonder is it that the progress of Christianity is so comparatively slow, that the wickedness of the age is so great and heaven-daring, when the church to whose custody God has intrusted his holy truth, has dis- HOLINESS. 13 counted that, and permitted the enemy to close her eyes to her high and holy privileges, and thus while in her criminal slumber, permitted the enemy to sow his poisonous darnel in the garden of the Lord, thereby infitting her for vigorous, effective labor. It is high time that she awake from her slumber, shake herself from her slothful ness, rise to a proper appreciation of her duties and privileges, and go forth upon her proper mission ere her Lord come and find her wanting. Whilethe condition of the masses of professors is as described, there are among them many who, " seeing through a glass darkly," inspired by the hope of attain- ing the deliverance which the gospel proffers, are press- ing forward and entering upon the plane of holiness and deliverance despite the ignorance of their spiritual guides. Many of the most pious, learned, and effective champ^onsof God, who enjoy, profess, preach, and write of the precious doctrine of the higher Christian life, have been opposers, but who, despite their theories and prejudices, by the operation of the Spirit, under afflic- tions and chastisements, have been led out of this moral wilderness into the Canaan of perfect rest in Jesus. Among these we point with extreme satisfiiction to President Mahan, Mr. Finney, and Mr. Upham, author of " The Life of Faith," "Interior Life," and "Divine Union." The light is breaking and spreading before which ignorance and error must disappear. May it go forth until it shall have banished the last remnant of prejudice and ignorance that have hitherto, so long and lamentably, enshrouded the church of Christ. 14 H L I N E s y . We now come to consider the two other theories, and that ^ we may the better present our points, we consider both propositions in one, not proposing a negative inquiry into the second theory. The remain- ing propositions are : II. That the apostle had no reference whatever to a person in a justified state, but to a sinner under conviction for sin. III. Still another theory of interpretation is, that the apostle had in his view one in a justified state, but unfortunately entangled in the wilderness of legal- ity — one who lingers near Sinai amidst its surround.- ings of sterility and barrenness — while Zion and its associations are his privileged dwelling-place. That the latter interpretation is the correct one, we adduce the following in evidence : 1. The connection in which the apostolical portraiture relatively stands in the body of the epistle, proves beyond contradiction that the personification is of one in a justified state, thou h under a legal restraint of his freedom, rather than of the convicted sinner. In the following examination the reader is invited to open his New Testament and follow us closely. That the person whose internal struggles, so graphic- ally set forth by the apostle, has passed into the jus- tified state, is fully evident in the scripture preceding the chapter in which this bondage is expressed. "There- fore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ." Komans v. 1. Upon the fair presumption that the apostle is tracing the HOLINESS. 15 internal experience, in its various stages, of the same l^erson and not of a new cliaracter introduced at an inopportune stage, thereby breaking the continuity of the narieative, we conclude that, having passed beyond the threshhold of justification, his subsequent struggles and victories are continuously given. To this newly justified one, then, the apostle, in the succeeding sixth chapter, raises the standard of holi- ness, offering his deliverance from inbred sin, the death by crucifixion of the old man, and a resurrection to a new and higher grade of spiritual life. Read care- fully the whole of this sixth chapter of Romans and mark the strong expressions, as, '"''Dead indeed unto sin, and alive unto God,^^ ''''Free from sin,^^ " The body of sin destroyed,^' " The old man criicijied^'' *' Sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are no longer under the law, hut under graced *' Bid n'Sw being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holmes, and the end everlasting lifer If these strong declarations do not justify the most sanguine expectations of the attainment of a state of grace, the most appropriate terms to designate which are holiness and sanctification, in their scriptural import, as applied to men, their language is not«to be understood in the plain and obvious meaning. But what are the obstacles to be overcome to attain unto this state of gospel freedom? The law is the barrier — the disturbing element, unwilling to permit sone so long held in servile vassalage to escape, the 16 HOLINESS. enemy induces the fearful believer to conclude that he is