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“Sanctify
them through Thy truth.”
“This is the will of God, even your sanctification.”
John 17:17; 1 Thessalonians 4:3
The subject of
sanctification is one which many, I fear, dislike exceedingly.
Some even turn from it with scorn and disdain.
The very last thing they would like is to be a “saint”, or a
“sanctified” man. Yet the
subject does not deserve to be treated in this way.
It is not an enemy, but a friend.
It is a subject of the
utmost importance to our souls. If
the Bible be true, it is certain that unless we are “sanctified “, we
shall not be saved. There are three things, which, according to the Bible are
absolutely necessary to the salvation of every man and woman in
Christendom. These three are:
justification, regeneration, and sanctification.
All three meet in every child of God – he is both born again, and
justified, and sanctified. He
that lacks any one of these three things is not a true Christian in the
sight of God, and dying in that condition will not be found in heaven and
glorified in the last day.
Now, what does the
Bible mean when it speaks of a “sanctified” man?
Sanctification is that inward spiritual work which the Lord Jesus
Christ works in a man by the Holy Ghost, when He calls him to be a true
believer. He not only washes him from his sins in His own blood, but He
also separates him from his natural love of sin and the world, puts a new
principle in his heart, and makes him practically godly in life.
The instrument by which the Spirit effects this work is generally
the Word of God, through He sometimes uses afflictions and providential
visitations “without the Work”
(1 Peter 3:1). The
subject of this work of Christ by His Spirit is called in Scripture a
“sanctified” man.
He who supposes that
Jesus Christ only lived and died and rose again in order to provide
justification and forgiveness of sins for His people, has yet much to
learn. Whether he knows it or
not, he is dishonoring our blessed Lord, and making Him only half Savior.
The Lord Jesus has undertaken everything that His people’s souls
require; not only to deliver them from the guilt of their sins by His
atoning death, but from the dominion of their sins, by placing in their
hearts the Holy Spirit – not only to justify, but also to sanctify them.
He is, thus, not only their “righteousness”,
but their “sanctification” (1
Cor. 1:30). Let us hear
what the Bible says: “For
their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified”
(John 17:19). “Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it: that He might
sanctify and cleanse it” (Eph 5:25).
“Christ gave Himself for us, that
He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar
people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:14).
Christ “bare our sins in His own
body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto
righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24). Christ hath reconciled you ‘in
the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable
and unreproveable in His sight” (Col. 1:22).
Let the meaning of these five texts be carefully considered.
If words mean anything, they teach that Christ undertakes the
sanctification, no less than the justification of His believing people.
Both are alike provided for in that “everlasting
covenant ordered in all things and sure” (2 Sam.23:5),
of which the Mediator is Christ. In
fact, Christ in one place is called: “He
that sanctifieth,” and His people, “they
who are sanctified” (Heb. 2:11).
The subject before us
is of such deep and vast importance, that it requires fencing, guarding,
clearing up, and marking out on every side.
A doctrine which is needful to salvation can never be too sharply
developed, or brought too fully into light.
To clear away the confusion between doctrines and doctrines, which
is so unhappily common among Christians, and to map out the precise
relation between truths and truths in religion, is one way to attain
accuracy in our theology. I
shall therefore not hesitate to lay before my readers a series of
connected propositions or statements, drawn from
Scripture, which I think will be found useful in defining the exact nature
of sanctification.
1.
Sanctification, then, is the invariable
result of that vital union with Christ
which true faith gives to a Christian – “He
that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth for much fruit” (John
15:5). The branch which
bears no fruit is no living branch of the vine.
The union with Christ which produces no effect on heart and life is
a mere formal union, which is worthless before God. The faith which has not a sanctifying influence on the
character is no better than the faith of devils.
It is a “dead faith”, because it is “alone.” It is not the gift of God.
It is not the faith of God’s elect.
In short, where there is no sanctification of life, there is no
real faith in Christ. True
faith worketh by love. It
constrains a man to live unto the Lord from a deep sense of gratitude for
redemption. It makes him feel
that he can never do too much for Him that died for him.
Being much forgiven, he loves much.
He whom the blood cleanses, walks in the light.
He who has real lively hope in Christ, purifieth himself even as He
is pure (James 2:17-20; Titus 1:1; Gal. 5:6; 1 John 1:6; 3:3).
2.
Sanctification, again, is the outcome
and inseparable consequence of regeneration.
He that is born again and made a new creature, receives a new
nature and a new principle, and always lives a new life.
A regeneration which a man can have, and yet live carelessly in sin
or worldliness, is regeneration never mentioned in Scripture.
