THE DOCTRINE OF
SANCTIFICATION
T.P. Simmons
We have reference in this chapter to the sanctification of the
believer. The application of the word to other things will
be referred to only to throw light upon the sanctification of the believer.
I. THE MEANING OF TERMS
The noun "sanctification" is the
translation of the Greek "hagiasmos." The Greek, verb is
"hagiazo." The corresponding Hebrew verb is "qadash." The
Greek noun is used ten times in the New Testament. Five times it is translated
"sanctification," and five times it is translated
"holiness." The Greek verb is used twenty-nine times in the New
Testament. Twenty-six times it is translated "sanctify." Twice it is
translated "hallow." Once it occurs in the passive voice,
and is translated "be holy." "Hagios" is another Greek word
derived from "hagiazo," and is used both as an adjective and as a
noun. As an adjective it occurs ninety-three times with "pneuma"
(Spirit) to designate the Holy Spirit. In sixty-eight other cases it is used as
an adjective, and is translated "holy." As a noun, it is translated
"holiest" twice; "holiest of all" once; "Holy
One" four times; "holy place" three times; "holy
thing" once; "sanctuary" three times; and
"saint" or "saints" sixty-two times.
Thayer's Lexicon defines "hagiazo" as meaning "to
render or acknowledge to be venerable, to hallow, to separate from things
profane and dedicate to God, to consecrate; to purify," either
externally-whether ceremonially (1 Tim. 4:5; Heb. 9:13) or by expiation (Heb.
10:10; 13:12), or internally. The meaning of
"hagiasmos" and "hagios" follow from the meaning of
"hagiazo," according to their proper use.
II. THE BELIEVERS PAST SANCTIFICATION
There is a sense in which saved people
have been sanctified already.
1. SCRIPTURE REFERENCES TO IT
Acts 20:32; 26:18; 1 Cor. 1:2; 6:11; Thess. 2:13; 1 Pet. 1:2; 2
Thess. 2:13; Heb. 9:14.
2. THE NATURE OF IT
The past sanctification of the believer is a three-fold
sanctification:
The believer has been consecrated or dedicated to the service of
God. We have the type of this in the sanctification of the tabernacle and temple
with their furnishings and equipment. See Ex. 29:37; 30:25-29; 40:8-11; Lev.
8:10,11; Lev. 21:23; 1 Kings 7:51; 2 Chron. 2:4; 5:1; 29:19. Sanctification
similar to that which is now under consideration may be seen in Gen. 3:2; Joel
1:14; Jer. 1:5; John 10:36.
Sanctification in this sense is a formal and external setting
apart for or separation unto God. There is no thought of inward holiness.
(2) Legal Cleansing.
This is the kind of sanctification referred to in 1 Cor. 1:30;
Eph. 5:26; Neb. 10:10; 13:12. In the eyes of the Old Testament law, the
believer is holy; because Christ, by His death, has paid the
penalty of the law, and, by His blood, has washed away all guilt (1 Cor. 6:11;
Gal. 3:13; Rev. 1:5; 7:14).
(3) Moral Cleansing of the Soul.
We have already, in another chapter,
pointed out that regeneration removes all depravity from the soul, or spiritual
nature of man; so that the only sin that remains in man is the sin of the
fleshly nature, which is often referred to as the body. We believe this kind of
sanctification is referred to in 2 Thess. 2:13 and 1 Pet. 1:2; also 1 Cor.
6:11.
So far as the removal of the presence of
sin from the soul is concerned, the believer has a perfect moral
sanctification, as well as a perfect formal and legal sanctification. There
remains in the believer, as we shall see, the need of further sanctification;
but this further sanctification does not have to do with the removal of sin
from the soul. The soul is made sinless in regeneration; and in this sense is
perfectly sanctified.
3. HOW IT IS ACCOMPLISHED
(1) God, of course, is the Author of it.
He is the author of everything good. He elected us to it. He purposed and planned it.
(2) The Holy Spirit is the Agent of God in the Accomplishment of
it.
(3) The Death of Christ is the Basis of the Holy Spirit's Work.
See the passages given above under legal cleansing.
(4) Faith is the Means. Acts 26:18. Faith is the means by which
the soul is cleansed (Acts 15:9; 1 Pet. 1:22).
(5) The Word of God is a Secondary Means.
This is true because "belief cometh by hearing, and hearing
by the word of Christ (Rom. 10:17).
III. THE BELIEVER'S PRESENT
SANCTIFICATION
There is a sense in which the believer is being sanctified.
