[BBC List] santification

[Mike Abendroth]

Sanctification

ITS SOLUTION AND NATURE

by A.W. Pink 

  _____  

In connection with the grand truth of sanctification there is both a mystery
and a problem: the former relates to the unregenerate; the latter is what
exercises so deeply the regenerate. That which is hidden from the
understanding of the natural man is, why his best performances are
unacceptable unto God, no matter how earnestly and devoutly they be done.
Even though he be informed that the tree must be made good if its fruit is
to be wholesome, in other words, that his very state and nature must first
be made acceptable unto God before any of his works can be so, he has not
the remotest idea of how this is to be accomplished. But that which
perplexes the spiritual man is, how one who is still full of sin may justly
regard his state and nature as being acceptable unto God, and how one who is
a mass of corruption within can honestly claim to be holy. As the Lord is
pleased to enable we will consider each in turn.

The natural man is quite ignorant of the mystery of sanctification.

Though he may-under the spur of conscience, the fear of Hell, or from desire
to go to Heaven-be very diligent in seeking to conquer the activities of
indwelling sin and exceedingly zealous in performing every known duty, yet
he is quite in the dark as to why his state must be changed before his
actions ran be acceptable unto God. That upon which he is unenlightened is,
that it is not the matter which makes a work good and pleasing to God, but
the principles from which that work proceeds. It is true that the conscience
of the natural man distinguishes between good and evil, and religious
instruction may educate him to do much which is right and avoid much that is
wrong; nevertheless, his actions are not done out of gratitude and in a
spirit of loving obedience, but out of fear and from a servile spirit; and
therefore are they like fruit ripened by art and forced in the hothouse,
rather than normally by the genial rays of the sun. 

"Now the end (design) of the commandment (or law) is love out of a pure
heart, and a good conscience, and faith unfeigned" (I Tim. 1:5). Nothing
less than this will meet the Divine requirements. Only those actions are
pleasing to God which have respect unto His commandment, which proceed from
gratitude unto Him for His goodness, and where faith has respect unto His
promised acceptance and blessing. No works are approved of Heaven except
they possess these qualities. A sense of duty must sway the conscience,
disinterested affection must move the heart, and faith in exercise must
direct the actions. Hence, should I be asked why I do thus and so? the
answer should be, Because God has commanded it. And if it be further
enquired, And why such earnestness and affection? the answer ought to be,
Because God requires my best, and I desire to honour Him with the same.
Obedience respects God's authority; love, His kindness; faith, His bounty or
reward. 

"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the
glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31). This must be our design-the glory of God-if
our actions are to meet with His approval. Whether it be the discharge of
our temporal duties, the performing of deeds of charity and kindness, or
acts of piety and devotion, they must be executed with this aim: that God
may be honored by our conformity to His revealed will. The natural man, when
in sore straits, will cry fervently unto God, but it is only that his wants
be supplied. Many will contribute liberally of their means to the relief of
sufferers, but it is to be seen of men" (Matt. 6:2). People are religious on
the Sabbath and attend public worship, but it is either to satisfy an uneasy
conscience or in the hope of earning Heaven thereby. 

>From what has been said above it should be clear that the best deeds of the
unregenerate fall far short of the Divine requirements. The actions of the
natural man cannot receive the approbation of Heaven, because God is neither
the beginning nor the end of them: love for Him is not their spring,
glorifying Him is not their aim. Instead, they issue from the workings of
corrupt self, and they have in view only the advancement of self. Nor can it
be otherwise. Water will not rise above its own level, or flow uphill. A
pure stream cannot issue from an impure fountain. "That which is born of the
flesh is flesh" (John 3 :6), and will never be anything but flesh: educate,
refine, religionize the flesh all we may, it can never become spirit. The
man himself must be sanctified, before his actions are purified. 

But how shall men be sanctified so as to be suited unto the presence of an
infinitely pure God? By nature they are utterly without holiness: they are
"corrupt, filthy, an unclean thing." They have no more power to make
themselves holy than they have to create a world. We could tame a tiger from
the jungle far more easily than we could our lusts. We might empty the ocean
more quickly than we could banish pride from our souls. We might melt marble
more readily than our hard hearts. We might purge the sea of salt more
easily than we could our beings of sin. "For though thou wash thee with
nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before Me,
saith the Lord God" (Jer. 2:22). 

Why "when we were in our best condition by nature, when we were in the state
of original holiness, when we were in Adam vested with the image of God, we
preserved it not. How much less likely then, is it, that now, in the state
of lapsed and depraved nature, it is in our power to restore ourselves, to
reintroduce the image of God into our souls, and that in a far more eminent
manner than it was at first created by God? What needed all that contrivance
of infinite wisdom and grace for the reparation of our nature by Jesus
Christ, if holiness, wherein it doth consist, be in our power, and educed
out of the natural faculties of our souls? There can be no more fond
imagination befall the minds of men, than that defiled nature is able to
cleanse itself, or depraved nature to rectify itself, or we, who have lost
that image of God which He created in us, and with us, should create it
again in ourselves by our own endeavours" (John Owen). 

Yet, let it be pointed out that this impotency to measure up to the
requirements of God is no mere innocent infirmity, but a highly culpable
thing, which greatly aggravates our vileness and adds to our guilt. Our
inability to measure up to the standard of personal piety which God has
appointed, lies not in a lack of executive power or the needful faculties,
but in the want of a willing mind and a ready heart to practice true
holiness. If men in a natural state had a hearty love and liking to true
holiness, and a fervent and sincere endeavour to practice it, and yet failed
in the event, then they might under some pretence plead for this excuse (as
many do), that they are compelled to sin by an inevitable necessity. But the
fact is that man's impotency lies in his own obstinacy-"Ye will not come to
Me" (John 5:40) said the Lord Jesus. 

Inability to pay a debt does not excuse a debtor who has recklessly
squandered his estate; nor does drunkenness excuse the mad or violent
actions of a drunkard, but rather aggravates his crime. God has not lost His
right to command, even though man through his wickedness has lost his power
to obey. Because the flesh "lusteth against the Spirit" (Gal. 5:17), that is
far from an extenuation for not being in subjection to Him. Because "every
one that doeth evil hateth the light," that is far from justifying them
because they "loved darkness" (John 3:19, 20); yea, as the Saviour there so
plainly and solemnly states, it only serves to heighten their
criminality-"This is the condemnation." Then "How much more abominable and
filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?" (Job 15:16) that cannot
practice holiness because he will not. 

It is because men do not make a right use of their faculties that they are
justly condemned. The soul in an unsanctified person is not dead, but is a
living and acting principle; and therefore it is able to understand, desire,
will, reason, and improve its opportunities, or redeem the time. Though the
natural man is unable to work grace in his own heart, yet he is able to
attend and wait upon the means of grace. An unsanctified person may as well
go to hear a sermon as attend a theatre: he has the same eyes for reading
the Scriptures as the newspaper or a novel: he may as well associate himself
with those who fear an oath, as with those who delight to blaspheme that
Name at which all should tremble. In the day of judgment unsanctified
persons will be damned not for cannots, but for will not:. 