He that is born of God doth not commit sin – doeth righteousness
– loveth the brethren – keepeth himself – and overcometh the world (1
John 2:29; 3:9-14; 5:4-18). In
a work, where there is not sanctification there is not regeneration, and
where there is not holy life there is no new birth.
This is a hard saying to many minds; but, hard or not, it is Bible
truth. It is written plainly,
that he who is born of God is one whose “seed
remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God”
(1 John 3:9).
3.
Sanctification, again, is the only
certain evidence of that indwelling of the Holy Spirit that is essential
to salvation. “If
any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is non of His” (Rom.
8:9). The Spirit never
lies dormant and idle within the soul. He always makes His presence known by the fruit He causes to
be borne in heart, character, and life.
“The fruit of the Spirit,”
says St. Paul, “is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance,: and
such like (Gal.5:22).
Where these things are to be found, there is the Spirit; where
these things are wanting, men are dead before God.
The Spirit is compared to the wind, and, like the wind, He cannot
be seen by our bodily eyes. But just as we know there is a wind by he effect it produces
on waves, and trees, and smoke, so we may know the Spirit is in a man by
the effects He produces in the man’s conduct.
It is nonsense to suppose that we have the Spirit, if we do not
also “walk in the Spirit” (Gal.
5:25). We may depend on
it as a positive certainty, that where there is no holy living, there is
no Holy Ghost. The seal that
the Spirit stamps on Christ’s people is sanctification.
As many as are actually “led by
the Spirit of God, they,” and they only, “are
the sons of God” (Rom. 8:14)
4.
Sanctification, again, is the only sure
mark of God’s election. The names and number of the elect are a secret thing which
God has wisely kept in His own power, and not revealed to man.
It is not given to us in this world to study the pages of the book
of life, and see if our names are there.
But if there is one thing clearly and plainly laid known about
election, it is this – that elect men and women may be known and
distinguished by holy lives. It
is expressly written that they are “elect
through sanctification – chosen unto salvation through sanctification
– predestinated to be conformed to the image of God’s Son – and
chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world that they should be
holy.” Hence,
when Paul saw the working “faith”
and laboring “love” and
patient “hope” of the
Thessalonian believers, he says, “I know
your election of God” (1Peter 1:2; 2 Thess. 2:13; Rom.
8:29; Eph. 1:4; 1 Thess.1:3, 4).
He that boasts of being one of God’s elect, while he is willfully
and habitually living in sin, is only deceiving himself, and talking
wicked blasphemy. Of course,
it is hard to know what people really are, and many who make a fair show
outwardly in religion, may turn out at last to be rotten-hearted
hypocrites. But where there
is not, at least, some appearance of sanctification, we may be quite
certain there is no election.
5.
Sanctification, again, is a thing that
will always be seen. Like
the Great Head of the church, from whom it springs, it “cannot
be hid”. “Every tree is known by his
own fruit” (Luke 6:44).
A truly sanctified person may be so clothed with humility, which he
can see in himself nothing but infirmity and defects.
Like Moses, when he came down from the Mount, he may be conscious
that his face shines. Like
the righteous, in the mighty parable of the sheep and the goats, he may
not see that he has done anything worthy of his Master’s notice and
commendation: “When saw we Thee an
hungered, and fed Thee?” (Matt. 25:37).
But whether he sees it in himself for not, others will always see
in him a tone, and taste, and character, and habit of life unlike that of
other men. The very idea of
man being “sanctified”, while no holiness can be seen in his life, is
flat nonsense and a misuse of words.
Light may be very dim; but if there is only a spark in a dark room
it will be seen. Life may be very feeble; but if the pulse only beats a
little, it will be felt. It
is just the same with a sanctified man:
his sanctification will be something felt and see, though he
himself may not understand it. A
“saint” in whom nothing can be seen but worldliness or sin, is a kind
of monster not recognized in the Bible.
6.
Sanctification, again, is a thing for
which every believer is responsible.
In saying this I would not be mistaken.
I hold as strongly as anyone that every man on earth is accountable
to God, and that all the lost will be speechless and without excuse at the
last day. Every man has power
to “lose his own soul” (Matt.16:26).
But while I hold this, I maintain that believers are eminently and
peculiarly responsible, and under a special obligation to live holy lives.
They are not as others, dead and blind and unrenewed:
they are alive unto God, and have light and knowledge, and a new
principle within them. Whose
fault is it if they are not holy, but their own?
On whom can they throw the blame if they are not sanctified, but
themselves? God, who has
given them grace and a new heart, and a new nature, has deprived them of
all excuse if they do not live for His praise. This is a point that is far too much forgotten.
