I have received the address of the Southern Ohio Association for the Promotion of Scriptural Holiness. My simple business here is to see whether this system is based on scriptural ground. I cannot say I believe in associations for holiness, unless it be the church of God; but I let that pass.
Imperfection is now admitted. It is “Christian, not sinless perfection,” and the Christian is “full of shortcomings, An absolutely sinless life cannot be realized.” I wholly Object to the distinction, as vaguely allowing some measure of sin and yet speaking of perfection. It is founded on error.
My first remark is, that the system (and I beg attention to this) ignores the communication of what in itself is sinless life, a life that cannot sin, the seed of God in the soul—what is born of the Spirit and is spirit, the new man after God created in righteousness and true holiness. It is nature Or imparted grace.” A real being born again, the communication of a new life; the very starting point of the Christian state (not standing) is supposed, and all depends on this.
Next, we are told that Christians “are constantly needing the application of the cleansing blood.” Now there is no such thought in scripture as a renewed application of the blood of cleansing. As to this, scripture tells us that without shedding of blood there is no remission: otherwise, the apostle tells us, Christ must have often suffered. But by one offering he has perfected forever (εἰς τὸ διηνεκές) them that are sanctified. There is in scripture no re-application of the blood to cleanse. That is, the two essential foundations of the Christian's state before God are set aside. And we must remember that we are sanctified through the truth. The system is, wrong in its first principles; it denies the two capital points of true Christianity.
The notion that after we come to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, we hate to grow up into Him in all things, is assuredly not found in scripture, but is a simple absurdity. I am arrived at a perfect man, the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, and yet am to grow up farther! I suppose they may have founded it on some mystical sense of into, but there is no ground for “into” instead of “unto;” it is the same word as “to” a perfect man, “to” the measure.
The mere words in the second paragraph, though unscriptural, I do not speak of, but they are all founded on a totally false and unscriptural notion of the new birth, or rather are really the denial of it. “Perfect love” is in God, not in us; “full salvation” is only in glοry.
That, as stated in paragraph third, habitual victory over known sin is found in the Lord Jesus Christ, I fully admit. “Rejoicing in the possession of a pure heart created through faith by the ‘falling' of the Holy Ghost,” is an utterly unscriptural way of putting the matter, and, as far as true, is true of all Christians. But it is not a definite and distinct work of the Spirit which was the promise, but His presence. It is for every one; but a person is not in the Christian state without it, and by it his body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which cannot be by any distinct work.
John 14:1717Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. (John 14:17) is quoted to prove that Christians knew the Spirit. This is all a mistake. Christ is speaking of the Comforter not yet come (see ver. 16); “dwelleth with you” is the same word as “abide.” Christ could not abide with them, this Comforter, when He was come, would, and be in them, which Christ could not then either. But the Lord is distinctly speaking of the Comforter not yet come. He is speaking in express terms of the gift of the Comforter. I admit, and insist on the sealing as distinct from conversion and quickening. But all is confusion here. This sealing is not “revealing the Son in us.” The expression refers, as. Paul uses it, to Christ's, making Himself known to him. He was sealed after that through Ananias laying his hands upon him. “Strengthened with might by the Spirit” is the desire of the apostle for those who had received Him, as the apostle expressly declares, (Eph. 1:1818The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, (Ephesians 1:18).) “Dying and rising again” is our state in Christ, and belongs to all Christians.
The great mistake of this system is, that it makes an extraordinary mystical condition of what scripture speaks of as the only true Christian state; and so fills with thoughts of themselves those who think they have got it (possibly have been sealed). And further it is all man's will And heart, not grace and the power of the Holy Ghost, as is said indeed in this paper: “It is not of the mind, but a matter of the will and of the heart;” but of its being a matter of the Holy Ghost's presence and power, which makes a person, to be of Christ, not a thought. The body is dead because of sin, the Spirit life because of righteousness, if Christ be in us; if not, we are none of His, if even like the prodigal on the way.