Men complain that they cannot purify themselves, that they cannot cease from
sin, that they cannot repent, that they cannot believe in Christ, that they
cannot live a holy life. But if only they were honest, if they were duly
humbled, if they sincerely grieved over the awful hold which sin has
obtained upon them, they would fly to the throne of grace, they would cry
unto God day and night for Him to break the chains which bind them, deliver
them from the power of Satan and translate them into the kingdom of His dear
Son. If they were but sincere in their complaint of inability, they would go
to God and beg Him to sprinkle clean water upon them, put His Spirit within
them, and give them a new heart, so that they might walk in His statutes and
keep His judgments (Ezek. 36:25-28). And it is just because they will not,
that their blood justly lies upon their own heads. 

"Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double-minded'
(James 4:8). Outward separation from that which is evil and polluting is not
sufficient: purity of heart is also indispensable. "Behold, Thou desirest
truth in the inward parts" (Psa. 51:6). The Divine law not only prohibits
stealing, but also insists "Thou shall not covet," which is a lusting of our
souls rather than an external act. Holiness of nature is required by the
law, for how else shall a man love the Lord his God with all his heart,
soul, mind, and strength, and his neighbour as himself? God is essentially
holy by nature, and nothing can be so contrary to Him as an unholy nature.
Nothing can be so contrary as opposite natures. How can a wolf and a lamb,
or vulture and a dove, dwell together? "What fellowship hath righteousness
with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what
concord hath Christ with Belial?" (2 Cor. 6:14, 15). 

How, then, is this mystery cleared up? By what method, or in what way, have
the sanctified become blest with a nature which makes them meet for the
ineffable presence of God? By what process does the evil tree become good,
so that its fruit is wholesome and acceptable? Obviously, we cannot here
supply the full answer to these questions, or we should be anticipating too
much that we desire to bring out in later chapters. But we will endeavor to
now indicate, at least, the direction in which and the lines along which
this great mystery is cleared-lines which most assuredly would never have
entered our hearts and minds to so much as conceive; but which once they are
viewed by anointed eyes, are seen to be Divine and satisfying. The Lord
graciously assist us to steer clear of the rocks of error and guide us into
the clear and refreshing waters of the truth. 

As we have shown, it was quite impossible-though it was their bounden
duty-for those whom God sanctifies to personally answer the requirements of
His holy law: "Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from sin?"
(Prov. 20:9). Wherefore, for the satisfaction of the law, which requires
absolute purity of nature, it was settled as one of the articles in the
Everlasting Covenant, that Christ, the Representative of all who would be
sanctified, should be a Man of an untainted and perfectly pure nature, which
fully met the requirements of the law: "For such an High Priest became
us-holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners" (Heb. 7:26). The
meeting of that requirement necessitated two things: first, that the Head of
His people should be born with a holy human nature; second, that He should
retain that holiness of nature inviolate unto the end. Let us consider,
briefly, each of these separately. 

There was a holy nature given to Adam as the Root of mankind, to be kept by
him and transmitted to his posterity by natural generation. Upon that ground
the law requires all men to be born holy, and pronounces them unclean and
"children of wrath" (Eph. 2:3) in the contrary. But how can this demand be
met by those who are born in sin? They cannot enter again into their
mother's womb, and be born a second time without sin. Even so, the law will
not abate its demand. Wherefore it was provided that Christ, the last Adam,
should, as the Representative and Root of His spiritual seed, be born
perfectly holy; that whereas they brought a sinful nature into the world
with them, He should be born "that holy thing" (Luke I :35). Consequently,
in the reckoning of the law all believers are born holy in the last Adam.
They are said to be "circumcised" by the circumcision of Christ (Col. 2:11),
and circumcision necessarily presupposes birth! 

But more was required. It was necessary that the Second Man should preserve
His holy nature free from all spot or defilement, as He passed through this
world of sin. The law not only demands holiness of nature, but also that the
purity and integrity of that nature be preserved. Wherefore to satisfy this
"demand," it was provided that the believers' federal Head should preserve
His ineffable purity unstained. "He shall not fail" (Isa. 42 :4). The first
man did fail: the fine gold soon became dim: the holiness of his nature was
quickly extinguished by sin. But the Second Man failed not: neither man nor
devil could corrupt Him. He preserved the holiness of His nature unstained,
even to the end of His life. And so of His sanctified, viewing them in
Himself, He declares, "Thou art all fair, My love; there is no spot in thee"
(Song of 5. 4:7). 

But while that completely meets the judicial side, satisfying the demands of
the law, something more was yet required to satisfy the heart of God and
meet the experimental needs of His people. In view of their being actually
defiled in Adam when he sinned, they are defiled in their own persons so
that not only is his guilt imputed to them, but his corruption is imparted
to them in the nature they have received from him by generation. Therefore,
not only were the elect legally born holy in Christ their Head, but from Him
they also receive a holy nature: it is written, "The first man Adam was made
a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening Spirit" (1 Cor. 15:45).
This is accomplished by that gracious and supernatural working of the third
person in the Godhead, whereby the elect are vitally united to their head so
that "he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit" (1 Cor. 6:17). 

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are
passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Cor. 5:17). Our being
united to Christ, through the Spirit, by faith, makes us partakers of the
same spiritual and holy nature with Him, as really and as actually as Eve
(type of the Church) was made of one nature with Adam, being bone of his
bone and flesh of his flesh. Because believers are united to Christ the Holy
One, they are "sanctified in Christ Jesus" (1 Cor. 1:2). The believer being
one with Christ is made "a new creature," because He is such a Stock as
changes the graft into its own nature: "If the Root be holy, so are the
branches" (Rom. 11:16). The same Spirit which Christ received "without
measure" (John 3:34) is communicated to the members of His body, so that it
can be said, "Of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace"
(John 1:16). Being united to Christ by faith, and through the communication
of the quickening Spirit from Christ unto him, the believer is thereupon not
only justified and reconciled to God, but sanctified, made meet for the
inheritance of the saints in light, and made an heir of God.

At the beginning of the former chapter it was pointed out that in connection
with the grand truth of sanctification there is both a mystery and a
problem: the former relating to the unregenerate, the latter causing concern
to the regenerate. That which is hidden from the knowledge of the natural
man is, why his best works are unacceptable to God. Tell him that all his
actions-no matter how carefully and conscientiously, diligently and
devoutly, executed-are rejected by God, and that is something entirely above
the reach of his understanding. He knows not that his breaking of the law in
Adam has brought in a breach between himself and God, so that while that
breach remains, the favour of God cannot flow out of him, nor his prayers or
offerings pass in to God. The Lord will no more receive anything at the
hands of the natural man than He would have respect unto the offering of
Cain (Gen. 4). And had He left all men in their natural estate, this would
have held true of the whole race until the end of time. 

Inasmuch as all men were given a holy nature-created in the image and
likeness of God-in their representative and root, to be transmitted to them
by him, before the law was given to Adam, it follows that the law requires a
holy nature from each of us, and pronounces a curse wherever it finds the
opposite. Though we are actually born into this world in a state of
corruption and filth (Ezek. 16:3-6, etc.), yet the law will not abate its
just demands upon us. In consequence of the sin which indwells us-which is
so much a part and parcel of ourselves that everything we do is defiled
thereby-we are thoroughly unable to render unto the law that obedience which
it requires; for while we are alienated from the life of God, it is
impossible that any outward acts of compliance with the law's statutes can
proceed from those principles which it alone can approve of, namely,
disinterested love and faith unfeigned. Consequently, the state of the
natural man, considered in himself, is entirely beyond hope. 

