What the Bible Teaches on Sanctification

 

F.G. Smith

 

               Conversion and a subsequent life free from sin is indeed a high state of grace; nevertheless it is not the complete sum of Christian experience as set forth in the New Testament. As our object is to set forth what the Bible teaches, we will show that the New Testament clearly teaches a second, definite work of divine grace wrought in the heart by the Holy Spirit, a work termed “sanctification.” The Bible writers speak of it from various standpoints, sometimes one phase of the subject and sometimes another being emphasized, and therefore different terms are used to express it. All, however, are resolved into the same thing. When the subject is considered from the standpoint of sanctification, a result is thereby expressed, and the cause of this result may or may not be stated in a given instance. We will consider it first as a result, or work in the soul, and then proceed to show the cause that produces this effect.

           

            The first point that we will settle is the fact that sanctification is

 

A Bible Doctrine

 

            The apostle Paul states that God hath “chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth” (2 Thess. 2:13). Sanctification is therefore a part of the work of salvation and belongs to all of God’s people. Christ prayed earnestly that his disciples might have this experience, as we read in John 17:17: “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” He did even more than to pray for it. He gave his life that it might be accomplished. “Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate” (Heb. 13:12). But it is his own people that are to be sanctified, for Paul informs us that “Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it: that he might sanctify and cleanse it” (Eph. 5:25-26).

           

            This was also taught by the apostles. Peter states that our election is “through sanctification of the Spirit” (1 Pet. 1:2). And Paul, writing to the Thessalonian brethren, says: “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification” (1 Thess. 4:2), 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. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it” (1 Thess. 5:23-24). We must be “a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the Master’s use” (2 Tim. 2:21). These texts, and others that might be cited, show clearly that sanctification is a New Testament doctrine.

 

What Does Sanctification Signify?

 

            The term “sanctification” is defined by Webster as follows:

           

            “1. The act of consecrating, or of setting apart for a sacred purpose; consecration.

           

            “2. The act of sanctifying or making holy; or the state of being sanctified or made holy; the act of God’s grace by which the affections of men are purified, or alienated from sin and the world, and exalted to a supreme love to God; also the state of being thus purified or sanctified.”

           

            The word “sanctify” he defines thus:

           

            “1. To make sacred or holy; to set apart to a holy or religious use; to consecrate by appropriate rites; to hallow.

           

            “2. To make holy or free from sin; to cleanse from moral corruption and pollution; to make fit for the service of God and the society and employments of heaven.”

           

            By the foregoing definitions it will be seen that sanctification signifies two distinct things. First, a consecrating, or setting apart to a holy or religious use–a mere legal or ceremonial holiness. Second, a definite cleansing and purifying of the heart and affections of men–a moral work.

           

            Now, the term is used in the Bible with both of these significations, therefore we must be careful to “rightly divide the word of truth.” In the Old Testament, under the law dispensation, sanctification is often mentioned; but it was merely a legal sanctification, a setting apart to a religious use. This was before the time when full salvation could be wrought in the soul through the blood of Christ. Therefore a moral change was not under consideration at all. In fact, the objects of that sanctification were in many cases wholly incapable of receiving any moral change, for inanimate objects, as well as animate, received it. Thus, the tabernacle was sanctified (Ex. 40:9), the altar (verse 10), the vessels of the tabernacle (verse 9), the laver (verse 11), the mountain of Sinai (Ex. 19:23). All of these objects, and others of like nature, were incapable of moral change, but they could be consecrated for a religious use. So also all Israel was sanctified (Ex. 19:10, 14). This sanctification of the people, however, refers to consecration only, not to any moral change in their natures, for the act was performed by man (see Ex. 19:10, 14; Lev. 27:14-22).

           

            But in the New Testament the term “sanctification” is given the other signification–a purging or cleansing of the moral nature of man. This is shown by the following considerations: 1). None but human beings can receive it, for it is given only to those who obey God (Luke 11:13; Acts 5:32; Rom. 15:16). 2). It is performed by the Holy Ghost, not by man (Rom. 15:16; Acts 15:8-9; Heb. 10:14-15). 3) It is connected with the blood of Christ (Heb. 13:12; 10:10, 14-15; 1 Thess. 5:23). It is in this New Testament sense that I shall use the term throughout the remainder of this chapter.

