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bookseller declared that it was to the interest of his fraternity to promote the extension of religion. "If we take a view of our stock, our copies, or our accounts, we find ourselves indebted to religion for so great a proportion of our income as three parts in four." "Not," he wrote, "to mention Bibles, and Common Prayers, Expositions and Manuals, which are a staple source, there are larger articles which have been estates to the proprietors. But if the scheme of Infidelity should generally prevail, will men buy books relating to religion when they think it a cheat, or a matter not worth their concern? Upon the whole, if religion fails, we may shut up our shops."

In what degree is this true to-day? The literary victory is still on the side of undefiled Christianity.

The Green Rose.

"DID you not say that there was a green rose in this place? There

than anything else." So said a visitor as he stood in a garden, where palms, and aloes, and all manner of rare plants, from many lands, were to be seen in perfection; and we should not be surprised if our reader, in like case, were to make the same observation. Yet, when the green rose was seen, it was at once denounced as nothing at all desirable, not a tenth as beautiful as a red or white rose. Just so, there are many folks in this world who must see that which is special, outré, unusual; yet, when they see this freak of nature, or of grace, they turn back to the more usual order of good things with considerable relief, for they feel that "the old is better." It is a pity when a man, especially a preacher, is merely a green rose, with a name for being something remarkable, but with no special excellence with which to maintain a reputation.' He attracts only for a moment, but sustains no permanent attention, for there is hardly as much about him as there is in the ordinary unpretending teacher of the gospel. Those wanderers who are always running all over the world after green roses, are by no means so wise as those who are content with the perfume and colour of that flower which grows over their own porch, whether it be red or white. The affectation of the unusual is a trick of the charlatan ; the craving after it is the weakness of the shallow-minded.

Yet, be it noted, that we do not wish to depreciate the green rose. You see we have almost fallen into that unfairness, but the fault was not intentional. We are glad to have seen it, for as a green rose it has charms of its own. Yet this eagerness to see it, this passing over of lovelier objects, this crying up of one beauty above another, inevitably leads to an undervaluing of that which has obtained undeserved prominence. Your foolish partiality has made your favourite a target for excessive criticism; but we will not yield to the temptation. God has made the green rose, and he makes nothing amiss. Your remarkable friend has his excellences, and God be thanked for them. Your eccentric preacher has his own adaptations for usefulness. Because you cry him up, we are not going to cry him down. Let each rose display its own colour, and let each man be himself, and let the Lord be glorified in all.-C. H. S.

TH

On Perfection.

BY REV. George rogers.

HERE have been some in nearly all ages of the church who have professed to have attained to sinless perfection. There are many such in the present day, who might be left to the enjoyment of their own opinion on this subject, but for the disturbing element introduced into the fellowship of the saints, and the false aspect it gives to Christianity before the world. We purpose, on this account, to show that it is contrary to Scripture teaching; that it is contrary to Christian experience; and that it is contrary to universal observation. I. It is CONTRARY TO SCRIPTURE TEACHING. If sinless perfection be one of the effects of Christianity in this life, it is reasonable to conclude that it will be directly and repeatedly affirmed in the Scriptures; that it will be so clearly defined that there can be no mistake concerning it; and that it will be enjoined as the duty and privilege of all the professed disciples of Christ. That it is not so revealed is obvious from its contrariety to the general belief of Christians in all ages, and its almost entire exclusion from theological systems ostensibly derived from the sacred Scriptures. There are, on the contrary, universal propositions in both Testaments that affirm the impossibility of a single exception to be found to human depravity in any one of the human race, and at any moment of time, on this side the grave. Thus saith the Old Testament: "There is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good, and sinneth not," and "There is none righteous, no not one." Thus saith the New: "The Scripture hath concluded all under sin," and, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." If it should be supposed that these declarations apply to men solely as men, and not subsequently to conversion, it may be replied that the best of men, under both Testaments, confess to indwelling sin, and none claim to be perfect. Job says, " Behold, I am vile." David says, "If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?" Isaiah says, "I am a man of unclean lips." Daniel says, "While I was praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people, the man Gabriel touched me.' Peter says, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." John says, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." Paul says, "I am the chief of sinners," "less than the least of all saints." Were they sincere in these confessions? Did they really feel themselves, with all the grace of God with which they had been favoured, to be vile and sinful in themselves? Unquestionably they did. Every one who has been enlightened by the Spirit of God knows more of his own sins than of the whole world besides, and justly feels himself to be "the chief of sinners." The more grace he receives from God, the more unworthy he appears to himself. He who speaks of himself before conversion as "touching the righteousness which is in the law blameless," after conversion speaks of himself as the chief of sinners. The least sin appears to him now more sinful than his whole former sinful course. When he writes, "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect," it is in his prison at Rome, when he had reason to suppose the time of his departure was at hand. He looked not for perfection until he had reached the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