not under obligations to this law, that he must in some way meet and discharge in the way of penances, tears, and obedience its requirements, while by the body of Christ he is forever freed from the law as a means and ground of justification. But can the believer be freed from the dominion of the law ? Yes, in the same manner that a woman is freed from the law of marriage, namely, the death of her husband. But does the -law die to the believer, or he die to the law? Hear what the apostle says concerning this, in Romans^ vii. 4, 6. "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." " But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in oldness of the letter." With beautiful harmony the words of the apostle in Ephesians v. 25 — 30, correspond with those above quoted. " Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it ; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of watei; by the word ; that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing ; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but HOLINESS. 17 nourishes and cherislieth it, even as the Lord the church : for we are jnemhers of his hocJy, of his flesh, and of his hones.'' The figure of marriage employed to represent the connection between Christ and his people is suggestive of some precious considerations, as, First. The wife takes upon her the name of her husband; so we take the name of Christ — Christian. Second. By reason of marriage the wife loses her identity in law, her husband standing responsible for her ; so " Christ has become the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." That is to say, the claims of the law have been fully satisfied by Christ for all them that believe. When the law thunders its claims ifpon us, then we should at once refer it to Christ. "Jesus paid it all, All the debt I owe." The truth taught in this representation is beauti- fully exemplified in the following incident related by Mr. Spurgeon. A person born in England but a naturalized citizen of the United States was arrested in one of the Spanish colonies and was about to be executed. Failing to secure his release, the United States consul wrapped around him the stars and stripes of the United States, and the national flag of England, and then said to his executioners, " Now fire if you dare. Whoever touches those flags insults the govern- ments they represent." So belonging to Christ, and covered by the mantle of his merits, whoever would 18 H O L I N E :^ S . harm us would harm Christ himself. This truth is in accordance with such scriptures as Matt, xxv. 40 — 45. Acts ix. 4. Third. The husband becomes the natural and legal protector and provider of his wife ; so Christ is our protector and provider, \Yhen we can fully trust in Jesus our anxieties subside. Fourth. The Savior admitted but one justifiable cause of divorce. Matt. v. 31 — 32. By parity of reasoning, therefore, as well as from [scriptural decla- rations, nothing so effectually divorces the soul from Christ as what the Scriptures define as spiritual adul- tery. " Ye adulterers and adulteresses., knoio ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Who- soever., therefore, will he a friend of the world, is the enemy of God.'^ James iv. 4. The indissoluble char- acter of the tie that unites the soul to Jesus is stated in Romans viii. 35 — 39. These words should be inter- preted in the light of the relation suggested by Komans vii. 1 — 4, Ephesians v. 25—32, and the songs of Solomon. But what are the consequences if the wife does not fully rely upon her husband to meet the claims of the law ? Plainly, she will be perplexed in vain, having nothing to pay. What are the results if the justified soul does not fully rely upon the all-sufficient atonement of Jesus, but attempts by works and pen- ances to satisfy the demands of the law, as a means of maintaining justification. Those results are stated in Komans vii., which we will consider more fully hereafter. II O L I N E S S . 19 2. We admit that while the condition of the con- victed sinner is, in many respects, like that portrayed in Romans vii., yet there are points where the analogy fails, as in verses 22 and 23. 3. The experience of the many eminent witnesses who have passed from the lower to the higher state of grace, attests the truth of our theory. Elevated to a position from which their discernment is more accu- rate and extensive, their testimony possesses peculiar value. Here we have abundant material, but little of which can be used in the limits of this chapter. All who desire light upon this point will be greatly bene- fited by reading "Pioneer Experiences," published by W. C. Palmer, jr.. No. 14 Bible House, New York. We can not forego the pleasure of inserting the fol- lowing to the point, from the experience of President Mahan, as written by himself: "Two facts in the aspect of the church and the ministry struck me with gloomy interest. Scarcely an