1. SCRIPTURE REFERENCES TO IT
John 17:17,19; Rom. 6:19-22; 15:16; 1 Thess. 5:23; Heb. 2:11; 10:
14; 12:14; 1 Pet. 1:15. We have listed here only passages where
"hagiasmos," "hagiazo," or "hagios" appear in the
original. There are many other passages which indirectly refer to the believer's
present sanctification.
2. HOW IT IS ACCOMPLISHED
(1) God is the Author of It.
(2) The Holy Spirit is the Agent.
Rom. 15:16. The Holy Spirit accomplishes our present
sanctification by leading (Rom. 8:14), transforming (Rom.
12:2; 2 Cor. 2:18), strengthening (Eph. 3:16), and making fruitful (Gal.
5:22,23).
(3) The Death of Christ is the Basis.
The death of Christ provides the basis for
all of the Holy Spirit's Work.
(4) The Word of God is the Instrument of the Spirit.
John 17:17. This is proved by all passages which teach that the
truth promotes obedience, prevents and cleanses from sin,
makes us hate sin, and causes us to grow in grace. See Psa. 119:9, 11, 34, 43,
44, 50, 93, 104; Heb. 5:12-14; 1 Pet. 2:2.
(5) Faith is the Chief Means.
It is through faith that the
instrumentality of the Word is made effective. Faith is at once the result of
the sanctifying work of the Spirit and the chief means for His further
sanctifying work.
(6) Our Own Works Are Also A Means In Our Present Sanctification
Rom. 6:19. As physical exercise is necessary to physical growth,
so spiritual exercise is necessary to spiritual growth. Physical exercise
develops an appetite for food, from which we receive nourishment that produces
growth. Spiritual exercise develops an appetite for the Word of God, from which
we receive spiritual nourishment that produces growth in grace.
(7) Other Less Direct Means. Among other less direct means in our
present sanctification may be named prayer, God's ordained ministry (Eph.
4:11,12), church attendance and association with believers in church capacity,
observance of the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper, the keeping of
the Lord's day, and the chastening and providences of God.
All of these things help toward our present sanctification, not
because of any intrinsic virtue of their own, but only as, in one way or
another, they bring us in contact with divine truth, enlighten our minds with
regard to it, and bring us to a higher appreciation of it and fuller obedience
to it. It is only in this way that baptism and the Lord's Supper contribute to
our present sanctification. They are not grace-giving
sacraments. The grace received through the ordinances is not received ex opere
operato--from the mere act of observance.
3. THE NATURE OF IT
It is "that continuous operation of
the Holy Spirit, by which the holy disposition imparted in regeneration is
maintained and strengthened" (Strong, Systematic Theology, p. 483). In
spite of the quibbling arguments of Mr. Finney, the immanent preference of the
will established in regeneration can be strengthened.
A. It is not an improvement of the flesh.
Our present sanctification includes the body (1 Thess. 5:23), but
not so as to essentially alter the sinfulness of the flesh.
The flesh always lusts against the Spirit (Gal. 5:17). Even in an aged and
seasoned soldier of the cross, such as the Apostle Paul was, we see that the
flesh was still unaltered (Rom. 7:14-24). The body is included in that the soul
is, by means of sanctification, given greater control over it; and thus it is
kept back to some extent, from overt acts of sin. But its essential sinfulness
is undiminished.
B. It is not a gradual elimination of sin from the soul.
As we have already noted, the soul is made sinless in regeneration
and is united with the Holy Spirit. No sin remains in the soul therefore, to be
eliminated by our present sanctification.
(2) What Is It.
A. It is a progressive maintenance and strengthening of the soul
in holiness.
By means of our present sanctification the
holy bent given to our faculties in the new birth is strengthened. The mind is taught.
By beholding more fully the beauty of the Lord, we are constrained to love Him
more fervently. Thus the will is strengthened (we get will power) and enabled
to put forth more effective executive volition in the interest of its immanent
preference. If this were not possible, then there is no conceivable way in
which we could grow in grace.
In regeneration, the faculties of the soul are all set upon God in
the fullness of the strength possessed at that time. But that strength can be
increased. This is all beautifully set forth in Eph. 3:16-19, which the student
is urged to read at this point.
B. It is wholly subjective.
Our past sanctification is partly objective, but our present
sanctification is wholly subjective.
Although it is inward, yet it manifests itself outwardly in
practical Christian living.