 

For Justified People Only

 

            While none but human beings can receive this glorious experience of sanctification, not all of them obtain it, for it is reserved for those who have already been justified from their actual transgressions through the blood of Jesus Christ. In other words, people must be genuinely converted to God, born again, and living the sinless life before they are scriptural candidates for sanctification. In Christ’s prayer concerning his disciples, he said, “I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me...sanctify them” (John 17:9, 17). “Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it” (Eph. 5:25-26). It is the “brethren” that receive “an inheritance among all them which are sanctified” (Acts 20:32). Yea, people must first “receive forgiveness of sins” before they can obtain the “inheritance” among them which are “sanctified” (Acts 26:18). It was to the brethren at Thessalonica, to those who were “in the Father, and in the Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 1:1), that Paul wrote when he said, “It is the will of God, even your sanctification” (1 Thess. 4:3), and, “The very God of peace sanctify you wholly” (chap. 5:23).

           

            From these scriptural facts it will be seen that sanctification is

 

A Second Work of Grace

 

            There is a definite reason for this twofoldness in the redemption of the individual believer. Sin exists in the human heart in two forms–actual and inherent. That is, there is a sinful disposition which we receive through natural generation, and there are wilful acts of wrong which we commit by the consent of our own will after we reach the age when we have a knowledge of right and wrong. Now, these two forms of sin are entirely different, and can not be identified as one in the individual heart without causing great confusion in this subject. We are in no sense individually responsible for possessing the evil nature that we inherit, but we are wholly responsible for our own sinful acts committed later by the consent of our own will. Repentance can apply only to our own individual acts of wrong. Therefore forgiveness and conversion are of necessity limited to that ground, as we shall soon see by the Word of God. Therefore all attempts to identify in redemption these two distinct forms of sin is a gross perversion of the gospel plan of salvation.

           

            We have no need of proving that men are guilty of actual transgressions. The fact is well-known and acknowledged. However, the scripture asserts that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). But concerning inherent sin, we must give the more exact statements of the scriptures, for, although it is pretty generally admitted, it is sometimes denied.

           

            “The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies” (Psa. 58:3). While the Psalmist is here simply describing a fact, the verse contains at least a strong intimation of an inward bent to evil. But again, he says, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity: and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psa. 51:5). This text shows that an evil disposition is a part of man from the earliest moment of his existence. And the apostle Paul distinctly affirms that we are all “by nature the children of wrath” (Eph. 2:8).

           

            In Rom. 7:7-18 Paul gives, in relating his own experience, a clear description of sin in these two forms. He says: “I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died...For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me...But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.” Here the apostle speaks first of his experience as an infant, when he had no knowledge of God’s law, did not even know that it said, “Thou shalt not covet.” At this time, although he was “alive without the law,” he had in him something that he calls sin, but “without the law sin was dead.” Later, “when the commandment came” to his understanding, and he transgressed it, then he says, “Sin revived, and I died.” He became “dead in trespasses and in sins” (Eph. 2:1). In other words, the sin that existed in him by nature, while he was ignorant and innocent, afterwards manifested itself in the outward works of actual sin, for which he was responsible. How clear this twofoldness of sin! And this has been the experience of all who have reached the age of moral responsibility.

                       

            Our foreparents were created “in righteousness and true holiness,” but from this lofty estate they fell, thereby plunging the world into the darkness of sin; for all have received from them, through natural generation, an evil nature, as we have already shown. From this fact it is evident that when we are born into the world, though we are perfectly innocent, we are one degree below the line of perfect holiness, since we possess the nature of sin. When we reach the age of moral responsibility and take upon ourselves a sinful life, we fall another degree lower, so that we are now two steps below the original plane of holiness.