individual, within the circle of my knowledge, seemed to know the gospel as a sanctifying or peace-giving gospel. In illustration of this remark, let me state a fact which I met with in the year 1831 or 1832. I then met a company of my ministerial brethren, who came together from one of the i^iost favored portions of the country. They sat down together, and gave to each other an undisguised disclosure of the state of their hearts, and they all, with one exception, and the experience of that indi- vidual I did not hear, acknowledged that they had not daily communion and peace with God. Over these 20 HOLINESS. facts they wept ; but neither knew how to direct the other out of this thick and impenetrable gloom which covered them, and I was in the same ignorance as my brethren. I state these facts as fair examples of the state of the church and the ministry as far as my ob- servation has extended." Pioneer Experience, page 12. It is truly refreshing to follow this eminent Christian in his wanderings until he emerged, under the guidance of the Spirit, in the clear light of holiness. 4. The truth of our interpretation is further demon- strated by the experience of multiplied thousands of honest, sincere Christians all over the earth and in all our churches. Theory is often made to fall before stubborn facts. To the experience, then, of our readers, we appeal, rather than to his traditional theory or creed, and urge upon him the inquiry, if he has not, during a large part of his religious life, read the outlines of his own experience in the faithful glass of truth, as held before him by the apostle in Romans vii. Our long and intimate association with Christians, with frequent interchanges of opinion and experience, as well as our general observation and reading, go to prove that the majority of Christians, despite their creed and their reluctance to acknowlege it, find their religious status more truthfully traced in Romans vii., than in Romans viii. We deem this point of such vital importance that we linger upon it more in detail. We have in the following incident a strikiug type HOLINESS. 21 of the gospel. After Moses and Eliashad disappeared from the mount of transfiguration, the evangelist says that when the disciples had lifted up their eyes " they saw no man save Jesus onlyy Jesus only is seen by the truly evangelical believer who walks in light and liberty, while the legal, doubting one sees Moses and Elias more prominently in the vision. One class of Christians can realize nothing higher than law, duty, and precept. They are ever^measuring themselves by the law, by others, or by themselves, and drawing discouraging inferences against themselves. The dark shadow of Moses eclipses all their joys and dissipates all their hopes. Occasional refreshings in the means of grace are discredited by a captious un- belief, succeeded by darkness and doubts as before. Such disciples are ever in torment from considerations such as these, that prohahly they never repented, that they did not feel deeply enough the guilt of sin, were never truly converted, that their refreshings vouchsafed to them were hut imaginary, &c. Thus impressed, they look to the law, to Moses, not to Jesus only. They seek to feel more, to do something to appease the law, to meet its demands, thus discrediting the per- fect work of the Son of God, in that they imagine that the atonement of Christ can not meet their case just as they are, but something more must be done by them, or in them, to prepare them to receive the proffered blessing of complete deliverance. Others see Elias only as prominently. The stern asceticism of Elijah is reproduced in these fastings and penances 22 HOLINESS. or in the character of the forerunner of Jesus. They never advance beyond the repenting, the preparing^ and the seeking state as taught by John. With the dis- ciples of Apollos at Ephesus, baptized " unto John's baptism," but who never " so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost," (Acts xviii, and xix.,) such persons are more concerned about ordinances as water baptism, the Lord's supper, and other purely cere- monials of religion, than they are about the reception and enjoyment of the Spirit itself. Concerning the fact and the mode of the Spirit's opera- tions, as little is really understood as the philosophy of the wind. J ohn iii. 8. It is not the province of the Spirit to reveal either itself or the mode of its opera- tions ; hence the uncertainty of many as to matters of emotional* experience. Jesus declared concerning the Spirit, " He shall not speak of himself, " but " he shall testify of me." Thus we have the proper work of the Spirit, to reveal to the eye of faith Jesus- The first person of the Holy Trinity, as well as the third, testifies to Jesus also. " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear him." There are those, converted in early youth, or from convictions partaking more of the intellectual than the emotional, that are apt to be tormented with dis- tressing doubts and fears, as to the genuineness of their repentance, and their conversion, particularly when led to comparisons with others with whom the emotional was more marked. In the character of "the accuser of the brethren," the enemy has been tormenting them HOLINESS. 