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<P align=center><FONT size=4><FONT color=#ff0000><B>EXPLANATION OF GAL. V. 
16-23.</B></FONT></FONT><FONT size=4></FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>"This I say then, Walk in. the Spirit, and ye shall not 
  fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and 
  the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other: so 
  that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye 
  are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are 
  these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, 
  witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 
  envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell 
  you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they that do such 
  things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is 
  love, joy, peace, long-suffuring, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, 
  temperance: against such there is no law."</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>THE main use that, by a large portion of the Church, is made 
  of this passage, one of the most important, when rightly understood, in the 
  whole New Testament, is to sustain, by an application of Verse 17, a certain 
  doctrine, the doctrine of the continued conscious sinfulness of all believers 
  in this life. The conflict between the flesh and Spirit is of such a nature we 
  are here taught, it is affirmed, that the believer cannot do the things that 
  he would, that is, render the obedience which he purposes to render, or avoid 
  "fulfilling the lust of the flesh," as he desires and attempts to do. This 
  exposition imputes to the apostle, and to the Spirit of Inspiration in him, 
  the most palpable contradiction and absurdity conceivable. His avowed object 
  in this verse is, to verify, and the right exposition of it will verify, the 
  proposition laid down in Verse 16, namely, "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall 
  not fulfil the lust of the flesh." "For," that is, this proposition is, and 
  must be true, because of the nature of the antagonism between the flesh and 
  the Spirit. What is the logic of the apostle according to the construction 
  under consideration of Verse 17? It is this: The proposition, "Walk in the 
  Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh," must be true, because 
  there is such a conflict going on within you between the flesh and Spirit as 
  to render it impossible for you to "walk in the Spirit," on the one hand, or 
  to avoid "fulfilling the lusts of the flesh," should you desire and determine 
  to do it, on the other. A construction which imputes to the Spirit of God such 
  logic as that cannot accord with "the mind of the Spirit." The error and 
  absurdity of this exposition will become still more manifest as we proceed. As 
  preparatory to a correct exposition of these two verses, with those that 
  follow, let us first of all identify </FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL>
  <CENTER><FONT size=4><FONT color=#ff0000><I>The Parties at Issue in the 
  Conflict here described.</I></FONT></FONT><FONT size=4></FONT></CENTER></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>The exposition above referred to assumes that the parties 
designated in this passage, as in conflict against each other, are the flesh on 
the one hand, and our own spirits on the other. This, as the whole context 
evinces, and Meyer most abundantly proves, is a great mistake. We are never 
required in the Scriptures to walk in our own spirits, but to "abide in Christ," 
to "walk in the light "(of God), and to "walk in the Spirit" (of God), to "walk 
after the Spirit." Throughout this epistle the flesh and the Spirit are set over 
against each other, and the term "the Spirit" invariably represents, as all 
commentators agree, the Spirit of God. The parties here represented, then, as in 
conflict, are, without a question, the flesh, or our sinful propensities, on the 
one hand, and the Spirit of God on the other. The case here presented is very 
different from that presented in Romans vii. 5-25, particularly in Verse 23"But 
I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and 
bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members." In this 
case the conflict is between "the flesh," the sinful propensities, and the 
conscience, "the law of the mind," the former impelling to sin, and the latter 
to obedience, while "the flesh" is always victorious. In other words, in this 
case the warfare is between two opposite principles of our own natureour sinful 
propensities, and the conscience, with the former, as we said, always in the 
ascendant. The case presented in the passage under consideration (Gal. V. 17), 
on the one hand, is a conflict between the flesh, or sinful propensities, and 
the Spirit of God, and the believer may obey the latter. The error of the 
construction of Verse 17, the construction which we have already refuted, now 
becomes more palpable than it was before. This construction represents "the 
flesh" as in conflict, not with the spirit of man, but with the Spirit of God, 
and as so omnipotent, even against the latter, as to render it impossible for 
the Eternal Spirit Himself to enable the believer, when he desires and 
endeavours in the strength of God to do it, to avoid "fulfilling the lust of the 
flesh." Keeping distinctly in mind the great truth, that the parties revealed, 
in this passage, as in conflict the one against the other, are "the flesh" on 
the one hand, and "the Spirit of God" on the other, we now proceed to an 
exposition of the passage itself.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P align=center><FONT size=4><FONT color=#ff0000><I>Verse</I> 
16.</FONT></FONT><FONT size=4></FONT> 
<P align=center><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>To "walk in the Spirit" is the same thing as (Verse 18) to be 
  "led by the Spirit." "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord," 
  says the apostle, "so walk ye in Him." When we received Christ, we accepted of 
  Him, as our "prophet, priest, and king," committing all your powers and 
  interest to His guidance, control, and keeping. We walk in Christ when we do 
  not "cast away our confidence," but continue to trust Him as we did at the 
  beginning. The Spirit is given to us to us to "abide with us for ever," to 
  "lead us into all truth," to "reveal the Son of God in us," to sanctify us "in 
  soul, body, and spirit," to "keep us from falling," to endue us with "power 
  for every good word and work," to show us "the glory of the Lord," so that "we 
  shall be changed into the same image from glory to glory," and to perfect and 
  perpetuate "our fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ." We 
  "walk in the Spirit" when we constantly yield ourselves up to His guidance. 
  The revealed result of our doing this is, that we "shall not fulfil the lust 
  of the flesh."</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P align=center><FONT size=4><FONT color=#ff0000><I>Verse</I> 
17.</FONT></FONT><FONT size=4></FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>The original word "<I>gar</I>," here rendered "<I>for</I>," 
  has, according to the united testimony of all standard authorities, this fixed 
  meaningto wit, it implies that what follows contains the reason for what has 
  been previously said or implied. In the verse before us, then, we have the 
  inspired <I>reason why</I> those who "walk in the Spirit shall not fulfil the 
  lust of the flesh." The reason is, that what the Spirit desires and impels us 
  to do the flesh opposes; and what the flesh impels us to do the Spirit 
  opposes, and the desires and efforts of each are opposed, repugnant, and 
  contradictory to those of the other. The control of one must, consequently, 
  exclude that of the other. As "they that are in the flesh (under its control) 
  cannot please God," so they that "walk in" or are "led by" "the Spirit," 
  cannot do what is contrary to the Spirit, that is, "fulfil the lust of the 
  flesh" The meaning of the words, "so that ye cannot do the things that ye 
  would," is obviously this: when under the control of the flesh ye cannot do 
  what you would desire and will do if under the control of the Spirit; and, 
  when under the control of the Spirit, ye cannot do what you would desire and 
  will to do if under the control of the flesh. It follows, therefore, that if 
  ye will walk in the Spirit, ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. Thus 
  explained, the whole argument of the apostle has perfect, logical 
  consecutiveness, as well as great moral and spiritual significancy.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<P align=center><FONT size=4><FONT color=#ff0000><I>Verse</I> 
I8.</FONT></FONT><FONT size=4></FONT> 
<P align=center><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>In this verse the apostle opens to us the blessed freedom in 
  which. we are, when "led by the Spirit," or "walking in the Spirit"both forms 
  of expression, as we have seen, meaning the same thing. We "are not under the 
  law," that is, as Meyer very truly expresses the meaning of these words, we 
  are then kept from doing anything on account of which "the law has power to 
  censure, to condemn, or to punish us." "Against such" as bring forth "the 
  fruit of the Spirit," the apostle affirms (Verse 23) "there is no law," no law 
  by which "the fruit" they bring forth can be condemned. The same great truth 
  is expressed by the apostle (Rom. Viii. 1-4), " There is, therefore, now no 
  condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, «ho walk, not after the flesh, 
  but after the Spirit." The specific reason assigned, all our past sins, as 
  previously shown, being forgiven, is, that in our few relation to Christ, and 
  new life and walk in the Spirit, we are kept from doing what would bring us 
  into condemnation. In Christ and under the power of the Spirit, we are "made 
  free from the law of sin and death," "sin in the flesh is condemned," that is, 
  doomed to death, while "the righteousness of the law," the moral rectitude, 
  which the law demands, "is fulfilled in us." "In Christ," and "walking, not 
  after the flesh, but after the Spirit," that is, "walking in the Spirit," we 
  are "kept," while this union continues, "by the power of God through faith," 
  from doing what God, or his law, condemns. In other words still, when "in 
  Christ," and "led by the Spirit," we "serve God unto all pleasing."</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>Creatures are under the law in different senses: for example, 
  as a rule of moral action, in which sense all moral agents ever must be 
  subject to, or under, the lawas a dispensation of law in distinction from a 
  dispensation of grace, in which sense no believer is under the law-and as 
  subject to the penalty of the law on account of sin, that is "under the curse 
  of the law," a sense in which all. believers are not under the law, but are 
  redeemed from the curse by the atonement of Christ. They are not at all under 
  the law in this last sense whose sins are forgiven, and who are kept from 
  doing that which brings them again under the penalty of the law. This is the 
  revealed state of all who "are in Christ Jesus," and "walk after the Spirit." 
  Their past sins are all forgiven, and they are kept from doing that which 
  subjects them again to the curse of the lawthat is, they that are led by the 
  Spirit are not under the law, are kept from doing what subjects them to the 
  penalty of the law.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<P align=center><FONT size=4><FONT color=#ff0000><I>Verses</I> 
19-23.</FONT></FONT><FONT size=4></FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>In these verses the apostle sets before us, in vivid and most 
  impressive contrast, "the works of the flesh" on the one hand, and "the fruit 
  of the Spirit" on the othermany of which works we shall do in fact and all in 
  spirit "if we walk after the flesh," and "fruit" which we shall "bring forth 
  unto God" if we "walk in" and are "led by the Spirit." "Living after the flesh 
  we shall die." "Abiding in Christ," and "walking not after the flesh, but 
  after the Spirit," we shall "have our fruit unto holiness and the end 
  everlasting life" "fruit" against those who bear which "there is no law." 
  Such, unquestionably, is the real meaning of the whole passage under 
  consideration, a passage every word of which, when rightly understood, is 
  "like apples of gold in pictures of silver," but which, when misunderstood and 
  misapplied (as it too long has been) "throws disastrous twilight over the face 
  of the Sun of righteousness." We find ourselves in the unveiled presence of 
  this dread alternativeto "resist the Holy Ghost," "live after the flesh," and 
  die, or "through the Spirit, to mortify the deeds of the body," and live. 
  While we must serve one or the other of them, "no man can serve these two 
  masters."</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P align=center><FONT size=4><FONT color=#ff0000><B>EXPLANATION OF PHIL. III. 
12-17.</B></FONT></FONT><FONT size=4></FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>"Not as though I had already attained, either were already 
  perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that ~ïr which also I am 
  apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren I count not myself to have apprehended : 
  but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching 
  forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the 
  prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as 
  be perfect, he thus minded : and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God 
  shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereto we have already 
  attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. Brethren, 
  be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an 
  ensample."</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>WHEN individuals read the Bible with a certain doctrine 
  before their minds, they are inclined to assume, as teaching their dogma, 
  every passage in which a word appears which, in any of its many meanings, 
  does, in some single one of them, represent that doctrine. If as far as 
  <I>words</I> are concerned, the same thing is, in the same passage, affirmed 
  and denied of the same individual, that form of expression is seized upon 
  which seems to favour the favourite doctrine, and is ever after employed as 
  absolute proof of the same, and that to the utter disregard of the opposite 
  declaration which stands out distinctly before us in the same passage. Those 
  who thus read the Word of God read it with a veil before their minds, a veil 
  which often hides from their view all that is vital in what they 
read.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>In illustration of these statements, let us consider the use 
  that is very extensively made of a single expression found in the passage 
  before us, namely, "Not as though I bad already attained, either were already 
  perfect." An individual opens the Bible with this doctrine in his mind and 
  heart, that of the continued conscious sinfulness of all believers in this 
  life. As soon as he meets with the words above cited he stops right there, and 
  from the mere words before him, and with no consideration of the circumstances 
  and context, draws the wide, sweeping inference that Paul did not, as he 
  elsewhere positively affirmed himself to have done, "serve God with a pure 
  conscience," "a conscience void of offence both toward God and toward man," 
  but with continued conscious violations of the word and will of God. Nor does 
  the individual stop here. From the mere words, "not as though I were already 
  perfect," the still further sweeping inference is drawn, that we are here 
  divinely taught, and required to believe, that no believer in Jesus ever did, 
  or ever will, from the beginning to the end of time, attain in this life to 
  full salvation from conscious sin. Can we conceive of a more blind and 
  presumptious use of the words of Scripture?"</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>If the mere words, "not as though I were already perfect," of 
  themselves, prove that Paul was living in conscious sin, we have, in the New 
  Testament, absolute proof that Christ "did know sin," and was conscious of the 
  fact. "I do cures," says our Saviour, "to-day and to-morrow, and the third day 
  (after my death) I shall be perfected," perfect, the same identical word in 
  the original as Paul, in the passage under consideration, applies to himself. 
  In the above declaration of our Saviour we have absolute proof that, in the 
  sense in which the word "perfected" is there used, Christ did not become 
  perfect until after His death and resurrection. In Heb. ii. 10, and v. 9, we 
  are positively taught that Christ "was made perfect" after His sufferings, and 
  in consequence of the same. Certainly Biblical scholars and all intelligent 
  readers of the Bible ought not thus carelessly to interpret the Sacred Word. 
  Besides, in the passage under consideration, the word <I>perfect</I> is 
  unquestionably applied to Paul in the <I>positive</I> and <I>negative</I> 
  sense: "Not as though I were already perfect""Let us, therefore, as many as 
  be perfect be thus minded." It is demonstrably evident, that in the judgment 
  of Paul, and that of his readers, the term perfect has at least two meanings, 
  and that, according to one meaning, he regarded himself as not being, and 
  according to the other as being, perfect. Before any doctrine is deduced from 
  either of the above declarations, should we not carefully inquire for, and 
  determine the two senses of the word perfect, as here employed, and then see 
  in which of them Paul affirms himself not to be, and in which to be, perfect? 
  To such an inquiry we will now address ourselves, and that as a means of a 
  clear exposition of the whole passage before us. We would here, for the sake 
  of being distinctly understood, state that we do not regard ourselves as 
  authorised at all from the mere fact that an individual is affirmed to have 
  been "perfect," to infer that he lived without ever sin fling. The 
  <I>degree</I> of the moral purity implied must be determined, not by the mere 
  force of the word, but by the context and other attendant circumstances and 
  qualifying terms.</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P align=center><FONT size=4><FONT color=#ff0000><I>What is it that Paul refers 
to in the words, "Not as though I had already attained, either were already 
perfect?"</I></FONT></FONT><FONT size=4></FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>It is to us a matter of surprise that any intelligent reader of 
the Bible should misunderstand the apostle in this passage. He represents 
himself as "following after," and "reaching forth" for something which he had 
not then "attained," or "apprehended," a something the attainment of which was 
necessary to his being "perfect" in the sense in which the term is there 
employed. What this something was is specifically slated in Verses 11 and 14, 
namely, not present perfection in holiness but "the <I>resurrection</I> of the 
dead," "the <I>prize</I> of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." The prize 
towards which the runner on the racecourse "reached forth" for and "pressed 
towards," was not present perfection as a runner, but "the prize," the crown, 
the status of honour and glory which awaited the victor at the end of the 
course. The term rendered resurrection, is, in the form here employed, found but 
in this single instance, in the New Testament, and in this place unquestionably 
represents the higher resurrection, that of the <I>just</I>. No person has 
occasion to do anything to have a part in the general resurrection, as all must 
arise, the "just and the unjust." But to attain to a part in the higher 
resurrectionthe resurrection of the justdepends upon conditions, to be 
fulfilled in this life. To fulfil these conditions, and thus secure this 
infinite and eternal good, was, as Paul himself affirms, what be was "following 
after," and "pressing towards." In reference to this great end of existence, as 
far as his personal aims were concerned, it was necessary that he should say to 
his readers, that he "had not already attained, either were already perfect." 