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Exhortations to perfection do not imply the possibility of attaining it in this life. "Be ye perfect," said our Lord to his disciples," as your Father in heaven is perfect." This, though beyond attainment, is not beyond the duty and pleasure of seeking to attain. All the promises of sinless perfection relate to a future state of existence. They are such as these, "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that which thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me"; "That they may be made perfect in one"; "Till we all come unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ"; "That we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus"; "When that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall

ON PERFECTION.

be done away"; "The God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal
glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect,
"That he might present it to himself a glo-
stablish, strengthen, settle you."
rious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should
be holy and without blemish"; "Now unto him that is able to keep you from
falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceed-
ing joy"; "The spirits of just men made perfect." These promises of per-
fection hereafter show we are not to look for it in this life. It is to be sought
"Let us go on," says an apostle, "unto
here, that it may be obtained hereafter.
perfection." We must go on in this life either to perfection or to imperfection.
There is no standing still. Yet, if perfection at any moment could be obtained,
there we ought to rest and wish to abide for ever.

any

circumInstead of encouragement to Christians, at any time, or under stances, to think themselves perfect, there are warnings in Scripture against it. Though," said Peter, “all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. Jesus said unto him, Verily, I say unto thee, that this night, "I say unto you," says before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice." Paul to the Christians at Rome, "through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." The apostle speaks here with all the authority and tenderness of the grace he had hitherto received. He speaks to every one as though the admonition was equally needed by all. He cautions them not to think too much of themselves. He exhorts them to judge themselves, not by the measure of holiness they have in themselves, but by the measure of faith in Christ which "Thou standest by faith," he says, in a had been dealt out to them by God. previous chapter, "Be not high-minded, but fear." In a former part of the same Epistle he says, "Where is boasting? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay, but by the law of faith." Faith and perfection, as we shall presently see, do not agree together, but are destructive of each other. To Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a the Galatians the same apostle says, fault, ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; conThe spiritual here are the sidering thyself lest thou also be tempted." spiritually-minded, or Christians of the higher life, to whom the most delicate matters of church discipline should be entrusted. These, in dealing with the fallen, are to consider themselves not as more secure than others, but as equally liable to fall. The same apostle says elsewhere, "Let him that thinketh This rule he applies to himself: "I he standeth take heed lest he fall." keep under my body" (or, rather, I keep my body under), “and bring it into subjection; lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."

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There are some few instances in which the word perfect is applied to believers in this life, but not, we think, in its literal and widest acceptation. In 1 Cor. ii. 6, we read, "Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect," that is, perfect in wisdom in comparison with the wisdom of this world. The perfect among the Greeks were those whose education was complete, and who had attained to the highest rank of learning. This distinction the apostle claims above the greatest of heathen philosophers for the humblest scholar in the school of Christ. He that is wise unto salvation, however ignorant he may be in all other matters, is wiser than all the wise men of Greece and Rome. In Phil. iii. 15, we read, "Let us, therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded.' How thus minded? Pressing "towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." When in Col. ii. 10 it is said, "Ye are comfilled." "In him dwelleth all the plete in him," the proper rendering is " fulness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are filled in," or with, "him.”

In the First Epistle of John, we meet with what at first appear to be startling declarations: "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not; " again, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin ;" and yet again, "Whosoever is born of God

ON PERFECTION.

sinneth not." In all these instances the allusion is evidently to living in open sin. The first is explained by, "He that committeth sin is of the devil;" the second, by the principle in regeneration rendering it impossible to live in open sin; and the third, by reference to a sin unto death, or the unpardonable sin, Such was the state of society at that time, that not living in open sin was almost a sure sign of genuine Christianity, and especially if the change from one condition to the other had been sudden and entire; since nothing but the gospel could have produced such a change. In the commencement of the epistle the apostle had affirmed that neither he nor his fellow Christians could say they had no sin without deceiving themselves; and then proceeds to show the distinction between themselves and others in reference to sinning. speaks of the whole class of true Christians, "Whosoever is born of God," "Whosoever abideth in Christ," as not sinning in comparison with others. If, therefore, he predicates sinless perfection here, he predicates it of all Christians, and immediately after they are born of God.

He

Sufficient, we trust, has now been said to prove that sinless perfection in this life is contrary to Scripture teaching; and that the advocates of such a doctrine assume not to be wise only, but to be holy, above what is written.