28 for years together, producing the conflicts and the bondage expressed in Romans vii. Honestly supposing that a further work of prepara- tion is necessary, they linger at Sinai, inviting its ter- rors and its thunderings and lightning, to complete in them a fitness to receive Jesus. Their eyes are turned in the wrong direction. The wilderness of Sinai must be left behind, and they must be urged to rapid strides towards Zion. That there are so many in this legal state is more the fkult of the ministry than their own. Concerning their spiritual guides, it may be said of many, as Jesus said of the Pharisees of his day, "Ye have taken away the key of knowledge : ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered." Doubting, tormented disciples of Jesus, for such we understandingly declare you to be, there is help for you. It is in Jesus; in his all-finished work, requiring neither your feeling more nor doing more to complete it, or to render you more fit to receive its precious ben- efits. All this is of the law. Fear not to turn your back upon all these tormenting considerations, which often, the enemy will tell you, proceed from the opera- tion of the Spirit. Aim at perfect deliverance, and seek it by faith, and you will undoubtedly realize it. 5. The following facts further attest the truth of an exposition : First. The low type of purity, caused by the fact that men and women are taught that deliverance from 24 HOLINESS. tliis legal bondage is neither desirable nor practicable. This degeneracy is evident in the prevailing spirit, pursuits, and superfluities of professors. It was to professors the apostles addressed the admonition, " Be not conformed to this world;" but how few of them pay any practical " obedience to it? Extravagance, worldliness, pride, and even immodesty, are as preva- lent in the church as out of it. Second. Want of sympathy and fellowship in feel- ing for, and laboring to save, the perishing. The expression of the Father's love to"^ rebellious world, was the gift of his only-begotten Son. The love of Christ for the perishing souls of men led him to forego the pleasures and even the actual requirements of rest, sleep, and time to eat, in his constant labor for their salvation. His tears, prayers, teachings, and cruel death are the proper expressions of his deep solicitude for the salvation of souls. Sympathy with Jesus led the apostle to exclaim, in view of his aim, trials, and privations for a similar purpose, " The love of Christ constraineth me." Is this the spirit that imbues the hearts of the church of this day? Do Grod's ministers carry on their hearts the souls of the people? Can it be said of them as it was said of Jesus, " The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up?" While that which was peculiar to the apostolic age, under the immediate baptism of the tongue of fire, has passed away, the permanent results were to remain with the church to the end of time. Is it the tongue of fire that proclaims salvation, or the tongue of human eloquence, education, or ambition? HOLINESS. 25 All this applies with equal force to the laity, whose worldliness, love of* money-making and money-hord- ing, spasmodic, fitful zeal, gaiety, vanity, all trumpet- tongued, proclaim their degeneracy, all of which is attributable to their low standard of Christian duty and attainment. Third. Want of moral power and influence of the church. That the church is shorn of her power is evident in the criticisms she invites by her inconsis- tencies, her gambling fairs, festivals, etc. ; her minis- ters leaving the sacred desk for the rostrum, or turning mounte-banks and lecturers to the disrepute of the sacred profession. The enemies of Grod significantly require all these things and welcome the church to their fellowship in the race for fame, fashion and re- nown. Jesus is insulted and disgraced by the volun- tary profligacy and unfaithfulness of his bride, the church, against whom he charges the fearful crime of spiritual adultery. Probably in no other way is this loss of power more apparent than during a revival season,^hen truly con- victed persons present themselves for the prayers and instructions of the church, and when the usual forms of singing and prayer are gone through with in Ice- landish frigidity, fearfully suggestive that the glory has departed. Can it be a matter of astonishment that convictions do not appear so deep and radical, conver- sions so clear and decided as formerly ? In view of the state of grace delineated in Romans viii, and elswhere, the many exceedingly great and pre- 3 26 HOLINESS. cions