The condition of receiving the prize, as he well knew, and he supremely desired 
his readers to know, was, that we "finish our course," "hold the beginning of 
our confidence steadfast even to the end," that we "bold fast until Christ shall 
come," and " overcome, and keep His works unto the end." He was well aware, 
also, that believers, after they have advanced to certain distances in the 
Christian course, would be strongly tempted to assume that their eternity was 
secure, and thus to remit their diligence. How adapted to prevent such an error 
was his affirmation that he did not "count even himself to have apprehended," 
but was "following after," "pressing toward the prize," which could be secured 
but by "finishing the course" upon which he had entered.</FONT> 
<P align=center><FONT size=4><FONT color=#ff0000><I>How his Grecian readers must 
have understood the apostle.</I></FONT></FONT><FONT size=4></FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>We must bear in mind that Paul was writing to Greeks, who, as he 
was well aware, employed the term <I>perfect</I> in two distinct, and separate 
senses in reference to those who contended for the prize in the 
racecoursesenses which they never confounded the one with the other. In the 
first sense the term represented the status of those who were victors in the 
race, had received the crown, and, as a consequence, were raised to a position 
among the most honoured of the nation. Ever after, such individuals were called 
the teleioi, the perfect, or perfected ones, and the term in all such cases had 
one fixed and exclusive meaning, to wit, perfection in honour or glory. Now, had 
Paul, in the words, "either were already perfect," employed the word perfect in 
the sense not of future perfection in glory, but of moral perfection, he would 
have utterly misled every one of the readers to whom his epistle was addressed, 
and we violate every principle of correct interpretation, when we understand the 
term in the latter, instead of in the former, sense.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>In still another and equally definite sense, the Greeks were 
  accustomed to apply the term "perfect" to the class under consideration; 
  namely, riot in respect to their <I>status</I> as victors, but with reference 
  to their character and conduct as <I>runners</I>. Two individuals, for 
  example, appeared at the starting-place to contend for the prize. The eye of 
  every Greek present would be instantly fixed upon the rivals to form a 
  judgment of their character as runners. One comes forward with an appearance 
  and manner indicative of the perfection of his previous training. Every weight 
  and encumbrance are laid aside, and every article of dress is adjusted with 
  fixed and exclusive reference to one end, the race in prospect. As he stands 
  before "the cloud of witnesses" with whom he is encircled, he seems to be 
  utterly unconscious of their presence. His face and eyes are turned in one 
  fixed directionthe course and goal in prospectwhile a position and attitude 
  are assumed most favourable for the start. See that man the Greeks would 
  exclaim; there is a perfect runner. The other individual appears with his 
  dress and manner adjusted to attract attention and admiration. As he stands in 
  the presence of the throng, his eye is fixed, not upon the course and goal in 
  prospect, but is constantly turned to the scene around him. Contemptible 
  fellow! the Greeks would exclaim. He will fail, of course. After the word 
  start is given, the first individual is off in an instant, and, from the 
  beginning to the end of the course, his eye and his thought are in one fixed 
  direction, not upon what is behind, but upon the course in prospect, while 
  every possible energy is pressed into requisition until the goal is reached, 
  and the runner perfected. "The perfect runner, the perfect runner!" the 
  multitude would exclaim, as they witnessed the conduct and manner of the man 
  on the course. The other individual, when the command is given to start, is 
  not quite ready, and loses precious moments here. On the way his attention is 
  drawn, first in one direction, and then in another; occasionally he looks 
  behind him to determine how much of the course he had passed over. "Fool! 
  fool!" the Greeks would exclaim, "He ought to fail." The individual who had 
  gained the prize in the manner explained, would ever after be called perfect 
  in two distinct and separate respectsas a victor perfected in glory and as a 
  runner for the prize. In these two distinct and separate senses all his Greek 
  readers must have understood Paul in the words, "Not as though I were already 
  perfect," and "Let us as many as be perfect be thus minded." Had he employed 
  the first as representing his then moral and spiritual state, and not with 
  reference to "the prize of the high calling," that is, perfection in glory 
  which awaited him at the end of his course, he would, we repeat, have totally 
  misled every one of his Greek readers, and involved himself in the most 
  palpable contradiction. As rightly explained, the whole passage has perfect 
  self-consistency, and the most impressive and important moral bearing. It 
  clearly sets before us the personal aim which should command our supreme 
  regard, the resurrection of the just, "the prize of the high calling of God in 
  Christ Jesus," and the spirit and manner in which the end aimed at should be 
  pursuedthat is, with the same singleness of purpose and object with which the 
  perfect runner attained victory and perfection in glory in the ancient 
  races.</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P align=center><FONT size=4><FONT color=#ff0000><I>Paul's character, as a 
believer in Jesus, as revealed in this passage, and in the 
context.</I></FONT></FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4><FONT color=#ff0000></FONT></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4><FONT color=#ff0000></FONT></FONT><FONT size=4>As we have 
  said, the term perfect does not, of itself; when employed in a moral sense, 
  determine the exact state of the individual to whom said term is applied. In 
  the chapter from which the passage under consideration is taken, we have a 
  complete and specific and inspired statement of the apostle's character and 
  life as a Christian, as they were revealed in his own consciousness. In the 
  preceding part of the chapter he gives in a simple, didactive form, in the 
  absence of figures of speech, a statement of his conscious Christian character 
  and life. His high standing in Jews' religion, with all else, were "loss," of 
  no account to him. Nor had any worldly objects the remotest power over him to 
  draw him back towards the worldly life. Let us carefully read the whole 
  passage: "Yea doubtless, and I count all things <I>but</I> loss for the 
  excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered 
  the loss of all things, and do count them <I>but</I> dung, that I may win 
  Christ, and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of 
  the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness 
  which is of God by faith: that I may know him, and the power of his 
  resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable 
  unto his death: if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the 
  dead." We may safely challenge the world to designate a single defect in the 
  character here portrayed, or a single element necessary to its completeness, 
  that is wanted in the inspired portraiture. What has been supposed by many to 
  be a confessed defect of character and experience, is a necessary element of 
  their completeness and perfection. He who is seeking a supreme good, the 
  attainment of which is conditioned upon his "fighting (out to the end) the 
  good fight," <I>finishing</I> his course and keeping the faith," and is 
  running a race for a prize not rendered secure until the goal is reached, 
  must, at no prior moment, "count himself to have attained," or "to have 
  apprehended." The immutable condition of the completeness of his character in 
  such a race is, that the subject "forgets those things which are behind, 
  reaches forth towards those things which are before, and presses toward the 
  mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." The Christian 
  character and conduct of Paul would have been essentially defective but for 
  the presence of these very elements. Their presence, on the other hand, 
  renders the portraiture "perfect and complete, wanting nothing." If we compare 
  Paul's description of himself under the impressive figure of a runner for the 
  prize of life eternal, we shall find that he absolutely affirms of himself 
  every characteristic, and that in its strongest form, the characteristic which 
  constituted the very highest Grecian ideal of a perfect runner. Nothing, 
  undeniably, is wanting to the full completeness of the portraiture here drawn. 
  It is in view of such a presentation that Paul adds, "Let us, as many as be 
  perfect, be thus minded"; and, "Be ye followers of me, and mark them which 
  walk so as ye have us for an ensample." If any one imputes conscious sin to 
  Paul, that is imputed to him of which he absolutely reveals and affirms 
  himself not to have been conscious. Brethren, the revealed portraiture is 
  before you. Will you not read it over again, and then heed the command, "Be ye 
  followers of me," and "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of 
  Christ"</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P align=center><FONT size=4></FONT><FONT size=5><FONT color=#ff0000><B>JAMES 
XXX. 1, 2.</B></FONT></FONT><FONT color=#ff0000><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT><FONT 
size=4></FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>"My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall 
  receive the greater condemnation. For in many things we offend all. If any man 
  offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the 
  whole body."</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>THE first clause in the second verse, "For in many things we 
  offend all," is affirmed, by some, to be an independent clause, and to teach 
  the great fact, that all men, believers included, do offend in many respects. 
  If this is the right exposition of this clause, then it cannot be true that 
  the grace or blood of Christ ever does or ever will, in this life, "Cleanse 
  any believer from all unrighteousness." A careful examination of the clause 
  will absolutely evince, that it is not an independent but conditional one, and 
  that it sets before us but a single class of individuals as great offenders, 
  and consequently subject to "the greater condemnation," viz., those who become 
  "masters."</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>Before attempting a direct exposition of this whole passage, 
  we will explain several words and phrases found in it. The original term here 
  rendered "masters," often means not merely teachers, but slanderers, or 
  critics of the manners and morals of others. The Greeks and Romans, as Calvin 
  remarks, "were accustomed to call persons of the class last designated, 
  masters, because they set themselves up as masters in morals," thus through 
  "an unbridled tongue, setting on fire the course of nature," such a tongue 
  "being itself set on fire of hell." This is evidently the sense in which the 
  term under consideration is used in the passage before us. The Apostle, as 
  Calvin also truly observes, employs the term "many masters," because many were 
  tempted and inclined to "rush into this business." The meaning of the clause 
  under consideration may be thus expressed: Do inot, a multitude of you, my 
  brethrenthat is, any of youbecome masters, and thus by the use of the 
  unbridled tongue "bite and devour one another." The meaning of this 
  prohibition is identical with that of our Saviour in the words, "Judge not, 
  that ye be not judged."</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>The original word rendered "condemnation" is the same as is 
  rendered "damnation "(Matt. xxiii. 14), the words rendered greater in these 
  passages having the same identical meaning. The words "Ye shall receive the 
  greater damnation," and "Ye shall receive the greater condemnation" have 
  undeniably the same meaning. In both cases alike most aggravated sins are 
  referred to as the reason for the "damnation" on the one hand, and the 
  "condemnation" on the other. The meaning of the entire verse is obviously 
  this: My brethren, do not a multitude of youthat is, any of you become 
  masters, critics, "judging," and "biting, and devouring one another." This we 
  should avoid, because we knowChrist having told us sothat, if we become 
  such, we shall receive "the greater condemnation," "receiving judgment without 
  mercy, because we show no mercy," being ourselves judged, because we have thus 
  judged others. The apostle, as all agree, is not to be understood as affirming 
  in the absolute and universal sense that we all, saints and sinners included, 
  "shall receive the greater condemnation." The declaration is obviously a 
  conditional one, and affirms that we shall receive this condemnation, provided 
  we become masters.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>The term "many things" in Verse 2 is but one word, 
  <I>polla</I>, in the original. This word is often employed adverbially, and is 
  rendered <I>much</I>, <I>greatly,</I> <I>earnestly</I>, as "I wept 
  <I>much</I>," "He besought Him much," and "He <I>straitly</I> (earnestly) 
  charged charged them." In all such passages the word rendered "many things" is 
  employed. The meaning of the phrase "in many things we offend all " is, as all 
  will admit, this : we all offend much, or are aggravated ïfÃenIIers. The 
  original word <I>gar</I>, here rendered "for," has one fixed meaning in the 
  original Greek, and always implies that the clause with which it is connected 
  contains the reason of what has before been affirmed or implied. The words "in 
  many things we offend all," or are all of us aggravated offenders, present the 
  reason why, in case we become "masters," we shall receive "the greater 
  condemnation." The real and undeniable meaning of Verse I, and the first 
  clause of Verse 2, may be thus expressed :My brethren, do not a 
  multitudethat is, any of youbecome masters, we knowing that in that case we 
  shall receive the greater condemnation," for or because we all are then great 
  offenders.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>In the two verses under consideration we have two classes of 
  characters set in vivid and impressive contrast over against each otherthe 
  individuals possessed of the unbridled tongue, on the one hand, and those who 
  bridle the tongue and do not "offend in word," on the other. The former are 
  all aggravated offenders and will "receive the greater condemnation." The 
  latter are "perfect men, and able also to bridle the whole body." No 
  exposition can be more obviously valid than this.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>No exposition, on the other hand, can be more palpably 
  erroneous, and opposed to all laws of sound Biblical criticism, than is that 
  which makes the clause, "for in many things we offend all," an independent 
  one, and consequently inclusive of the writer himself and all other believers. 
  We have the same identical reasons for assuming that the preceding clause is 
  thus independent and universal in its meaning, and hence to conclude that all 
  believers, the apostle included, will be condemned with the wicked, as we have 
  to infer from that under consideration, that all believers are, and to the end 
  of time will be, great offenders. The term "for," etc., connects indissolubly 
  those two clauses and renders each in the same sense, conditional, that the 
  other is. If the latter clause is to be understood as affirming that all 
  believers are great offenders, the former, by all the laws of interpretation, 
  must be understood as affirming, with the same absoluteness, that all will 
  "receive the greater condemnation." The term, "for," we repeat, indissolubly 
  connects these two clauses, and renders the latter explicative of the former. 
  If one is accepted as an independent clause, the other must be. If, on the 
  other hand, both are accepted, as they should be, as in the same sense, and 
  for the same reason, conditional, then the meaning of the whole passage 
  becomes plain, and of the most 1m-portant import.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4>The reason why those who read the Bible but in the English 
translation fall into the mistake of regarding the words, "in many things we 
offend all," as an independent clause, and consequently, as designating all 
believers to the end of time, is that the clause, by being placed in the second 
verse, is separated seemingly from its proper connections. Those who read the 
original, however, evince the greatest carelessness when they fall into such a 
palpable error.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P align=center><FONT size=4><FONT color=#ff0000><B>I JOHN I. 
8.</FONT></FONT><FONT size=4></B></FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4><B></B></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>"If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth 
is not in us."</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>THERE are very few passages in the whole circle of the Word 
  of God, that demand a more careful study than the one before us. We have, 
  undeniably, in this passage, a revealed test of Christian character. Every 
  individual, who, in the sense in which the words, "we have no sin," are here 
  employed, does say, "I have no sin," is not, and cannot be, a 
Christian.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>To affirm of an individijal, that he is self-deceived, and 
  that the truth is not in him, is in the strongest language known in the Bible, 
  to affirm his unregeneracy. That the apostle intends to specify here a 
  self-deceived, unregenerate person is evident also from the manner in which he 
  employs similar language in the fourth verse of the next chapter: "He that 
  saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth 
  is not in Him." To be " a liar," to " deceive ourselves," which is the worst 
  form of lying, and not to have "the truth in us," must designate impenitency, 
  or no language of Scripture can do it. Let us keep in mind, then, that it is 
  not a believer who may have misapprehended his real spiritual state, "not 
  knowing what manner of spirit he is of," but a person void of the truth, and 
  who has added self-deception to a want of integrity, that is here spoken 
  of.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>We would remark further, that it is of known, or conscious, 
  sin of which the apostle here speaks. When the apostle Paul, for example, says 
  (Gal. vi. 3), 'dlf a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he 
  deceiveth himself," the obvious meaning is, that the individual practises 
  deception upon himselfthat is, in blind and wilful disregard of conscious 
  facts, he assumes that he is not what, in his interior conciousness, he really 
  knows hiniself to be, or that he is what he, in fact, is conscious of not 
  being. In a similar manner does the apostle John, in the passage before us, 
  a~rm, that "if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves," that is, we deny 
  the fact of sin, while we are really conscious of its presence. The class of 
  individuals, therefore, to whom the apostle refers in this passage, are, 
  without a question, such as are not and cannot be Christians at all, and who, 
  in addition to this, are self-deceived hypocrites, individuals who "say we 
  have no sin," when they are, in fact, conscious that they are sinners. We 
  judge, that no candid reader will question the validity of our exposition thus 
  far. The question which here arises, and which requires a careful and 
  prayerful answer, is this: What class of self-deceived unregenerates does the 
  apostle refer to in. this passage ?</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>As preparatory to a true answer to this question, let us 
  carefully consider the verse which next follows the one before us, " If we 
  confess our sins, He ~s faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to 
  cleanse us from all unrighteousness." There are, undeniably, two distinct and 
  separate blessings promised to our faith, when we confess sins of which we are 
  conscious, namely, "the forgiveness of our sins "and entire purification from 
  the power of sin, or "cleansing from all unrighteousness." To the same effect, 
  we read (Verse 7), "But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we 
  have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son 
  cleanseth us from all sin." To say, "we have no sin," in the sense of the 
  words, as here employed, is to affirm that we have no sin to be cleansed from, 
  to be forgiven, and no unrighteousness from which to be purified. We must bear 
  in mind that those who say this are, as inspiration positively affirms, 
  self-deceived unregenerates, and not believers who have erred in judgment in 
  regard to "what manner of spirit they are of." What then is the real meaning 
  of the apostle in the passage before us?</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>His meaning, we reply, can by no possibility be this, what 
  the passage is extensively supposed to mean, namelyIf any one should say, "I 
  serve God with a pure conscience"; "I exercise myself to have always a 
  conscience void of offence, both toward God and toward man"; "I know nothing 
  by (against) myself" or "my heart (conscience) does not condemn me," that such 
  individual has "deceived himself, and the truth is not in him." This 
  exposition would compel us to rank as among the self-deceived unregenerates, 
  Paul and hosts of the holiest men and women of all ages. Language is without 
  meaning, if Paul did not claim for himself "a pure conscience," "a conscience 
  void of offence"; "a heart sprinkled from an evil conscience," or separated 
  from the consciousness of present sin. The exposition before us convicts the 
  apostle John also, of the most palpable contradiction and absurdity. Take two 
  or three examples" Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not." Whosoever " abideth 
  in Him," and says, "I have no sin," that is, am not conscious of present 
  sinin other words still, am not conscious of actually sinning at the present 
  time" deceiveth himself; and the truth is not in him." "If our heart condemn 
  us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things," that is, much more 
  does He condemn us in such a case. "Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then 
  have we confidence toward God, and whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, 
  because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his 
  sight." "If we say that we have no sin," that is, are not conscious of present 
  sin in other words, if we say that "our heart condemns us not "" we deceive 
  ourselves, and the truth is not in us." Once more, "If we confess our sins He 
  is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from 
  unrighteousness still." If we say, after we have confessed our sins that He 
  has "cleansed us from all our unrighteousness," "we deceive ourselves and the 
  truth is not in us." What must we think of an exposition of a passage of the 
  Word of Godan exposition which necessarily and undeniably imputes such 
  contradictions to the Holy Spirit through His inspired apostle? We must bear 
  in mind that it is to verify the doctrine of the present cï~Iscßïõs sin of all 
  believers, that the passage under consideration is adduced, as the use made of 
  Rom. vii, and other kindred passages evinces. Permit us in all sincerity to 
  ask those who press this passage into the service of that doctrine, whether 
  they are ready to accept and adopt, and that openly and avowedly, the 
  deduction to which that exposition undeniably leads, namely, that all those 
  who profess to "serve God with a pure conscience"; "a conscience void of 
  offence," and affirm that "their heart does not condemn them," have deceived 
  themselves and the truth is not in them, that is, are self-deceived 
  unregenerates? Must there not be a fundamental error in an exposilion which 
  leads inevitably to such a conclusion as that?</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>Let us now see if we cannot find a class of persons who did, 
  at that very time, arnrm openly, "We have no sin," the class, consequently, to 
  whom the apostle must have referred. The Jew, at that time, every where openly 
  confronted the offer of pardon and eternal life through "the blood" (or 
  atonement) "of Christ," with tbe denial that he (the Jew) was a sinner, and 
  needed such salvation. When told that" the blood of Jesus Christ His Son 
  cleanseth us from all sin," his (the Jew's) reply was, "I have no sin" to be 
  cleansed from, and do not need the pardoning grace offered through Christ. 