D. It is experimental.
Our past sanctification may be only very dimly experiential at the
time it occurs, but our present sanctification is definitely experiential. The
believer feels and knows the working of the Spirit in his heart, strengthening
him, transforming him from grace to grace (2 Cor. 3:18), moving him to prayer,
Bible study, and other Christian exercises and activities. And this
work of the Spirit in the believer is the source of his assurance. It is in
this way that the Spirit witnesses with our spirits that we are the children of
God. Rom. 8:16.
E. It is always in the life.
The new life never gains perfect control
over the fleshly nature. This leads us to consider-
IV. THE DOCTRINE OF SINLESS PERFECTION REFUTED
A study of the Bible doctrine of sanctification is not complete
without a consideration of the teaching that sinlessness is
attainable in this life. We urge the following-
1. OBJECTIONS TO THIS DOCTRINE.
(1) The Apostle Paul, whom God set forth as a human example for
believers (1 Tim. 1:16), and in whose life we are not sure
that any fault may be seen, had not, even in his old age, attained sinless
perfection.
This is evident from Rom. 7:14-24. It is absurd to refer this to
Paul before regeneration. With the fourteenth verse there is a significant
change from the past tense to the present. To make the
verses beyond verse fourteen refer to Paul's life before regeneration is to
make of them a grammatical monstrosity. The latter part of verse twenty-five
shows that the victory over sin through Jesus Christ does not come in this
life. This is shown also in Rom. 8:23-25. The victory comes only with the
redemption of the body, which will take place in the resurrection.
Again, the language of Rom. 7:14-24 shows
that it refers to a saved man. "No unregenerate man can truly say, 'I
consent unto the law that it is good'; 'To will is present with me; 'For I
delight in the law of God after the inward man;' 'So then, with the mind I
myself serve the law of God'" (Pendleton, Christian Doctrines, P. 301).
The idea that in Rom. 7 we have the
experience of Paul after having been saved but before he was sanctified, while
in Rom. 8 we have his experience after having been sanctified, is also absurd.
As we have pointed out, the eighth chapter of Romans no more teaches sinless
perfection than the seventh chapter. In the eighth chapter Paul teaches that
believers still groan under the sinfulness of the body and are waiting for its
redemption (Vs. 23), being saved by hope (Vs. 24,25). All
talk about the believer, in his experience, getting out of the seventh chapter
of Romans into the eighth is senseless. Every believer lives all his life in
both chapters, for both chapters are but parts of one connected discourse. The
"therefore" of verse 1, chapter 8, directs us back to the latter part
of the seventh chapter for the basis of what is said in the eighth.
The epistle to the Romans was written before Paul's trip to Rome.
After having been taken to Rome, and while a prisoner there, he wrote some
epistles. One of them is the epistle to the Philippians. In this epistle Paul
still disclaims absolute perfection. He said that he did not consider himself
as having been made perfect already. Phil. 3:12.
(2) The model prayer given by Christ to His disciples implies
continued sinfulness on the part of saved people.
As is well known, Christ taught His disciples, in the model
prayer, to confess their sins. Nor did He at any time or in
any way insinuate or imply that there would ever be a time when they could
properly dispense with this confession of sin and petition for forgiveness.
(3) The fact that all of God's children are chastened of him shows
that all of them sin (Heb. 12:5-8).
"If ye are without chastening, whereof all are made
partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons" (Heb. 12:8). There can be
no chastening without sin. God might deal with us in a providential way if we
were perfect, but His dealings could not be called chastisement.
(4) James Declares That All Sin.
"In many things we all stumble" (Jas. 3:2). This cannot
be confined to teachers; but if it could, the principle would be the same.
(5) John Declares That One Who Professes
Sinlessness Is Deceived
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8). "We" certainly refers to
believers. And the present tense shows that the passage refers, not to a denial
of former sin, but to a denial of present sin. And this passage tells us that
professors of sinless perfection are self-deceived. They
are self-deceived as to at least four things; viz.,
A. The nature of God's law (the law of Christ-1 Cor. 9:21) for
believers.
Instead of viewing God's law for believers as a transcript of His
holiness, a perfect standard of righteousness, they view it
as a sliding scale that accommodates itself to our ability. "This view
reduces the debt to the debtors ability to pay, -a short and easy method of
discharging obligations. I can leap over a church steeple, if I am only
permitted to make a church steeple low enough; and I can touch the stars, if
the stars will only come down to my hand" (Strong).