Dead and risen with Christ, and we in Christ and Christ in us, is the Christian state; different from conversion, I admit, different from being born again; as the prodigal converted, repentant and returning,. was different from the prodigal with the best robe on him, and the ring on his hand, and then only fit to go into the house. We cannot be in Christ, without Christ being in us. (See John 14:2020At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. (John 14:20); Rom. 8:1, 9, 101There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:1)
9But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 10And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. (Romans 8:9‑10).) One is standing, the other is state. Romans however does not give rising with Christ now as a present state, for this epistle looks on the man, as an actual living man down here; Colossians does, but speaks of all Christians, when it does. “Obtaining the glory of Christ” now is a simple delusion. Our calling is above, in heaven, and, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; we shall be glorified together.
To the rest of this paragraph I have no objection, save that. it is mixing what is sober and scriptural, with what is false and illusory, and thus discrediting all.
“Soul union with Jesus” is language unknown to scripture. “He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit,” anti by that Spirit, we know, we are members of His body and in Him, and He in us. Hos. 2:16, 19, 2016And it shall be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali. (Hosea 2:16)
19And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. 20I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord. (Hosea 2:19‑20), applies to Israel, and has no reference to “soul union.” In Rom. 7:44Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. (Romans 7:4) they have been betrayed by the word “married” which is not in the original; and further this should have simian them that it is a question of the Christian state; for, till then, those spoken of were in the flesh, not of Christ; and it is by the Holy Ghost dwelling in them, that they are not in the flesh. (Rom. 8:99But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. (Romans 8:9).)
“Abiding in Christ” no Christian can speak against; but it has nothing to do in John 15 with any special privilege. It was the duty of all, and applied then before the Holy Ghost was given. The same as to holiness; without it no man shall see the Lord. We are called to it; but Ezek. 36:23-2923And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. 24For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. 25Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. 28And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. 29I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. (Ezekiel 36:23‑29) refers first to Israel, and then, according to John 3, to the new birth; 1 Thess. 5:23, 2423And 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. 24Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:23‑24), to the Christian's whole walk in holiness, and no special gift— “full salvation.” These quotations are a general wish for all Christians; and the fact that God will not let us be tempted beyond our force, is a blessed truth, but common to all saints. Neither of the quotations has anything to do with full salvation.
As to Christian perfection, perfect (τέλειος) means “fall grown,” translated in Heb. 5 “of full age.”
But the passage in Phil. 3 just shows the falseness of the view. This perfection the apostle had not attained—sinless or Christian. Our strangely deluded friends may think they are beyond him; they cannot be surprised if others demur to such a pretension. But he tells us what it is—the resurrection from among the dead, and winning Christ in glory; his calling was (ἄνω) above, heavenly glory and nothing else. And “perfect” means, when applied now, the knowledge not merely that our sins are forgiven, but that we are in Christ, have this new place with the Second man in glory, the mystery which God ordained before the world to our glory, as is expressly said in 1 Cor. 2:77But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: (1 Corinthians 2:7).
“Heart purity” I have not a word to say against, only that there is nothing peculiar in it; but it is attributed to receiving the truth, to faith, or to all faithful Christians, in the decay of the church.
What is said of the “peace of God” is a mere blunder. It is of the peace in which God is Himself. The passage speaks in respect of our cares, which we bring to Him, and it keeps our hearts, not our hearts keep it. It is a direction to all Christians.
The “anointing which abideth,” presented as a special experience, is expressly and with purpose spoken of babes in Christ, in contrast with advanced Christians, to encourage them against seducers. “Being filled with the Spirit” is an exhortation addressed to all Christians, because they all had it. If they had not, they were none of Christ's. (Rom. 8:99But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. (Romans 8:9).) And this I would press; for this is the grand and mischievous mistake of all these Christians. They give as extraordinary, and an acquisition of their own what scripture teaches as the only true Christian place of any. I admit the low state of the Christian church has given occasion to this; but our bodies being the temple of the Holy Ghost is given as a motive for the avoidance of the lowest and grossest sin.
“Life more abundantly” is again a true and blessed thing, but the only true Christian life. I do not deny that multitudes do not realize it, and that insisting on this is most profitable. My objection here is not to the fact, but to its being mixed with false pretensions and errors which discredit it.
So again of “following fully;” it is the duty clearly of all Christians. Christ is all, and they should walk as He walked—do this one thing—have no other motive for anything.
John 7:33, 3933Then said Jesus unto them, Yet a little while am I with you, and then I go unto him that sent me. (John 7:33)
39(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) (John 7:39), is stated of all believers, characterizing the dispensation of the Spirit, if I may so call it. John 3 gives birth by the Spirit; chapter 4, communion in the power of eternal life; chapter vii., the Spirit flowing out in spiritual blessing to others, in contrast with Christ's presence in the world.