  While the Jew rnaIIe this denial, he was, in reality, as inwardly conscious of 
  the fact of personal sinfulness, as any other individual. Yet, he boldly made 
  the deI~II, and thereby, prevented multitudes from embracing the truth, and 
  seduced weak believers from the faith. To refute and rebuke this fatal error, 
  an error which Paul refutes in the first three chapters of Romans, is the 
  object of the apostle John (i John i. 7Iï) : "If we say," he says, "that we 
  have no sin," Verse 8, or repeating the same thought in another form, Verse 
  Iï: "If we say that we have not sinned," "we deceive ourselves, and the truth 
  is not in us," on the one hand, and "make God a liar," on the other. In 
  saying, "I have no sin," or which means the same thing, in. saying, "I have 
  not sinned," the Jew stood revealed as the identical character to whom the 
  apostle must have referred. In saying, "I have no sin," or "I have not 
  sinned," the Jew belied the absolute testimony of his own interior 
  consciousness, on the one hand, and thus betrayed a total want of real 
  integrity, on the otherthat is, he had "deceived himself; and the truth was 
  not in him." Íï man can exist without the consciousness of the fact that he 
  has sinned. Íï man consequently can say, "I have no sin," or "I have not 
  sinned," without revealing by the utterance itself; the fact that he has 
  "deceived himself, and the truth is not in him," in other words, that he is 
  self-deceived and unregenerate.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>The use of the present tense, "If we say we have no sin," 
  evinces, it is said, that the apostle is speaking of present, and not of past, 
  sin. Here we have the only show of evidence that can be adduced from this 
  passage in favour of continued conscious sin in all believers. In reply, we 
  remark:</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4>i. Well-known Greek usage required, in this case, the use of 
this tense, although past sin was referred to. In reference to forgiveness, 
cleansing, &amp;c., this one tense is exclusively employed. In representing, in 
such connections, the denial of the fact of sin, the same tense, whether present 
or past sin is referred to, should be emñIïíed.~ 2. It is perfectly 
common</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>* We have in Jobn xx. 29 a very striking example of what is 
  called the Greek law of assimilation in the use of tenses. "Jesus saith unto 
  him, Thomas, because thou hast seen Me thou hast believed ; blessed are they 
  'vho have not *'een, and yet have believed." The real meaning evidently is: 
  "Blessed shall they be who shall not see Me, and yet shall bïIi~íe." Why is 
  the past tense used to express this truth? Because that tense had been used in 
  speaking of tI~e faith of Thomas. So in the case under consideration. The 
  present tense is used in all previous statements. That tense should be used in 
  this case, though past sin is referred to. So in Romans vii. 14, after the 
  apostle had said, "The law is spiritual," he was required by the law of the 
  language in which he was speaking, to say "I am carnal," though he ref erred 
  to his past legal state and experience. Nothing can be more unauthorised than 
  a determination of time by mere tense.]</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>in the New Testament, in speaking of past sins and past events, 
to employ the present tense. When Paul says, for example, "Jesus Christ came 
into the world to save sinners, of whom I ÁÌ chief," he referred, as no one 
doubts, to the sins vhich he had perpetrated prior to his conversion. When he 
said again, "I HAVE whereof I may glory," he referred to acts performed many 
years then gone by. When Christ said, "Let him that is without sin among you 
first cast a stone at her," He obviously meant, Let him do this who is conscious 
of never having sinned. Nothing can be more obvious than is the fact that mere 
tense determines nothing whatever in regard to the question, whether present or 
past sin is referred to. 3. But, above all, the words, "I bave no sin," and "I 
have not sinned," were the identßca~ forms of expression which the Jew, and all 
who embraced his error, were accustomed to employ in denying their need of the 
grace of God through Christ. When pressed to confess his sins and seek pardon 
and cleansing through the blood of Christ, the impious reply was in these very 
words, "I have not sinned," or "I have no sin," and do not need the pardon and 
cleansing to which you ôefer. The apostle would not have represented the case of 
the Jew as it was, had he employed any other forms of expression, in 
representing the denial under consideration. No shadow of reason exists, 
therefore, for pressing the passage under consideration into the service of the 
doctrine of the continued conscious sin of all believers; nor can any revealed 
truth be more evident than is the conclusion that the apostle had no thought or 
intent to verify that doctrine when he penned the passage under 
consideration.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P align=center><FONT size=4><FONT color=#ff0000><B>ANOTHER EXPOSITION OF THE 
SAME</B></FONT></FONT> 
<P align=center><FONT size=4><FONT 
color=#ff0000><B>PASSAGE.</B></FONT></FONT><FONT size=4></FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>Áô the time when the above Exposition had been prepared for the 
'Banner of Holiness.' the following very able and conclusive one from an 
anonymous writer was handed us, and the latter instead of the tormer was 
published. In reading both these expositions together, the reader will not fail 
to attain to a right understanding of this very important passage.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the 
  truth is not in us.".-l John i. 8.</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>To whom do these words primarily apply? Under what 
  circumstances were they written? What was their design?</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4>These words are commonly detached from their connection and 
applied to all Christians without regard to the circumstances which called them 
forth. The assertion "we have no sin" (here rebuked) is assumed to be identical 
in. its nature with the expression by devoted Christians of the belief that God 
can and does in this life sanctify them wholly, and ñres~ríe them blameless by 
His faithfulness to his Word.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>The real meaning and application of this eighth verse of the 
  first chapter of the 1st Epistle of John must be found by close attention to 
  its connection and to the general scope of the epistle. The apostle, 
  throughout this epistle, defends the truth against the false teachers of his 
  day, whom he designates anti-Christs, false prophets, seducers. He writes 
  (Chap. ii. 4, ~), "He that saith I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments 
  is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth His word, in him 
  verily is the love of God perfected." Again (ninth and tenth verses), "He that 
  saith he is in the light and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until 
  now." "He that loveth his brother abideth in the light." Twenty-second verse 
  '~ Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ?" "He is 
  anti-Christ that denieth the Father and the Son."</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>That the Apostle, in all the warnings and declarations 
  against false doctrine and evil practice in this epistle, had in view false 
  teachers, we find by his own words" Even now are there many Antichrists." 
  "These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you." 
  "Little children, let no man deceive you." The apostle proceeds, Chapter iv. 
  2, 3, "Every spirit that confesseth tbat Jesus Christ is come iii the flesh is 
  of God; and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the 
  flesh is not of God." Chapter v. io, "He that believeth not God bath made him 
  a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of His 
Son."</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>Thus it is evident, that one great object in this epistle is 
  to warn believers against fatal error; partic'ilarty as to the rejection. of 
  Jesus as the Son of God, the Christ, the Saviour from sin, and to guard them 
  from the sad consequences of such error.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>Now there is no real ground to suppose that the warnings 
  against error and its result found iii the first chapter of this epistle, 
  differ in their nature and design from those that follow throughout the 
  epistle. The rebukes in this chapter, Verses 6, 8, io, are given in almost the 
  same words as the rebI~kes in the succeeding chapters. Observe, first chapter 
  sixth verse, "If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in 
  darkness, we lie and do not the truth." Eighth verse," If we say that we have 
  no sin, we deceive ourselves and the ti uth is not in us." Tenth verse, " If 
  we say that we have not sin ned, we make ¹Im a Iiá,, and Ills word is not in 
  us."</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>These three verses point out evils then existing, and cannot 
  be separated from each other; they are directed against the same persons, 
  perverters of the truth. No Christian could so walk in darkness as to lie and 
  do not the truth; no Christian could say we have not sinned; no Christian 
  could say in the sense intended by the apostle, we have no sin. The use of the 
  personal pronoun we, for the purpose of warning, is not unusual. It is so 
  used, Romans ri. i, "What shall we say, then? Shall we continue in sin, that 
  grace may abound? God forbid." It is used in like manner by the apostle 
  John.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>It is observable in this epistle, that when the apostle warns 
  believers against the insidious evil of false professions of holiness and 
  fellowship with God, as in Chapter i., he uses the term "we;" but when he 
  speaks of open sin and denial of Christ, he uses the more general terms he and 
  whosoever. "Whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither known Him. Little 
  children, let no man deceive you" (Chapter iii. 6, 7). Doubtless among the 
  many anti-Christs of his time, there were those who added evil practice to 
  false doctrine.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>The seventh and ninth verses of this first chapter are 
  counter statements against error. The false profession of fellowship with God 
  in the sixth verse, is contrasted with the true experience of the seventh 
  verse. "If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one 
  with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son clean seth us from all 
  sin." The self-sumcient denial of sin in the eigth and tenth verses is 
  contrasted with the penitent confession or sin in the ninth verse: "H we 
  confess our sin , He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to 
  cleanse us from all unrighteousness." We find similar counter statements 
  against error and sin, throughout this epistle.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>We see, then, that all the warnings iii this epistle (the 
  first chapter included), have the same application and design.; they point to 
  seducers, and are designed to counteract their teachings and evil example. 
  Warning, therefore, is given in. the eighth verse of chapter one, not against 
  the claim of personal salvation from sin by believirs; but against the fatal 
  error of affirming after the example of seducers, "we have no sin." Rejecting, 
  as did these false teachers, Jesus as the Christ, no marvel that they should 
  say, We have no sinwe need no Saviour.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>Let us now carefu~ly consider the statements of this epistle 
  concerning sa1 ation by Christ. No words can be more express and full as to 
  holiness of heart and life, than those in this epistle, "Walking even as he 
  walked, "purifying Himself even as He is pure," "abiding in Him," "sinning 
  not," "righteous even as He is righteous."</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>With the strongest denunciations of error and sin are 
  combined in this epistle, as is usual in the Scriptures, the most gracious 
  expressions of mercy, privilege, and love, to the penitent and 
  believing.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>Thus, by the correct application of the eighth verse of the 
  first chapter of this epistle, we are prepared for its teachings throughout; 
  but its misapplication sets this verse in direct opposition to the highest 
  truths of the Gospel as set forth in this epistle, and in other parts of God's 
  Word.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>So powerfully has this been felt, that it has been. falsely 
  inferred that the strong expressions of this epistle concerning holiness and 
  friendship with God, belong, not to the Christian's life on earth, but point 
  solely to an ideal state or character unattainable here. These strong 
  expressions, it is said, result simply from the vision of this beautiful but 
  ideal Christian character in the apostle's mind. We dare not so handle the 
  word of God! Restore this eighth verse to its true purpose, and a due 
  connection and consistency is preserved in every part of the 
epistle.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>To detach the eighth verse from its most necessary 
  connection, and to use it in its isolation for a totally opposite purpose to 
  that for which it was designed, is most misleading and injurious. It vas 
  IIesignecI to rebuke the fatal error of rejecting the record of God concerning 
  sin, and the need ot salvation. It has been used to reprove devoted, bumble 
  Christians, for their belief in the power of Christ not only to cleanse, but 
  to keep them c1ea~.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>Our familiar sins lose their true aspect by repetition; but 
  they are evil and bitter still; neíertheIes~ they have an apparent 
  justificatioii by the words, so. often misapplied, "If've say we have no sin, 
  we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>The term ideal, applied to the high standard of holiness 
  given in God's Word, places practically the standard of present holiness in 
  the I~ðc~s of n~an. If God's standard is an ideal standard, then every 
  Christian, earnest or otherwise, must judge for himself, how much sin and 
  failure may possibly b~ r'~cóncißabIe witk the Christian's hope and Christian 
  character.</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL>
  <UL><FONT size=4>JOHN XIII. 1-17.</FONT></UL></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>"No'v before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that 
  his hour vas come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father, 
  having loved His own which were k th~ world, Ho loved them õ~Itï the 
  end.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>"And supper being ended, the devil having now put into tlo 
  lieai·t of Judas iscariot, Simon's so; to betray Him; "Jesus knowing that the 
  Father Lad given all things into His hands, and that He was come from God, and 
  went to God; 'Çó riseth from supper, and laid aside His garments; and took a 
  towel end girded Himself.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>Alter that He poureth water into a basin, and began to wash 
  the disciples' feet, and to 'vipe them with the towel 'vk.orewith He was 
  girded.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>'~ T1ien cometh Ho to Simon Peter ; and Peter saith unto Him, 
  Lord, dost Thou wash my feet?</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>"Je~õs am'wered and said unto him, What I do thou knowost not 
  now; but thou shalt know hereafter.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>"ÑI~ter saith unto Him, Tboa shalt never wash my feet. Jesus 
  answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>'Ç Simon Peter saith unto Him, Lord, not my fect only, but 
  also my hands and my head.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>'·.Jesus saith unto Him, He that is washed needeth not save 
  to wash his feet, but is clean 0 y whit; and ye are clean, but not 
all.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>"For He knew who should betray Him; therefore åaßII He, Ye 
  are not all clean.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>"So after He had washed their feet, and had taken His 
  ~armeõts, and was set down agaie, He said unto them, Know ye what I have done 
  to you?</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>"Õá call Me Master and Lord: aLd ye say well; for so 
  Iam.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>"If I then, your Lord and Master, have wished your feet, ye 
  also ought to waib one another's feet.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>"For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have 
  done to you.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>"Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater 
  than his lord; neither He that is sent greater than He that</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4>sent Him.</FONT> 
<UL><FONT size=4>"If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do 
them."</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>«THB same night in which He was betrayed," Jesus engaged in two 
transactions of ever memï-~ rable interest, the ceremony above described, and 
the instituting of the "Lord's Supper." Each is of infinite importance in 
itself, and each, in its intent, is entirely distinct and separate from the 
other. The object of the latter was, and is, to render ïmni~ present in thought 
our relations to Christ. "This is My body which is given for you." "This cup is 
the New Testament in My blood which is shed for you." The equally specific 
object of the former, on the other hand, is to elucidate and impress the duty of 
believers one toward another. "If I then, your Master and Lord, have washed your 
feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example 
that ye shouid do as I have done unto you. If ye know these things, happy are ye 
if ye do them." It is of great importance that, in reading this chapter, we 
should keep fully in view the distinct and separate meaning and intent of these 
two services, one of which is to be perpetually observed in the Church, while 
the other stands out as a finished service, a service the revealed spirit and 
meaning of which are to be received and copied by all believers in their 
relations, duties, and services, one toward another.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>As preparatory to a full understanding and appreciation of 
  these two services, we would remark that two truths the truths under 
  consideration, stand out with the greatest conceivable prominence in all the 
  teachings of our Saviourthe relations and responsibilities of believers to 
  Himself; and their relative duties one toward another. "I am the way, and the 
  truth, and the life"; "Abide in Me, and I in you"; "Without Me ye can do 
  nothing"; "If ye abide in Me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye 
  will, and it shall be done unto you"; and "I in them, and Thou in Me, that 
  they may be one in us, that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me." 
  Equally abundant and explicit were His instructions and admonitions in regard 
  to the relations and duties of believers one toward another; "Whosoever shall 
  be great among you, shall be your minister; and whosoever will be the 
  chiefest, shill be servant of all"; "For even the Son of Man came not to be 
  ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many"; 
  'Inasmõch as ye have done it unto one of the least of the least of these, my 
  brethren, ye have done it unto Me"; "Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of 
  these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I 
  say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward"; "By this shall all men 
  know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one towards another;" and "I 
  have been among you as one that serveth."</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>This last class of duties the disciples were slow to learn. 
  They entered the service of Christ with the distinct apprehension that their 
  faith in Him was to be implicit, and their subjection to His will absolute. 
  They expected from Him, however, the establishment of a worldly kingdom, in 
  which there would be "thrones, and dominions, and principalities, and powers," 
  and in which some would be greater than others, and the occupancy of the 
  cbiefest places became to these disciples objects of jealous desire. Up to the 
  evening prior to the crucifixion, "there was a strife among them which of them 
  should be accounted the greatest." This spirit essentially unfitted them for 
  the kingdom and service to which they were calleda kingdom in which ambition, 
  pride, and covetousness of place and position, were to be unknown, in which 
  serz'ice constitutes greatness, and he that makes himself the least of all and 
  the servant of all is the greatest of all. Á fundamental aim of our Saviour in 
  all His teachings was to eradicate utterly the former, that old spirit, and 
  inspire and perfect the latter, the new aÙd Divine spirit, in the hearts and 
  lives of all believers, His immediate disciples especially.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>In regard to the character of these two services, we would 
  observe that they difler in fori;z from any ordinances known under the Old 
  Dispensation. You will search in vain throughout the ancient ritual for any 
  ordinance corresponding in form to the Lord's Supper. The same is true of the 
  washing of the feet. "Diverse 'vashings," as emblematical of external and 
  internal purification are prescribed, but the washing of the feet constitutes 
  none of them. The precept requiring the priest, before going into the holy 
  place to bear the vessels of the Lord, to wash his hands and feetthe only 
  instance we can find in which washing the feet is mentionedpresents no 
  exception to these statenients. Such a precept no more implies moral 
  defilement than does the command, "Put thy shoes from off thy feet, for the 
  place where thou standest is holy ground." The services being new both in 
  intent and form, their design can be learned but from the words of our Saviour 
  Himself. Of the Supper, we need not speak, its intent being well known. That 
  of washing the feet is thus explained by our Saviour :" So after He had 
  washed their feet, and had taken His garments, and was set down again, He said 
  unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye 
  say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; 
  ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, 
  that he should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, the 
  servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he 
  that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them." This 
  affecting service, like that of the Supper, had a single purpose and object, 
  its design being to elucidate and render plain to all minds the form and 
  direction which mutual love should take among His disciples. Christ was in the 
  world on a mission of love, a love which rendered Him a servant of servants to 
  the least as well as the greatest of all His disciples. Every interest of 
  theirs was as tenderly dear to Him "as the apple of His eye,'~ and any service 
  by which any real want of any disciple could be met was sacred in His regard. 