They would have us believe that "involuntary"
transgressions are not sins. John Wesley, one of the most prominent advocates
of the doctrine of sinless perfection in this life, said: "I believe a
person filled with the love of God is still liable to involuntary
transgressions. Such transgressions you may call sins, if
you please; I do not."
Involuntary means: 1. Contrary to one's will or wish. 2. Not under
the control of will. As applied to moral acts, the word must have the first
meaning. The second meaning applies only to such things as digestion, the
beating of the heart, and other natural functions of the body.
And the meaning of will or wish in the first definition must be understood in
the narrow sense of the normal tenor of the will. In the broad sense one never
acts contrary to his will or wish, except when overcome by physical force. No
saved person normally wills to get angry and speak cutting words. But, under
serious provocation, one loses his temper and says things he should not have
said. These are involuntary acts, according to the only sense in which involuntary can be applied to moral acts. Therefore,
according to John Wesley and other perfectionists, these acts are not sins. The
same things may be applied to David's murder of Uriah, and his adultery with
Bathsheba.
C. The power of the human will.
To affirm that the human will, even normally, can put forth, at
every moment, executive volitions fully conformed to its immanent preference
(ultimate end) and the perfect will of God is to deny the conflict that exists
always between the two natures of believers, as set forth in Gal. 5:17. Charles
G. Finney does this. In his view, indwelling sin is merely a sinful choice. Now in regeneration, this sinful choice is reversed. Thus
there is no indwelling sin left. See pp. 254,294. Then he says: "When an
end is chosen, that choice confines all volition to securing its
accomplishment, and for the time being, and until another end is chosen ... it
is impossible for the will to put forth any volition inconsistent with the
present choice" (p. 235). This is glaringly false, both psychologically
and scripturally, as is about nine-tenths of all that is found
in Mr. Finney's book. It represents a miserable effort to effect a compromise
between Calvinism and Arminianism. As said before, special attention is being
given to Mr. Finney's theology because his book has been urgently and widely
recommended to young Baptist preachers, especially those who are Calvinists.
When John says, "the truth is not in us," he refers not
to abstract truth, but to the "truth of the gospel, bringing the light of
God into the soul, and so revealing sins as the sunlight does the dust"
(Sawtelle). "The truth is to be taken objectively as the divine truth in
Christ, the absolute principle of life from God received
into the heart" (Lange). This meaning is confirmed by verse 10, which
says: "If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him (God) a liar, and
His word is not in us." This passage reveals the truth of verse "The
persons supposed to say this are viewed at the point when they should be
offering their confessions confession of sins beginning in the past and
reaching down to the present; hence, the perfect tense"
(Sawtelle).
And the expressions, "the truth is not in us" and
"his word is not in us," deny the Christian character of every
professor of sinless perfection. According to these passages, all of them are
lost.
2. SCRIPTURES
EXPLAINED
We take up the following Scripture passages which are advanced by
sinless perfectionists to prove their theory.
(1) The passages that speak of the believer as being
"perfect."
We refer here to such passages as Luke 6:40; 1 Cor. 2:6; 2 Cor.
13:11; Eph. 4:11; Phil. 3:15; Col. 4-.12; 2 Tim. 3:17.
The perfection of these passages is not absolute. It is only
relative perfection. Sometimes the word "perfect" refers only to
Christian maturity in contrast with the weakness of babes in Christ. Sometimes
it means only that those whom it describes are free from any grievous fault.
Thus we are told that "Noah was a righteous man and perfect" (Gen.
6:9), even though he got drunk (Gen. 9:21). And thus it is
said that job "was perfect and upright" (Job 1:1).
The use of the word "perfect" in Philippians 3:15 throws
interesting and instructive light on its usual meaning m Scripture. In verse
12, as we have already noted, Paul disclaims perfection. Then in verse 15 he
addresses an exhortation to "as many as are perfect." It is quite evident, then, that in verse 12 he has reference to
absolute perfection, while in verse 15 he alludes to those who are relatively
perfect or mature. And he exhorts these to be "thus minded." By this
he means that they are to disclaim absolute perfection, as he did, and press
forward to higher things. Thus we see that "perfect," in the light of
the usual meaning of the term in Scripture, when applied to believers, requires
that believers disclaim absolute perfection and yet press
on to higher things. The individual that professes sinless perfection and he
who is not pressing on are not "perfect."
(2) Matt. 5:48— "Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your
heavenly Father is perfect."