           

            Now, the design of Christ is to restore mankind in salvation to the high plane from which they fell, and since they have descended two degrees in sin, there must of necessity be two steps upward in redemption. Are there not the same number of steps in a stairway when one ascends as when he descends? And the last step taken coming down will be the first one to take going up. So in redemption. The last step in the descent was our wilful departure from God into actual sins; so our first step in salvation is willingly to return to God, leaving behind all of the sins that we have committed. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon” (Isa. 55:7). “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isa. 1:18). “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). This confession and pardon relates solely to our own sinful acts, and this is what Peter terms conversion: “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19).

           

            Now Jesus teaches that the converted man is like a little child once more. “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:3). In other words, the person whose individual sins have been confessed, forgiven, and blotted out, is “converted,” and has now regained the moral condition of spiritual life and innocency from which he departed at the age of accountability (Rom. 7:9). But the infant is one degree below the plane of perfect holiness; so also is the converted person, who is “like” the little child; in fact, he is even called a “babe” (1 Pet. 2:2; Heb. 5:13), and is exhorted to “go on unto perfection” (Heb. 6:1), “perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1); and he is informed by the Word that God hath “perfected forever them that are sanctified” (Heb. 10:14).

           

            Natural babes do many things that they should not do, but the spiritual babes, having a better understanding and having had more experience, need not commit sin again. If, however, they do not watch carefully, and live a spiritual life, the evil nature within will assert itself and manifest its workings in the outward life, and thus lead them back into sin again.

           

            Paul wrote thus to some of these spiritual infants at Corinth: “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are YET carnal for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal and walk as men?” (1 Cor. 3:1-3).

           

            These brethren had from the first of Paul’s ministry there been “babes in Christ,” and had been rather weak in spiritual things; and now as they were giving way to the carnality of their hearts, Paul made use of this external manifestation to prove to them that they had been carnal all the while. “Ye are yet carnal.” Now, he did not say that this state of quarreling and division is the standard of justified lives–he rebuked them for it–but he placed the first cause for it in the fact that they were yet carnal. The whole passage, carefully studied, shows that “babes in Christ” still have the carnal nature, though it is not necessary, it is even wrong, to give way to it in the outward life as did these Corinthians whom he addressed.

           

            So also the apostle John, in that epistle in which he speaks so often about being born of God, teaches most clearly that these “sons of God” still stand in need of purification. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure” (1 John 3:2-3).

                       

            Again I call attention to the text already quoted, that “Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it” (Eph. 5:25-26).

           

            Furthermore, this fact can be tested in the experience of the apostles themselves. In John 1:11-18 we read that those who received Christ during his incarnation and believed on his name became sons of God by being born of God. Christ said to the seventy disciples, “Your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). From these scriptures we are assured that the apostles were born of God and that their names were recorded in the Book of Life in heaven. And the testimony of Jesus concerning them shows their spiritual condition and acceptance with God: “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” Yet we have in the gospel narrative clear evidences that these apostles still possessed the carnal nature, as when the ten were “moved with indignation” against the two who sought positions of authority over the others (Matt. 20:20-24). Such desire for preeminence, and such feelings of envy and jealousy, are not consistent with perfect holiness, but are the outcropping of the sinful nature within. On another occasion they “disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest” (Mark 9:34). On other occasions also there were unmistakable manifestations of this evil principle. Since, therefore, they needed a heart-cleansing from this inbred sin, Christ prayed to the Father, “Sanctify them” (John 17:17).

           

            This twofoldness of salvation-work is also shown under the figure of a vine and its branches, in John 15:1-2– ”I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” “I am the vine, ye are the branches.” (verse 5). The individual Christian is a branch of the true vine–Christ. If he ceases to bear the fruit of the Spirit, he is taken away; but if he is a fruitful branch, he is to be purged, so that he can bring forth more fruit.

           

            Someone has suggested that since there is nothing in nature analogous to the purging of a branch, this word purge must signify prune. This can not be, however, for there is both a pruning and a purging spoken of. Prune: “To lop or cut off, as the superfluous branches of trees; to trim.” —Webster. Now, according to Christ’s statement, it is the worthless branches that are pruned off, while the good, fruit-bearing branches are to be purged. Of course, this is not exactly true to nature, but natural things and spiritual things are not always analagous in every particular.

           

            The promise of a second work was given to the apostles in a threefold form.