  The object of our Saviour is to induce in all believers a mutual love the same 
  in kind as actuated His entire life. "This is my commandment, that ye love one 
  another, As I have loved you." The object of the service under consideration, 
  as our Saviour has explained it, was to set this commandment in distinct 
  visibility before our minds.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>And how adapted was this service to this great end. The 
  washing of the feet was then a universal necessity. When done by others, it 
  was a service assigned to the lowest order of servants known at that time. A 
  readiness for such a service, a readiness inspired by love, implied a full 
  readiness for any kind of service by which any existing necessity might be 
  met. It implied the supreme control in the heart of the same spirit which 
  rendered our Saviour a universal "ministering spirit" to human necessity, 
  inducing him to "bear our griefs and carry our sorrows." To reveal the spirit 
  which dwelt in Him, and actuated His life, and to induce the same form of 
  love, and readiness for service in all His disciples, one towards another, He 
  assumed on that ever memorable occasion, the lowest of all forms of necessary 
  service, the washing of His disciples' feet, adding the melting words, "I have 
  given you an example" (an exemplification of the spirit of mutual love and 
  service which must actuate your lives), "that ye should do as I have done unto 
  you."</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P align=center><FONT size=4>Verse Iï Rx$ained.</FONT> 
<P align=center><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>We are now prepared clearly to understand the meaning of our 
  Saviour in the following words in Verse Iï: "He that is washed needeth not 
  (hath no necessity) save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit." Before 
  coming to the place, "the bodies of the diciples had been washed with pure 
  water." On the way, however, of necessity, there feet had become covered with 
  dust. As far as 'vashing was concerned, there was present in the company but 
  one necessity, the washing of their feet. Ôï reveal the Spirit of which each 
  one must be possessed relatively to all the others, wherever and whenever any 
  real necessity should appear, Christ took the place of the lowest servant to 
  meet the one common want of all present. When, in the performance of that 
  service, He came to Peter, the latter, under the in1~õence of the spirit of 
  p]ace,</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>position, arid station, objected, and finally refused to receive 
such a service at the hand of his Master and Lord. When informed, however, that 
he must acquiesce, or "have no part in Christ," then, under the inihience of the 
Ritualistic idea, that there was some special emcacy in the service itself, 
Peter exclaimed" Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head." The 
reñIÕ of our Saviour was intended to make known the real meaning arid intent of 
the service, and that meaning and intent may be thus expressed: Should I do as 
you say, Peter, that is, "wash your hands, and your head," I should do for you a 
useless omce, and thus deprive the present service of all its meaning. My object 
is not to impress you with the duty of doing to one another what is not needful, 
but of doing, with an ever-ready mind, what is needful. As far as your hands and 
heads, and bodies are concerned, you were washed befóre you came heiie. Your 
feet excepted, "you have no need of washing, but are clean every whit." As far 
as these are concerned, however, you have need. To meet this one necessity I do 
the part of a servant, and I do so, not to meet a present necessity merely, but 
tó give you an example that "ye should do as Ihave done to you." You are not 
called upon to do, one to another, "'hat is not needed but to be ever ready, and 
prompt, and hearty, t~ bring to one another help whenever and wherever it may be 
needed. This undeniably is the true meaning and intent of our Saviour in the 
words õnd~r cïnsiIIerItiïð.</FONT> 
<P align=center><FONT size=4>Meaning of Verse 8.</FONT> 
<P align=center><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>When Peter objected to the humiliation of his Master and Lord 
  in doing for the former the menial service under consideration, the Saviour 
  replied, that although His disciple might not then understand the meaning of 
  what was being done, he vould fully comprehend it in time to conic. On Ñeter~ 
  s refusal to accept the washing at the hands of Christ, saying peremptorily, 
  "Thou shalt never wash my feet," the Saviour replied in these words:</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4>"If I wash thee not, thou hast no part in me." The immediate 
object of our Saviour in these words is obvious, to wit, to induce Peter to 
reverse his avowed determination that Christ should not wash his feet, and to 
induce in the disciple a cordial assent that the Master should do to him as He 
had done to the others. Two constructions have been put upon our Saviour's 
words. According to the first, the term "wash " is supposed to be used 
symbolically of moral and spiritual purification. The meaning of our Saviour 
would then be, 'dlf I'vash thee not," that is, do not cleanse or purify your 
soul from sin, " thou hast no part in me." While this construction implies a 
most essential truth, the truth implied contains no reason whatever for the 
change of purpose which our Saviour designed to produce. The fact of dependence 
upon Christ for moral and spiritual purification presents in itself no reason 
why Christ should perform for His disciples the servile office of feet~ washing, 
or why they should consent that He should do it. Besides, as already shown, 
feet-washing was not emblematical of real moral arid spiritual purification, and 
presented no occasion for an allusion to that subject.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>To understand our Saviour aright, we must bear in mind that 
  we have here the second open rebuke which Christ had received from that 
  disciple. On, account of the first, the Saviour "rebuked Peter saying, Get 
  thee behind Me, Satan." On this occasion, notwithstanding our Saviour's 
  assurance that He was acting in perfect wisdom in what He was doing, and that 
  although the reason for His conduct was not then known, it would be understood 
  afterwards, an assurance which ought to have induced the most ready and 
  cordial acquiescence on the part of every disciple, Peter, assuming the 
  attitude of stern rebuke and refusal, said, "Thou shalt never wash my feet." 
  Here was evinced a state of mind, a pride of position and place, and of 
  self-assurance, utterly incompatible with real discipleship with Christ, a 
  state which must be put away, or the disciple and his Master niust part 
  company. Of this fact the Saviour informs Peter in the words under 
  consideration. The real meaning of these words may be thus expressed: "If I 
  wash thee not," that is, if you continue to place your wisdom above mine arid 
  your will against mine, by refusing to accept this service from me, "thou hast 
  no part," and it will be impossible for thee to have anypart "in me." In other 
  words, the spirit in me which prompts me to render this service, and the 
  spirit in you which prompts you to refuse to accept this service at my hands, 
  are incompatible one with the other. On the other hand the spirit in you which 
  prompts this refusal must not only be wholly put away, but you must come into 
  such full and cordial spmpathy with the spirit in me which prompts this 
  service, as to induce in you a free consent that I shall wash your feet, or 
  you cannot be my disciple. The rebuke and admonition were eI~ectßíe. All pride 
  of place and position, and of self-will, and self-assurance, died out in the 
  heart of Peter, and he cried out. "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands 
  and my head."</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P align=center><FONT size=4>'&amp;ßßsañj5rehensiïn of Verse Iï.</FONT> 
<P align=center><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>To the reflecting mind it is a sad thought that the leading 
  impression which very many believers receive from the most instructive and 
  sanctifying portions of the sacred Word is little else but the single 
  apprehension that, in all the circumstances and relations of life, they will 
  sin. They are required to "hate even the garnients spotted with the flesh"; 
  yet, in the study of the Scriptures, they are ever eagle-eyed to find, in all 
  leading passages, something to fasten upon their minds the conviction that go 
  where and do what they will, they will in some form "deflle their garments "a 
  conviction which of itself, if nothing else would, renders it absolutely 
  certain that they will do "this evil thing and bitter," which "God hates." The 
  scene presented in the passage before us, for</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4>example, embodies and exemplifies in the clearest and most 
explicit manner conceivable the spirit and principle of all Christ's teachings 
in regard to the relations and duties of believers one towards another. Yet the 
glory, beauty, and moral significancy of the whole transaction are thrown into a 
deep eclipse by an inference drawn from the single expression" He that is 
washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit." Here we 
learn this great lesson, exclaim not a few readers of the sacred Word, that we 
can never in this life be free from sin. However far the cleansing process may 
have gone, some partthe feet at least'vill need to be cleansed. And this is 
all that many believers see in the whole transaction. We never heard the passage 
referred to by this class of individuals but to sustain this one doctrine. 
Permit us to say here that no doctrine can be farther from any passage than this 
is from the transaction under consideration. There is not a word or thought in 
the passage that looks in the direction of that doctrine.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>Nor does this idea of dust adhering to the feet have the 
remotest adaptation to symbohise the relations of sin to the soul. The idea is 
never em~ ployed in the Old Testament as a symbol at all, dust on the feet not 
implying ceremonial uncleanness. In the case before us, considered as a figure, 
it implies a distinction of sinsas great and smallthose which do and those 
which in reality do not defile the soul. The Bible makes no such distinction. 
Every sin alike, whatever its form, is a seed of death in the vital centre of 
the soul, and must be removed by the blood of sprinkling, or death will ensue. 
Nothing can be of more subverting tendency than is this misuse of the passage 
under consideration.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P align=center><FONT size=4>The clause, " Ye are clean."</FONT> 
<P align=center><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>When the purpose of the service had been fully explained, and 
understood by the disciples, the Saviour said, "Ve are clean, but not all." His 
obvious meaning may be thus expressed: You, one excepted, have comprehended and 
appreciated this service, have put away the spirit of rivalry, selfsumciency, 
and self-exaltation, and have become possessed of the "unity of the spirit in 
the bonds of peace," the spirit of mutual love and service, that I desire. If we 
trace the subsequent history of these then sorrowing disciples, we shall find 
the above statement strictly true. Never, from that tiiTie onward, did the 
spirit of division or rivalry have place among them. On the other hand, they 
were together and one in their sorrow at their Lord's sufierings and death, one 
in their gladness "when they saw the Lord," after His resurrection, one in the 
great joy with which they returned from Mount Olivet to Jerusalem, after His 
ascension, one in the accord with which they "waited the Promise of the Father," 
until the Pentecost, and one in their aims and endeavours when they went forth 
"under the Power of the Spirit" to fulfil their great commission. In all their 
writings, the two great truths represented by the Supper, on the one hand, and 
this service, on the other, have the same prominence that they have in the 
instructions and example of our Saviour. In the Churches which they plantedthe 
few excepted who "caused divisions and offerices am~ðg them contrary to the 
doctrine which they had received "" all were of the same heart and mind" in 
regard to Christ, on the one hand, and to "brotherly love" on the other. During 
the apostolic and mërtyr age, this is recorded to the glory of the Churches, 
that none were more assiduous in caring for the sick, the poor, and the 
afflicted, more ready to "wash the saints' feet," and to render aiiy form of 
service, high or low, by which Christ could be glorified. His kingdom advanced, 
and the wants of believers met, than were the most delicate and royally-educated 
females. As the world looked on, even the heathen exclaimed, "See how these 
Christians love one ~nïther." All admire and eulogise such things. 'Happy are 
we if we do them."</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>Will the teachers and friends of the doctrine of the "Higher 
  Life" suffer from us a word of exhortation, before we close this article. If 
  we have made ourselves understood, every reader has distinctly before his mind 
  our apprehensions of the doctrine under consideration, and the supreme end 
  towards which all our teachings tend, namely, "the perfecting of the saints 
  "in this "excellent spirit"the spirit of absolute supremacy of faith, love, 
  and obedience towards Christ, and of devotion to His glory and kingdom, on the 
  one hand, and which, on the other, renders Him greatest in the sanctified 
  family who renders himself" the least of all, and the servant of all," and 
  induces in all a common readiness "iii love to serve one another." This being 
  our common aim, and our eye being single to it, will not "our God supply all 
  our need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus?" Will He not " make 
  all grace abound toward us, that we, always having all-sufficiency for all 
  things, may abound unto every good work?"</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P align=center><FONT size=4><B>MATTHEW VI. 12.</B></FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P align=center><FONT size=4>"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our 
debtors."</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL>
  <UL>
    <UL>
      <UL>
        <UL>
          <UL>
            <UL><FONT size=4>THOSE who employ this passage to verify the 
              continued conscious sinfulness of all believers in this life 
              reasoii thus :The fact that this petition is found in this prayer 
              implies that all believers at all times have present sins to 
              confess, and for which to seek forgiveness. The necessary 
              inference is that in this life they will never be free from 
              present, actual, conscious sin. The assumption that lies at the 
              basis of this deduction is this, that this form of prayer is to be 
              repeated in substance by all believers under all circumstances to 
              the end of time, and that consequently each blessing designated as 
              an object of prayer will ever lie before the mind in the future as 
              such object, and never as an accomplished fact. Take away this 
              assumption, and no basis whatever remains for this inference. If 
              this inference is correct, the following consequences must be 
              accepted as absolutely valid :i. The kingdom of God, while the 
              world shall stand, will never come, the occurrence of that which 
              has actually transpired undeniably not being an object of prayer. 
              2. Our Saviour requires the Church universal at all times and in 
              all circumstances to pray specifically for 'vhat He requires all 
              in common to believe will never occur, and that it is not the will 
              of God that it should occur, namely, that "God's will shall be 
              done in eartb, as it is in heaven." In other words, Christ, in 
              fact and form, requires us to pray for a specific blessing, and 
              then hangs such weights upon our faith as to render it impossible 
              for us to pray in faith for that blessing, it being impossible for 
              us to" ask in faith, nothing wavering," for that which we 
              believethat Christ has by a special revelation placed beyond the 
              circle of hope. 3. The time will never come when every believer 
              will not constantly be the subject of wrong-doing from others. If 
              the petition "forgive us our debts" implies that we shall ever 
              continue to sin, the words "as we forgive our debtors" imply that 
              we and every other believer to the end of time will be 
              continuously sinned against. 4~ It is absolutely improper for us 
              to pray for the forgiveness of past sinssins of which we have 
              repented, and which God has forgiven.</FONT></UL></UL></UL></UL></UL></UL></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>Such are the necessary consequences of the deduction which is 
  drawn from the petition under cïnsiIIeratiïð. When we shall have demonstrated 
  any one of these consequences, and especially each of them, to be in itself 
  untrue, we shall have absolutely invalidated this deduction. Now, every one of 
  these consequences, as can very readily be shown, involves a vital error. We 
  will examine all of these consequences, beginning with the last. Let us for a 
  moment consider the following inspired prayers in regard to sins long before 
  repented of and forgiven, prayers dictated and recorded by inspiration of the 
  Spirit of God :" Ïremember not against us former iniquities " (Psa. ]xxix. 
  8). " Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions : according to 
  Thy ßI~iercy, remember Thou me for Thy goodness' sake, ÏLord" (Psa. xxv. 7). 
  We deduce this vital truth from these passages that, while '' the eternal 
  judgment "is before us, it is right, proper, and a IIõty, as past sins come to 
  remembrance, to confess them anew, and to put up our prayers that they may not 
  be reIr~emberecI at the present time, nor at that day. Nor does any one know 
  that God does not see reasons why, 'vheu we receive injuries from others, we 
  should not recall our own former sins, and pray that God will forgive our 
  debts, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Nor does or can any one 
  know but that it may be right, proper, and best for uswhile liable to be 
  sinned against by others, and vhile the hour is approaching when "we must all 
  stand before the judgment-seat of Christ," even though we, like Paul, may now 
  1' know nothing against ourselves "to pray daily, "Forgive us our debts, as 
  we forgive our debtors;" and this, we believe, is the real lesson which cur 
  Saviour intended to teach us through this petition. No deduction can be more 
  presuniptuous, unauthorised, and of more dangerous tendency than is this, to 
  infer from this petition that all believers to the end of time will in this 
  life be in the continuous practice of conscious sin.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>In regard to the third consequence, we would observe that the 
  period is distinctly revealed 'vhen believers will cease to be subject to 
  injury from others, and when none can have OccasiOn to say, "Forgive us our 
  debts as we forgive our debtors." The time is coming "wben violence shall no 
  more be heard in the land," and "there shall be none to hurt or destroy in all 
  God's holy mountains." There will, at that time, be no more occasion for 
  saints on earth than for saints in heaven to pray, "Forgive us our debts, as 
  we forgive our debtors." As the words, "as ~íe forgive our debtors," do not 
  imply that each believer will be continuously sinned against by others, so the 
  words, "Forgive us our debts," do not and cannot imply that every such 
  believer will, while life shall last, be continuously sinning against both God 
  and man. We may safely challenge the world to desigmite a more unauthorized 
  and presumptious deduction from any passage than is the one under 
  consideration.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>In regard to the second consequence, we observe that the 
  petition, "Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven," presents ground 
  infinitely more solid for the inference that God's will has been, and will be, 
  thus done, than does that under consideration for the dogma which has been 
  deduced from said petition. The former must accord with the will of God. The 
  latter presents not a shadow of a foundation for the inference deduced from 
  it.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>In regard to the first consequence we would say, that "the 
  kingdom of God will come." The petition, "Thy kingdom come," therefore, does 
  not imply that it never, in the history of the race, will ha'e come. So the 
  petition, " Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors," does not, and 
  cannot imply that every believer will to the end of time, as far as this life 
  is concerned, be continuously sinning both against God and man, or will as 
  continuously be sinned against by his fellow men. No, Reader, as long as the 
  sea shall say of wisdom, "it is not in me," and the deep shall respond, "it is 
  not in me," so long will every wise interpreter of the word of God afI~rm that 
  the petition under consideration is not the dwelling-place of the dogma which 
  has been deduced from that petition.</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P align=center><FONT size=4><B>PSALM CXIX. 96.</B></FONT> 
<P align=center><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL>
  <CENTER><FONT size=4>"Ihave seen an end of all perfection, but Thy commandment 
  is exceeding broad."</FONT></CENTER></UL>
<UL>
  <CENTER><FONT size=4></FONT></CENTER></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>FEW passages are more frequently cited than this, and 
  generally it is cited for one specilk and exclusive purposeto verify the 
  doctrine of the continued conscious sinfulness in this life of all saints and 
  believers in Jesus from the beginning to the end of time. This knowledge the 
  sacred 'vriter obtained, it is assumed, by looking into the commandment, and 
  viewing its broadness, or the extent of its requirements. By looking into " 
  the commandment" he saw that all /iumaiz perfection 'vould contain in it the 
  element of conscious sin. Let us now look directly into the passage itself, 
  and endeavour first to ascertain its real meaning, and then to determine its 
  applications.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>The Reader will observe that the words "but" and " is" are in 
  this passage put in italics to in dicate that there are no such words in the 
  original. Leaving out these, the verse would read thus : ' I have seen an end 
  of all perfection; thy commandment exceeding broad "that is, "Thy 
  commandment," how "exceeding broad" it is ! This does and must give the more 
  exact import of the original.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>The original word rendered "end" has, according to the 
  highest authorities and Scripture usage, among others, two distinct and 
  separate meaningsnamely, the termination or boundaries of objectsand filling 
  out, completion, consummation, or fulfilment. In this second sense the word is 
  em~)1ïyed (Hab. ii. 3, and Daniel viii. 17) to represent the filling out, 
  completion, consummation or fulfilment of prophecy. The same idea the Saviour 
  represents in the words, " One jot or tittle shall not pass from the law until 
  all be fulfilled," and "the Scripture must be fõ1~Çed "that is, whatever is 
  affirmed in " the law" or "Scripture " shall and must be filled out, 
  accomplished, consummated. Understanding the word " end" in the first sense 
  (that of limitation , the meaning of the passage would be this : "1 have seen 
  the limit or boundary of all perfection; all comes within the broad circle of 
  Thy commandment." In other words still, perfection in no form can extend 
  beyond the broadness or limitless application of Thy commandment. Understood 
  in the second sense that of filling out, completion, consummation, or 
  fulfilmentthe passage 'vould mean this : " I have seen the filling out or 
  consummation of all perfection." This I perceive in "Thy commandment." How 
  "exceedingly broad" it is! Perfection can exist nowhere, in men or in angels, 
  in any creature, in time or eternityperfection which is not implied and 
  included in "Thy commandment." In. that commandment, therefore, we perceive 
  the comñle~ tiori or consummation of all perfection. Let us now consider the 
  original term here rendered perfection. This word, Tich-lah, is found nowhere 
  in the Scriptures but in this single passage, and is derived from a word now 
  obsolete, a word 'vhose meaning is unknown, or a mere matter of opinion. As 
  regards the real meaning of the word here, authorities dilTer, some rendering 
  it "perfection," and others, "hope, confidence." There is one other word, and 
  only one, Tach-leeth, which wa~ derived from the same root as Tich-lah. The 
  word Tach-leeth is used five times in the Old Testament. We will refer to all 
  these passages. "From the door of the house of Eliashib even to the end 
  (extremity) of the House of Eliashib (Zech. iii. 2 i). Here the word means 
  boundary or limit. "Canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection?" (Job. xi. 