A man who professes to be a true Christian, while he sits still,
content with a very low degree of sanctification (if indeed he has any at
all), and coolly tells you he “can do
nothing”, is a very pitiable sight, and a very ignorant man.
Against this delusion let us watch and be on our guard.
The Word of God always addresses its precepts to believers as
accountable and responsible beings. If
the Savior of sinners gives us renewing grace, and calls us by His Spirit,
we may be sure that He expects us to use our grace, and not to go to
sleep. It is forgetfulness of
this which causes many believers to “grieve
the Holy Spirit”, and makes them very useless and
uncomfortable Christians.
7.
Sanctification, again, is a thing that
grows. A man may
climb from one step to another in holiness, and be far more sanctified at
on period of his life than other. More
pardoned and more justified than he is when he first believes, he cannot
be, though he may feel it more. More
sanctified he certainly may be, because every grace in his new character
may be strengthened, enlarged, and deepened.
This is the evident meaning of our Lord’s last prayer for His
disciples, when He used the words, “Sanctify
them”; and of Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians, “The
very God of peace sanctify you”(John 17:17; 1Thess. 5:23).
In both cases the expression plainly implies the possibility of
increased sanctification; while such an expression as “justify
them”: is never once in Scripture applied to a believer,
because he cannot be more justified then he is.
I can find no warrant in Scripture for the doctrine of “imputed
sanctification”. It is a
doctrine, which seems to me to confuse things that differ, and to lead to
very evil consequences. Not
the least, it is doctrine, which is flatly contradicted by the experience
of all the most eminent Christians. If
there is any point on which God’s holiest agree it is this:
that they see more, and know more, and feel more, and do more, and
repent more, and believe more, as they get on in spiritual life, and in
proportion to the closeness of their walk with God.
In short, they “grow in grace”,
as Peter exhorts believers to do; and “abound
more and more”, according the words of Paul (2Peter 3:18;
1Thess. 4:1).
8.
Sanctification, again, is a thing that
depends greatly on a diligent use of Scriptural means.
When I speak of “means”, I have in view Bible-reading, private
prayer, regular attendance on public worship, regular hearing of God’s
Word, and regular reception of the Lord’s Supper.
I lay it down as a simple matter of fact that no one who is
careless about such things must ever expect to make much progress in
sanctification. I can find no
record of any eminent saint who ever neglected them.
They are the appointed channels through which the Holy Spirit
conveys fresh supplies of grace to the soul, and strengthens the work that
He has begun in the inward man. Let
men call this legal doctrine if they please, but I will never shrink from
declaring my belief that there are no “spiritual
gains without pains”. I
should as soon expect a farmer to prosper in business who contented
himself with sowing his fields and never looking at them till harvest, as
expect a believer to attain much holiness who was not diligent about his
Bible-reading, his prayers, and the use of his Sundays.
Our God is a God who works by means, and He will never bless the
soul of that man who pretends to be so high and spiritual that he can get
on without them.
9.
Sanctification, again, is a thing which
does not prevent a man having a great deal of inward spiritual conflict.
By conflict I mean a struggle within the heart between the old
nature and the new, the flesh and the spirit, which are to be found
together in every believer (Gal.5:17).
A deep sense of that struggle, and a vast amount of mental
discomfort from it, are no proof that a man is not sanctified.
Nay, rather, I believe they are healthy symptoms of our condition,
and prove that we are not dead, but alive,.
A true Christian is one who has not only peace of conscience, but
war within. He may be known
by his warfare as well as by his peace.
In saying this, I do not forget that I am contradicting the views
of some well-meaning Christians, who hold the doctrine called “sinless
perfection”. I cannot help
that. I believe that what I
say is confirmed by the language of Paul in the seventh chapter of Romans.
That chapter I commend to the careful study of all my readers.
I am quite satisfied that it does not describe the experience of an
unconverted man, or of a young and unestablished Christian; but of an old
experienced saint in close communion with God.
None but such a man could say, “I
delight in the law of God after the inward man” (Rom.7:22).
I believe, furthermore, that what I say is proved by the experience
of all the most eminent servants of Christ that have ever lived.
The full proof is to be seen in their journals, their
autobiographies, and their lives. Believing
all this, I shall never hesitate to tell people that inward conflict is no
proof that a man is not holy, and that they must not think they are not
sanctified because they do not feel entirely free from inward struggle.
Such freedom we shall doubtless have in heaven; but we shall never
enjoy it in this world. The
heart of the best Christian, even at his best, is a field occupied by two
rival camps, and the “company of two
armies” (Song 6:13).
10.
Sanctification, again, is a thing which
cannot justify a man, and yet it pleases God.