           

            1. The purging already mentioned.

           

            2. “I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world can not receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” (John 14:16-17).

           

            3. “I will pray the Father,” said Christ in the text last mentioned, “and he shall give you another Comforter,” but in his prayer he did not say a word about the Father’s giving the Holy Ghost to the apostles, but he did say, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:17).

           

            Now, this threefold promise is identified in one experience to be received by them, the Holy Spirit being cause and purging or sanctification being the result. Proof: “Being sanctified by the Holy Ghost” (Rom. 15:16). So Christ’s asking the Father to sanctify the apostles was virtually asking him to give them the Holy Ghost, for when the Holy Ghost was received as their Comforter, they were sanctified– “sanctified by the Holy Ghost.” How clear!

           

            So also the purging promised is the same, being the work of the Holy Ghost when received. “And God which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith” (Acts 15:8-9). This text refers to the time when the household of Cornelius were baptized with the Holy Ghost (Acts 10) and Peter affirms that at that time God gave them the Holy Ghost, “purifying their hearts” and that it was “even as he did unto us”–the apostles themselves. There is no way under heaven to evade this Scriptural fact that there is a purging of the heart, or sanctification, to be received subsequently to regeneration, and that it is obtained when the Holy Ghost is received as the abiding Comforter. Sin is twofold and salvation also is twofold. Yea, “He saved us by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly” (Tit. 3:5-6).

 

Two Works Symbolized

 

            This truth was typified by the tabernacle of the Mosaic dispensation. This ancient structure, the dwelling-place of God on earth, consisted of two apartments, surrounded by a court. The first apartment, which was entered from the court, was termed the “holy place”  and it contained a table of show-bread, candlestick, and the golden altar, which stood just before the entrance into the second apartment. This second, or inner, apartment was called the “holy of holies,” or “holiest of all”  and it contained the ark of the covenant, wherein were deposited the stone tables of the law. In the court, directly in front of the entrance to the first apartment, stood the brazen altar, or altar of burnt offerings, also a laver containing water.

           

            A description of the tabernacle and its furnishings is given in Heb. 9:1-8; while the sacrifices are more particularly described in the next chapter verses, 1-4, 11. The priests ministered daily in the first apartment, “but into the second went the high priest alone once every year.” This inner room was the dwelling-place of God.

           

            This tabernacle of the old dispensation was, we are informed in Heb. 9:9, “a figure for the time then present.” That is it was intended to symbolize something that was to come later. And according to verse 11, Christ has “come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands.” This old house was a perfect type of “the house of God, which is the church of the living God” (1 Tim. 3:15), in the New Testament dispensation. For “ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:5). The writer of the Hebrews also asserts that Christ has “his own house; whose house are we” (chap. 3:6). And Paul affirms that the multitudes redeemed by the blood of Christ are “a building fitly framed together, [which] groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit” (Eph. 2:16-22). Christ is the great sacrifice, the anti-type of all the sin-offerings of the law, and by his blood we have redemption and thus become a part of his church or spiritual house.

           

            But the two apartments in the type must have their counterpart in the antitype, and this we will set forth. In the tabernacle there were two altars, as already observed, and the blood of sin-offerings was placed on both altars (Lev. 4:7), thus clearly typifying twofold cleansing. So when we come to Christ confessing our sins, he freely forgives them all and we are justified, receiving the first work of divine grace, which makes us “priests” in the house of God. We minister as it were in the “holy place” of God’s church, as symbolized by the holy place of the old tabernacle. We do not offer sin-offerings, for Christ himself “offered one sacrifice for sins forever” (Heb. 10:12), but we do offer sacrifices, typified by the “thank-offerings” and “peace-offerings” of the law. “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name” (Heb. 13:15). We “offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:5). The show-bread on the table typifies our spiritual food, and the candlestick, ever burning, our spiritual light.

           

            Those who ministered in the first room of the ancient tabernacle were always before the entrance into the “holiest” place, the second room, but they did not have free access, for in that dispensation “the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest” (Heb. 9:8). But when Christ expired on the cross of Calvary as a perfect sacrifice for sin, “the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom” (Matt. 27:51), and thus a change was miraculously wrought in the typical house of God, in order to appropriately represent a new order of truth–the introduction of a new or spiritual house, with perfect access, even into its second, or innermost, room. “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an high priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith” (Heb. 10:19-22).