The provision made by the manifold wisdom and sovereign grace of God to meet
the desperate needs of His people was stipulated for in terms of the
Everlasting Covenant. There it was agreed upon by the Eternal Three that the
Mediator should be the Son of man, yet, that His humanity should be not only
entirely free from every taint of original sin, but should be purer than
that of Adam's even when his Creator pronounced him "very good." This was
accomplished by the supernatural operation of the Holy Spirit in the virgin
birth, and by the Son of God taking into personal union with Himself "that
holy thing" which was to be born of Mary. Inasmuch as Christ, the God-man
Mediator, entered this world not as a private Person, but as a public, as
the Representative and Head of God's elect, in the reckoning of the law they
were born holy in their Surety and Sponsor, and so fully measure up to its
requirements. Christ and His mystical body have never been viewed apart by
the law. 

But this, unspeakably blessed though it be, was not all. A perfect legal
standing only met half of the need of God's elect: in addition, their state
must be made to accord with their standing. This also has been provided for
by the measureless love of the God of all grace. He so ordered that, just as
the guilt of Adam was imputed to all for whom He acted, so the righteousness
of Christ should be imputed to all for whom He transacted: and, that just as
spiritual death-with all its corrupting effects-should be transmitted by
Adam to all his posterity, so the spiritual life of Christ-with all its
gracious influences- should be communicated to all His seed. As they
received a sinful and impure nature from their natural head, so the
sanctified receive a sinless and pure nature from their spiritual Head.
Consequently, as they have borne the image of the earthy, so they shall bear
the image of the heavenly. 

Some of our readers may, perhaps, conclude that all difficulty in connection
with this aspect of our subject has now been of, but a little reflection on
the part of the believer soon remind him that the most perplexing point of
all has yet to be cleared up. Though it be true that every essential
requirement of the law has been met for the sanctified by their glorious
Head, so that the law righteously views them as holy in Him; and though it
be true that at regeneration they receive from Christ, by the Spirit, a new
and holy nature, like unto His; yet the old nature remains, and remains
unchanged, unimproved. Yea, to them it seems that the carnal nature in them
is steadily growing worse and worse, and more active and defiling every day
they live. They are painfully conscious of the jest that sin not only
remains in them, but that it pollutes their desires, thoughts, imaginations,
and acts; and to prevent its uprisings they are quite powerless. 

This presents to an honest heart and a sensitive conscience a problem which
is most acute, for how can those who abhor themselves be pleasing unto the
thrice holy One? How can those conscious of their filthiness and vileness
possibly be fit to draw nigh unto Him who is ineffably and infinitely pure?
The answer which some have returned to this agonized enquiry based upon an
erroneous deduction from the words of Paul "it is no more I that do it, but
sin that dwelleth in me": Rom. 7:20-will by no means satisfy them. To say it
is not the regenerate person, but only the flesh in him, which sins, is to
invent a distinction which repudiates the Christian's responsibility and
which affords no relief to a quickened conscience. Scripture is far too
plain on this point to justify a mistake: Old and New Testament alike insist
it is the person who sins-"against Thee. . . have I sinned" (Ps. 51). Paul
himself concludes Romans 7 by saying, "O wretched man that I am!" 

Where other matters are concerned, men have more sense than to fall back
upon such a distinction as some modern theologians are so fond of insisting
upon: it never occurs to them to argue thus in connection with temporal
things. Imagine one before a judge, who was charged with theft,
acknowledging his offence, but disowning all responsibility and culpability
on the ground that it was his "evil nature" and not himself which did the
stealing! Surely the judge would be in a quandary to decide whether prison
or the madhouse was the right place to send him. This reminds us of an
incident wherein a "Bishop" was guilty of blasphemy in the House of Lords
(where all "Bishops" have seats). Being rebuked by his manservant, he
replied, "It was the 'lord' and not the 'bishop' who cursed." His servant
responded, "When the Devil gets the 'lord' where will the 'bishop' be!"
Beware, my reader, of seeking to clear yourself by throwing the blame upon
your "nature." 

Somewhere else, then, than in any supposed distinction between the
sanctified person and his old nature, must the solution to our problem be
sought. When one who has been walking with God is tripped up by some
temptation and falls, into sin, or when indwelling corruption surges up and
(for the time being) obtains the mastery over him, he is painfully aware of
the fact; and that which exercises him the most is not only that he has
sinned against the One who is nearer and dearer to him than all else, but
that his communion with Him is broken, and that he is no longer morally fit
to come into His sacred presence. Whilst his knowledge of the Gospel may be
sufficient to allay any haunting fears of the penal consequences of his
sins, yet this does not remove the defilement from his conscience. This is
one important respect in which the unregenerate and regenerate differ
radically: when the former sins it is the guilt (and punishment) which most
occupies his thoughts; but when the latter, it is the defiling effects which
most exercises his heart. 

There are two things in sin, inseparably connected and yet clearly
distinguishable, namely, its criminality and its pollution. The pollution of
sin is that property of it whereby it is directly opposed unto the holiness
of God, and which God expresseth His holiness to be contrary unto. Therefore
it is said, He is "of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, and canst not look
on evil" (Hab. 1:13)-it is a vile and loathsome sight to Him who is the
Light. Hence doth He use that pathetic entreaty, "Oh, do not this abominable
thing that I hate" (Jer. 44:4.). It is with respect unto His own holiness
that God sets forth sin by the names of everything which is offensive,
objectionable, repulsive, abominable. Consequently, when the Holy Spirit
convicts of sin, He imparts such a sight and sense of the filth of sin, that
sinners blush, are ashamed, are filled with confusion of face, are abased in
their own esteem, and abashed before God. 

As we are taught the guilt of sin by our own fear, which is the inseparable
adjunct of it, so we are taught the filth of sin by our own shame, which
unavoidably attends it. Under the typical economy God not only appointed
sacrifices to make atonement for the guilt of sin, but also gave various
ordinances for purification or ceremonial cleansing from the pollution
thereof. In various ways, during Old Testament times, God instructed His
people concerning the spiritual defilement of sin: the distinction between
clean and unclean animals, the different natural distempers which befoul the
body, the isolating of the leper, the accidental touching of the dead which
rendered people religiously unclean by the law, are cases in point. All of
them prefigured internal and spiritual pollution, and hence the whole work
of sanctification is expressed by "a fountain opened.for sin and for
uncleanness" (Zech. 13:1 )-that is, for the purging away of them. 

So inseparable is moral pollution from sin, and a sense of shame from a
consciousness of the pollution, that whenever a soul is truly convicted of
sin, there is always a painful sense of this filthiness, accompanied by
personal shame. Only as this is clearly apprehended, are we able to
understand the true nature of sanctification. The spiritual comeliness of
the soul consists in its conformity to God. Grace gives beauty: hence it is
said of Christ that He is "Fairer (or "more beautiful") than the children of
men," and that beauty consisted in his being made in the image of God, which
constituted the whole harmony and symmetry of his nature, all his faculties
and actions having respect unto God. Therefore, that which is contrary to
the image of God-depravity, contrary to grace-sin, hath in it a deformity
which mars the soul, destroys its comeliness, disrupts its order, and brings
deformity, ugliness, vileness. 