  7). Here the word reñre~sents completeness or perfection of creature 
  lcnowkdge, and not the character of God. It would be equally proper to ask, 
  Canst thou find out the material creation to perfection? as to put the same 
  question in respect to God. </FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>"He hath cïônñassed the waters with bounds, until the day and 
  night come to an end," that is, as Gesenius renders it, unto the end of light 
  with darkiiess, i.e., where the light terminates in darkness" (Job xxvi. io). 
  "He (God) searcheth out all 5IrfeItºïn, the stones of darkness, and the shadow 
  of death" (Job xxviii. 3). The obvious meaning here is: God searcheth even to 
  all extremities, that is, to the IIeeñest recesses of the earth. In other 
  words, the term Tach-leeth, perfection, here represents the absolute knowledge 
  which God has of His own works. ' I hate them with a perfect hatred" (Ps. 
  cxxix. 22). In this passage the term perfect represents the intensity of the 
  hatred, and not its moral character, as Satan hates holiness and holy beings 
  with a "perfect hatred." It will be seen clearly that the only known word 
  derived from the same root as, and consequently having a similar meaning to, 
  Tkh-Iah, never represents the idea of personal holiness or moral perfection. 
  The Septuagint renders the passage thus: "I have seen tbe boundaries of all 
  completions, or completed things; Thy commandment, how exceeding broad !" The 
  word which, in this version, represents the original word rendered perfection 
  in the passage under consideration, is often used in the Septuagint, the Greek 
  testament, and by Greek authors; but in no case does it represent the idea of 
  personal holiness, or moral perfection. We find in the first verse of this 
  Psalm the original word commonly employed in the Scriptures to represent moral 
  perfection. "Blessed are the undefiled (perfect, according to the marginal 
  reading and common usage) in the way." If the sacred writer intenIIed to 
  represent the same idea in Verse 96, why did he not employ the same word here 
  ? In tbat case his meaning could not have been misunderstood. Why did he, on 
  the other hand, employ a word nowhere else found in the Bible, and one which, 
  according to the usage of the only known word which was derived from the same 
  root, never has any such meaning. If then, the word Tich-lab, in the passage 
  under consideration, means perfection, it represents the idea, not in any 
  restricted form, as pertaining, for example, to the moral and spiritual 
  attainments of men, but in its strictly universal meaning. The passage under 
  consideration admits of but three constructions, one of which must be true. We 
  give the first two in the words of Prof. Perowne.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>i. "There is nothing upon earth to which there does not (as I 
  have seen) cleave some defect." This does not accord with what the Psalmist 
  says elsewhere of the perfection of the Divine works. It also implies a degree 
  of knowledge impossible to creature3. No finite mind can have such an 
  omniscience of the works of God as to perceive that they are all defective, or 
  of the moral attainmems ~f all the saints of God as to see them all rningleII 
  with sin. The sacred writer here speaks, not of vhiat lie has heard, but 
  of'vhat lie has " seen."</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4>2. "But perhaps the clause," adds Professor Perowne, "shïõIII 
rather be rendered : 'I have seen an end, a limit, to the 'vhole range or 
compass of things ; ' a meaning which may be defended by the use of the similar 
word in Job xxvi. Iï, and xxviii. 3 : and which harmonises 'vith the next clause 
: 'I'hy commandment is exceeding broad'has no limits, whilst all other things 
are bounded by narrow limits." This construction is perfectly consistent with 
the meaning, as far as can be ascertained, of every word found in the passage 
before us, and is wholly free from all the objections which lie against that 
first given. While finite minds cannot comprehend the works of God, such minds 
can and do know that all created objects, and all attainments of created beings, 
have their limits on the one band, while God's commandment has no limits ïôI the 
other. This construction, therefore, can by no possibility be shown to be 
false.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>~. The third, and what we regard as the true construction is 
  this: "1 have seen the consummation of all perfection; Thy command is 
  exceeding broad." Nothing can exceed, in perfection, the law, or "commandment" 
  of God, expressing, as it does, in its limitless applications, the 
  responsibilities and duties of all moral agents, in all circumstances and 
  relations of existence in time and to eternity, and determining with equal 
  absoluteness the moral character and deserts of all their moral states and 
  actions. This law is as eternal as "the eternal years of God," as immutable as 
  its author, and as universal in its applications as the possibilities of moral 
  conduct. This construction, like that just considered, accords with the known 
  meaning and usage of all the words found in the passage under consideration, 
  and best accords, as we judge, with the true and full idea of the perfection 
  of the law, or "commandment," of God, and with what is elsewhere affirmed on 
  the same subject. The deduction which follows from the fact that one of these 
  t'vo last constructions must be true, and neither can be proved false; the 
  deduction, we say, is this, that no foundation at all exists in this passage 
  for the doctrine of the continued conscious sin of all believers in Jesus. No 
  idea can be more foreign from this passage than is this doctrine. Let us, for 
  a few moments, consider the manner in ;Thicli this doctrine is deduced from 
  this passage.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>The following addition is commonly made to the first clause 
  of this verse, namely, "I have seen an end of all (human) perfection," that 
  is, I have, by looking into the law of God, and contemplating its broadness, 
  or the extent and limits of the cïm~ mandment, had a perception and knowledge 
  of the fact that no human being, no worshipper of God, and no believer in 
  Jesus, ever did, or ever will, from the beginning to the end of time, attain 
  to a state of conscious freedom from actual and known sin.</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>In view of such an interpretation, we ask, in the first 
  place, why the term human is put in here? There is nothing in the verse 
  itseIf~ or in the context, to authorise the insertion of any such word. The 
  declaration "all perfection," is strictly and absolutely universal in its 
  form, and no person has a right to restrict its meaning or application. We 
  might as properly affirm that the Psalmist intended to say, I have seen an end 
  of all Jewish, heathen, or angelic, as of human, perfection, and in one case 
  we should be just as far from the central and exclusive idea in the writer's 
  mind, as in either of the others. Nor, as we have seen, can the original word, 
  here rendered perfection, be made to bear any such restricted meaning as this, 
  to wit, to represent the moral and spiritual state and attainments of any one 
  class of creatures. On the other hand, no evidence at all can be adduced that 
  it does represent any such attainments at all.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>Besides, the term "end," from its literal meaning, viz., 
  termination, determines in itself nothing 'vbatever of the actual or possible 
  extent or limits of the moral and spiritual attainments of any being, or class 
  of beings, where the term perfection is employed to represent such 
  attainments. Literally rendered and expounded, that is, according to one of 
  the meanings of the term end, the clause before us would mean this: I have 
  seen the end, the limit, or boundary of all perfection, that is, such 
  perfection can ever extend beyond the broad limits of Gïd'~ commandment. "The 
  law of the Lord is perfect," and must, by its exceeding broadness, include and 
  require perfection in all its actual and possible forms. To see the end, that 
  is, the extent and limits of human perfection, is one thing; to perceive that 
  such perfection is marred with conscious sin, is quite another. An angel may 
  say, "I have the end (the extent and limits) of all (angelic) perfection, 
  perfection being limited in all finite beings. Thy commandment is exceeding 
  broad." Such declaration, which would be strictly true, would by no means 
  imply that such perfection is marred at all by conscious sin. No such 
  inference as is attempted to be drawn from this passage can, without a 
  palpable violation of all the laws of language, be forced from it.</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>The exposition under consideration, we remark, in the last 
  place, carries upon its surface its own refutation. Said exposition affirms 
  that the Psalmist saw, in the "extent and limits of Gïd~s commandment," the 
  certain and inevitable continued conscious sin and shortcomings, not only of 
  all saints under the Old, but all believers in Jesus under the New, 
  Dispensation. In looking into the "commandment" of God, we can discern what 
  creatures ought to be, and to do. "By the law," also, "is the knowledge of 
  sin" where sin exists. The possibilities of faith, however, we are to 
  determine, not by looking at the "commandment," whatever the broadness of its 
  requirements may be, but at the extent and limits of the revealed grace of God 
  for our sanctifkation. Nothing can be more absurd than the assumption that by 
  looking into the "commandment" we can determine anything whatever in regard to 
  the extent and limits of the grace of God, the fulness of Christ, and the 
  power of the Eternal Spirit, for accomplishing in us "the will of God, even 
  our sanctification." What Christ has specifically revealed Himself as able to 
  do for us, what provisions He has revealed Himself as having made for our 
  present holiness, what He has promised to do for us in the matter, provided 
  "He be enquired of by us to do it for us," and what power the Father and Son 
  have given to the Eternal Spirit to work mightily within us, here, and not by 
  looking at the "commandment," do we determine the extent and limits of the 
  possibilities of faith. Á wider and more palpable misapprehension of a text of 
  Scripture is hardly conceivable than is involved in the exposition of Psalm 
  cxix. 96, the exposition which we have now refuted.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>We have, in the case before us, a palpable example of the 
  manner in which a false doctrine may veil from the fund the most glorious 
  revelations of God. Few passages in the whole compass of Holy Writ, and none, 
  those excepted which open upon our vision "the image of the glory of God as it 
  shines in the face of Jesus Christ," disclose to the mind a more glorious 
  aspect of the wisdom and glory of God than does the passage before us. Think, 
  Reader, of the exceeding broadness of the commandment, the boundless extent 
  and adaptations of its applications, and the absolute perfection of all its 
  revelations of right, duty, and moral desert. Like its Author, this law is 
  infinite. There are two revelations of God upon which pure finite mind will 
  expand through eternal ages "the consummation of all perfection revealed in 
  'the commandment," on the one hand, arid "the grace of God which bringeth 
  salvation" on the other. How much of the glory and wisdom of God does the 
  individual perceive in Psalm cxix. 96, the individual who approaches it under 
  the in-~ lliierice of the doctrine to which we have referred? "Just this and 
  nothing more," the validity of the doctrine of the conscious lifelong 
  sinfulness of every believer in Jesus. To all the transceridant glory revealed 
  in the passage, his vision is perfectly veiled. When will the Eternal Spirit 
  "operI the eyes of the understanding" of His people, to read "the mind of the 
  Spirit" in His own Word?</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P align=center><FONT size=4><B></B></FONT>
<P align=center><FONT size=4><B>ECCLESIASTES VIX' 20.</B></FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL>
  <CENTER><FONT size=4>"For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, 
  and sinneth not."</FONT></CENTER></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>BEFORE proceeding to a direct consideration of tbis passage, 
  we would request special attention to certain general observations which have 
  a specilk application to this, and other passages of a similar 
  characterpassages found particularly in the Old Testament.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4>i. Whatever is amrrned of the attainments of Old Testament 
Saints, is not to be applied to Christians under the present dispensation, 
unless we have positive evidence that such application was sñecif~caI1y 
intended. We live under a "New Covenant, which is established upon better 
promises," than that under which those saints lived. What was impracticable to 
them may be quite possible to us.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>2. When the Scriptures would express a fact which holds 
generally, but not universally true, they commonly employ universal terms to 
represent that fact. Take the following statement from the New Testament: "Then 
went out to him (John Baptist) Jerusalem and all Judea, and all the region round 
about Jordan." We have positive evidence that these statements, in their 
strictly universal sense, are not true, and they were never intended to be so 
understood. In looking at particular passages of this character, special regard 
to this principle must be had, or we shall be utterly misled in the 
interpretation of Scripture.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>3. Proverbial utterances, as Bishop WhaIe~ey has shown, 
  though the language employed is universal in form, are never to be understood 
  in a strictly universal, but only in a general sense. Proverbs are al'vays to 
  be distinguished from principles, or laws, to which there are no exceptions. 
  Two proverbs, as the Bishop shows, may be strictly contradictory as far as 
  their terms are concerned, and yet both, as proverbs, may be true. As for 
  example, consider the two following: "Answer a fool according to his folly," 
  and "Answer not a fool according to his folly." Not as laws of thought and 
  action, but as proverbs or general facts, both of these maxims are true. Take, 
  as an illustration of each of the last two propositions, the following 
  admonition of the prophet: "Take ye heed every one of his neighbour and trust 
  not in any brother; for every brother will utterly supplant and every 
  neighbour will walk in slanders" Who supposes that this admonition, though 
  expressed in the strongest and most universal terms, was intended to be 
  understood as holding true of every saint under the Old, and of every 
  Christian under the New, Dispensation? As a general maxim, or proverb, or 
  statement of facts, that proposition is true, and was never intended to be 
  understood in any other sense.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>4. Poetic language very comnionly follows the same principle. 
  What is true in a general sense, the poet expresses in universal terms. Take, 
  as an example, the following utterance:</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4>"There is none that doeth good, no not one." This passage, if 
taken in its strict, literal sense, would imply that there was not at that time, 
at least, a single righteous man on earth. The writer does not mean that, among 
the wicked, there is none righteous; that would imply the senseless tautology, 
viz., that among the wicked, none but wicked persons are to be found. The 
manifest object of the writer is to affirm, not that there are no righteous 
persons among men, but the general and desperate depravity of the race, of the 
jews in particular.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>Let us now apply these obviously valid and generally accepted 
  principles to the passage under consideration, and to others of kindred 
  import. On this passage we remark: i. That the declaration, "There is not a 
  just man upon earth, that doeth good and siiineth not," if accepted in the 
  widest sense, cannot be properJy applied, but to individuals under that 
  dispensation, and can have no such application to believers in Jesus, under 
  the New Covenant The New is, as we have said, "established upon better 
  ñI~ïmises" than the Old. What was not attainable under the former, may be 
  among the common possibilities of faith under the latter Dispensation. 2. As a 
  j5rïíerbial utterance it would be a violation of all the laws of correct 
  interpretation, to give to these words a strictly universal sense, just as 
  much so, and for the same reason, it would be to give a similar interpretation 
  to the words of the prophet, "every brother will utterly supplant, and every 
  neighbour will walk in slanders." Neither of these utterances any more than 
  the other was ever intended to be understood in a universal sense. 3. But the 
  utterance under consideration is given, not only as a proverbial one, but as a 
  prudential maxim, and as such is given in such a form as to evince absolutely 
  that it was not, and could not have been, intended that it should have been 
  understood in a strictly universal sense. The word "for," at the commencement 
  of this verse, connects it with the preceding one, and makes the letter 
  expressive of a reason for what is affirmed or implied in the former. The 
  preceding verse reads thus: "Wisdom strengtheneth the wise more than ten 
  migl-ity men that are in the city." In this verse the necessity ofcontinu ous 
  caution and vigilant and ever-wakeful circumspection is urged, as of supreme 
  importance in our intercourse with mankind. The reason of this is then given 
  in the verse before us, and that reason is this: men are not to be trusted. If 
  we act upon the assumption that they are just and trustworthy, we shall make 
  ship'vreck of all our interests. As a prudential maxim this utterance is true, 
  and worthy of our highest regard. When, on the other hand, we assume it as 
  universally true, and as a theïIïgk~1 dogma applicable not only to saints i~ 
  ancient tirLics but to.believers in Jesus in all ages, we charge inspiration 
  with the greatest conceivable absurdity. The reasoning of the sacred writer on 
  that hypothesis reads thus:</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4>"Wisdom strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty men that are 
iii the city," for no saint under the Old, or believer in Jesus under the New, 
Dispensaticn ever was, or ever will be, free from all sin. He must have a great 
aptitude for the absurd who will impute to inspired wisdom such logic as 
that.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P align=center><FONT size=4><B>PROVERBS XX. 9</B></FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL>
  <CENTER><FONT size=4>"Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from 
  my sin?"</FONT></CENTER></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>THE remarks made above upon Eccies. Vii. 20 have a direct and 
  special bearing upon the passage before us. In looking over the world, as it 
  lay out before him, and in contemplating his own life, and that of the mass of 
  professed saints around him, one appalling fact impressed the writer's mind, 
  and burdened his heart, to wit, the omnipresence of sin in the world, and even 
  among those who professed to be pure and upright before God and man. Hence the 
  sorrowful exclamation, Where, and upon whom, is not sin to be found ~ an 
  exclamation as applicable now as it was then. Where is the basis here for the 
  dogma, that no one saint ever was, and no one believer ever will be, free from 
  conscious sin? The words employed imply no such dogma as that, and no idea 
  could have been more distant from the author's mind than any such 
dogma.</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P align=center><FONT size=4><B>I KINGS VIII. 46.</B></FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL>
  <CENTER><FONT size=4>"If they sin against thee (for there is no man that 
  sinneth not )."</FONT></CENTER></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>THIS passage, as here rendered,. implies and affirms a 
  universally admitted truth, namely, that all men are sinners. To infer 
  anything more than this is to affirm, not only what the words do not imply, 
  but what involves a palpable absurdity. Solomon refers to a contingency which 
  was likely to occur in the future history of his people, namely, sin in a form 
  which would involve them in the judgments of God. How natural, under such an 
  impression, is the thought of the universal sinfulness of the race, of the 
  fact that all men are sinners. To suppose that under such circumstances his 
  thoughts would not turn in this direction, but would run forward to the end of 
  time, that none but saints and believers in Jesus would come before his mind, 
  and but this one thought in regard to them, viz., that not one of them would, 
  at any period of their lives, attain to freedom from conscious sin,to suppose 
  that this was the dogma that then came before his mind, is one of the most 
  palpable absurdities that ever danced in the brain of a theologian. There is 
  nothing in the circumstances to suggest such an idea, and nothing, we repeat, 
  in the language employed that implies it.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>The following note from the comprehensive Bible shows clearly 
  that still another rendering should be given to the original of this passage 
  : "The second clause of this verse, as it is here translated, renders this 
  supposition, in the first clause, entirely nugatory, for if there be no man 
  that sin neth not, it is useless to say, i/they sin.; but this contradiction 
  is removed by rendering the original, 'If they shall sin against Thee (for 
  there is no man that may not sin),' i.e., there is no man impeccable, or 
  infalliblenone that is not liable to sin." This rendering, which, as Dr. 