           

            Thus, by a twofold cleansing we receive a twofold experience, as symbolized by the double altars, twofold cleansing, and two apartments of the old house of God.

           

            The law of God was deposited in the second room of the sanctuary and so this second work of grace is the perfecting grace, wherein God’s laws are placed in our hearts, and we are ourselves the dwelling-place of the Most High! Halleluiah! “For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them” (Heb. 10:14-16). These texts, in connection with verses 19-22 just quoted, show positively that sanctification admits us into the “holiest,” where the laws of God are inscribed in our hearts, this being accomplished by the perfect renovation of our nature by the baptism of the Holy Ghost as a second work of grace. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ [the first work of grace]: by whom also we have access by faith into this [second] grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Rom. 5:1-2, 5).

 

Apostolic Examples of Two Works

 

            There are two distinct works of grace, the first called new birth, regeneration, justification, or conversion. The second termed either the Holy Ghost reception or baptism, as cause, or else, sanctification, perfection, etc., as effect. The crowning proof of this twofoldness, however, is the recorded fact that the apostolic churches were saved according to this plan. We will notice several examples.

           

            1. The apostles themselves. This point has already been considered. They were saved men; Jesus promised them the Holy Ghost, with his resultant work–purging or sanctification, on the day of Pentecost they received this baptism of the Holy Ghost (Acts 2).

           

            2. The Jerusalem church. The penitent Jews on the day of Pentecost were commanded by Peter to “repent and be baptized,” with the promise that they also should “receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” They repented and were baptized (Acts 2:33, 41). Others also were saved later (verse 47; 4:4). Still later we find the company of saved people– “the multitude of them that believed”–met together in earnest prayer. “And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost” (Acts 4:29-31).

           

            3. The Samaritan church. “Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them,” with the result that many believed and were baptized (Acts 8:5-8). “Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: who when they were come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost...Then laid they their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Ghost” (verse 14-17). Now, these are two separate occurrences, in two meetings, held by different ministers. There is no possibility of uniting them in one work.

           

            4. The household of Cornelius. Cornelius was “a devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always” (Acts 10:2). His prayers were effectual, for an angel was sent to him, who said, “Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God” (verse 4). He was accepted of God, for he knew the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which began in Galilee, and he was a righteous man (verses 34-37). We are not informed just how or by whom Cornelius had heard this preaching of Jesus, but we do know this, that Philip, who had such a stirring revival at Samaria, had also been at Caesarea, where Cornelius resided (Acts 8:40). In fact, Philip’s home was there at a later date, and it may have been there at that time and in that city the Spirit of God was poured out even upon his daughters (Acts 21:8-9).

           

            By divine direction Peter went to visit this man and preached to him. “While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the Word” and the Jews were astonished “because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 10:44-45).

           

            5. The disciples at Ephesus. In Acts 18:24-28 we read of the preaching of Apollos at Ephesus, and of there being brethren there. Afterwards Paul “came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, he said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? They said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost” (Acts 19:1-2).

           

            A number of things are implied in this question of the apostle: 1). That there is a Holy Ghost. 2). That it is possible for men to receive him. 3). That he is given to believers. 4). That he is given at a time subsequent to their becoming disciples or believers. “And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them” (verse 6). Later, writing to this church at Ephesus, Paul says, “AFTER that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise” (Eph. 1:13).

           

            6. The Thessalonian church. In Acts 17 we read that Paul went to Thessalonica and there preached for about three weeks, during which time a great multitude believed. But when certain Jews stirred up the people into a violent tumult, the brethren sent Paul and Silas to Berea. This was in the year A.D. 58. After remaining at Berea for a while, Paul went on down to Athens. Sometime later the apostle, solicitous for the welfare of the brethren at Thessalonica, sent Timothy to inquire concerning them, while he himself remained at Athens (1 Thess. 3:1-2). Timothy returned with an excellent report of their spiritual condition and activity (verse 6), whereupon Paul wrote the First Epistle to the Thessalonians, in which he commended them very highly because of their faith and obedience to the Word. This was in A.D. 54, one year after the meeting which he held there. He exhorted them to carefully obey the things which they had received of him, in order that they might please God and abound more and more. Then he said, “Ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus,” and proceeded to enumerate some of these commandments, asserting that they were the will of God: 1). “Your sanctification”. 2). “That ye should abstain from fornication”. 3). “That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor.” 4). “That no man should go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter” (1 Thess. 4:1-6).