Whatever is contrary to holiness or the image of God on the soul, is base,
unworthy, filthy. Sin dishonors and degrades the soul, filling it with
shame. The closer we are permitted to walk with God and the more we see
ourselves in His light, the more conscious are we of the deformity of sin
and of our baseness. When our eyes were first opened to see our spiritual
nakedness, how hideous did we appear unto ourselves, and what a sense of our
pollution we had! That was but the reflex of God's view, for He abhors,
loathes, and esteems as an abominable thing whatever is contrary to His
holiness. Those who are made "partakers of the Divine nature" (2 Pet. 1:4),
do, according to their measure, but see themselves with God's eyes, as
wretched, naked, shameful, loathsome, hideous and abominable creatures; and
therefore do they, with Job, "abhor" themselves. 

The last four paragraphs are, in part, a condensation from John Owen; and
from them we may clearly perceive that it is they who are truly sanctified
and holy, who are the most deeply sensible of the root of corruption which
still remains within them, and which is ever springing up and producing that
which defiles them; and therefore do they greatly bewail their pollutions,
as that which is most dishonoring to God and most disturbing to their own
peace; and earnestly do they endeavour after the mortification of it. A
remarkable corroboration is found in the fact that the most godly and holy
have been the very ones who most strongly affirmed their sinfulness and most
loudly bewailed the same. It was one whom God Himself declared to be a
"perfect (sincere) and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth
evil" (Job 1:8) who declared "Behold, I am vile" (40:4). It was one "greatly
beloved" of God (Dan. 10:19), who acknowledged "my comeliness was turned in
me into corruption" (10:8). It was he who was caught up to the third heaven
and then returned again to earth who moaned, "O wretched man that I am! who
shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Rom. 7:24). 

>From the quotations just made from the personal confessions of some of the
most eminent of God's saints, it is perfectly plain to any simple soul that
a "pure heart" cannot signify one from which all sin has been removed, nor
can their language possibly be made to square with the utopian theory that
the carnal nature is eradicated from any believer in this life. Indeed it
cannot; and none but they who are completely blinded by Satan would ever
affirm such a gross absurdity and palpable lie. But this requires us now to
define and describe what a "pure heart" consists of, according to the
scriptural meaning thereof. And in our efforts to supply this, we shall have
to try and guard against two evils: providing a pillow for empty professors
to comfortably rest upon; and stating things in such a way that hope would
be killed in the regenerate. 

First, a "pure heart" is one which has experienced "the washing of
regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5). That takes place
at the new birth, and is maintained by the Spirit throughout the Christian's
life. All that this involves we cannot now state at any length. But,
negatively, it includes the purifying of the believer's understanding, so
that it is no longer fatally blinded by Satan, but is supernaturally
illumined by the Spirit: in consequence, the vanity of worldly things is now
perceived. The mind is, in great measure, freed from the pollution of error,
and this, by the shining in of the light of God's truth. It includes,
negatively, the cleansing of the affections, so that sin is no longer loved
but loathed, and God is no longer shrunk from and avoided, but sought after
and desired. 

>From the positive side, there is communicated to the soul at regeneration a
nature or principle which contains within itself pure desires, pure
intentions, and pure roots of actions. The fear of God is implanted, and the
love of God is shed abroad in the heart. In consequence thereof, the soul is
made to pant after God, yearn for conformity to His will, and seeks to
please Him in all things. And hence it is that the greatest grief of the
Christian arises from the hindering of his spiritual longings and the
thwarting of his spiritual aspirations. A pure heart is one that loathes
impurity, and whose heaviest burden is the realization that such an ocean of
foul waters still indwells him, constantly casting up their mire and dirt,
polluting all he does. A "pure heart," therefore, is one which makes
conscience of foolish, vile imaginations, and evil desires. It is one which
grieves over pride and discontent, mourns over unbelief, and enmity, weeps
in secret over unholiness. 

Second, a "pure heart" is one which has been "sprinkled from an evil
conscience" (Heb. 10:22). An "evil conscience" is one which accuses of guilt
and oppresses because of unpardoned sin. Its possessor dreads the prospect
of the day of judgment, and seeks to banish all thoughts of it from his
mind. But a conscience to which the Spirit has graciously applied the
atoning blood of Christ obtains peace of mind, and has confidence to draw
nigh unto God: in consequence, superstition, terror and torment is removed,
and an aversion to God is displaced by a joy in God. Hence, also, third, we
read "purifying their hearts by faith" (Acts 15:9). As unbelief is a
principle which defiles, so faith is a principle which purges, and that,
because of the object which it lays hold of. Faith looks away from self to
Christ, and is enabled to realize that His blood "cleanseth us from all sin"
(1 John 1:7). 

Every Christian, then, has a "pure" heart in the particulars given above.
But every Christian does not have a "clean" heart (Ps. 51 :10). That which
pollutes the heart of a Christian is unjudged sin. Whenever sin is allowed
by us, communion with God is broken, and pollution can only be removed, and
communion restored, by genuine repentance-a condemning of ourselves, a
mourning over the sin, and unsparing confession of the same, accompanied by
a fervent desire and sincere resolution not to be overtaken by it again. The
willing allowance and indulgence of any known sin cannot exist with a clean
heart. Rightly, then, did John Owen say of repentance: "It is as necessary
unto the continuance of spiritual life, as faith itself." After the
repentance and confession, there must be a fresh (and constant) recourse
unto that Fountain which has been "opened for sin and for uncleanness," a
fresh application by faith of the cleansing blood of Christ: pleading its
merits and efficacy before God. 

In this chapter (in two sections) we have sought to answer the questions at
the close of the fifth chapter. We have met every demand of the law in the
person of our Surety. We are made meet for the inheritance of the saints in
light, because all the value of Christ's cleansing blood is reckoned to our
account. We are capacitated to draw nigh unto God now, because the Holy
Spirit has communicated to us the very nature of Christ Himself. By faith we
may regard ourselves as holy in Christ. By regeneration we have received a
"pure heart:" proof of which is, we hate all impurity, although there is
still that in us which delights in nothing else. We are to maintain
communion with God by cleansing our own hearts (Ps. 73:13), and that,
through constant mortification, and the daily and unsparing judgment of all
known sin in and from us.

ITS NATURE

  _____  

The threefold signification of the term "to sanctify." Perhaps the simplest
and surest method to pursue in seeking to arrive at a correct understanding
of the nature of sanctification is to follow up the meaning of the word
itself, for in Scripture the names of things are always in accurate accord
with their character. God does not tantalize us with ambiguous or
meaningless expressions, but the name He gives to a thing is a properly
descriptive one. So here. The word "to sanctify" means to consecrate or set
apart for a sacred use, to cleanse or purify, to adorn or beautify. Diverse
as these meanings may appear, yet as we shall see they beautifully coalesce
into one whole. Using this, then, as our principal key, let us see whether
the threefold meaning of the term will open for us the main avenues of our
subject. 

Sanctification is, first of all, an act of the triune God, whereby His
people are set apart for Himself-for His delight, His glory, His use. To aid
our understanding on this point, let it be noted that Jude 1 speaks of those
who are "sanctified by God the Father," and that this precedes their being
"preserved in Jesus Christ and called." The reference there is to the Father
choosing His people for Himself out of the race which He purposed to create,
separating the objects of His favour from those whom He passed by. Then in
Hebrews 10:10 we read, "we are sanctified through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all": His sacrifice has purged His people from
every stain of sin, separated them from the world, consecrated them unto
God, setting them before Him in all the excellency of His offering. In 2
Thessalonians 2:13 we are told, "God hath from the beginning chosen you to
salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth":
this refers to the Spirit's quickening work by which He separates the elect
from those who are dead in sin. 