promises to encourage all to go forward to the attainment of tliis state, as well as the obvious nec- essity for doing so, as found in the delinquencies and short-comings of the church, may we not hope that the future of the church will witness a brighter and better state than the past or the present. CHAPTER II. SAXCTIFICATIOX A WORK DI3TIXCT FROM JU3TIf ICATIOX, A\D SUBSEQUENT TO IT. The following are the prominent theories of the grace of sanctification : 1. While it is admitted that the Scriptures speak of a Christian grace denominated sanctification, it is claimed that it is the same with justification, and takes place at the same time, and in no case is a separate and distinct work. 2. That sanctification, as a separate and distinct work from justification, is necessarily and always gradual, the result of growth, and in no case an instantaneous acqui- sition. We propose to consider in this chapter, the first of these propositions, reserving for our next, the second theory. Justification is thus defined : " An act of God's free grace in which he pardons all onr sins, and accepts ns as righteous in his sight, by virtue of the atonement of Jesus Christ." Sanctification is defined as follows by Mr. Wesley: " Pure love reigning alone in the heart and life. * * * Pure love filling the heart and governing all the words 28 HOLINESS. and actions. In one view it is purity of intention, dect- icating all the life to God.''^ Mr. Fletcher thus defines it : " It is the depth of evangelical repentance, the fidl assurance of faith ^ and the pure love of Grod and man shed abroad in a faith- ful believer's heart by the Holy Ghost, given unto him to cleanse and to heep him clean from all filthiness of theflesli and spirit, and to enable him to fulfill the law of Christ according to the talents he is intrusted with, and the circumstances in which he is placed in the world." Luther Lee says of it: " Sanctification is the re- newal of our fallen nature by the Holy Ghost, received through faith in Jesus Christ, whose blood of atone- ment has power to cleanse from all sin, whereby we are not only delivered from the guilt of sin, which is justi- fication, but are ivashed eiitirely from its pollution, freed from its power, and are enabled through grace to love God with all the heart, and to walk in his holy com- mandments blameless." We remark then : 1. Justification is the declaration of our freedom from punishment; sanctification is the consummation of that glorious work of God in the soul begun in our re- generation, by which we are renewed after the image of God and set apart for his service. 2. Justification changes our state in law before God our Judge : sanctification changes our heart and life before him as our Father. 3. Justification removes the guilt of sin ; sauctifica- HOLINESS. 29 tiou destroj^s the power and being of it from the heart. 4. Justification delivers us from the anger of God ; sanctification conforms us to his image. 5. Justification is sanctification begun ; sanctification is that work perfected in that " the body of sin," " the old man" is destroyed and cast out, enabling tlie be- liever to love God perfectly, and maintain a constant victory over sin. 6. It is not claimed that sanctification is a work dif- fering in nature from the work of justification. Many truly converted persons live in a justified state, and at the approach of death, experience a struggle to be rec- onciled to the will of God; to rise victorious above the fear of death ; but in answer to their prayers, God graciously confers this great grace upon them. This is sanctification. We claim that God is not only able, but abundantly willing to confer that grace upon us noio, that we may the better serve and glorify him in life as well as in death. The terms "carnal mind," "body of sin," "the old man," as applied to believers in a justified state, mean the natural bias to evil which we receive from the first Adam, and are thus defined by Mr. Wesley: " Orig- inal sin is the corruption of the nature of every man, whereby man is in his own nature inclined to evil, so that the flesh lusteth contrary to the Spirit ; and the in- fection of nature doth remain, yea, even in them that are regenerated, whereby the lust of the flesh is not subject to the law of God. And although there is no condemnation for them that believe, yet the lust hath 30 HOLINESS. of itself the nature of sin. * ^ * By sin here, I understand inward sin ; any sinful temper, a passion, or affection ; such as pride, self-will, love of the world in any degree, and lust, and anger, peevishness, or any disposition contrary to the mind which was in Christ." The subject is now simplified and narrowed down to this simple inquiry ^ Are there carnal principles or roots found in the hearts of the truly regenerated and justified soid f This is the single questioii at issue, and upon its solution depends the proper decision of our case. If