           

            One of these commandments was that they should be sanctified. Again, he says, “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 corning of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it” (chap. 5:23-24).

 

Conditions for Sanctification

 

            This blessed state of perfect holiness can not be entered by sinners. The Holy Ghost is given, not to the world, but to those who are chosen out of the world–to those who are God’s believing and obedient children. Therefore the first essential is that the candidate for sanctification possess a clear, definite experience of Bible justification. But this is not all. Justification brings us into a holy relation with God. Therefore in our converted experience the outward life must be brought into harmony with the truth, so that we are living sinless lives. Otherwise we do not remain in a justified state at all, hence are not candidates for sanctification, the second work of grace.

           

            It is in our special effort to live a holy life that we are made painfully conscious of the presence of that evil nature within. Realizing that while fighting the devil on the outside there is also “a foe in the temple not subject to God,” the soul cries out for an experience of heart-purity. The first disciples were earnestly praying when they received this experience (Acts 1:14; 2:1-4). So was Cornelius when the way was opened for him to receive the Holy Ghost (Acts 10); also, the congregation of believers in Jerusalem, after the day of Pentecost (Acts 4:24-31). Without strong desire and earnest prayer one will never obtain this definite work of grace.

           

            The seeker must make a complete surrender to the whole will of God, a perfect consecration of time, talents, and all to His service, and himself be sacredly the Lord’s for time and for eternity. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rom. 12:1-2). When this perfect consecration is made, God will be pleased to send his Holy Spirit in sanctifying power, purging the heart from the very nature of sin, and will himself take up his abode in the pure and devoted soul. Hallelujah!

 

“If thy all is on the altar laid, Guard it from each vain desire;

When thy soul the perfect price bath paid, God will send the holy fire.”

 

The Holy Ghost Baptism

 

            The baptism of the Holy Ghost taught in the New Testament is a special endowment of the Spirit of God in the heart of his believing and obedient children. Different expressions are used to convey this idea–baptism of the Holy Ghost (Matt. 3:11); the Holy Ghost given (John 7:39); receiving “the Spirit of truth” (John 14:17; 16:13); “Comforter” (John 14:16, 26; 15:26); receive the Holy Ghost (John 20:22; Acts 8:17; 10:47); “filled with the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:4; 4:31); “gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:33); the Spirit poured out upon men (Acts 2:17; 10:45); etc. These expressions all refer to one and the same thing, as will be shown later. They simply represent different aspects of the one subject, just as the different expressions used for the first work of grace convey various shades of meaning, though meaning essentially the same thing. But it must be regarded as a definite experience in the believer, for in the apostolic church it was a reality, the Holy Ghost being received some time subsequent to regeneration. The statements of Christ to his apostles that the Holy Ghost “shall be in you,” that he shall be a Comforter that will “abide with you forever”–these and other expressions show that it is a personal reality, not simply ecstatic feelings on the part of the individual.

 

The Spirit’s Work

 

            The work of the Holy Ghost in the heart of the believer who receives him is twofold–negative and positive. His negative work, as we have already shown, is to purify, or sanctify. We are “sanctified by the Holy Ghost” (Rom. 15:16). God gave them the Holy Ghost, “purifying their hearts by faith” (Acts 15:8-9). The reception of him is compared to fire– “Baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire” (Matt. 3:11)–fire being a destructive and purifying element, and those who have thus been “sanctified by the Holy Ghost” are “pure in heart” (Matt. 5:8), for he “hath perfected forever them that are sanctified: whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness” (Heb. 10:14-15). Not one element of impurity remains in the moral nature of one who has received the Holy Ghost. He is in this respect “perfected forever.” Praise God for heart-purity!