Sanctification is, in the second place, a cleansing of those who are to be
devoted to God's use. This "cleansing" is both a legal and an experimental
one. As we prosecute our subject, it needs to be constantly borne in mind
that sanctification or holiness is the opposite of sin. Now as sin involves
both guilt and pollution, its remedy must meet both of those needs and
counteract both of those effects. A loathsome leper would no more be a fit
subject for Heaven than would one who was still under the curse. The double
provision made by Divine grace to meet the need of God's guilty and defiled
people is seen in the "blood and water" which proceeded from the pierced
side of the Saviour (John 19:34). Typically, this twofold need was
adumbrated of old in the tabernacle furniture: the layer to wash at was as
indispensable as the altar for sacrifice. Cleansing is as urgent as
forgiveness. 

That one of the great ends of the death of Christ was the moral purification
of His people is clear from many scriptures. "He died for all, that they
which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which
died for them, and rose again" (2 Cor. 5:15); "Who 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); "How much more shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to
God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God" (Heb.
9:14); "Who His own self bear our sins in His own body on the tree, that we,
being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness" (1 Pet. 2:24). From
these passages it is abundantly plain that the purpose of the Saviour in all
that He did and suffered, was not only to deliver His people from the penal
consequences of their sins, but also to cleanse them from the pollution of
sin, to free them from its enslaving power, to rectify their moral nature. 

It is greatly to be regretted that so many when thinking or speaking of the
"salvation" which Christ has purchased for His people, attach to it no
further idea than deliverance from condemnation. They seem to forget that
deliverance from sin-the cause of condemnation-is an equally important
blessing comprehended in it. "Assuredly it is just as necessary for fallen
creatures to be freed from the pollution and moral impotency which they have
contracted, as it is to be exempted from the penalties which they have
incurred; so that when reinstated in the favour of God, they may at the same
time be more capable of loving, serving, and enjoying Him forever. And in
this respect the remedy which the Gospel reveals is fully suited to the
exigencies of our sinful state, providing for our complete redemption from
sin itself, as well as from the penal liabilities it has brought upon us"
(T. Crawford on "The Atonement"). Christ has procured sanctification for His
people as well as justification. 

That cleansing forms an integral element in sanctification is abundantly
clear from the types. "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" (Heb. 9:13). The blood, the ashes, the sprinkling, were all God's
merciful provision for the "unclean" and they sanctified "to the purifying
of the flesh"-the references being to Leviticus 16:14; Numbers 19:2, 17, 18.
The antitype of this is seen in the next verse, "How much more shall the
blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot
to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God." The
type availed only for a temporary and ceremonial sanctification, the
Antitype for a real and eternal cleansing. Other examples of the same thing
are found in, "Go unto the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and
let them wash their clothes" (Ex. 19:10); "I will sanctify also both Aaron
and his sons, to minister to Me in the priest's office" (Ex. 29:44)-for the
accomplishment of this see Exodus 40:12-15, where we find they were "washed
with water," "anointed" with oil, and "clothed" or adorned with their
official vestments. 

Now the substitutionary and sacrificial work of Christ has produced for His
people a threefold "cleansing." The first is judicial, the sins of His
people being all blotted out as though they had never existed. Both the
guilt and the defilement of their iniquities are completely removed, so that
the Church appears before God "as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as
the sun" (Song of S. 6:10). The second is personal, at "the washing of
regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit." The third is experimental,
when faith appropriates the cleansing blood and the conscience is purged:
"purifying their hearts by faith" (Acts 15:9), "having our hearts sprinkled
from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water" (Heb.
10:22). Unlike the first two, this last, is a repeated and continuous thing:
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). We hope to amplify
these different points considerably when we take up more definitely our
sanctification by Christ. 

Sanctification is, in the third place an adorning or beautifying of those
whom God cleanses and sets apart unto Himself. This is accomplished by the
Holy Spirit in His work of morally renovating the soul, whereby the believer
is made inwardly holy. That which the Spirit communicates is the life of the
risen Christ, which is a principle of purity, producing love to God; and
love to God implies, of course, subjection to Him. Thus, holiness is an
inward conformity to the things which God has commanded, as the "pattern"
(or sample) corresponds to the piece from which it is taken. "For ye know
what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of
God, your sanctification" (1 Thess. 4:2, 3), i.e., your sanctification
consists in a conformity to His will. Sanctification causes the heart to
make God its chief good, and His glory its chief end. 

As His glory is the end God has in view in all His actions-ordering,
disposing, directing everything with this design-so conformity to Him, being
holy as He is holy, must consist in setting His glory before us as our
ultimate aim. Subjective sanctification is that change wrought in the heart
which produces a steady desire and purpose to please and honour God. This is
not in any of us by nature, for self-love rules the unregenerate. Calamities
may drive the unsanctified toward God, yet it is only for the relief of
self. The fear of Hell may stir up a man to cry unto God for mercy, but it
is only that he may be delivered. Such actions are only the workings of mere
nature-the instinct of self-preservation; there is nothing spiritual or
supernatural about them. But at regeneration a man is lifted off his own
bottom and put on a new foundation. 

Subjective sanctification is a change or renovating of the heart so that it
is conformed unto God-unto His will, unto His glory. "The work of
sanctification is a work framing and casting the heart itself into the word
of God (as metals are cast into a die or mould), so that the heart is made
of the same stamp and disposition with the Word" (Thos. Goodwin). "Ye have
obeyed from the heart that form (or "pattern") of doctrine whereto ye were
delivered" (Rom. 6:17). The arts and sciences deliver unto us rules which we
must conform unto, but God's miracle of grace within His people conforms
them unto the rulings of His will, so as to be formed by them; softening
their hearts so as to make them capable of receiving the impressions of His
precepts. Below we quote again from the excellent remarks of Thos. Goodwin. 

"The substance of his comparison comes to this, that their hearts having
been first, in the inward inclinations and dispositions of it, framed and
changed into what the Word requires, they then obeyed the same Word from the
heart naturally, willingly; and the commandments were not grievous, because
the heart was framed and moulded thereunto. The heart must be made good ere
men can obey from the heart; and to this end he elegantly first compares the
doctrine of Law and Gospel delivered them, unto a pattern or sampler, which
having in their eye, they framed and squared their actings and doings unto
it. And he secondly compares the same doctrine unto a mould or matrix, in to
which metal is being delivered, have the same figure or form left on them
which the mould itself had; and this is spoken in respect of their hearts." 

This mighty and marvelous change is not in the substance or faculties of the
soul, but in its disposition; for a lump of metal being melted and moulded
remains the same metal it was before, yet its frame and fashion is greatly
altered. When the heart has been made humble and meek, it is enabled to
perceive what is that good, and perfect, and acceptable will of God, and
approves of it as good for him; and thus we are "transformed by the renewing
of our mind" (Rom. 12:2). As the mould and the thing moulded correspond, as
the wax has on it the image by which it was impressed, so the heart which
before was enmity to every commandment, now delights in the law of God after
the inward man, finding an agreeableness between it and his own disposition.
Only as the heart is supernaturally changed and conformed to God is it found
that "His commandments are not grievous" (1 John 5:3). 