  Clarke shows, is demanded by the conjugation in which the word translated sin 
  is found, makes the whole passage self-consistent, and fraught with important 
  meaning. This unquestionably gives us the true meaning of the author of this 
  utterance. In no case, however, can this passage be legitimately made to 
  sustain or favour the dogma of the cïntinõeII conscious sinfulness of all 
  believers.</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P align=center><FONT size=4><B>JOB IX. 20.</B></FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL>
  <CENTER><FONT size=4>If I justify myself, mine own month shall condemn me; if 
  I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse."</FONT></CENTER></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>HERE iS a passage intended to have, and which undeniably has, 
  no personal reference to any other individual but Job himself. Personal 
  confessions have no application but to the person confessing, and prove 
  nothing, whatever, in regard to any other individual. If this personal 
  confession of Job proves that no saint or believer in Jesus ever was, or ever 
  will be, perfect in the sense of the word as here employed, then the personal 
  confessions of David in the 51st Psalm, prove, undeniably, that every such 
  saint has been, or will be, guilty of the sins which David there confesses. 
  There is no escaping this conclusion.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>Nor is Job here speaking of his own moral and spiritual state 
  at the time when he uttered these words, or at the time when God affirmed that 
  he was "a l)erfect man." Job, on the other hand, is speaking of his past life, 
  and of entering into judgment with God in regard to the same. He had been a 
  sinner and knew it. To deny the fact would prove his perverseness, and be 
  adding sin to sin. This is the exact meaning of this confession. To attempt to 
  make anything more of it, and above all, to reason from that confessiona 
  confession exclusively personal, to the universal conscious sinfulness of all 
  saints and believers to the end of timeis a most palpable and ~agraõt 
  Violation of all the laws of sound interpretation on the one hand, and of 
  sound reasoning on the other.</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>"Biit grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and 
  Savkrnr Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and for ever. Amen."</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>THE correct reading of the original of the first sentence of 
  this passage is this: But grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord 
  and Saviour Jesus Christ. To grow in the grace of Christ implies continued 
  advancement in whatever renders us the objects of his approval, love, and 
  delight. To grow in the knowledge of Christ implies, not only advancement iii 
  intellectual apprehensions of His perfections, but a growth in our inward 
  experience of the blessedness which results from communion and fellowship with 
  Him, an increasing experience, and of a knowledge by experience of "the riches 
  of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in us, the 
  hope of glory." Much is said in the New Testament of this experimental 
  kno'vledge.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>The above passage is everywhere cited by those who deny the 
  doctrine of the Higher Life in disproof of that doctrine. Growth in grace, it 
  is said, implies a kind and form of growth in which there is gradually less 
  and less of sin and more and more of holiness. When individuals are urged to 
  put away at once all sin, and accept of Christ as a complete Saviour from its 
  power, their reply is:</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4>We do not believe such a doctrine as that. We believe, on the 
other hand, in growing in grace, that is, in becoming gradually less and less 
sinful, and more and more holy. Hence the advocates of the Higher Life are 
accused of a disbelief in Christian growth, the quite common belief being that 
should we "cease from sin," we should cease altogether to "grow in grace." On 
this doctrine we remark :</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4>i. That if it is true that growth in grace implies, as is here 
affirmed, present sin, then undeniably Christ was a sinner and was conscious of 
the fact. In Luke ii. 52, it is affirmed absolutely that Christ did grow in 
grace. "And Jesus increased (grew) in wisdom and stature and in favour (grace) 
with God and man." The word here renderedfavour is the identical word rendered 
grace in the passage under consideration. We have, then, "growth in grace," as a 
matter of fact, in the total absence of all sin, and the precept "grow in grace 
"does not of itself imply at all the presence of sin in any form.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>2. If the command, "grow in grace," implies the presence of sin 
in the heart, and such growth implies a gradual giving-up of sin, then God has 
given us a positive command not to cease from all sin at once, but to do it 
~gradõaßIy. We cast infinite dishonour upon God when we impute to Him any such 
precept as that.</FONT> 
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>~. If all Christians should "cease from sin,"growth in grace 
  would cease. Then since there is no sin in heaven, there will be no growth in 
  that world of light and love. All virtue, all holiness, on the other 
  hand,</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>~wiII be at an eternal standstill there. Either this idea of 
growth in grace is utterly false, or this must be true of our eternal future, 
than which a more erroneous idea of heaven is hardly possible.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>~. If the precept, "grow in grace," requires, and it does so 
  according to the exposition under considerationif it requires an advancement 
  from certain degrees of sin to others less sinful, and from states of 
  imperfect holiness to others less imperfect, then it is impossible for us to 
  intend obedience to this precept, and at the same time intend full obedience 
  to the will of God. It is a contradiction in terms to suppose that we can aim 
  at the same moment at perfect and imperfect obedience to the will of God. An 
  exposition that renders the divine precepts, as this probably does, thus 
  contradictory, cannot be true.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>5. Peter, before he wrote the above precept, we remark 
  finally, set forth, under the immediate inspiration of tue Spirit, the 
  renunciation of all sin as the first condition of real growth in grace. 
  "'Vlierefore, laying aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisies, and 
  envying, and all evil speaking"(in other words, all âin), "as new-born babes 
  desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby." Sin in the 
  new-born soul is no more necessary to growth in holiness or grace, than is 
  disease in the new-born babe requisite to its normal physical growth and 
  development. Sin in the new-born soul is there as a moral and spiritual 
  disease, and renders its moral and spiritual growth unhealthy and unnatural, 
  just as disease in the new-born babe renders its growth dwarfish, phthisical, 
  or consumptive. When we have "put off the old man which is corrupt after the 
  deceitful lusts," and " put on the new man which, after God, is created in. 
  righteousness and true holiness," then and only then, are we prepared to "grow 
  up in Christ in all thiðgs.~' When growth in grace in the Churches shall 
  accord with God's revealed conIIitiïns and method, there will be "none sickly 
  and none feeble "among their members. Wherever the old and unscriptural idea 
  shall obtain, there will be none anlong them but "the sickly and the 
  feeble."</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P align=center><FONT size=4><B>HEBREWS XII. 6-8</B></FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL>
  <CENTER><FONT size=4>"Wbom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every 
  son whom he receiveth. If ye endure (continue patient and acquiescent under) 
  chastening (cbild discipline), God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son 
  is he whom the Father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastise rent 
  (child discipline), whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not 
  sons."</FONT></CENTER></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>CHASTISEMENT as above referred to, and as spoken of in the 
Bible, is of two kindsreformatory punishment for sinand disciplinary "trials 
of faith." The design of each is one and the same, and, therefore, not to be 
despised, nor fainted under, their common intent being "for our profit, that we 
may be partakers of His (God's) holiness." From the fact that all believers are 
suoject to conscious chastening</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>of one or the other kind, it is inferred that no believers ever 
attain to a state of freedom from conscious sinthat is, that in no case under 
the trial does "patience have her perfect work, and the subject become perfect 
and entire, w~I¿ting nothing." In regard to such an idea, we remark :</FONT> 
<UL><FONT size=4>i. The case of the earthly parent cited by the apostle proves 
  the exact opposite to what this inference affirms. The earthly parent does 
  induce obedience in the child, when the latter offends, and does so as 
  occasion requires, by the rod. The rod, however, when properly applied, 
  induces a state of obedience in which "scourging" is no more needed. Such was 
  the experience of the sacred writer under divine chastisement. "Before I was 
  amicted," he says, "I went astray: but now have I kept Thy word." 
  Chastisement, as "scourging" even, is no evidence at all of the perpetuity of 
  conscious sin, unless the former is perpetual. Chastisement in no form is, in 
  the case of believers, perpetual and uninterrupted, and therefore is, in 
  itself, no proof whatever of the fact that they are always in 
  disobedience.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>2. It is a most servile and dishonourable view of the genuine 
  Christian character and life, that we should regard ourselves as "bastards and 
  not Sons," unless we are continually bleeding under the rod of rebuke and 
  correction. To those who have such an experience as that, the language of our 
  Father is "Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will (or rather will ye) 
  revolt more and more?"</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4>The result of the rod in genuine Christian experience is thus 
represented by the Psalmist: "Surely I have behaved and quieted myself as a 
child that is weaned from his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child." The 
true parent, our Father above especially, does not scourge his child after 
chastisement has brought him into such a state as that. There is not in all that 
the Scriptures have said in resñe~t to the discipline of the rod, on the one 
hand, and of afBiction on the other, the shadow of a foundation for the dogma of 
the continued disobedience of all believers in Jesus.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>~. The habit, we remark once more, of regarding all amictive 
  providences, scourgings for sin, and of always expecting to sin and be 
  scourged therefor, the idea which induced the inference that such providences 
  are of this character, tends to annihilate every sentiment of filial love, 
  patience, and quietude in the heart. It is for this reason that so many 
  Christians seem to lose almost all consciousness of God's parental love, and 
  to regard Him as a heartless master, continuously holding over them, and 
  driving them to their duties by, the rod and the lash. Nor will they ever come 
  into such relations to Him, that the spontaneous outgoings of their hearts 
  toward him will be, "My Father, my Father, Thou art the guide of my youth," as 
  long as they continue to expect always to sin, and always to be beaten for the 
  same.</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P align=center><FONT size=4><B>ROMANS VIII. 22, 23.</B></FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>'1 we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in 
  pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselvss also, which have the 
  first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting 
  for the iidoption, to wit, the redemption of our body."</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>FROM such passages as the above, passages of the kind with 
  vhich the Scriptures abound, the inference is drawn that we have here another 
  proof of the continued conscious sinfulness of all believers in this life. If 
  there were no sin, but believers were dead to it, and delivered from its 
  power, all groaning, it is affirmed, would for ever cease. In regard to such 
  an inference we remark :</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>i. Groaning is no evidence at all of sin in any form. The 
  opposite supposition implies sin in Christ and the Holy Spirit too, groaning 
  being affirmed of each. "When Jesus, therefore, saw her weeping, and the Jews 
  also weeping which came with h?r, He groaned in Spirit and was troubled." 
  "Jesus then again groaning in himself, cometh to the sepulchre" (John x. 
  3338). "The Spirit itself maketh intercession for us, with groanings which 
  cannot be uttered" (Rom. ~ 26).</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>2. Of the groanings attributed to believers, conscious sin is 
  never sñeci1~ed as the cause: nor are such mental states ever presented as 
  indicative of the presence of sin.</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4>3. Of the groanings actually attributed to believers, two 
speci&amp; causes are assigned, namely,strong aspirations after future glory 
and blessed- 'nessexternal amictions, the main portions of which are 
"persecutions for righteousness' sake." "For in this (tabernacle, the body,) we 
groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from 
heaven." "For we that are in this tabernacle groan, being burdened; not for that 
we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of 
life" (2 Cor. V. 2, 4). Groaning, and strongly desiring, or aspiring, after 
anything, are often employed in the same sense in the Scriptures.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>The chief cause of these groanings, afflictions brought upon 
  us as diciplinary providences excepted, are tribulations from the enemies of 
  Christ, tribulations brought upon believers as persecutions for righteousness' 
  sake." Believers are represented as being, in these things, "partakers of 
  Christ's suf~riðgs." Of these tribulations, Paul thus speaks to those 
  believers who were then subject to such "fiery trials": "Seeing it is a 
  righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; 
  and to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be 
  revealed from heaven with His mighty angels." Such is the language of all the 
  New Testament writers in respect to the causes of the groanings under 
  consideration.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>4. Hence, the tribulations which induce these groanings are 
  spoken of by these writers, not as reasons for repentance for conscious sin, 
  but as proofs of fidelity to Christ; grounds of" assurance of hope," and 
  sources of present joy and rejoicing. "My brethren," says James, speaking of 
  these things, "count it all joy, when ye fall into divers temptations" (James 
  xii.). "Beloved," says Peter, "think it not strange concerning the fiery trial 
  which is to try you, as though some strange thing had happened unto you: but 
  rejoice, iiiasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufTerings, that, when His 
  glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy" (i Peter iv. 
  12, 13). Such are the revelations of God on this subject. Groanings may be 
  occasioned by judgments for sin, and when afflicted, we should also carefully 
  and prayerfully inquire for the cause. He reasons most illogically, and 
  unwisely, out of the Scriptures, however, who adduces the groanings therein 
  attributed to believers, as proof of the continued conscious sinfulness of all 
  men iii this life. Nothing can be further from "the mind of the Spirit" than 
  such deductions from such facts.</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT> 
<P align=center><FONT size=4></FONT><FONT size=5><B>PART II.</FONT><FONT 
size=4></FONT></B> 
<P align=center><B><FONT size=4></FONT></B>
<P align=center><B><FONT size=4></FONT><FONT size=5>THE TWO 
FOUNDATIONS.</B></FONT> 
<P><FONT size=5></FONT><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>Doctrine of the continued conscious sinfulness of all Believers 
in this life. Its</FONT> 
<P align=center><FONT size=4>foundation .</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>WE have now carefully considered all Scripture texts which are 
ever cited to prove the doctrine of the continued conscious sinfulness of all 
believers in this life, on the one hand, and in disproof of the opposite 
doctrine, that of full redemption from the condemnation and power of sin, on the 
other. If these passages are found to be void of validity for the proof and 
disproof for which they are adduced, then it must be admitted, that the 
doctrine, to verify which the said passages are adduced, has rio foundation in 
the Word of God. In our examination of these passages, the following fundamental 
facts have been found to be true :</FONT> 
<UL><FONT size=4>i. For nearly, or quite, four centuries after the entire 
  Scriptures were written, the entire Primitive Church had no suspicion that 
  these passages ha»e any bearing whatever against the doctrine of full 
  salvation from condemnation and power of sin in this life, or in proof of the 
  opposite doctrine. On the other hand, that Church, with wondrous unanimity, 
  put the identical construction upon these passages, which the advocates of the 
  doctrines of the Higher Life now do.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4>2. Since that period, the consent of the</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>ages has, throughout Christendom, vastly preponderated in favour 
of the primitive, and against the post-primitive, construction.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>~. Á. careful and critical examination and exposition of 
  these texts has most fully evinced the deduction that not one of them sustains 
  the doctrine to verify which they have, in "these latter days," been adduced; 
  while not a fe'v of them, when rightly expounded, bear directly and strongly 
  in favour of the doctrine of the Higher Life. Such are the actual facts of the 
  case. Whatever may be true of the doctrine of the continued sinfulness of all 
  believers while life continues, that doctrine is void of authority from the 
  Word of God.</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>Doctrine of Full Salvation from the condemnation and Power of 
Sin. Its foundation.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>If the doctrine we teach should be found to rest upon no "more 
sure word of prophecy" than that whose only claim we have considered, we should 
never againno, not for an hoururge the former upon the regard of believers. 
What is the revealed basis on which this doctrine rests?</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>i.Christ's revealed power to save.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>The central rock, on which this doctrine rests, is Christ's 
  revealed power to save from the cïndemnation and power of sin. "Christ," as we 
  read (i John iii. ~), "was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no 
  sin." Sin itself, and not condemnation for sin, is here directly refeired to, 
  this being the specific subject of discourse. "For their sakes," says our 
  Savioiir, "I sanctify (not in part dedicate) myself, that they also might be 
  sanctified (not a part, dedicated) through (or for the promotion of)the 
  truth." Here we are distinctly informed that "all the fulriess" which, by 
  appoint-merit of the Father, dwells in Christ, all the merits and efficacy of 
  His Atonement, all the infinitude of His grace and power, are specifically set 
  apart, and consequently made available to our faith, for our personal 
  sanctification and divine mission and work. "All power in heaven and in earth 
  is given unto mc," said our Saviour, againthat is, all the resources of the 
  Divine Infinity, are put into My hands, and made subject to My disposal. "And 
  Iï, I am with you aiway, even unto the end of the "rorld." Here we are 
  distinctly and specifically taught that Christ is ever with us to exert, as we 
  shall avail ourselves of it by faith, all this power for our spiritual and 
  eternal good, and for the success of His cause in our hands. Everywhere in the 
  Bible the power of God is revealed as a sure ground of faith and hope. "Trust 
  ye in the Lord for ever; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength." We 
  lay this down as a self-evident principle, that whatever form or de'~ree of 
  sa;êtßIf cation Christ, or the Father iii him, or the Spirit through lii;", 
  /ms spe~øIaIIy revealed himself as able to induce in uS, ~I'e are, by szch 
  revelation, aiithorised to expect from 111m, and that in the form and degree 
  specifIed. We here adduce three passages which reveal to us in specific form 
  what each person of the Trinity is able to do for us in this matter, and which 
  reveal the power of each as united with that of both the others to insure this 
  one end. "Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come 
  unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Heb. 
  Vii. 29). "Aiid God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, 
  always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work" (2 
  Cor. ix. 8). "Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all 
  that we ask or think, according to (by means of) the power (of the Spirit) 
  that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout 
  all ages, world without end. Amen" (Eph. ~ 21). The meaning of these passages 
  is too plain to be misunderstood, and all expositors agree in respect to their 
  meaning. What we affirm is this : the revealed power of the Godhead thus to 
  save us from all sin authorises us to expect salvation " to the uttermost," 
  or, God's revealed power to save, to bless, and to "keep from falling," is, in 
  rio sense or form, a basis of hope or trust. Will the opposers of the doctrine 
  of the Higher Life, if we have erred in our deduction here, show us 'vherein 
  the error consists?</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>2.Revealed Provisions and Promises of Grace. Let us now turn 
  our attention to the revealed Provisions and Promises of Grace for our I 
  resent sanctification. The principle which lies at the basis of our reasoning 
  here is this: Whatever form or degree of present sanctification is clearly 
  sñec~ed in these provisions and promises, is to all believers an object of 
  assured hope and trust. Provisions not available to our faith are, undeniably, 
  no provisions at all. The promises are revealed for the specifically declared 
  purpose, "that by these," by embracing them by faith, "we might be partakers 
  of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption which is in the world 
  through lust." Of the passages pertaining to the provisions of grace we adduce 
  but three: "For what the law</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4>could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending 
His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the 
flesh,</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4>that the righteousness of the law might b~ fulfilled in us, who 
walk not after the flesh, but after the (Spirit" (Rom viii 3, ~) The words, 
"walk not</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4>after the flesh, but after the Spirit," show absolutely that the 
provisions here revealed are for believers in this life. Equally manifest is the 
fact, that the words, "righteousness of the law," represent righteousness, not 
in the sense of jõst~)fcatßïn, but of obedience to what the law requires. 
