1 K. 8: 46"there is no man that sinneth not"; Eccles. 7: 20-"Surely there is not a righteous man upon earth, that doeth good and sinneth not"; James 3:2-"For in many things we all stumble. If any stumble not in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also "; 1 John 1: 8-"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."

Sixthly, the declaration : "ye are sanctified" (1 Cor. 6:17), and the designation: "saints" (1 Cor. 1:2), applied to early believers, are, as the whole epistle shows, expressive of a holiness existing in germ and anticipation; the expressions deriving their meaning not so much from what these early believers were, as from what Christ was, to whom they were united by faith.

When N. T. believers are said to be "sanctified," we must remember the O. T. use of the word. 'Sanctify' may have either the meaning 'to make holy outwardly,' or 'to make holy inwardly.' The people of Israel and the vessels of the tabernacle were made holy in the former sense; their sanctification was a setting apart to the sacred use. Num. 8:17-"all the firstborn among the children of Israel are mine. . . . I sanctified them for myself"; Deut. 33:3 yea, he loved the peoples; all his saints are in thy hand"; 2 Chron. 29: 19-"all the vessels.... have we prepared and sanctified." The vessels mentioned were first immersed, and then sprinkled from day to day according to need. So the Christian by his regeneration is set apart for God's service, and in this sense is a "saint" and "sanctified." More than this, he has in him the beginnings of purity- he is "clean as a whole," though he yet needs "to wash his feet" (John 13 : 10); that is, to be cleansed from the recurring defilements of his daily life.

(c) That the theory is disapproved by the testimony of Christian experience. In exact proportion to the soul's advance in holiness does it shrink from claiming that holiness has been already attained, and humble itself before God for its remaining apathy, ingratitude, and unbelief.

Phil. 3: 12-14" Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect; but I press on, if so be that I may lay hold on that for which also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus." Some of the greatest advocates of perfectionism have been furthest from claiming any such perfection; although many of their less instructed followers claimed it for them, and even professed to have attained it themselves.

Perfectionism is best met by proper statements of the nature of the law and of sin (Ps. 119: 96). While we thus rebuke spiritual pride, however, we should be equally careful to point out the inseparable connection between justification and sanctification, and their equal importance as together making up the biblical idea of salvation. While we show no favor to those who would make sanctification a sudden and paroxysmal act of the human will, we should hold forth the holiness of God as the standard of attainment and the faith in a Christ of infinite fulness as the medium through which that standard is to be gradually but certainly realized in us (2 Cor. 3:18).

We should imitate Lyman Beecher's method of opposing perfectionism - by searching expositions of God's law. When men know what the law is, they will say with the Psalmist: "I have seen an end of all perfection; thy commandment is exceeding broad" (Ps. 119: 96). And yet we are earnestly and hopefully to seek in Christ for a continually increasing measure of sanctification: 1 Cor. 1: 30-"Christ Jesus, who was made unto us.... sanctification"; 2 Cor. 3:18 -"But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the Spirit." Arnold of Rugby: "Always expect to succeed, and never think you have succeeded."

See Hovey, Doctrine of the Higher Christian Life, Compared with Scripture; Snodgrass, Scriptural Doctrine of Sanctification; Princeton Essays, 1:335-365; Hodge, Syst. Theol., 3: 213-258; Calvin, Institutes, III, 11:6; Bib. Repos., 2nd Series, 1: 44-58; 2: 143166; Woods, Works, 4: 465-523.

II. PERSEVERANCE.

The Scriptures declare that, in virtue of the original purpose and continuous operation of God, all who are united to Christ by faith will infallibly continue in a state of grace and will finally attain to everlasting life. This voluntary continuance, on the part of the Christian, in faith and well-doing we call perseverance. Perseverance is, therefore, the human side or aspect of that spiritual process which, as viewed from the divine side, we call sanctification. It is not a mere natural consequence of conversion, but involves a constant activity of the human will from the moment of conversion to the end of life.

Adam's holiness was mutable; God did not determine to keep him. It is otherwise with believers in Christ; God has determined to give them the kingdom (Luke 12: 32). Yet this keeping by God, which we call sanctification, is accompanied and followed by a keeping of himself on the part of the believer, which we call perseverance. The former is alluded to in John 17: 11, 12-"keep them in thy name.... I kept them in thy name. . . . I guarded them and not one of them perished, but the son of perdition"; the latter is alluded to in 1 John 5: 18 —" he that was begotten of God keepeth himself." Both are expressed in Jude 21, 24-"Keep yourselves in the love of God.... Now unto him that is able to guard you from stumbling..

