1.A 19. LETTER IXX

LETTER XIX

External evidence Keeping the commandments The sanctified soul must do more than the letter of the law demands He must feed the poor, Ac. The spirit of the law may require this, but the letter does not The sacred Scriptures explicit en this subject -Many Ignorantly transgress This shows the necessity of the atonement Salvation, from first to last, of grace -Proved from Scripture and our hymns. MY DEAR M : Having attended to the direct and indirect evidence of entire sanctification, both of which relate principally to the person himself though visibly manifested to others in the spirit and general demeanour it remains only to consider the external evidence, called keeping the commandments of God.

Though there has been some controversy upon this branch of the subject, yet it has arisen more, I apprehend, from a misunderstanding in the use of terms, than from any radical dillience of opinion as to the real thing itself. All will agree, I think, that no sanctified soul can wilfully violate any precept of the moral code as expressed in the ten commandments, as this " Law is written upon the heart, and imprinted upon the inward parts," the whole of which is comprehended by our Divine Teacher, in loving God with all the heart, and our neighbour as ourselves. And who will say that there is any necessity for such a soul thus made holy, in which the love of God and man reigns pre dominant to have any other gods besides the one living and true God to low down to idols to take the name of God in vain to violate the Sabbath to dishonour his father or mother to kill unlawfully to commit adultery to steal to bear false witness to covet that which is not his own? This is the letter of the law, and surely an unconverted man may refrain from a violating its letter in any of his outward conduct. But when the heart has been circumcised by the sword of God’s Spirit by that Spirit which " pierceth to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit," the joints of the harness, " and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" so that we love God with all the heart, and our neighbour as ourselves, we are qualified to obey this law in its spirit and design.

Indeed, if we examine the subject with careful attention, we shall find, I presume to believe, that the holy Christian is required to do more than the mere letter of this law requires. Where is it said in any precept of this law, You shall feed the poor, clothe the naked, visit the sick and those that are in prison, take up the cross, mortify the deeds of the flesh? Where is the minister of the sanctuary commanded to go and preach the Gospel to every creature? And where in this law are the thousands of benevolent institutions recognized, which are springing up every day, and which grow out of the prolific soil which is prepared, watered, and fructified by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and kept fruitful by the rich supplies of sanctifying grace?

If any say that these are all implied or included in the spirit of the law, as interpreted by our Saviour, I contend not be it so. But then such must allow that holy Christians exemplify in their spirit and conduct this spirituality of the law, or else deny that the good works above enumerated are performed. To do the latter they will not attempt, and therefore they must admit that " all the law is fulfilled in this one word, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." And surely if this Divine love occupies the heart and it unquestionably does if the heart be filled with "perfect love" that heart is perpetually " devising liberal things" for the benefit of his neighbour, and is also constantly flowing out in love, praise, and thanks giving to God, crying out in the language of David, " how I love thy law! It is my meditation by day and night. It is sweeter to me than the honey descending from the honey comb." On no point of Christian practice are the sacred Scriptures more plain and full than they are upon this. " He that saith he loveth God, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar," saith St. John, who, though his heart was full of love, so much so, that it constantly overflowed with words and streams of love towards all men, in these words expressed himself with unusual bluntness and honest boldness. And what would be said of a man professing holiness of heart, should he indulge himself in idolatry, in lying or stealing, and in breaking the Sabbath, in covetousness, or in wilfully violating any other precept of this moral code? Would he not be denounced a hypocrite? Would you, my dear M., admit such a professor as your associate? Would you not rather repel him with just indignation, as unfit for the society of holy Christians? If your kind nature would not permit you to go thus far, I think your love to his soul, your keen sense of consistency of character, would impel you to endeavour to convince him of his error, to open his eyes, that he might see the awful gulf yawning before him; and you would exhort him to fly from it before it swallowed him up to look to Jesus for the pardon of his sins, and then for such a sanctification of his nature as should conform him to the image of God which image is shadowed forth in that law which the apostle, pronounces " holy, just, and good."