This may seem wonderful, and yet it is true.
The holiest actions of the holiest saint that ever lived are all
more or less full of defects and imperfections.
They are either wrong in their motive or defective in their
performance, and in themselves are nothing better than “splendid
sins”, deserving God’s wrath and condemnation.
To suppose that such actions can stand the severity of God’s
judgment, atone for sin, and merit heaven, is simply absurd.
“By the deeds of the law shall not
flesh be justified…We conclude that a man is justified by faith without
the deeds of the law” (Rom.3:20, 28).
The only righteousness in which we can appear before God is the
righteousness of another – even the perfect righteousness of our
Substitute and Representative, Jesus Christ the Lord.
His work, and not our work, is our only title heaven.
This is a truth that we should be ready to die to maintain.
For
all this, however, the Bible distinctly teaches that the holy actions of a
sanctified man, although imperfect, are pleasing in the sight of God.
“with such sacrifices God is well
pleased” (Heb.13:16).
“Obey our parents…for this is
well pleasing unto the Lord” (Col. 3:20).
“We do those things that are
pleasing in His sight” (1John 3:22).
Let this never be forgotten, for it is a very comfortable doctrine.
Just as a parent is pleased with the efforts of his little child to
please him, though it be only by picking a daisy or walking across a room,
so is our Father in heaven pleased with the poor performances of His
believing children. He looks
at the motive, principle, and intention of their actions, and not merely
at their quantity and quality. He
regards them as members of His own dear Son, and for His sake, wherever
there is a single eye, He is well pleased.
11.
Sanctification, again, is a thing that
will be found absolutely necessary as a witness to our character in the
great Day of Judgment. It
will be utterly useless to plead that we believed in Christ, unless our
faith has had some sanctifying effect, and been seen in our lives.
Evidence, evidence, evidence, will be the one thing wanted when the
great white throne is se, when the books are opened, when the graves give
up their tenants, when the dead are arraigned before the bar of God.
Without some evidence that our faith in Christ was real and
genuine, we shall only rise again to be condemned.
I can find no evidence that will admitted in that day, except
sanctification. The question will not be how we talked and what we professed,
but how we lived and what we did. Let
no man deceive himself on this point.
If anything is certain about the future, it is certain that there
will be a judgment; and if anything is certain about judgment, it is
certain that men’s “works” and “doings” will considered and
examined in it (John 5:29; 2Cor. 5:10; Rev. 20:13).
He that supposes works are of no importance because that cannot
justify us is a very ignorant Christian.
Unless he opens his eyes, he will find to his cost that if he comes
to the bar of God without some evidence of grace, he had better never have
been born.
12.
Sanctification, lastly, is absolutely
necessary, in order to train and prepare us for heaven.
Most men hope to go to heaven when they die; but few, it may be
feared, take the trouble to consider whether they would enjoy heaven if
they got there. Heaven is
essentially a holy place; its inhabitants are all holy; its occupations
are all holy. To be really
happy in heaven it is clear and plain that we must be somewhat trained and
made ready for heaven while we are on earth.
The notion of purgatory after death, which shall turn sinners into
saints, is a lying invention of man, and is nowhere taught in the Bible.
We must be saints before we die, if we are to be saints afterwards
in glory. The favorite idea
of many, that dying men need nothing except absolution and forgiveness of
sins to fit them for their great change, is a profound delusion.
We need the work of the Holy Spirit as well as the work of Christ;
we need renewal of the heart as well as the atoning blood; we need to be
sanctified as well as justified. It
common to hear people saying on their deathbeds, “I only want the
Lord to forgive my sins and take me to rest.”
But those who say such things forget that the rest of heaven would
be utterly useless if they had to heart to enjoy it!
What could an unsanctified man do in heaven, if by any chance he
got there? Let that question
by fairly looked in the face, and fairly answered.
No man can possible be happy in a place where he is not in his
element, and where all around him is not congenial to his tastes, habits,
and character. When an eagle
is happy in an iron cage, when a sheep is happy in the water, when an owl
is happy in the blaze of noonday sun, when a fish is happy on the dry land
– then, and not till then, will I admit that the unsanctified man could
be happy in heaven.
I lay down these twelve
propositions about sanctification with a firm persuasion that they are
true, and I ask all who read to ponder them well. Each of them would admit of being expanded and handled more
fully, and all of them deserve private thought and consideration.
Some of them may be disputed and contradicted; but I doubt whether
any of them can be overthrown or proved untrue.
I only ask for them a fair and impartial hearing.
I believe in my conscience that they shall assist men in attaining
clear views of sanctification.
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Sanctification