In this passage Jesus set for His
disciples the ideal of absolute perfection. He could have set nothing less than
this without condoning and encouraging sin. But there is nothing here or
elsewhere to imply that the followers of Christ win ever reach this ideal in
the flesh. In fact, it is impious to affirm that they do reach this ideal; for
the perfection held out is the perfection of God Himself.
(3) 1 Thess. 5:23-"And the God of peace himself sanctify you
wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without
blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
This passage must be understood in the light of Paul's own
experience, and in the light of Scripture as a whole. If
Paul prayed for the complete sanctification of the Thessalonians in this life,
then he prayed for something for them that he himself had not experienced, or
else he later lost his complete sanctification; for when he wrote to the Romans
much later, as we have noted, he did not profess sinlessness.
The sanctification that Paul prayed for
God to work in the Thessalonians was indeed complete sanctification, as
evidenced by the Greek "hototeles"; but he does not indicate that it
was to be fulfilled in this life. Scripture very definitely condemns the notion
that he expected it to be fulfilled in this life. And the mention of the coming
of Christ suggests that he looked forward to this time as the time when His
prayer was to have a full answer. Paul prayed for the
carrying on of progressive sanctification, just as Christ prayed for the same
for His disciples (John 17:17), which progressive sanctification would, at the
second coming of Christ, issue in complete sanctification.
(4) 1 John 2:4--."He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not
his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in
him."
Along with this passage we may class other similar passages such
as John 14:23; Rom. 8:12; 1 John 1:6.
These passages have reference to the
normal tenor of the Christian life. They cannot be held to teach that one who
is saved keeps the commandments of God perfectly at every moment, because other
passages deny this.
The Mississippi River affords an excellent illustration of the
Christian life. If one is asked which way the Mississippi
River flows, he will answer that it flows southward. But the fact of the matter
is, this river sometimes flows in a northerly direction. But, despite this
fact, we go on saying that it flows southward. We speak thus because we view
the river as a whole. We see the main trend of the river. Thus it is with the
Christian life. When it is viewed as a whole, or as to its main trend, it is
seen to be a life of righteousness. But the current as to its main trend is not as swift near the edges as it is in the center.
And it will not always keep its usual direction. It will strike obstructions
that will turn it aside temporarily, but always it will again assume its normal
course by and by.
(5) 1 John 1:7-"The blood of Jesus Christ his Son, cleanseth
us from all sin."
Some have the idea that this passage means that the blood of Jesus
Christ renders us sinless as to state. But not so. The blood of Jesus Christ
cleanseth us only as to our standing before God. This passage has reference to
justification and legal sanctification, but not to progressive, practical
sanctification.
The need for the constant cleansing of recurring defilement was
taught by Jesus when He washed the disciples' feet. He said: "He that is
bathed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit" (John
13: 10). The remainder of this passage, "and ye are clean, but not
all," which is explained in the next verse as meaning "Ye are not all
clean," and as referring to Judas, shows that Jesus
was drawing an analogy between physical cleansing and spiritual cleansing. Just
as one who had bathed the body would not need to bathe it again, but would need
to wash away the dust from the feet; so one who has been bathed in Christ's
blood will not need that bath again, but, nevertheless, he will be in daily
need of the cleansing away of the defilement that attaches itself to him in his
contact with the world. He "is clean every whit"
as to his standing before God, but in need of daily confession and forgiveness
that he may maintain fellowship with God.
(6) 1 John 3:9-"Whosoever is begotten of God doeth no sin,
because his (God's) seed abideth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is
begotten of God."
Concerning this passage we have the following to say:
A. It refers to the actual standard of Christian living, and not
to a mere ideal standard.
The passage speaks of what the Christian
really is in conduct, and not merely of what he ought to be. This is evident
from the next verse, which says. "In this (that is, in this inability to
sin) the children of God are manifest, and the children of the Devil."
B. It refers to the whole man, and not merely to the new nature.
It is evident that the "seed" in this passage refers to
the new nature. The Greek here is "sperma." It is used forty-four
times in the New Testament. In forty-one of the forty-four instances it means,
not seed for planting, but progeny, offsprings. When the Word of God is called
"seed" the Greek has not "sperma," but "spora" or
"sporos." See Luke 8.11; 1 Pet. 1:23.
Another weighty objection to the view that "seed" here
represents the Word of God and the "whosoever" the new nature, is
that it is not the Word of God that makes it impossible for the new nature to
sin. It is the quality of the new nature that makes this impossible. If the new
nature were sinful, then the Word of God would no more
prevent its sinning than the Word of God prevents the flesh from sinning.