Such</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4>&amp;bedience is the specific and exclusive subject of discourse 
in the connection in. which the words are here employed. Besides, the words, 
"righteousness of the law," are never employed to represent the doctrine of 
"justification by faith," but always in the sense under consideration. Christ, 
then, has made provision for our full present obedience to the law and will of 
Godprovisions, by availing ourselves of which by faith, the "righteousness of 
the law," the righteousness or obedience which the law requires, "may be 
fulfilled in us." Consider one other passage: "Who His own self bare our sins in 
His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto 
righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed " (i Pet. ii. 24). (See, also, 
Eph. ô~ 25-27 ; i John iii. ~, 6; Tit. ii. 14.) Of the promises which Christ, 
as the Mediator of the New Covenant, has absolutely pledged Himself to render 
real in our experience, "When He shall be enquired of by us to do it for us," we 
cite only the two following: "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, anII ye 
shall be clean: from all your &amp;lthiness, and from all your idols, will I 
cleanse you. A 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. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you 
to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments and do them" (Ez. XXXVi. 
25-27). "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 caileth you, who also will do it" (i 
Thess. V. 23, 24). (See, also, Phil. 1V. 19; Deut. xxx. 6; i Cor. ×. 13.) No 
candid enquirer after truth can misapprehend the real meaning of such promises, 
and as to their meaning, all commentators, as far as we know, agree. If, then, 
the revealed provisions and promises of grace are a sure foundation of faith and 
hope, the doctrine under consideration rests upon the rock of truth.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>~. Christ's 1;ztercessory Prayer for alt Believers. We now 
recur to the specific blessings presented to our faith, in our Saviour's 
Intercessory Prayer for all believers. Let the reader carefully ponder this 
prayer, and distinctly notice the blessings therein specifiedblessings, every 
one of which distinctly imply utter separation from all sin, a perfected union 
between us and Him, such as exists between Him and the Father, His abiding in 
us, as the Father abides in Him, and our being "made perfect in. one." Nor can 
there be a doubt that this prayer refers exclusively to believers in this life. 
Believers are to be brought into this state of perfection in Christ, as a means 
to an end, the salvation of the world. But to the prayer its~If:"ÍeithÝr pray I 
for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 
that they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in me, and I in Thee, that they 
also may be one in us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent me: and 
the glory which Thou gayest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as 
we are one: I in. them, and Thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; 
and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou 
has loved me" In respect to this prayer, we concludeand not a shadow of doubt 
arises, or can rest upon our mind in. regard to the absolute validity of that 
conclusionthat every blessing specified in that prayer) and in the form and 
degree therein specified, fully "accords with the Will of God "that every 
blessmg designated, the Eternal Father holds in readiness for our faith, and 
that whenever He shall be inquired of to do it for us," that prayer will become 
a divine reality in our experience.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>We here rest our cause, not referring to other grounds, 
  equally immovable, on which the doctrine we maintain has its revealed basis. 
  If the specifically revealed power of the Godheadthe equally specific 
  provisions and promises of grace, and blessings undeniably specified in the 
  intercessory prayer of our Saviour do not present an immovable basis for 
  absolute "assurance of faith," "assurance of hope,"and assurance of 
  understanding," then "the foundations are destroyed," and the Bible stands 
  revealed as one of the most unmeaning and deceptive books that ever was 
  written.</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P align=center><FONT size=4>Professed attainments, when credible.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>We have now before us a clearly revealed test, by which we 
  may determine the credibility of any professed attainments in the divine life. 
  When such attainments fall clearly within the circle of Christ's revealed 
  power to save and to blesswhen they</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4>are as manifestly included within the circle of the revealed 
provisions and promises of grace, and are as distinctly and specifically implied 
or expressed in the intercessory prayer of our Saviour, then, nothing can be 
more credible in itself than are such affirmed attainments, and the question of 
their actual possession, like that of regeneration orjustiflcation, becomes a 
question of fact, to be determined by its own proper evidence. This is the only 
reasonable and revealed test, by which the professions of the advocates of the 
Higher Life are to be tried.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P align=center><FONT size=4>Evidence from e÷j5erßence.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>Tested by the actual experience of the vast majority of 
  professing Christians, the Rest of Faith must be set down as among the 
  impossibilities of Faith. The almost exclusive reason why such believers 
  regard Rom. vii. as revealing the divinelydra'vn portraiture of Christian 
  experience in its highest forms, is the conscious fact, that what they there 
  read does accord with their experience. Then, on the other hand, saints in all 
  ageswho have regarded this chapter as portraying a legal, in opposition to a 
  faith, experience, who rest their faith and hope upon Christ's revealed power 
  to save and to blessupon the revealed provisions and promises of grace, and 
  upon Christ's intercessory prayer for all believersdo attain to forms of 
  conscious experience and life in all respects the opposite to the portraiture 
  drawn in that chapter.</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>What evidence do we ~nd in the experience of the former class 
that, beyond what they experience, God has not "prepared some better things for 
us"? The unvarying experieiice of the latter class, on the other hand, 
absolutely verifies the fact, that their faith rests upon the clear revelations 
of the Word of God</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P align=center><FONT size=4></FONT><FONT size=5><B>PART III.</FONT><FONT 
size=4></FONT></B> 
<P align=center><B><FONT size=4></FONT></B>
<P align=center><B><FONT size=4></FONT></B>
<P align=center><B><FONT size=4></FONT><FONT size=5>TESTED BY THEIR FRUITS, 
AND</FONT></B> 
<P align=center><B><FONT size=5></FONT></B>
<P align=center><B><FONT size=5>INTRINSIC TENDENCIES'</B></FONT><FONT 
size=4></FONT> 
<P align=center><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P align=center><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P align=center><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P align=center><FONT size=4>ISAIAH XLIII. 21.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>'·The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness' sake. He will 
magnify the Law, and make it honourable."</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>HERE we have a revelation, full and distinct, of the light in 
  which the Infinite and Eternal Father regards the redemptive work of Christ, 
  and the reason for this regard. In this work Christ stands revealed to the 
  world, and to the universe, as "the brightness (the most luminous and 
  impressive form) of the Faþer's glory, anII the express image (the most full 
  and distinct manifestation) of His sõb.~ stance." His work is, in every 
  particular, an absolutely perfected and finished work, so finished and 
  perfected that the eye of God cannot discover a single defect in it.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>The central reason why God thus regards this redemptive work 
  of Christ is given in the second clause of the text : " He wifl magnify the 
  law, and make it honourable." This conducts us to th~ theme of this discourse, 
  the great idea of the law, as "magnified and made honourable" through the 
  redemptive work of Christ. We must bear this in mind, that it was no part of 
  this work to render the law more or less sacred in God's regard. God 
  entertains an infinite and unchangeable respect for His own law, and nothing 
  has ever occurred nor can occur, to increase or diminish that respect. The 
  purpose of God is to induce a similar respect in the mind, not only of every 
  believer in Jesus, but in that of every unfallen being in existence, so that 
  all, in common, shall be as unchangeable in their hatred of sin and love of 
  righteousness as is God Himself. "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us," 
  and perfected the redemptive work for the revealed purpose ïf~" making an end 
  of sin and bringing in everlasting righteousness." The final result of this 
  work will be the introduction in all minds, and throughout all worlds, outside 
  of the dark realm of the Second Death, of such a sentiment in regard to sin, 
  and such a respect for the law of righteousness, that, to eternity, there will 
  never occur a single act of violation of the divine law. God, the Eternal 
  Father, has, then, good reason to be well pleased with the redemptive work of 
  Christ. Let us now turn our thoughts directly to the great doctrine of the 
  text" the law of God magnified and made horiourable" through this redemptive 
  work. In accomplishing this object, we will, first of all, direct attention to 
  The Æaþ itself.</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>Of this Law, in the language of another, "nothing less than 
  this can be said, that its home is the bosom of God, and its voice, the 
  harmony of the universe." Its home is the bosom of God, because, that there, 
  from eternity, this law has had its fixed dwelling-place, all God's activity, 
  thoughts, purposes, and ways, being in absolute harmony with its spirit and 
  principles. "Love is the fulfilling of the law," and "God is love," love as 
  representing and implying all possible forms and degrees of moral excellence. 
  There is still another reason why the bosom of God is the home of this law. As 
  presented to the universe, and imposed upon creatures, it is simply the 
  representation of His thought and will, as He has entertained the same from 
  eternity.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>This law is the harmony of the universe, because that as far 
  as, and wherever, full obedience to its requirements obtains, absolute harmony 
  and union are assured between God and His creatures on the one hand, and 
  between them, one towards another, on the other. In bringing the holy, 
  intelligent creation into absolute conformity to the spirit, principles, and 
  precepts of this law, discord iii any form, or degree, becomes ab solutely 
  impossible throughout the wide domain of the Kingdom of Light.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>We may, perhaps, attain to some proper apprehension of this 
  subject, by contemplating it in the light of a single passage of inspiration. 
  "There is one lawgiver." One of the greatest thinkers America ever knew, the 
  honourable Daniel Webster, once remarked that there was one passage of 
  Scripturea passage upon which he had for many years strongly desired to write 
  a sermon. When he had reflected, however, upon the great truth therein 
  embodied, he had found that truth too vast for his capacities, so that he had 
  been deterred from attempting to accomplish the end desired. The passage he 
  remarked is this, "There is one lawgiver." It is more than thirty years since 
  we heard that statement. Since that time, that passage has been to us a 
  central object of thought. Yet the truth it embodies has ever appeared too 
  vast for our capacities. "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, 
  I cannot attain unto it." Yet there are features and elements of this truth 
  which we can understand. One is this: God is the only being in existence who 
  has the prerogative of making or prescribing laws for His rational offspring. 
  All moral legislation obligatory upon rational, moral natures comes from God, 
  and has authority but as expressive of His will. To obey any law which 
  prohibits what God commands, or commands what He prohibits, is treason toward 
  God.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>There is, also, as revealed in this passage, not only one, 
  and only one, lawgiver, but one and only onelaw, one common law for all moral 
  beings in all relations and conditions of existence. This law is the will of 
  God when revealed as such, to His creatures, a law, first of all, written upon 
  the universal conscience, and then written out in the Scriptures of truth. 
  Conformity to this law is denominated holiness, righteousness, virtue, purity, 
  and perfectness; and nonconformity: unholiness, unrighteousness, iniquity, and 
  impurity.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>J~e Law when ÌagnßÞed and made Ilonourabk.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>The law is "magnifled and made honourable" when, in its 
  spirit, principles, and endlessly diversified applications, it becomes the 
  central object and theme of thought, regard, and discourse when such absolute 
  respect for its requirements is felt as to insure prompt and implicit 
  obedience to the same in all their formswhen such obedience insures to the 
  subject the highest honour, esteem, and respect, and disobedience covers the 
  perpetrator with the deepest shame, disesteem, and reprobationand when, in 
  short, there is an omnipresent interest in, and supreme "love of righteousness 
  and hatred of iniquity." Whatever induces such results as these, " magnifies 
  the law and makes it honourable," an d this is what Christ has accomplished 
  through His. redemptive work. This end He has accomplished, we 
remark.</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>flow Christ has magn~ed, and does magn~'fy, the Law, and makes 
it honourable.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>i. By the absolute obedience which He rendered. to the law, 
  and the deep respect which He manifested for it, during the entire period of 
  His incarnation, and humiliation on earth. When Christ emptied Himself of the 
  glory which He had with the Father before the world was" took upon Himself 
  the form (condition) of a man, and was made in the likeness of men," subject 
  to all their trials and temptations, and responsibilities toothe eyes, not 
  only of God, but of the universe, were fixed upon Him, to see how the case 
  would turn with. Him. Will He stand, or will He fall, as Adam did? absorbed 
  the thought of heaven and hell too. When it was perceived that in all 
  respects, and in. every condition of being and life, even in death, His 
  obedience was perfect and absolute, that not one jot or tittle of what the law 
  requires failed in Him: then, in the presence of such an example of respect 
  for the law, and obedience to its precepts, the holiness of every being in 
  heaven took on the form of eternal stability. To such a degree was "the law 
  magnified and made honourable," that to eternity no creature there will 
  disobey it. The same is true in this world, just as far as that example is 
  known and appreciated. By what means could the Most High so effectually" 
  magnify</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>His law, and make it hïnïõrabIe,~? as, in the person of Christ, 
to assume the condition of the creature in its 'vorst and most trying possible 
forms, and there, as an example to the universe, render full and absolute 
obedience to His o'vn law.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>hi all his teachings and associations, Christ manifested the 
  same absolute respect for the will and law of God. "Whosoever did the will of 
  God," whateverhis condition in other respects, "was to him as a brother, and 
  sister, and mother," and whosoever refused such obedience, all other 
  conditions and relations not'vithstanding, were the objects of His disesteem 
  and reprobation. The love of righteousness (obedience) and hatred of iniquity 
  (disobedience) were omnipresent, and all-impressive, manifestations of His 
  entire teaching and life.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>2. In His sj5ecia! redemj5tßíe work, that of atonementevery 
  thing possible is done by our Saviour to "magnify the law, and make it 
  honour-able." Atonement what is it? A substitute for the penalty of violated 
  law, a substitute fully ensuring the end which the penalty was intended to 
  insure. In the forgiveness of sin through this divine atonement, þe law is not 
  made void, but established. That is done which renders it, not only merciful, 
  biitjust, in God, to "justify the believer in Jesus." What awe inspiring 
  impressiveness is imparted to the law by the forgiveness of sin, on such a 
  ground as this.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>3. In the conditions of pardon and acceptance with God, the 
  same respect for the law is most impressively conspicuous. Before God will 
  listen at all to a request from the sinner for pardon, the latter must, in all 
  sincerity, justify the law both iii its precepts and penaltiesconfess the 
  fact, iriexcusableness, and infinite criminality of all his acts of 
  disobedienceand having "broken off his sins by righteousness, and his 
  iniquities by cleaving unto the Lord," he must seek and accept forgiveness as 
  a matter of exclusive grace and mercy through Christ. Thus again is "the law 
  magnified and made honourable."</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>4. Let us now turn our thoughts to the revealed relations of 
  Christ to all believers. The revealed object of His mission and atoning grace 
  is to "save His people from their sins "to make provisions by which "the 
  righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in them," by which God's laws 
  might be "put into their hearts, and written in their minds," and they caused 
  to "walk in God's statutes, and to keep His judgments and do them." Asthe 
  mediator of the NewCovenant, Heisrevealed as "able to save them to the 
  uttermost that come unto God by Him "to "make all grace abound towards them, 
  so that they, having all sufikiency for all things, may abound unto every good 
  work" .anII as "able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or 
  think." Then, as the same Mediator, He stands pledged by absolute promise, 
  that when He is enquired of by us to do it for us, "He will sprinkle clean 
  water upon us arid render us clean, that He will cleanse us from all our 
  ~Ithiness, and from all our idols; that he will ! put His Spirit within us, 
  and cause us to walk in God's statutes, and keep His judgments, and do them 
  "" that he will sanctify us wholly, and preserve our whole spirit and soul 
  and body blameless unto His coming." Such are the revealed relations of Christ 
  to us in the sphere of our sanctifkation, or "obedience to the will and Jaw of 
  God," relations in all of whichthe law is specifkally "magþ1~ed and made 
  honourable."</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>~. I~ the 1~rIaI Consummation, we remark, in the last place, 
  the work under consideration will be rendered complete and eternal. All who 
  have repented of sin" washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of 
  the Lamb "and returned to full obedience to the law and will of God, will, in 
  the presence of an assembled universe, be received into the Kingdom of Light; 
  while all, of every name, 'vho have refused to return to obedience will be 
  "covered with shame and everlasting contempt." Christ will then have so 
  "magnified the law, and made it honourable," that as we have said, outside of 
  the realm of the Second Death, sin will never again have place in the universe 
  of God, Christ "having made an end of sin, and brought in EVERLASTING 
  righteousness."</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4>Wizen do beIß~íers in Jesus magnify the law and make it 
/ionourable, as Christ "Id?</FONT> 
<UL><FONT size=4>"The glory which the Father gave to Christ, He has given to 
  His followers." It is their glory and privilege to "magnify the law, and make 
  it honour-able," in their sphere, and through their lives, example, and 
  teachings, as He did in His. This high end they accomplish when, and only 
  when, their respect for all God's commandments, and their obedience to "every 
  word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God," take form from Christ's 
  example, when their esteem and love for those who do, and their disesteem for 
  those who do not, "the will of our Father in heaven," and when their "love of 
  righteousness and hatred of iniquity" are a copy of those of Christ.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>In the primitive age of the Church, when men would affirm 
  anything to be impossible to man, they were accustomed to say: "You can no 
  more do that than you can induce a Christian to sin." When the visible 
  obedience of believers extorted such confessions from the world, then it was 
  that "the Gentiles came to the light of the Church, and kings to the 
  brightness of her rising." So it ever will be. When believers in Jesus show 
  visible "respect to all God's commandments," and prompt and implicit 
  "obedience to every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God," then men 
  fear and tremble at the thought of their own sins, and magnify and honour 
  God's law, by "repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." 
  When believers visibly fall short of this, then "the name of God is 
  blasphemed, and His law despised, through them."</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4>III heaven an ë1I-ñ~ríading public sentiment exists, requiring 
of each and every individual implicit and perfect obedience to the law and will 
of God, and a universal expectation that such obedience will be rendered. By 
such a sentiment "the law is magnified and made honourable" there. When the same 
sentiment shall pervade the Church on earth in regard to all its members, t1~en 
will "the law," in. a similar manner, "be rag nifled and made honourable" here. 