A German treatise on Pastoral Theology is entitled: "Keep What Thou Hast"-an allusion to 2 Tim. 1: 14" That good thing which was committed unto thee guard through the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us." Not only the pastor, but every believer, has a charge to keep; and the keeping of ourselves is as important a point of Christian doctrine as is the keeping of God.

1. Proof of the Doctrine of Perseverance.

A. From Scripture.

John 10: 28, 29" they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, which hath given them unto me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand"; Rom. 11: 29 -"For the gifts and the calling of God are without repentance"; 1 Cor. 13: 7-" endureth all things"; cf. 13"But now abideth faith, hope, love"; Phil. 1: 6-"being confident of this very thing, that he which began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ"; 2 Thess. 3: 3-"But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and guard you from the evil one"; 2 Tim. 1: 12-"I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed unto him against that day"; 1 Pet. 1: 5-"who by the power of God are guarded through faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time"; Rev. 3: 10-"Because thou didst keep the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of trial, that hour which is to come upon the whole world, to try them that dwell upon the earth."

B. From Reason.

(a) It is a necessary inference from other doctrines, such as election, union with Christ, regeneration, justification, sanctification.

Election of certain individuals to salvation is election to bestow upon them such influences of the Spirit as will lead them not only to accept Christ, but to persevere and be saved. Union with Christ is indissoluble; regeneration is the beginning of a work of new creation, which is declared in justification, and completed in sanctification. All these doctrines are parts of a general scheme, which would come to naught if any single Christian were permitted to fall away.

(b) It accords with analogy,-God's preserving care being needed by, and being granted to, his spiritual, as well as his natural, creation.

As natural life cannot uphold itself, but we "live, and move, and have our being" in God (Acts 17:28), so spiritual life cannot uphold itself, and God maintains the faith, love, and holy activity which he has originated. If he preserves our natural life, much more may we expect him to preserve the spiritual.

(c) It is implied in all assurance of salvation,—since this assurance is

given by the Holy Spirit, and is based not upon the known strength of human resolution, but upon the purpose and operation of God.

S. R. Mason: "If Satan and Adam both fell away from perfect holiness, it is a million to one that, in a world full of temptations and with all appetites and habits against me, I shall fall away from imperfect holiness, unless God by his almighty power keep me." It is in the power and purpose of God, then, that the believer puts his trust. But since this trust is awakened by the Holy Spirit, it must be that there is a divine fact corresponding to it; namely, God's purpose to exert his power in such a way that the Christian shall persevere. See Wardlaw, Syst. Theol., 2: 550-578; N. W. Taylor, Revealed Theology, 445-460.

2. Objections to the Doctrine of Perseverance.

These objections are urged chiefly by Arminians and by Romanists.

A. That it is inconsistent with human freedom. - Answer: It is no more so than is the doctrine of Election or the doctrine of Decrees.

The doctrine is simply this, that God will bring to bear such influences upon all true believers, that they will freely persevere.

B. That it tends to immorality.— Answer: This cannot be, since the doctrine declares that God will save men by securing their perseverance in holiness.

2 Tim. 2: 19 -"Howbeit the firm foundation of God standeth, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his : and let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness"; that is, the temple of Christian character has upon its foundation two significant inscriptions, the one declaring God's power, wisdom, and purpose of salvation; the other declaring the purity and holy activity, on the part of the believer, through which God's purpose is to be fulfilled; 1 Pet. 1: 1,2-elect..... according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ "; 2 Pet. 1: 10, 11 -" Wherefore, brethren, give the more diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never stumble: for thus shall be richly supplied unto you the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

C. That it leads to indolence.-Answer: This is a perversion of the doctrine, continuously possible only to the unregenerate; since, to the regenerate, certainty of success is the strongest incentive to activity in the conflict with sin.

1 John 5: 4-"For whatsoever is begotten of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that hath overcome the world, even our faith." It is notoriously untrue that confidence of success inspires timidity or indolence.

D. That the Scripture commands to persevere and warnings against apostasy show that certain, even of the regenerate, will fall away.- Answer: (a) They show that some, who are apparently regenerate, will fall away. Mat. 18: 7-"Woe unto the world because of occasions of stumbling! for it must needs be that the occasions come; but woe to that man through whom the occasion cometh "; 1 Cor. 11: 19-"For there must be also factions [lit. 'heresies'] among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you"; 1 John 2: 19" They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest how that they all are not of us." Judas probably experienced strong emotions, and received strong impulses toward good, under the influence of Christ.

(b) They show that the truly regenerate, and those who are only apparently so, are not certainly distinguishable in this life.