Thayer makes "seed" in this passage refer to the divine
energy of the Holy Spirit operating in the soul, by which we are regenerated.
But this is a purely arbitrary interpretation. We have no
reason to believe that either the Holy Spirit or His energy is ever referred to
as "sperma."
Therefore, taking the "seed" to refer to the new nature,
we necessarily interpret "whosoever" as referring to the whole man;
for it is "he," the whole man, in whom the "seed," the new
nature, abides, that cannot sin.
C. It affirms, not that a regenerated person cannot commit a
single sin, but that he cannot follow a continuous course of sin; he cannot
live in sin.
We adopt this interpretation of this passage for the following
reasons:
(a) It is the only view that is in harmony with the context. It is
manifest from the context, as already remarked, that John was speaking of that
which is outward and actual, something that makes a manifest difference in and
of itself. Then, too, this passage evidently means the same as verses six and
eight, and, if possible, they are less favorable to the other interpretations.
(b) While it is true that the whole man is not born of God, yet in
such general passages as the one under consideration the Scripture makes no
distinction between the two natures of the believer; but loosely refers to the
man as a whole. The Scripture says: "Except ONE be born anew,"
and not "except one have a new life born within him," "if any
man is in Christ, HE is a new creature," not "he has a new creature
in him;" "hath quickened US with Christ" not 'hath quickened a
new life within us," "he brought us forth by the word of truth,"
not "he brought forth something within us by the word of truth."
(c) It is the only view that takes account
of the present infinitive "sin" (Greek-"hamartanein") in
the latter part of the passage. The present infinitive always signifies
durative, linear, progressive action-action in its continuance. Because of this
meaning of the Greek infinitive, Weymouth translates the passage: "No one
who is a child of God is habitually guilty of sin. A God-given germ of life
remains in him and he cannot habitually sin." And
Sawtelle explains "doeth no sin" and "cannot sin" as
meaning; "Does not do it as the law of his life, as the ideal tendency of
his being; does not belong to the sin sphere."
D. Let sinless perfectionists note the following facts about this
passage:
(a) Its affirmation applies to all saved
people; not just to some that have reached a supposed high plane of living.
Thus this passage kills the "second-blessing" theory. This passage is
talking about what the believer is by virtue of regeneration; not what he is by
virtue of a supposed "second work of grace."
(b) The passage affirms that the character
referred to cannot sin. Thus, according to their own theory, they would have to
interpret the passage as teaching that one who has attained sinlessness can
never lapse back into sin. This they will not admit. Thus they show that their
only interest in this passage is to bolster up their ignorant, senseless
heresy.
V. FRUITS OF PROGRESSIVE
SANCTIFICATION
We think it well here to list four things which J. M. Pendleton,
in "Christian Doctrines," gives as evidences or fruits of the
gracious influences of the Holy Spirit in our progressive sanctification.
"I. A DEEP SENSE OF UNWORTHINESS"
No person in whom the Holy Spirit has done any considerable work
has any disposition to boast of his goodness. For examples of the sense of
unworthiness on the part of God's saints see Job 38:1,2;
40.4; 42:5,6; Eph. 3:8; Isa. 6. Also Phil. 3:12-15.
"2. AN INCREASING HATRED OF SIN"
No saved person loves sin; that is, love of sin is not the
dominant affection of his life. The sins he commits are not
the result of a normally dominating love of sin, but of an occasional rising up
of the flesh or of the constant friction between the flesh and the spirit.
"3. A GROWING INTEREST IN THE MEANS OF
GRACE"
The more the Holy Spirit works in one the
more he appreciates the Word of God, prayer, worship, and the like; and the more
he avails himself of the benefits of these.
"4. AN INCREASING LOVE OF HEAVENLY THINGS"
This love replaces the former love for
sin; and causes the child of God to seek those things which are above.
All of these fruits of the sanctifying process prevent the fact
that one cannot attain sinlessness in this life from encouraging sin. The
presence of sin in the life of the Christian affords him no
consolation. Instead it affords him grief. He would fain be free of his earthly
weight and soar upward that his soul might bask itself in the sunlight of
righteousness. Every saved person can say with Paul: "Wretched man that I
am! who shall deliver me out of the body of this death?" (Rom. 7.24). He
wishes that he might be sinless; but is unwilling to wrest the Scripture and
practice self-deception in order to fancy that he is sinless. His very desire
for sinlessness prevents his practicing hypocrisy and
perpetrating a sham, as all sinless perfectionists do.