What has just been said above brings us back to the point reached in the
preceding chapter (or more correctly, the first sections of this chapter,
namely, that holiness is a moral quality, an inclination, a "new nature," a
disposition which delights itself in all that is pure, excellent,
benevolent. It is the shedding abroad of God's love in the heart, for only
by love can His holy law be "fulfilled." Nothing but disinterested love (the
opposite of self-love) can produce cheerful obedience. And, as Romans 5:5
tells us, the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
We are sanctified by the Spirit indwelling us, He producing in and through
us the fruits of holiness. And thus it is that we read, "But know that the
Lord hath set apart him that is godly for Himself" (Ps. 4:3). 

In the preceding (portion of this) chapter we asked, "How can it be
discovered whether or not we have been sanctified, unless we really know
what sanctification is?" Now let it be pointed out that our sanctification
by the Father and our sanctification by Christ can only be known to us by
the sanctification of the Spirit, and that, in turn, can only be discovered
by its effects. And this brings us to the ultimate aspect of the nature of
our sanctification, namely, that holy walk, or course of outward conduct,
which makes manifest and is the effect of our inward sanctification by the
Spirit. This branch of our subject is what theologians have designated our
"practical sanctification." Thus, we distinguish between the act and process
by which the Christian is set apart unto God, the moral and spiritual state
into which that setting apart brings him, and the holy living which proceeds
from that state; it is the last we have now reached. As the "setting apart"
is both privative and positive-from the service of Satan, to the service of
God- so holy living is separation from evil, following that which is good. 

Thos. Manton, than whom none of the Puritans are more simple, succinct, and
satisfying, says, "Sanctification is threefold. First, meritorious
sanctification is Christ's meriting and purchasing for His Church the inward
inhabitation of the Spirit, and that grace whereby they may be sanctified:
Hebrews 10:10. Second, applicatory sanctification is the inward renovation,
of the heart of those whom Christ hath sanctified by the Spirit of
regeneration, whereby a man is translated from death to life, from the state
of nature to the state of grace. This is spoken of in Titus 3:5: this is the
daily sanctification, which, with respect to the merit of Christ, is wrought
by the Spirit and the ministry of the Word and sacraments. Third, practical
sanctification is that by which those for whom Christ did sanctify Himself,
and who are renewed by the Holy Spirit, and planted into Christ by faith, do
more and more sanctify and cleanse themselves from sin in thought, word, and
deed: (1 Pet. 1:15; 1 John3:3). 

"As to sanctify signifieth to consecrate or dedicate to God, so it
signifieth both the fixed inclination or the disposition of the soul towards
God as our highest lord and chief good, and accordingly a resignation of our
souls to God, to live in the love of His blessed majesty and a thankful
obedience to Him. More distinctly (1) it implieth a bent, a tendency, or
fixed inclination towards God, which is habitual sanctification. (2) A
resignation, or giving up ourselves to God, by which actual holiness is
begun; a constant using ourselves to Him, by which it is continued; and the
continual exercise of a fervent love, by which it is increased in us more
and more, till all be perfected in glory. 

As to sanctify signifieth to purify and cleanse, so it signifies the
purifying of the soul from the love of the world. A man is impure because,
when he was made for God, he doth prefer base trifles of this world before
his Maker and everlasting glory: and so he is not sanctified that doth
despise and disobey his Maker; he despiseth Him because he preferreth the
most contemptible vanity before Him, and doth choose the transitory pleasure
of sinning before the endless fruition of God. Now he is sanctified when his
worldly love is cured, and he is brought back again to the love and
obedience of God. Those that are healed of the over-love of the world are
sanctified, as the inclinations of the flesh to worldly things are broken." 

"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. 5:23). There was probably a threefold reference in
the apostle's request. First, he prayed that all the members of the
Thessalonian church, the entire assembly, might be sanctified. Second, he
prayed that each individual member might be sanctified entirely in his whole
man, spirit and soul and body. Third, he prayed that each and all of them
might be sanctified more perfectly, moved to press forward unto complete
holiness. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 is almost parallel with Hebrews 13:20, 21.
The apostle prayed that all the parts and faculties of the Christian might
be kept under the influence of efficacious grace, in true and real
conformity to God; so influenced by the Truth as to be fitted and furnished,
in all cases and circumstances, for the performance of every good work.
Though this be our bounden duty, yet it lies not absolutely in our own
power, but is the work of God in and through us; and thus is to form the
subject of earnest and constant prayer. 

Two things are clearly implied in the above passage. First, that the whole
nature of the Christian is the subject of the work of sanctification, and
not merely part of it: every disposition and power of the spirit, every
faculty of the soul, the body with all its members. The body too is
"sanctified." It has been made a member of Christ (1 Cor. 6:15), it is the
temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19). As it is an integral part of the
believer's person, and as its inclinations and appetites affect the soul and
influence conduct, it must be brought under the control of the spirit and
soul, so that "every one of us should know how to possess his vessel in
sanctification and honour" (1 Thess. 4:4), and "as ye have yielded your
members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity, even so now yield your
members servants to righteousness unto holiness" (Rom. 6:19). 

Second, that this work of Divine grace will be carried on to completion and
perfection, for the apostle immediately adds, "Faithful is He that calleth
you, who also will do it" (1 Thess.5:24). Thus the two verses are parallel
with "Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good
work in you will finish it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1:6).
Nothing short of every faculty and member of the Christian being devoted to
God is what he is to ever aim at. But the attainment of this is only
completely realized at his glorification: "We know that when He shall
appear, we shall be like Him" (1 John 3:2)-not only inwardly but outwardly:
"Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His
glorious body" (Phil. 3:21).

That which we have laboured to show in the previous chapters of this book is
the fact that the sanctification of the Christian is very much more than a
bare setting apart of him unto God: it is also, and chiefly, a work of grace
wrought in his soul. God not only accounts His people holy, but actually
makes them so. The various materials and articles used in the tabernacle of
old, when dedicated to God, were changed only in their use, but when man is
dedicated to God he is changed in his nature, so that not only is there a
vital difference between him and others, but a radical difference between
him and himself (1 Cor. 6:11)-between what he was, and now is. That change
of nature is a real necessity, for the man himself must be made holy before
his actions can be so. Grace is planted in the heart, from whence its
influence is diffused throughout all departments of his life. Internal
holiness is a hatred of sin and a love of that which is good, and external
holiness is the avoiding of the one and the pursuing of the other. Wherever
there a change of heart fruits will appear in the conduct. 

Like "salvation" itself-according to the use of the term is Scripture (see 2
Tim. 1:9, salvation in the past; Phil. 2:12, salvation in the present; Rom.
13:11, salvation in the future) and in the actual history of the redeemed-so
sanctification must be considered under its three tenses. There is a very
real sense in which all of God's elect have already been sanctified: Jude 1;
Hebrews 10:10; 2 Thessalonians 2:13. There is also a very real sense in
which those of God's people on earth are daily being sanctified: 2
Corinthians. 4:16; 7:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:23. And there is also a real sense
in which the Christian's (complete) sanctification is yet future: Romans
8:30; Hebrews 12:23; 1 John 3:2. Unless this threefold distinction be
carefully borne in mind our thoughts are bound to be confused. Objectively,
our sanctification is already an accomplished fact (1 Cor. 1:2), in which
one saint shares equally with another. Subjectively, our sanctification is
not complete in this life (Phil. 3:12) and varies considerably in different
Christians, though the promise of Philippians 1:6 belongs alike to all of
them. 