Mal. 3: 18" Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked; between him that serveth God, and him that serveth him not"; Mat. 13: 25, 47-"while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat, and went away.... Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and

gathered of every kind "; Rom. 9: 6-"For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: neither, because they are Abraham's seed, are they all children"; Rev. 3: 1-"I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and thou art dead."

(c) They show the fearful consequences of rejecting Christ, to those who have enjoyed special divine influences, but who are only apparently regenerate.

Heb. 10 26-29"For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which shall devour the adversaries. A man that hath set at nought Moses' law dieth without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, think ye, shall he be judged worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" Here "sanctified external sanctification, like that of the ancient Israelites, by outward connection with God's people; cf. 1 Cor. 7: 14-" the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife."

(d) They show what the fate of the truly regenerate would be, in case they should not persevere.

Heb. 6:4-6" For as touching those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." This is to be understood as a hypothetical case. Dr. A. C. Kendrick: "If passages like this teach the possibility of falling from grace, they teach also the impossibility of restoration to it. The saint who once apostatizes has apostatized forever." So Ez. 18: 24"When the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity. . . in them shall he die "; 2 Pet. 2: 20-"For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the last state is become worse with them than the first."

(e) They show that the perseverance of the truly regenerate may be secured by these very commands and warnings.

1 Cor. 9: 27-"I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage: lest by any means, after that I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected"—or, to bring out the meaning more fully: "I beat my body blue [or, ⚫strike it under the eye'], and make it a slave, lest after having been a herald to others, I myself should be rejected" ('unapproved,' 'counted unworthy of the prize'); 10: 12-"Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall."

(f) They do not show that it is certain, or possible, that any truly regenerate person will fall away.

E. That we have actual examples of such apostasy.-We answer :

(a) Such are either men once outwardly reformed, like Judas and Ananias, but never renewed in heart;

Instance the young profligate who, in a moment of apparent drowning, repented, was then rescued, and afterward lived a long life as a Christian. If he had never been rescued, his repentance would never have been known, nor the answer to his mother's prayers. So, in the moment of a backslider's death, God can renew repentance and faith.

(b) Or they are regenerate men, who, like David and Peter, have fallen into temporary sin, from which they will, before death, be reclaimed by God's discipline.

But, per contra, instance the experience of a man in typhoid fever, who apparently repented, but who never remembered it when he was restored to health. Sick-bed and death-bed conversions are not the best. There was one penitent thief, that none might despair; there was but one penitent thief, that none might presume.

On the general subject, see Edwards, Works, 3 : 509–532, and 4: 104; Ridgeley, Body of Divinity, 2: 164-194; John Owen, Works, vol. 11; Woods, Works, 3: 221-246; Van Oosterzee, Christian Dogmatics, 662-666.

PART VII.

ECCLESIOLOGY, OR THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH.

CHAPTER I.

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE CHURCH, OR CHURCH POLITY.

I. DEFINITION OF THE CHURCH.

(a) The church of Christ, in its largest signification, is the whole company of regenerate persons in all times and ages, in heaven and on earth. (Mat. 16: 18; Eph. 1: 22, 23; 3:10; 5: 24, 25; Col. 1:18; Heb. 12:23). In this sense, the church is identical with the spiritual kingdom of God; both signify that redeemed humanity in which God in Christ exercises actual spiritual dominion (John 3: 3, 5).

Mat. 16: 18"Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it"; Eph. 1: 22, 23-" and he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all "; 3: 10-"to the intent that now unto the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places might be made known through the church the manifold wisdom of God"; 5: 24, 25-"But as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives also be to their husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for it"; Col. 1: 18" And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence"; Heb. 12: 23-"the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven"; John 3: 3, 5-"Except a man be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God. ... Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."

Cicero's words apply here: "Una navis est jam bonorum omnium"-all good men are in one boat. Cicero speaks of the state, but it is still more true of the church invisible. Andrews, in Bib. Sac., Jan., 1883: 54, mentions the following differences between the church and the kingdom, or, as we prefer to say, between the visible church and the invisible church: (1) the church began with Christ- the kingdom began earlier; (2) the church is confined to believers in the historic Christ the kingdom includes all God's children; (3) the church belongs wholly to this world-not so the kingdom; (4) the church is visible—not so the kingdom; (5) the church has quasi organic character, and leads out into local churches - this is not so with the kingdom. On the universal or invisible church, see Cremer, Lexicon N. T., transl., 113, 114, 331; Jacob, Eccl. Polity of N. T., 12.

(b) The Scriptures, however, distinguish between this invisible or universal church, and the individual church, in which the universal church takes local and temporal form, and in which the idea of the church as a whole is concretely exhibited.

Mat. 10: 32"Every one therefore, who shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father which is in heaven"; 12: 34, 35-"out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. The good man out of his good