I have said no sanctified Christian can wilfully violate any precept of this moral code. That such a man may ignorantly transgress it, I al low, this ignorance arising out of the infirmities of his nature, and therefore inseparable from humanity. Thus a man may conceive erroneously of God, and may, therefore, through this misconception, be guilty of a species of idolatry; or he may, through ignorance of the fact, tell a falsehood, while he thinks he is speaking the truth and in a thousand other instances he may innocently provided he has taken all due pains to ascertain the truth, and an accurate knowledge of his duty violate any precept of this law, in its spirit and design; and were it not for the blood of atonement, and the continual intercession of the Lord Jesus, he would stand condemned, for the law knows no mercy, and has made no provision for pardon and purification. Every soul, therefore, the holiest not excepted, must say in truth, " Every moment, Lord, I need The merit of thy death." But he can say, with equal certainty, in view of the meritorious death and perpetual intercession of the Lord Jesus, " One only gift can JUSTIFY The boasting soul that knows his God; When JESUS DOTH HIS BLOOD APPLY, I glory in his SPRINKLED BLOOD. The Lord my Righteousness I praise, I triumph in the love divine, The wisdom, wealth, and strength of grace, In CHRIST TO ENDLESS AGES MINE."

Through this medium, through the merits and strength of Christ, he receives not only atonement for his past wilful transgressions that is, whenever he repents and believes and for his present sins of ignorance, but also super natural strength to enable him to keep the law with an upright and sincere heart, for "the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit."

There is another error to be guarded against in the discussion of this subject, and this is, That the keeping of the moral law is not a condition of either justification or sanctification.

We are justified and sanctified, and also kept in a state of justification and sanctification, by GRACE, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no truth more frequently insisted upon or more prominently set forth in the Holy Scriptures than this, namely, That our salvation, from If ginning to end, in its most incipient stage, through every step of its progress, from conviction of sin to pardon, and from that to full sanctification, and then onward in the way of holiness, until we arrive to the kingdom of eternal glory, is all of GRACE the rich, abounding GRACE OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS so that every soul that is or shall be so un speakably happy as to arrive at that consummation of glory, will " bring forth the head-stone thereof, shouting, GRACE, GRACE unto it!" So our poet teaches us to sing with the sweetest melody, while our hearts are set in tune by the oil of redeeming and sanctifying grace :

" Father, God, thy love we praise, Which gave thy Son to die; Jesus, full of truth and GRACE, Alike we GLORIFY : Spirit, Comforter divine, Praise by all to thee be given, Till we in FULL CHORUS join, And earth is TURN’D TO HEAVIH."

Turn, my dear M., to the 292d hymn, old collection, and you will see in what " sweet ac cord" and " choral symphonies " that evangelical poet teaches us to ascribe our salvation from sin here, and our admittance into the kingdom of God hereafter, to " the God of truth and grace," and how sweetly and delightfully he blends the praise of those below with those above, to " The mystic Three in One." But this grace of God in Christ Jesus occupying the heart, filling it full of Divine love, and this love becoming the moving, ruling principle of action, not only the motive is pure, but the actions flowing there from are pure also, perfectly conformable, so far as knowledge is concerned, to the precepts of God’s moral law. Hence he prays, " Thy NATURE be my LAW, Thy SPOTLESS SANCTITY; And sweetly every moment draw My happy soul to thee.

SOUL OF MY SOUL, REMAIN! Who didst for all fulfil, In ME, O Lord, FULFIL AGAIN Thy heavenly Father’s will." Can a soul in whom this prayer is answered, wilfully violate any known command of God? No, indeed! He would as soon enter into a league with Satan, and proclaim an eternal war against Jesus Christ, as to rise in opposition to this " law," which is " God’s nature," his " spot less sanctity," and to which his purified soul is " sweetly every moment drawn." The law of faith in Jesus Christ binds him to the throne of God, and the law of "perfect love" conforms him to the Divine image, and these two great leading principles impel him forward in the path of obedience; so that his happy soul remains connected with the soul of God, as the poet expresses it, and the " will of God," which is his " sanctification," is fulfilled in him. He now says, " The sharpness of thy two-edged sword, Enable me to endure; Till bold to say, My hallowing Lord Hath wrought a PERFECT CUBK. I see the exceeding BROAD COMMAND, Which all contains in one; Enlarge my heart to understand The mystery unknown."

I shall endeavour, in my next, to establish these views by unquestionable authority. In the mean time, permit me to say, and this shall conclude this long letter, that so long as you, my dear M., continue to exemplify the purity of your heart by the purity of your conduct, by keeping the commandments of God, and no longer, I will believe in your sincerity, and continue you my friendship, and address you in the language of the poet :

" Come, lot us ascend My companion and friend, To taste of the banquet above;

If thy heart be as mint, If for Jesus it pine, Come up into the chariot of lord."