                       

            The positive work of the Holy Spirit is: 1). To give power (Acts 1:8). 2). To guide (John 16:13). 3). To comfort (John 14:16-17). 4). To teach (John 14:26). 5). To increase spiritual fruits (John 15:2 with Gal. 5:22-23). 6). To unify God’s people (John 17:20-28 with Acts 4:31-32). 7). To fit for service (Luke 24:49; 2 Tim. 2:21).

 

Importance Of

 

            The baptism and work of the Holy Spirit is of great importance, both to the individual believer and to the work of God. As to the individual, it is the perfecting grace, “the grace wherein we stand” (Rom. 5:2), and therefore completes our moral preparation for heaven. “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14). “Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8).

                       

            As to the work of God, this divine experience is necessary in order to properly fit us for the Lord’s service. Christ commanded his apostles to tarry in the city of Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high (Luke 24:49) and said to them, “Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and [then] ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

           

            So also the apostle Paul teaches that by being “sanctified” we are “meet for the Master’s use and prepared unto every good work” (2 Tim. 2:21). Alas! how many ministers of today are destitute of this sanctifying grace; this baptism of the Holy Ghost! Considering this, it is not surprising that the world is filled with conflicting doctrines and beliefs. It is the function of the Holy Spirit to “teach” men and “guide them into all truth.” Therefore when men who have never been taught by the Spirit themselves attempt to instruct others, they only speak a “vision or their own head,” as one of the prophets has said. Since the dispensation of the Holy Ghost began at Pentecost, God does not send out to preach men who are not “filled with the Holy Ghost” themselves. They may have a call of God to his work, but his “command” to them is to “tarry” until they are endued with power from on high. What the world needs today is a Holy Ghost ministry. However, all of the saved are “workers together with God” (2 Cor. 6:1), and all need this infilling of the Holy Spirit, that they may indeed be “vessels unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the Master’s use, and prepared unto every good work” (2 Tim. 2:21).

 

Evidence Of

 

            People have preached and written much about the evidence of the baptism of the Holy Ghost, but to ask for our evidence that we have the Holy Ghost is like asking for an evidence of the existence of the sun overhead. The sun does not need a witness to testify for it. It stands for itself, and the work which it performs–illuminating the earth and kissing the face of nature with its genial rays of light and warmth, causing vegetation to spring forth, bringing life and joy, happiness and health, to the sons of men–these works proclaim unmistakably, without further witness, the sun and his glory. Likewise the Holy Ghost stands for himself as the witness. “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit” (Rom. 8:16; Heb. 10:14-15); while the works which he performs–purifying the heart, teaching, comforting, guiding, unifying–show forth his power and glory.

 

False Opinions

 

            As there has been in some quarters a great deal of misunderstanding and false doctrine concerning this subject, by which Satan has designed to bring the pure Word of God into disrepute, I feel constrained to mention one of these false opinions.

           

            That all who receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost speak in tongues as THE evidence. Now, 1 Cor. 12 plainly contradicts this position, for it shows that the gift of tongues is no more general among those who have received the Holy Ghost than is the gift of prophecy or the gift of healing or the gift of miracles or any other of the special gifts mentioned. Nor is there any difference between the gift of tongues and speaking with tongues, for these expressions are used interchangeably in this chapter, referring to exactly the same thing, just as the gift of prophecy and “are all prophets” or the gift of miracles and “workers of miracles” are equivalent expressions. Compare verses 4-11 with verses 29-31.

                       

            The Word does not say that the gift of tongues, or speaking in tongues, is the evidence of the Spirit’s reception, but it is here given simply as a “manifestation of the Spirit,” in common with other special manifestations which may or may not belong to a particular individual.

           

            Now, the Holy Spirit must not be confounded with one of his works, so that he himself is denied unless he chooses to manifest himself in some particular manner. The Holy Ghost himself is the satisfactory evidence. “Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness” (Heb. 10:15). “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit” (Rom. 8:16).

