1.A 03. LETTER III
LETTER III.
Both gradual and instantaneous When may a person conclude himself sanctified? Gradually dying, yet dies in an instant- How to wait for it May enjoy peace until we find it Justification and sanctification two separate blessings Proved from Scripture The justified soul set apart for God’s service Exhortation to search diligently. MY DEAR M : Some have expressed doubts respecting the possibility of attaining to this great blessing in a moment, and are strongly inclined to believe that it is entirely a gradual work; that from the time a sinner is justified freely by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, lie gradually dies unto sin and proportionately grows in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, until God takes him from earth to heaven. That this is not according to Mr. Wesley’s view of the subject is most evident, as the following extracts will show :
"Q. When may a person judge himself to have attained this?
"A. When, after having been fully convinced of in bred sin, by a far deeper and clearer conviction than that he experienced before justification, and after having experienced a gradual mortification of it, he experiences a total death to sin, and an entire renewal in the love and image of God, so as to rejoice evermore, to pray without coaling, and in everything to give thanks. Not that to feel all love and no sin is a sufficient proof. Several have experienced this for a time before their souls were fully renewed. None therefore ought to believe that the work is done, till there is added the testimony of the Spirit, witnessing his entire sanctification, as clearly as his justification.
"Q. But whence is it, that some imagine they are thus sanctified, when in reality they are not?
"A. It is hence; they do not judge by all the preceding marks, but either by part of them, or by others that are ambiguous. But I know no instance of a person at tending to them all, and yet deceived in this matter. I believe there can be none in the world. If a man be deeply and fully convinced, after justification, of inbred sin; if he then experience a gradual mortification of sin, and afterward an entire renewal in the image of God; if to this change, immensely greater than that wrought when he was justified, be added a clear, direct witness of the renewal; I judge it as impossible this man should be deceived herein, as that God should lie. And if one whom I know to be a man of veracity testify these things to me, I ought not, without some sufficient reason, to reject his testimony.
"Q. Is this death to sin, and renewal in love, gradual instantaneous
"A. A man may be dying for some time; yet he does not, properly speaking, die, till the instant the soul is separated from the body : and in that instant he lives the life of eternity. In like manner h may be dying to sin for some time; yet he is not dead to sin, till sin is separated from his soul; and in that instant he lives the full life of love. And as the change undergone, when the body dies, is of a different kind, and infinitely greater than any we had known before, yea, such as till then it is impossible to conceive; so the change wrought, when the soul dies to sin, is of a different kind, and in finitely greater than any before, and than any can conceive till he experiences it. Yet he still grows in grace, in the knowledge of Christ, in the love and image of God; and will do so, not only till death, but to all eternity.
" Q. How are we to wait for this change?
" A. Not in careless indifference, or indolent inactivity; but in vigorous, universal obedience, in a zealous keeping of all the commandments, in watchfulness and painfulness, in denying ourselves, and taking up our cross daily; as well as in earnest prayer and fasting, and a close attendance on all the ordinances of God. And if any man dream of attaining it any other way, (yea, or of keeping it when it is attained, when he has received it even in the largest measure,) he deceiveth his own soul. It is true, we receive it by simple faith : but God does not, will not, give that faith, unless we seek it with all diligence, in the way which he hath ordained.
" This consideration may satisfy those who inquire, why so few have received the blessing. Inquire how many are seeking it in this way; and you have a sufficient answer.
"Prayer especially is wanting. Who continues instant therein? Who wrestles with God for this very thing? So, ye have not, because ye ask not; or because ye ask amiss, namely, that you may be renewed before you die. Before you die! Will that content you? Nay, but ask that it may be done now; to-day, while it is called to-day. Do not call this setting God a time. Certainly to-day is his time as well as to-morrow. Make haste, man, make haste! Let
Thy soul break out in strong desire
Thy perfect bliss to prove;
Thy longing heart be all on fire
To be dissolved in love!"
" Q. But may we not continue in peace and joy till we are perfected in love?
A. Certainly we may; for the kingdom of God is not divided against itself; therefore, let not believers be discouraged from rejoicing in the Lord always. And yet we may be sensibly pained at the sinful nature that still remains in us. It is good for us to have a piercing sense of this, and a vehement desire to be delivered from it. But this should only incite us the more zealously to fly every moment to our strong Helper, the more earnestly to press forward to the mark, the prize of our high calling in Christ Jesus. And when the sense of our sin most abounds, the sense of his love should much more abound."
Equally erroneous are those who suppose that justification and sanctification are one and the same thing, so much so, that whoever is justified is, at the same time, sanctified, " throughout soul, body, and spirit." One text of Sacred Scripture, bearing directly on this point, is sufficient to settle this question: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
1 John i, 9. Now, if the forgiveness of our sins, which is what is meant in being justified, be the same as to be " cleansed from all un righteousness," then the apostle has uttered a senseless tautology, for it would, in that case, amount to this and nothing more : " He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to forgive us our sins;" and surely such a repetition would be unworthy the lips of inspiration. The apostle, no doubt, meant to assert, that in confessing our sins, in the Scriptural acceptation of these words, including a forsaking them, prayer to God for deliverance, and faith in Jesus Christ as our atoning and interceding High-Priest, we should be forgiven or justified freely by His grace; and on our continuing to " walk in the light as he is in the light, we should have fellow ship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son would cleanse us from all sin," ver. 7; or, as it is expressed in verse 9, " from all unrighteousness," that is, to sanctify us wholly. Understanding the words thus, the sense is complete, the apostle is consistent with himself throughout, and he speaks the language of experience, as explained above by Mr. Wesley, otherwise he speaks an unintelligible jargon, utterly unworthy an inspired messenger of God. In one sense, I allow but not in the sense in which St. John spoke of the sanctification of believers in the above quoted passages a man is sanctified the moment he is justified, that is, he is then set apart for the service of his God, and if he persevere in his holy calling, walks in the light, discharges his duties with fidelity, God will sanctify him throughout, " soul, body, and spirit " in other words, He will " cleanse the thoughts of his heart by the inspiration of his Holy Spirit, that he may perfectly love him, and worthily magnify his holy name." But I would not call off the attention of the reader from the above extract from the pen of Mr. Wesley, whose sound Scriptural knowledge, and enlarged experience in the things of God, enabled him to dive deep into the ocean of God’s goodness, and to bring up the precious pearls of Divine truth, and then to spread them out before the reader in all their sparkling beauties. Look at them again and again, compare them with the word of God, with your own and the experience of God’s most devoted servants in every age of the Church; and if you find you come short in your own experience and practice, lay the axe of truth instantly at the root of the tree of iniquity, which still lives in the heart, and be determined never to rest until it is entirely eradicated.