Though our sanctification be complete in all its parts, yet it is not now
perfect in its degrees. As the newborn babe possesses a soul and body,
endowed with all their members, yet they are undeveloped and far from a
state of maturity. So it is with the Christian, who (in comparison with the
life to come) remains throughout this life but a "babe in Christ" (1 Pet.
2:2). We know but "in part" (1 Cor. 13:12), and we are sanctified but in
part, for "there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed" (Josh. 13
:1). In the most gracious there remains a double principle: the flesh and
the spirit, the old man and the new man. We are a mixture and a medley
during our present state. There is a conflict between operating principles
(sin and grace), so that every act is mixed: there is tin mixed with our
silver and dross with our gold. Our best deeds are defiled, and therefore we
continue to feed upon the Lamb with "bitter herbs" (Ex. 12:8). 

Holiness in the heart discovers itself by godly sorrowings and godly
aspirations. "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted"
(Matt. 5:4): "mourn" because of the swellings of pride, the workings of
unbelief, the surging of discontent; "mourn" because of the feebleness of
their faith, the coldness of their love, their lack of conformity to Christ.
There is nothing which more plainly evidences a person to be sanctified than
a broken and contrite heart-grieving over that which is contrary to
holiness. Rightly did the Puritan John Owen say, "Evangelical repentance is
that which carrieth the believing soul through all his failures,
infirmities, and sins. He is not able to live one day without the constant
exercise of it. It is as necessary unto the continuance of spiritual life as
faith is. It is that continual, habitual, self-abasement which arises from a
sense of the majesty and holiness of God, and the consciousness of our
miserable failures." It is this which makes the real Christian so thankful
for Romans 7, for he finds it corresponds exactly with his own inward
experience. 

The sanctified soul, then, is very far from being satisfied with the measure
of experimental holiness which is yet his portion. He is painfully conscious
of the feebleness of his graces, the leanness of his soul, and the
defilements from his inward corruption. But, "Blessed are they which do
hunger and thirst after righteousness" (Matt. 5:6), or "they that are
hungering and thirsting" as the Greek reads, being the participle of the
present tense; intimating a present disposition of the soul. Christ
pronounces "blessed" (in contrast from those under "the curse") they who are
hungering and thirsting after His righteousness imparted as well as imputed,
who thirst after the righteousness of sanctification as well as the
righteousness of justification-i.e., the Spirit infusing into the soul holy
principles, supernatural graces, spiritual qualities, and then strengthening
and developing the same. Such has been the experiences of the saints in all
ages, "As the hart panteth after the waterbrooks, so panteth my soul after
Thee, 0 God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God; when shall I
come and appear before God?" (Ps. 42:1, 2). 

One of the things which prevents so many from obtaining a right view of the
nature of sanctification is that scarcely any of the bestowments of the
Gospel are clearly defined in their minds all being jumbled up together.
While every spiritual privilege the believer enjoys is the fruit of God's
electing love and the purchase of Christ's mediation, and so are all parts
of one grand whole, yet it is our loss if we fail to definitely distinguish
them one from the other. Reconciliation and justification, adoption and
forgiveness, regeneration and sanctification, all combine to form the
present portion of those whom the Father draws to the Son; nevertheless,
each of these terms stands for a specific branch of that "great salvation"
to which they were appointed. It makes much for our peace of mind and joy of
heart when we are able to apprehend these thinks severally. We shall
therefore devote the remainder of this chapter unto a comparison of
sanctification with other blessings of the Christian. 

Regeneration and sanctification. It may appear to some who read critically
our articles on "Regeneration" and who have closely followed what has been
said in our discussion of the nature of sanctification, that we have almost,
if not quite, obliterated all real difference between what is wrought in us
at the new birth and what God works in us at our sanctification. It is not
easy to preserve a definite line of distinction between them, because they
have a number of things in common; yet the leading points of contrast
between them need to be considered if we are to differentiate them in our
minds. We shall therefore occupy the next two or three paragraphs with an
examination of this point, wherein we shall endeavour to set forth the
relation of the one to the other. Perhaps it will help us the most to
consider this by saying that, in one sense, the relation between
regeneration and sanctification is that of the infant to the adult. 

In likening the connection between regeneration and sanctification to the
relation between an infant and an adult, it should be pointed out that we
have in mind our practical and progressive sanctification, and not our
objective and absolute sanctification. Our absolute sanctification, so far
as our state before God is concerned, is simultaneous with our regeneration.
The essential thing in our regeneration is the Spirit's quickening of us
into newness of life; the essential thing in our sanctification is that
thenceforth we are an habitation of God, through the indwelling of the
Spirit, and from that standpoint all the subsequent progressive advances in
the spiritual life are but the effects, fruits, and manifestations of that
initial consecration or anointing. The consecration of the tabernacle, and
later of the temple, was a single act, done once and for all; after, there
were many evidences of its continuance or perpetuity. But it is with the
experimental aspect we would here treat. 

At regeneration a principle of holiness is communicated to us; practical
sanctification is the exercise of that principle in living unto God. In
regeneration the Spirit imparts saving grace; in His work of sanctification,
He strengthens and develops the same. As "original sin" or that indwelling
corruption which is in us at our natural birth, contains within it the seeds
of all sin, so that grace which is imparted to us at the new birth contains
within it the seeds of all spiritual graces; and as the one develops and
manifests itself as we grow, so it is with the other. "Sanctification is a
constant, progressive renewing of the whole man, whereby the new creature
doth daily more and more die unto sin and live unto God. Regeneration is the
birth, sanctification is the growth of this babe of grace. In regeneration,
the sun of holiness rises; in sanctification it keepeth its course, and
shineth brighter and brighter unto the perfect day (Prov. 4:18). The former
is a specific change from nature to grace (Eph. 5:8) the latter is a gradual
change from one degree of grace to another (Ps. 84:7), whereby the Christian
goeth from strength to strength till he appear before God in Zion" (Geo.
Swinnock, 1660). 

Thus, the foundation of sanctification is laid in regeneration, in that a
holy principle is then first formed in us. That holy principle evidences
itself in conversion, which is a turning away from sin to holiness, from
Satan to Christ, from the world to God. It continues to evidence itself
under the constant work of mortification and vivification, or the practical
putting off of the old man and the putting on of the new; and is completed
at glorification. The great difference then between regeneration and
experimental and practical sanctification is that the former is a Divine
act, done once and for all; while the latter is a Divine work of God's
grace, wherein He sustains and develops, continues and perfects the work He
then began. The one is a birth, the other the growth. The making of us
practically holy is the design which God has in view when He quickens us: it
is the necessary means to this end, for sanctification is the crown of the
whole process of salvation. 