When, also, in the heart and teachings of the Church, the grace of Christ shall 
be magnifleII as fully adequate and available to enable each believer to " stand 
perfect and complete in all the will of God," the law will thereby be magnified 
also. In making and revealing such grace, God reveals infinite respect for that 
law. Had He provided grace less adequate, or not fully available to our faith, 
He would have manifested indifference to His own law.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>14'heõ is a law rendered the object of disesteem and 
disregard?</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>Á very important inquiry here arisesnamely, When is a law 
  rendered the object of disesteem and disregard? This result arises, we 
  ansiver, when subjects are in such relations to the law that they may violate 
  its spirit, principles, and requirementswith very little or no sense of the 
  criminality of such conductwhen they may confess such disobedience without 
  shame, or seeming remorse when little esteem and honour attaches to the fact 
  of obedience, and little disesteem and dishon our to that of disobediencewhen 
  little obligation is felt or cherished to obey, on the one hand, and not to 
  disobey on the otherand finally, when the love of righteousness, and hatred 
  of iniquity, have ceased to be supreme in the mind. Whenever, and wherever, 
  such results as these appear, but one cause can be assigned for the sameviz., 
  a loss of sacred respect for the law itself. No principles, doctrines, or 
  teachings, we remark, can be so pernicious and subversive in their tendency 
  and inß~õence, as those which intrinsically tend to relax the sacredness of 
  the will and law of God upon the obedience, full and implicit, of His 
  creatures. No one will question the strict validity of these statements. Our 
  last and not least important inquiry is this. What principles, doctrines, and 
  forms of teaching, do intrinsically tend to induce such pernicious and 
  subversive results? To this inquiry we answer:</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>Ñrßnc&amp;5Ies, doctrines, and teachings, which "make void the 
law," ?r tend to relax a sense of its sacredness.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>i. The first that we notice is this: Familiarizing-the minds of 
believers, converts e~/'ecºaIIy, with the fact that they will sinsin daily in 
heart, thought, word, and act. All are aware of the almost resist-less ini~õence 
which a full conviction that a specific event will inevitably occur exerts upon 
the mind. Death has, in many instances, beef induced by the simple belief that 
it would occur. Familiarize your convert with the fact, and induce in him the 
absolute conviction, that he inevitably will sin, and that in the forms above 
stated, and you have rendered two events equally inevitablethe fact that he 
wfli thus sin, and that he will soon become possessed of a conscience seared and 
deadened to a sense of the criminality of the sin which he does commit. No other 
results will or can follow. We lay this down as a principle that knows no 
exception, a principle verified by the entire mass of facts that lie all around 
us in all the Churches, that Christians manifest little remorse, and no shame, 
in respect to forms of sin which they expect and are expected to commit, while 
their remorse and shame are deep and intense in respect to those classes of sins 
which they are expected not to commit. "Forsaking their first love," worldly 
mindedness and conformity, an evil temper, covetousness, and sins of a similar 
character, Christians generally expect, and are expected to commit; while the 
grosser sins of blasphemy, theft, lying, drunkenness, and licentiousness, they 
are expected to avoid. Search Christendom, and you will find the consciences of 
believers comparatively dead to the criminality of sins of the former class, and 
all alive to that of the latter. There are communities called Christian, where 
Christians are expected to perpetrate the latter as well as the former class of 
sins, and here you will find the conscience just as callous to the criminality 
of the one, as of the other class. There are countries where the absence of the 
virtue of chastity in woman, and a robber-life in man, are considered as not 
incompatible with the possession of Christian character and an assured hope of 
eternal life, and where Christians are expected to commit these very sins. Here 
we find the same absence of shame and remorse, for these crimes, that we do in 
our Churches in respect to the sins to which we have referred. Talk to those 
adulteresses and robbers about the vices and crimes which they perpetrate, and 
they will listen to you with the most shameless and unblushing effrontery. Talk 
to these same individuals about eating meat on Friday, neglecting the 
confessional, the sacrament, making the prescribed crossings, or counting their 
beads, and you will find that here their consciences are most quick and wakeful. 
The reason is obvious. In the former case, you speak of sins which the subjects 
expect, and are expected, to commit. In the latter you refer to imagined duties 
which they expect, and are expected, not to omit. The principle is a universal 
one, and just as fixed in its operation as are any of the laws of nature. Teach 
the convert that he «Tili sin, sin daily in heart, thought, word, and act, and 
these results will inevitably follow. In the first place, he will sin, and will 
go farther in sin than you expect. Then, since he does nothing but what he 
expects, and is expected, to do, the fact of sin will not startle or alarm him. 
As a consequence his conscience will slumber, and gradually become callous to 
the criminality of his sin, and if he does not sleep the sleep of death "on the 
enchanted ground," he will "be saved so as by fire." By such teachings he is 
placed under the most perilous influences conceivable.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>One of the main sources of the peril connected with these 
  teachings lies in their indqfniteness The subject, as he is assured and made 
  to believe, will sin, sin daily in heart, thought, word, and deed. Of the form 
  and dÝg~ree of the sin, which, as he is assured, is inevitable (grosser vices 
  and crimes excepted), he has no apprehensions whatever. When he aims at 
  perfection, as he is taught that he must, he does so under the absolute 
  assurance of failure, failure in what form, and to what extent, of this, the 
  grosser sins excepted, he has no conception. Can believers be placed in 
  circumstances more open and defenceless to the deadly assaults of "the world, 
  the flesh, and the devil," than they are when under the full power of such 
  beliefs and expectations as these? If we could only know the form and extent 
  in which sin is inevitable, we should have before our minds a definite 
  standard of practicable attainment, and should know what to aim at 'vith 
  rational hope. Oppressed with the absolute assurance of falling into sin, into 
  what forms and to what extent we know not and cannot know, Satan can ask for 
  no more open exposures for "his fiery darts," than he here finds the believer 
  in.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>Impress the convert, on the other hand, that what, and only 
  what, is expected of him is a sacred "respect for all God's commandments 
  "obedience, prompt and implicit, to "every word that proceed eth out of the 
  mouth of God;" that he is no more expected to sin in any one form than in any 
  other; that a common criminality and peril to the soul's eternity, attends sin 
  in all forms alike; and that when sin, in any form, has been committed, 
  nothing but "repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ," 
  can save the soul from death, and then, and only then, "will his righteousness 
  go forth as brightness and his salvation as a lamp that shineth," and "God's 
  law will be magnified and made honourable "through Him.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>2. Suppose, now, that the convert, in common with other 
  believers, is not only familiarised with the fact, and impressed with the 
  conviction, that he will continuously sin, but that this conviction is 
  confirmed by the assurance with vhich he is also familiarised, that the 
  holiest individuals that have ever lived have thus sinned; such individuals, 
  for example, as Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, the Prophets, Apostles, 
  Paul particularly, and all believers in all ages who are most venerated for 
  the sanctity of their lives. Even these men, the convert is assured, did sin 
  daily in heart, thought, word, and deed, and he must not entertain the proud 
  and presumptuous idea of being more holy than they were. What will, what must, 
  be the inevitable result of such teachings upon all who receive them as truths 
  of God? But one result ever has followed, or can follow. The degree of the sin 
  to be committed is unknown; sin in its grosser forms, which no believer is 
  expected to commit, excepted. Hence, while the convert avoids these, nothing 
  will occur to disturb his fears, or alarm his conscience. However far he may 
  depart from God, he will find in the sins of these holiest of men, sins with 
  which you have familiarised his mind, just the opiate which will stupefy his 
  conscience, and perfect his carnal security. While he may, as he no doubt 
  will, admit the fact that he is not where and what he should be, he will do so 
  without shame, or disquieting remorse. Admonish him for his shortcomings, and 
  he will confess the fact; but will find his apology in the example of those 
  holy men and women, whose sins, instead of whose faith, you have really taught 
  him to follow.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>Apply this principle to specific forms of Christian duty in 
  any of the particular relations of life, and what would the inevitable result 
  he? Respect for parental authority and other kindred duties are, in fact and 
  form, prescribed iii the Bible as essential elements of religious duty. 
  Suppose, now, that parents should educate their children in this 
wise:</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4>First of all such children are taught that they .rnight to "obey 
their parents in the Lord," and are induced to resolve and promise to do so. At 
the same time they are assured, and that as a revealed truth of God, a truth 
which they will disbelieve at the peril of their souls, that no child since the 
fall, the child Jesus excepted, "hath, by any grace received in this life," been 
able fully to obey such precepts, but "daily doth break them in thought, word, 
and deed." You then confirm your child in his expectation of thus sinning, by 
assuring him that you and all other parents thus sinned when you were children, 
arid that this is true of all the men and women whom he holds in the deepest 
esteem and veneration. You know very well that under such teaching all children 
would become shamelessly lawless and disobedient, and void of natural affection. 
Suppose that teachers in our schools should give out their rules, and none but 
wholesome ones, and should then induce their pupils to resolve upon, and most 
solemnly pledge, full obedience. We will then suppose that these pupils are 
furnished with a manual containing such an item as this: No pupil, since schools 
were organised, hath been able fully to obey such rules, but daily doth break 
them in heart, thought, word, and act. The pupils are then assured that all 
teachers, that all parents, and all the wisest and best men and women of all 
ages, did thus sin, 'vhen they were pupils; and that present pupils should not 
expect to be better than their predecessors. We all know what the result would 
be. The same lawless, remorseless, and shameless results would undeniably follow 
from similar teachings and beliefs in every conceivable sphere of human life. 
Can a sentiment, thus subversive in all other relations, be of hallowed 
influence in the family of God and school of Christ?</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>3. Suppose now, that the convert and all believers are 
  further taught that God has abundantly, in His own Word, revealed the facta 
  fact which we must believe, or "make God a liar "that all Christians do, and 
  will, sin daily in heart, thought, word, and act, and that it is a perilous 
  error to believe or eêñect the contrary. You go further, and furnish your 
  pupils with numberless aflirmed proof texts, confirming the belief and 
  expectations under consideration; thus inducing in the mind the habit of 
  searching the Bible, not to find "the grace which bringeth salvation," but 
  proofs of the fact of the absolute certainty that the subject viii sin. The 
  conviction, of the inevitable certainty of actual sin is thus confirmed by 
  affirmed specific revelations from God Himself. Surrounded as the convert is 
  by numberless temptations and besetments from the world, the flesh, and Satan, 
  an infinite weight is thus added to the pressure that lures him onward in the 
  direction of sin.</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>4. Á wide step, we will suppose, is now taken in advance of 
  all this. The convert and other believers are impressed with the conviction 
  that it is a revealed and fixed arrangement of divine purpose and grace, not 
  only that no believer shall in this life be "sanctified wholly," be "saved 
  unto the uttermost," or be "redeemed from all iniquity," but that he shall be 
  ~rádõaI1y recovered from the power of sin. You assure the convert that while 
  "Christ can, by one word of His power, render us sinless, God is glorified, 
  not in the instantaneous perfection of His redeemed, but by their gradual 
  deliverance from imperfection." "Gradual growth out of the evil into the good 
  is the divine law (method) of holiness." "Man prefers the instantaneous to the 
  gradual, but will he prevail against God?" The above are cited from the 
  writings of a leading divine of this age. When your pupil has received such a 
  doctrine as that, and received it as a revealed truth of God, will he, can he, 
  regard the degree of sin, under the power of which, by divine choice and fixed 
  purpose, he is left, the degree of sin, deliverance from which would be a 
  reversal of "the divine law of holiness" ?will he, can he, regard this amount 
  and degree of sin, as in reality, "an evil thing and bitter"? You mayand he 
  maycall it such, but in the presence of such apprehensions, neither He nor 
  you can regard it as such. Recognising yourself, on the other hand, as õnIIer 
  "the divine law of holiness," as in the state in which alone "God is 
  glorified," you cannot, if you respect the law under which God has, as you 
  believe, immutably placed you, but be content to continue under the degree of 
  sin where God leaves and continues you. It is thus that men "make void the law 
  of God by their traditions."</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>5. The same baleful influence results from those forms of 
  teaching in which sin itself is represented as an infinite evil, while "the 
  sense of sin" is eulogized and magnified as of immortal benefit to the soul. 
  "The sense of sin," says a distinguished theologian, "is like the atmosphere 
  in which the earthly bird wings its flight, for all its powers are adapted to 
  a resisting medium." "The sense of sin," he says again, "is to the soul what 
  the air is to the bird. In our present imperfect state it is essential to its 
  growth." The immutable condition, as this author afterwards states, of the 
  existence of "a sense of sin," is the continued conscious presence of sin in 
  the heart. How can a spiritual atmosphere, without which spiritual life and 
  growth are impossible, be regarded as an infinite good, and the sin without 
  which the existence of the atmosphere is impossible, be in the mind's regard 
  our infinite evil? "Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles ?" " 
  Abiding in Christ," "faith in His name," and the power of the Spirit received 
  by faith, are God's revealed atmosphere of spiritual growth and development. 
  For all "the sense of sin "needed, "the time past of our lives," we are 
  assured, "may suffice."</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>6. We will now refer to the covenant ïbIIòatiïns, which every 
  convert is required to assume on his entrance into the C[iurch. In every 
  Church the convert is required, under the solemnity of an oath, to pledge 
  himself to God, and to His people, to abstain wholly from all sin, and to 
  render implicit obedience to "every word that ñrïceedeþ out of the mouth of 
  God." In all of the Churches in which the doctrine under consideration is 
  received, the convert is required to assume such sacred obligations under the 
  avowed expectation of daily violating them in heart, thought, word, and deed. 
  We have very high authority for affirming that "it is better not to vow than 
  to vow and not pay." What must be the tendency of vowing to God and man with 
  the avowed expectation of not paying? Years after the English government was 
  established in India, the English judges there affirmed that they had never 
  found a native of that country whose oath could be at all relied on in any 
  case where the interest or desire of the witness impelled him to perjury. The 
  reason, and only reason, was the universal expectation that all oaths would be 
  of this character. The same expectation 'vould undeniably impart the same 
  character to oaths in all courts of justice on earth. Is this principle 
  reversed in respect to covenant vows or oaths of still greater solemnityvows 
  taken by every conyert on his entrance into full standing in the Church? We 
  contemplate with horror such vows. If it was the fixed plan to induce general 
  indif· ference to covenant vows, and to sin itself, what means, we ask, in all 
  sincerity, could be adopted, better adapted to that end, than constraining the 
  convert, in fact and form, to covenant with God and nian, and to consider 
  himself under perpetual covenant obligations to do what he avowedly expects 
  not to do, and not to do what he deliberately expects to do? In entering into 
  the married relation, each party solemnly pledges absolute fidelity to the 
  other. What if, in all such transactions, those vows were assumed with the 
  avowed expectation of daijy violating them in heart, thought, word, and deed, 
  and with the avowed belief that, since the fall, no husband or wife has been 
  able to keep such a covenant? Covenanting with God is represented in the 
  Scriptures as a marriage. Can it be that making vows to God, with the avowed 
  expectation of daily violating them, does not have the same fatal tendency 
  that ordinary marriage vows assumed with similar expectations, would 
  have?</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>6. In prayer, we remark again, groce is specifically asked 
  for, that the subject may "stand perfect and complete in all the will of God." 
  Yet, wherever the belief under consideration obtains, such prayers are offered 
  with the avowed expectation of not receiving the blessing asked for. What is 
  the immutable tendency of thus praying, but to render prayer, in all its 
  forms, an unmeaning and heartless service?</FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4></FONT></UL>
<UL><FONT size=4>As sin, according to this sentiment, is an omnipresent fact 
  in experience, the confession of sin in every prayer is required by those who 
  hold this sentiment And what is the character of the confessions which we 
  commonly hear? If there is anything which must be "a smoke in the nose" of the 
  Almighty, it must be an unfeeling arid heartless confession of sin. Yet this 
  is the smoke which is constantly going up from the prayers offered everywhere, 
  under the expectation of sinning daily in heart, thought, word, arid deed. 
  With what shameless indifference, as if sin was</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4>regarded as the merest trii~e, are the confessions repeated: "We 
have done many things that we ought not to have done, and left undone many 
things which we ought to have done." In such prayers individuals "become 
rockers, and render their bands strong," and just such prayers will be offered 
whenever arid wherever the sentiment under consideration shall obtain.</FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<UL><FONT size=4>7. The same result, we remark finally, follows from another 
  form of teaching. When the duty and possibility of being " cleansed from all 
  sin," through the grace of Christ, and the power of "the Eternal Spirit" are 
  presented, we are gravely told that we think thus because we have lowered the 
  standard of duty, and relaxed the claims of the law and will of God. "Had 
  you," we are told, "such a standard of moral excellence before your mind as 
  rises before ours, and were God's claims upon our love and obedience as sacred 
  in your regard as they are in ours, you would not speak as you do." A certain 
  lady was iii the constant habit of eulogising her minister as one of the 
  greatest theologians of the age. "Why," she exclaimed, on a particular 
  occasion, "so deep and profound are his teachings, that I don't pretend to 
  understand him." You profess, my friend, through your teachings, to "magnify 
  the law and make it honourable" by representing its claims as so high and 
  sacred, that you never think of keeping them. You will effectively secure this 
  end when, and only when, those claims shall become so high and sacred in your 
  regard, that you will never think of anything else but keeping themof 
  anything else than prompt and full obedience to "every word that proceedeth 
  out of the mouth of God." God never eulogises His law by raising it above the 
  provisions of His grace, the power of His spirit, and the possibilities of 
  faith. "This commandment," He says, "which I command thee this day, it is not 
  hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven that thou 
  shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we 
  may hear it, and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, 
  Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it 
  and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy 
  heart, that thou mayest do it." This, also, is just what Paul affirms to be 
  true of "the word of faith, "as taught by himself and inspired associates. 
  Placing God's requirements above the provisions and promises of His grace, 
  "the power of the Spirit," and the possibilities of faith, does nothing else 
  but impart a fatal opiate to the conscience, and enable individuals to sin 
  without shame and almost without remorse.</FONT></UL>
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P align=center><FONT size=4></FONT><FONT size=5><B>CONCLUSION.</B></FONT><FONT 
size=4></FONT> 
<P><FONT size=4></FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>Such, undeniably, are the necessary fruits and immutable 
tendencies of the doctrine of the continued conscious sinfulness of all 
believers in this life. In no sense or form does it tend to "magnify the law or 
make it honourable." It does, on the other hand, immutably tend to perpetuate 
sin in the heart and life, to strengthen the power of every evil principle 
within us, to sear the conscience to a sense of sin, to deaden the fervour of 
all religious duty, to render all-powerful "the law of sin which is in the 
members," on the one hand, and, on the other, to hang weights upon our faith in 
the availability of God's revealed power to save, in the efficacy of the 
revealed provisions and promises of grace, of Christ's Intercessory Prayer, and 
of the power of the Spirit. All who read their Bibles under the influence of 
this doctrine read it with a veil before their minds, a veil which hides from 
their hearts God's truth in its divinest forms. Soon, we believe, that veil will 
be taken away, and then will believers, "with open face, behold as in a glass 
the glory of the Lord, and be changed into the same image from glory to glory, 
even as by the Spirit of the Lord."</FONT> 
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