                       

            We have in the New Testament records of three occasions on which people spoke with tongues when they received the baptism of the Holy Ghost. On the day of Pentecost (Acts 2)–one hundred and twenty believers (Acts 1:15). Certain disciples at Ephesus–twelve in number (Acts 19:1-7), and the household of Cornelius–number unknown (Acts 10). The total number on these three occasions was probably less than two hundred. Now, we have in the Acts the record of thousands who received the baptism of the Holy Ghost, in which no mention whatever is made concerning tongues. Some say that that part was omitted. Well, if people desire to build up a doctrine they should establish it on what the Word of God says, and not on what was left out.

           

            On the day of Pentecost, when the first disciples spoke in tongues, Peter appealed for objective proof of the Holy Ghost baptism to the fulfilment of Joel’s prophecy that the sons and daughters should prophesy. Prophecy, as well as tongues, is one of the special gifts of the Spirit. So also when the twelve disciples at Ephesus received the Spirit and spoke with tongues, they prophesied (Acts 19). Now, if either of these special gifts were to be accepted as the evidence of the reception of the Holy Ghost, then prophecy would have the advantage in the position of importance granted it, for “greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues” (1 Cor. 14:5). “Desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy” (verse 1), for “he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort” (verse 8), with the result that unbelievers become deeply convicted, fall down, and get salvation (verses 23-25).

 

The Sanctified Life

 

            This experience of entire sanctification, is indeed a blessed one. ‘While the justified life must be kept free from outward acts of sin, the sanctified life is the complete harmony of the individual, both internal and external, with the perfect will of God. All evil affections, our spiritual enemies, are gone. The soul is pure. The Lord grants unto us “that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life” (Luke 1:74-75). Yea, it is his will that “we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God, and of our Savior Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Tit. 2:12-14).

           

            Some people think that such a high standard is almost too good to be true. One man affirmed in the presence of the writer that sanctified people could not live in this old sinful world; that if people should obtain this experience they would be immediately taken home to glory. However, when Jesus prayed for his disciples, “sanctify them through thy truth,” he also said, “I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from the evil” (John 17:17, 15). This poor man did not understand that instead of sanctification taking us bodily out of this world, it takes every element of the world out of us.

           

            In this happy condition we are able to “bring forth more fruit.” Therefore the fruits of the Spirit are developed in us abundantly. The first thing mentioned in Paul’s catalogue of the fruits of the Spirit is love. Now, love is felt by the justified soul, but when we enter the second, or standing, grace (Rom. 5:1-2), “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (verse 5). Thus, there is a marked increase in all the fruits of the Spirit.

 

Temptations

 

            But I would not have the reader think that the sanctified life places the individual beyond the reach of temptation. In sanctification we are not deprived of that which is essentially human, but we are purged from the sinful, carnal element received through the fall, and our human natures are brought into line with the divine, so that our desires are wholly to please God. But we are capable of temptation along natural human lines. Christ himself “was in all points tempted like as we are,” but he overcame them all as our example, and we should take courage and move forwards. One of Christ’s special temptations had a perfectly legitimate basis in the natural desire for food (Matt. 4:1-4), while another involved that which was not right–a temptation to desire great possessions for the purpose of worldly honor (verse 8).

           

            God has a definite purpose in allowing us to be tempted. It is for our good. Be encouraged, for “there hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1 Cor. 10:13).                       

            One purpose God has in these things is shown by James in the words, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing” (James 1:2-4).

           

            Now, we cannot be tempted and tried without feeling tempted and tried. Peter says that “for a season if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations” (1 Pet. 1:6). There is no mistake about this matter. The sanctified person who is deeply tempted or tried does not feel just the same then as at other times. On certain occasions Christ himself felt “grieved” and his soul was stirred within him, but the records of these occurrences fail to show any carnal stirring or actions proceeding from an impure heart.

           

            So, reader, it must be with you. In seasons of trial and trouble, remember that the Lord “giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (Jas. 4:6-7). Pride and self-exaltation belong to carnality. Humility, on the other hand, is one of the sweet graces of the Spirit; the natural fruit of the sanctified heart. A life of humility is blessed with the abundant grace of God, so that the soul can overcome. “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him” (Jas. 1:12).

           

            What a blessing is this life of entire sanctification! “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). “Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8).