One of the chief defects of modern teaching on this subject has been in
regarding the new birth as the summum bonum of the spiritual life of the
believer. Instead of its being the goal, it is but the starting point.
Instead of being the end, it is only a means to the end. Regeneration must
be supplemented by sanctification, or otherwise the soul would remain at a
standstill if such a thing were possible: for it seems to be an unchanging
law in every realm that where there is no progression, there must be
retrogression. That spiritual growth which is so essential lies in
progressive sanctification, wherein all the faculties of the soul are more
and more brought under the purifying and regulating influence of the
principle of holiness which is implanted at the new birth, for thus alone do
we grow up into Him in all things, which is the Head, even Christ" (Eph.
4:15). 

Justification and sanctification. The relation between justification and
sanctification is clearly revealed in Romans 3 to 8: that Epistle being the
great doctrinal treatise of the N. T. In the 5th chapter we see the
believing sinner declared righteous before God and at peace with Him, given
an immutable standing in His favour, reconciled to Him, assured of his
preservation, and so rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. Yet, great as
are these blessings, something more is required by the quickened conscience,
namely, deliverance from the power and pollution of inherited sin.
Accordingly, this is dealt with at length in Romans 6, 7, 8, where various
fundamental aspects of sanctification are treated of. First, it is
demonstrated that the believer has been judicially cleansed from sin and the
curse of the law, and that, in order that he may be practically delivered
from the dominion of sin, so that he may delight in and serve the law. Union
with Christ not only involves identification with His death, but
participation in His resurrection. 

Yet though sanctification is discussed by the apostle after his exposition
of justification, it is a serious error to conclude that there may be, and
often is, a considerable interval of time between the two things, or that
sanctification is a consequent of justification; still worse is the teaching
of some that, having been justified we must now seek sanctification, without
which we must certainly perish-thus making the security of justification to
depend upon a holy walk. No, though the two truths are dealt with singly by
the apostle, they are inseparable: though they are to be contemplated alone,
they must not be divided. Christ cannot be halved: in Him the believing
sinner has both righteousness and holiness. Each department of the Gospel
needs to be considered distinctly, but not pitted against each other. Let us
not draw a false conclusion, then, because justification is treated of in
Romans 3 to 5 and sanctification in 6 to 8: the one passage supplements the
other: they are two halves of one whole. 

The Christian's regeneration is not the cause of his justification, nor is
justification the cause of his sanctification-for Christ is the cause of all
three; yet there is an order preserved between them: not an order of time,
but of nature. First we are recovered to God's image, then to His favour,
and then to His fellowship. So inseparable are justification and
sanctification that sometimes the one is presented first and sometimes the
other: see Romans 8:1 and 13: 1 John 1:9; then Micah 7:19 and 1 Corinthians
6:11. First, God quickens the dead soul: being made alive spiritually, he is
now capacitated to act faith in Christ, by which he is (instrumentally)
justified. In sanctification the Spirit carries on and perfects the work in
regeneration, and that progressive work is accomplished under the new
relation into which the believer is introduced by justification. Having been
judicially reconciled to God, the way is now open for an experimental
fellowship with Him, and that is maintained as the Spirit carries forward
His work of sanctification. 

"Though justification and sanctification are both of them blessings of
grace, and though they are absolutely inseparable, yet they are so
manifestly distinct, that there is in various respects a wide difference
between them. Justification respects the person in a legal sense, is a
single act of grace, and terminates in a relative change; that is, a freedom
from punishment and a right to life. Sanctification regards him in an
experimental sense, is a continued work of grace, and terminates in a real
change, as to the quality both of habits and actions. The former is by a
righteousness without us; the latter is by holiness wrought in us.
Justification is by Christ as a priest, and has regard to the guilt of sin;
sanctification is by Him as a king, and refers to its dominion.
Justification is instantaneous and complete in all its real subjects; but
sanctification is progressive" (A. Booth, 1813). 

Purification and sanctification. These two things are not absolutely
identical: though inseparable, they are yet distinguishable. We cannot do
better than quote from G. Smeaton, "The two words frequently occurring in
the ritual of Israel, 'sanctify' and 'purify,' are so closely allied in
sense, that some regard them as synonymous. But a slight shade of
distinction between the two may be discerned as follows. It is assumed that
ever-recurring defilements, of a ceremonial kind, called for sacrifices
which removed, and the word 'purify' referred to these rites and sacrifices
which removed the stains which excluded the worshipper from the privilege of
approach to the sanctuary of God, and from fellowship with His people. The
defilement which he contracted excluded him from access. But when this same
Israelite was purged by sacrifice, he was readmitted to the full
participation of the privilege. He was then sanctified, or holy. Thus the
latter is the consequence of the former. We may affirm, then, that the two
words in this reference to the old worship, are very closely allied; so much
so, that the one involves the other. This will throw light upon the use of
these two expressions in the N. T.: Ephesians 5:25, 26; Hebrews 2;11; Titus
2:14. All these passages represent a man defiled by sin and excluded from
God, but readmitted to access and fellowship, and so pronounced holy, as
soon as the blood of sacrifice is applied to him." Often the term "purge" or
"purify" (especially in Hebrews) includes justification as well. 

Objective holiness is the result of a relationship with God, He having set
apart some thing or person for His own pleasure. But the setting apart of
one unto God necessarily involves the separating of it from all that is
opposed to Him: all believers were set apart or consecrated to God by the
sacrifice of Christ. Subjective holiness is the result of a work of God
wrought in the soul, setting that person apart for His use. Thus "holiness"
has two fundamental aspects. Growing out of the second, is the soul's
apprehension of God's claims upon him, and his presentation of himself unto
God for His exclusive use (Rom. 12:1; etc.), which is practical
sanctification. The supreme example of all three is found in Jesus Christ,
the Holy one of God. Objectively, He was the One "whom the Father hath
sanctified and sent into the world" (John 10:36); subjectively, He "received
the Spirit without measure" (John 3 :34); and practically, He lived for the
glory of God, being absolutely devoted to His will-only with this tremendous
difference: He needed no inward purification as we do. 

To sum up. Holiness, then, is both a relationship and a moral quality. It
has both a negative and a positive side: cleansing from impurity, adorning
with the grace of the Spirit. Sanctification is, first, a position of honour
to which God has appointed His people. Second, it is a state of purity which
Christ has purchased for them. Third, it is an inducement given to them by
the Holy Spirit. Fourth, it is a course of devoted conduct in keeping
therewith. Fifth, it is a standard of moral perfection, at which they are
ever to aim: 1 Peter 1:15. A "saint" is one who was chosen in Christ before
the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4), who has been cleansed from the guilt
and pollution of sin by the blood of Christ (Heb. 13:12), who has been
consecrated to God by the indwelling Spirit (2 Cor. 1:21, 22), who has been
made inwardly holy by the impartation of the principle of grace (Phil. :6),
and whose duty, privilege, and aim is to walk suitable thereto (Eph. 4:1).

 

 

Charis, 
  
Mike Abendroth 
  

'God rides forth conquering in the chariot of His Gospel. . . He conquers
the pride of the heart, and makes the will which stood out as a Fort Royal
against Him, to yield and stoop to His grace; He makes the stony heart
bleed. Oh! it is a mighty call! Why then do some men seem to speak of a
moral persuasion? That God in the conversion of a sinner only morally
persuades and no more? If God in conversion should only morally persuade and
no more, then He does not put forth so much power in saving men as the Devil
does in destroying them.'   Thomas Watson

www.bbcchurch.org 
  

 

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