every believer in justification, is perfectly delivered from all the carnal mind, and lives a constant victory over self, love of the world, a disposition to pride, im- patience, dissatisfaction with the providences of God, and unbelief, then our position is untenable. If howev- er, facts and experience prove that such is not the case, of which we have abundant lamentable proof in the inconsistencies and other manifestations of these prin- ciples in the majority of professors, many of whom who are most inconsistent treat with contempt our theory ; then the fact is established beyond cavil or contradic- tion, all theories to the contrary notwithstanding. In proof of our position we adduce : 1. The general experience of believers. Is iiot the tendency to selfishness, peevishness, irri- tability, dissatisfaction with the providences of God, pride, anger, worldliness, evil speaking, doubting, fearing, etc., almost as "general, if not as universal as the race of believers ? These facts admitted, the ques- tion is raised, AVhence do these arise? from with- HOLINESS. 31 out the heart, or within it? If from without, they are simply suggestions from the enemy, and find no corresponding response, no bent or bias of nature to yield to them ; if from within, what starts them ? In what principle do they find their root or origin ? 2. The general faith and voice of the church. All religious creeds recognize the tendency in man, in his regenerated state, "to depart from the living God." Bunyan, in his "Pilgrim's Progress," thus details a conversation between Christian and the damsel Pru- dence, in the Palace Beautiful, which was ^situated beyond the wicket gate of justification: Prudence — Do you not bear away with you some things that then you were conversant with ? ( That is when he was yet in the city of destruction.) Christian — " Yes ; but greatly against my will ; espe- cially my inward carnal cogitations, with which all my countrymen, as well as myself, were delighted; but now all these things are my grief; and might I but choose mine own things, I would choose never to think of these things more ; but when I would be a doing that which is best, that which is worst is with me. Romans vii. 15-21. In a conversation between Christian and Faithful, at a later period of their pilgrimage. Faithful told Christian that in ascending the Hill of Difficulty, he was accosted by an aged man, who proposed to him to turn aside to his service, with the promise of ease, gratification, &c.; to which he felt inclined to yield; 32 HOLINESS. when lie observed it written across his forehead : " Put off the old man with his deeds;" and in the act of turning away from him, he gave his flesh " an awful twitch." Shortly after, one named Moses, came run- ning after him, and felled him to the ground with a club called the law, "/or his secret inclinings to Adam the first:' "We hope our readers will not question the orthodoxy of the following verse of hymn 638 in our own hymn book : " But of all the foes we meet, None so oft mislead our feet — None betray us into sin Like the foe that dwells within^ 3. The testimony of GocTs word. Addressing Christians the apostle says : " The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh : and these are contrary the one to the other : so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." Gal. v. 17. "And I brethren (certainly Christian) could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. Ye are yet carnal : for whereas there is among you envying (an evil temper) and strife, are ye not carnal ?" I. Cor. iii. 1 — 3. " Hav- ing therefore, these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." II. Cor. vii. 1. "Looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness spring- ing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled." " Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you HOLINESS. 33 evil heart of unheUefm departing'from the living God." In Romans xii. 2, tlie apostle beseeches the brethren not to be conformed to this world, but to be trans- formed by the renewing of their minds, that they "may prove what is that good and acceptable, and per- fect will of God." In view, doubtless, of their deliverance from the legal bondage expressed in Romans vii. 18 — 24, Paul exhorts the Galatian Christians to " stand fast there- fore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made (them) us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." Gal. v. 1. That the work of sanctification is not completed at justification, will appear from the following deduc- tions and collateral evidences, for some of which we acknowledge, in this general way, our indebtedness to Wood's Perfect Love. First. If sanctification is completed in justification, then every one justified is entirely sanctified ; and if wholly sanctified, why not profess it? Second. If all who are justified are wholly sanctified, then all the commands in God's word to