II. It is CONTRARY TO CHRISTIAN EXPerience. some, it is not Christian experience. The apostle John supposes there may If it be the experience of be some who say they have no sin, but he says they deceive themselves. They may be conscientious in their belief, but it is a belief of what is not true. It is in some, perhaps, a momentary hallucination, in others a pleasing fiction, and in others a seeming and abiding reality; but it is no part of genuine Christian experience. It is, of course, a matter of experience only. If it really were a part of Scripture teaching, it could be known by experience only. It is not a belief in the Scriptures, in God, or in his Christ, but a belief in ourselves. It is no part of objective Christianity, but it belongs to the subjective only. It is not the experience of justification, or even of the faith of justification, because that is alike to all; nor of regeneration, because that is common to all. It can relate to sanctification only, which it supposes may become perfect in this life. This we maintain to be impossible, both from the nature of sanctification and its progressive and preparatory and probationary relation to a future state. It is not to legal righteousness, but to moral holiness, that sanctification refers. The legal righteousness of believers in Christ is perfected at once. Justification admits not of degrees. He that believeth is justified from all things at once, perfectly and for ever. Regeneration is alike perfected at once, and admits not of degrees, and is the same in all. It is a new principle of life in all, however different the after-growth or its completion may be. The same first act of faith that justifies regenerates, and, by its continuance, sanctifies and makes meet for the inheritance of saints in light. The faith of justification becomes the faith for sanctification. It is the faith that we are justified freely by grace, that purifies the heart, overcomes the world, and works by love. There is an essential distinction between the holiness of the law and the holiness of the gospel. It is not the holiness that man lost by the fall that is restored to him by the gospel. It is not, as under the law, first a complete course of moral holiness, and then a reward of eternal justification, as in the case of good angels, and the original constitution of the human race. righteousness of justification, and then the holiness of sanctification. The It is first the righteousness for our justification is in another, and for ever remains in him; and the holiness of sanctification is in ourselves, and yet not of ourselves, but is ever dependent upon our union with him by whose righteousness we are justified. He of God is made unto us both righteousness and sanctification, As justification is not to be just, but to be made just, so sanctification is not to be holy, but to be made holy. As justification is of the guilty, or those who are charged with guilt, so sanctification is of the unholy and unclean. By the righteousness of Christ we are justified, and by the Spirit of Christ we are sanctified. Hence the holiness of sanctification in us is not of native but of

foreign origin and growth.

It is not we that live, but Christ that liveth in us; and the life we live in the flesh is by the faith of the Son of God, who loved us and gave himself for us.' Here, in two respects, the holiness of the gospel differs essentially from the holiness of the law. It is imparted, not inherent holiness; and it is a holiness derived not from our own works, but from faith in the work of another on our behalf. The holiness of the law could not dwell for a single moment in the same heart with the least sin; but the holiness of the gospel is implanted in a sinful nature, and long dwells in the same soul with indwelling sin. This is because it is Christ that liveth in us. Doth the same fountain send forth bitter waters and sweet? How are we to account for sin and holiness dwelling in the same heart, if not by different fountains from which they flow? It is by the conflict between sin and holiness in the same man that the process of sanctification is carried on. "The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." The flesh is here put for the opposing principle of sin, and consequently applies to man so long as he remains in the flesh. With the entire sanctification of the soul, or its perfection in holiness, the conflict ceases; but then abiding in the flesh ceases too. The holiness that remains is the holiness of the indwelling Saviour; not the holiness of our obedience to the law. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart" is the fulfilling of the law. "The love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that he died for all, that they which live should not live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again," is the fulfilling of the gospel. It scarcely becomes Christians to speak of what they are in themselves, except that they are vile and worthless, and much less that they are perfectly free from sin. If they are perfect it is only because they are perfect in Christ, but not yet made perfect by him. They live by faith, and by faith they stand; but faith has reference to some future good, some promise unfulfilled. It relates not to what we are, but to what we shall be. It is strongest in another when we are least satisfied with ourselves. It flourishes less in the sunshine than in the shade. They who are perfect have ceased to live by faith; and with faith, all the graces that spring from it here and the hope of glory hereafter are gone. It is by faith that we receive from the fulness of Christ, all that makes us to differ from those who are not found in him. "What hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?" Were the grace that is in Christ to cease for one moment to flow into the souls of those who are Christ's their whole spiritual life at that moment would cease. "Without me," he says, "ye can do nothing." "As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me." Surely then it does not become any one, at any time, to say, "I am perfect in holiness" who at the next moment, if left to himself, would be without Christ, having no hope, and without God in the world. It will not cease to be true in heaven that we have sinned, and at any moment would relapse into a sinful state if left to ourselves, of which there will be an eternal memorial in the songs of the redeemed and in the person of the Redeemer upon the throne. This, by increasing our gratitude and love, and the glory of God by the less merit due to ourselves, raises us both in holiness and happiness above those who have never sinned. More perfect in Christ we shall be than we could ever have been in ourselves. III. Sinless perfection in this life is CONTRARY TO UNIVERSAL OBSERVATION. It is not enough for any to profess to have it in themselves; it should be seen by others. "If," said our Lord, "I bear witness of myself my witness is not true." He did not wish his bare word, without any other knowledge of himself or the testimony of others, to be taken as true. Yet he claimed to bear witness of himself when what he did corresponded with what he said. "The works," he said, "which the Father had given me to do bear witness of me." And again, "If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin." This we may reasonably require of Perfectionists. "The servant is

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