“Risen with Christ” is clearly of all Christians. Press its realization; you cannot do better.
The “life of faith” is the only Christian life.
The “rest of faith” is all a delusion; we are in the fight and labor of faith now, being told (in the passage referred to) that there remains a rest, and that we must labor to enter into it. It is the object of the passage to show that Christians are not in it. It is said that believers are those who enter in, but not that they are entered. Life in the land shows the absurdity of it, for our land is heaven, and we are not there. And the passage insists on those in the land not having the promised rest.
The citation in Heb. 4, though wrong, they may be excused; for many take it falsely thus, but to quote chapter iii—is too bad. “The riches of full assurance” might be passed over too, only that it marks the excessively careless and unintelligent use of scripture. In Col. 2:22That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; (Colossians 2:2) it is the “full assurance of understanding to the acknowledgment of the mystery,” &c., and refers only to being guarded from philosophy and vain deceit by sound divinely-given knowledge. There are full assurance of faith and hope (Heb. 10:22; 6:1122Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:22)
11And we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: (Hebrews 6:11)); on this they may rightly insist. What they quote has nothing to do with the matter.
Deliverance (Rom. 7) is all right. It is what is the real truth of the high pretensions made by them and mysticised.
“Dwelling in love” is all right, only, though it may be more or less realized, a matter of real importance; it is expressly said of everyone who confesses that. Jesus is the Son of God. “The fullness of the blessing of the gospel” is the character of Paul's visit to Rome. The rest are all well, but the duty and privilege of every Christian.
I have omitted “life in heavenly places.” (Eph. 1:3; 2:63Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: (Ephesians 1:3)
6And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: (Ephesians 2:6).) Both places refer to the Christian position as such. The first says nothing of how fax it is realized; it is simply God's thoughts about Christians in contrast with Jews: Christians are blessed in that way. The second is a careful statement of the position of all Christians or Gentiles.
The use of “apprehension” taken from Phil. 3 shows only a mixture of ignorance and carelessness. Apprehension is just laying hold of that for which Christ has laid hold of us; that is, heavenly glory, resurrection from among the dead, the changing of our vile body. So Paul tells us that he had not attained it. The present state was “conversation in heaven;” the unattained was “the calling above.” There were professors who had their mind on earthly things; but their end, as such, was destruction. It is utterly false, that what he was pressing after was anything down here. Paul states the contrary, and it is the folly of mysticism to pretend it has apprehended what Paul had not. The addition of “apprehended of Christ” ought to have shown them that the word could not have any spiritual signification. Was Paul spiritually apprehended by Christ?
The passage in Eph. 1:18, 1918The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, (Ephesians 1:18‑19), is falsely quoted, and only so can be misapplied. It is God's calling and God's inheritance (an inheritance which the chapter expressly declares we have not yet got): the Spirit is the earnest of it. God's calling is in verses 3-5. How far it is realized in spirit now, actually when we are in the state to which we are called by God, is not touched on. It is simply what the calling is, which he desires they may all know.
It is really a weariness to discuss quotations made with no attention to the mind of God, and applied nearly all of them falsely to what they in no way refer to in the text. Knowledge is not everything; but when persons set about to teach, they ought to have respect for God's word and acquaintance with it. I reject their views. There is a setting aside of the true Christian state (not standing) which I believe most mischievous, to turn what God states of it into an experience of which they can boast; an art they have learned, an expression they specially approve of. I believe Christians are in a low state; but they hinder the deliverance by connecting it with error, and by the abuse of scripture taken apart from the context, and the mind of Christ revealed in it. Receiving the divine mind from the word of God is not theory, or calling anything by a right or wrong name. Theory is neglecting it for men's experience.
I have thought the best and most useful thing to do was to analyze briefly their use of scripture, and see, thus far, what their statements are worth. They substitute a work of the Spirit and their experience according to a low human theology, for the presence of the Holy Ghost and the revealed state of Christians according to the word. According to scripture a man is in the flesh, if the Holy Spirit does not dwell in him. This gives the deliverance they speak of; and Christian universal responsibility flows from it.
J. N. D.