seek after ho- liness and sanctification are given exclusively to those who are not yet justified, hut sinners. Will the objec- tor involve himself in the folly of this position? Third. If sanctification is completed in justification, what becomes of the commands in God's word " to go on to perfection," " to cleanse ourselves from all filth- iness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God?" And why are these duties pressed on 34 HOLINESS. US by the general teacliings of God's word, by God's ministers, and by bis Holy Spirit ? Fourth. If sanctification is completed in justifica- tion, then converts are not to be exhorted to seek for any further cleansing. "For what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?" Why seek for what you al- ready have in your possession ? Fifth. If justification and sanctification are one and the same, then all who are not fully delivered from all inbred sin, all who feel the fruits of the flesh strug- gling with them, as pride, self-will, unbelief, etc., are unconverted, under condemnation, and children of the devil. If this be admitted, how many Christians are there to be found ? Sixth. If justification and sanctification are one, then in a state so holy — we may feel anger, pride, un- belief, etc., all of which we will carry with us to heaven; for holiness is the Bible preparation for that holy place. Seventh. If all who are justified are sanctified, then whoever is convicted for full salvation and groaning after a higher state of grace than he already possesses, is under a terrible delusion, and was either never con- verted or is backslidden. If these conclusions be admitted, then all who are hungering and thirsting after righteousness, instead of being blessed as Jesus declares, are in error, unconver- ted and out of Christ, while the self-satisfied, those at ease in Zion, are alone right in the sight of God. We conclude this chapter by an appeal to our read- HOLINESS. 35 er, if he is not sensible of a conflict going on in tlie domain of his soul between conflicting and contending principles, between "a law in his members, warring against the law of his mind, and bringing him into captivity to the law of sin which is his members," be- tween the flesh and the Spirit, between the old man and the new, between his will and his conscience, be- tween the uprisings of pride, love of the world, impa- tience, dissatisfaction with the providences of God, ex- hibited in mournings and complainings, and his own better consciousness. If so, is he willing to submit to the inexorable logic of his theory, that he is uncon- verted, or if converted that there is no deliverance for him this side of the grave, unless it be by a slow gradual progression, the fallacy of which, we will at tempt to demonstrate in the ensuing chapter. CHAPTER III. IS SAXCTIFICATION THE KESULT OF GROWTH, OR AN INSTAN- TANEOUS ACQUISITION ? The Scriptures designate these prominent stages in the work of grace, namely : Justification, Sanctifica- tion, and Glorification. The first stage is conversion to God ; the second re- lates to the completion of that work in the soul, in the relative sense of the term completion^ as applicable to imperfect beings in an imperfect state; while the third stage — that of glorification — is only consummated in the resurrection of the body, and the final glorifica- tion of soul and body, in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The following are some of the scriptures that relate to this glorification : " Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear^ we shall he like hhn; for we shall see him as he is." I. John iii. 2. " For our conversation is in heaven ; from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ : who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even HOLINESS. 37 to subdue all things unto himself." Phil. iii. 20 — 21. " For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." Col. iii. 3—4. " Being confident of this very thing, that he that hath begun a good work in you Iwill per- form it until the day of Jesus Christ.'' Phil. i. 6. Having been justified by faith in Jesus, and waiting for " the glory that shall be revealed in us," "for the manifestation of the sons of God," " for the redemp- tion of our body," "if so be that we suffer with him, (Christ) that we may be also glorified together:" we now, in confidence, seek that preparation indicated by John, in connection with this preoious hope of glori- fication. I. John iii. 1 — 3. " Andeveryman that hath this hope in him purifieth himself., even as he is pure.'' While it is freely admitted that this justification is attainable, and essentially requisite to our realization of the third stage of grace, it is h^ld by some that this acquisition is only to be expected at^ or near deaths at which time the work will, by an absolute operation of divine grace, be consummated, and in no case is it to be expected before that exigency ; or that in the mean- time the faithful believer will gradually grow up into this state, and that its acquisition is in no case an in- stantaneous work. We propose in this chapter to demonstrate, so far as we can, the error of this view, but before proceeeding with our examination, we pro- pose to set forth in as strong light as we can. some of 38 HOLINESS. the advantages resulting from a well-defined standard of Christian attainment. There is prevalent in the hearts of most professors an inward longing for a certain undefined state of grace that they feel to be not only their privilege to attain unto, but an absolute necessity. This indefiniteness results from the vague and undefined views we, as well as some other churches, entertain on the subject of Christian attainment. Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, in a tract on holiness, entitled, " Primitive Christian Experience," thus sets forth the advantage of this definite standard : " The advantages to the Christian church, in setting before it distinct points of attainment, are very nearly the same in result as the advantages of preaching immedi- ate regeneration^ in preference to indefinite exhortation to men to lead sober, righteous and godly lives. It has been found, in the course of New England preaching, that pressing men tg an immediate and definite point of conversion, produced immediate and definite results ; and so it has been found among Christians, that press- ing them to any immediate and defined point of attain- ment will, in like manner, result in marked and decided progress. For this reason it is, that, among Moravian Chistians, when the experience, by them denominated full ash^irance of faith, was much insisted upon, there were more instances of high religious faith than in almost any other denomination ; while in these later times — when it is scarcely remembered that the Con- gregational and Presbyterian churches have an article HOLINESS. 39 on this subject strongly enjoining its attainment — it is an experience so rare as to excite surprise when fully manifested." In this truthful utterance of this gifted lady is a most important fact that we will do well to consider — a truth so apparent that it needs no elaboration at our hands. That distinct point of attainment, we propose to set forth before our readers in this work, and, if pos- sible, convince them that they may attain thereto by an act of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Upon this point, then, we remark : 1. There is a distinction to he ohserved between growth in grace and the attainment of holiness or sanctification The theory of a gradual growth only is based upon such scriptures as our Lord's parables of the leaven in the meal, the mustard seed, etc., all of which clearly teach development, progress, maturity, increasing love to Christ, victory over the world, the weakening of the powers of inbred corruption, and the maturing of the implanted seed in the soul, while the doctrine of holi- ness involves the desfrtiction, the death of, not the grad- ual weakening nor growing out of, ''the old man,'' " the body of sin." Worthless, poisonousVeeds are not destroyed out of our gardens by growing useful plants, but by their being rooted out. If it be admitted that there remain in the regenerated heart roots of bitterness, it remains to be proven by the advocates of the development theory that these roots can be grown out, against which they, or we think the word of God and all Christian experience are clear. 40 O L I N E S S . Everything that partakes of the nature of sin must be forgiven^ washed away, destroyed. Dr. Hibbard says : " It has long appeared to us that many who are seeking after entire holiness mis- take the duty of a gradual growth in grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, for a gradual growing out of sin. They seem to think that the two naturally involve each other, and that as they must always grow up into Christ in all things, so they must by degrees grow out of the bondage, guilt, and pollu- tion of sin. There is no gradual growing out of sin ; All that partakes of the nature of sin must be forgiven, and washed away through faith in the blood of the Lamb. When this is done, it is an instantaneous work. Sin is not a thing to be grown out of, but a thing to be forgiven and cleansed away." Mrs. Hester Ann Rogers says : " Maturity, or growth in grace, is, in an important sense, a question of time ; but purity is not. A free and full salvation from all sin is the present and constant privilege and^duty of all believers. This will secure a rapid, solid, constant growth in grace. It is true we may mortify, resist, and heep under those evils ; but Jesus alone can pluck up and destroy any plant and root which his Father plan- ted not. We may gradually grow in grace and holi- ness, and hourly increase in victoriously subjecting the enemy within ; hut Jesus alone can slay the man of .