While we cannot extend ourselves to a comprehensive
consideration of the subject of sanctification, we are
sure that a very great deal of confusion through false
conceptions would be removed if it were seen in the light
of the difference between soul and spirit. For, indeed,
this is the key of the matter. As sanctification is but
the continuation of regeneration, because regeneration is
but sanctification begun, it has to be seen as in the
same sphere as new birth. We have said that in new birth
it is not the soul but the spirit that is born from above—or
born again.
The soul remains prone to evil to the end. This fact
constitutes the basis for the whole doctrine of
sanctification, inasmuch as the New Testament is one big
exhortation to spiritual progress by spiritual
ascendancy. There is ever an enemy to holiness in man's
own nature, and holiness in us is not fixed and static,
it is progressive. All trial, testing, chastening and
suffering lose their meaning if there is no ground or
fear of failure. Enlargement has ever been, and ever is,
by conflict. There has only been One in Whose nature
there existed no actual and positive evil or sin.
The question of sanctification has been greatly
confused because certain Scriptures have been made basic
which really were not meant primarily to deal with
sanctification in itself.
The Problem of Romans 7 and 1
John, etc.
For instance, we have Romans 7, and the first Letter
of John. We cannot quote the entire text, but we extract
the salient parts.
"...the law is spiritual: but I am carnal...
For that which I do I know not: for not what I would,
that do I practise; but what I hate, that I do... I know
that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing:
for to will is present with me, but to do that which is
good is not". "...I delight in the law of God
after the inward man: but I see a different law in my
members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing
me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my
members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me
out of the body of this death? (or, this body of death).
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then I
myself with the mind serve the law of God; but with the
flesh the law of sin. There is no condemnation to them
that are in Christ Jesus that the ordinance of the law
might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit... They that are after the spirit
(do mind) the things of the spirit... the mind of the
spirit is life and peace... But ye are... in the spirit,
if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you... If
Christ is in you... the spirit is life because of
righteousness... If by the spirit ye do mortify the deeds
of the body ye shall live" (Rom 7,8).
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us". "If we
confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to
forgive... If we say that we have not sinned, we make him
a liar, and his word is not in us". "Everyone
that doeth sin doeth also lawlessness".
"Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever
sinneth hath not seen him, neither knoweth him".
"He that doeth sin is of the devil".
"Whosoever is begotten of God doeth no sin, because
his seed abideth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is
begotten of God". (1 John 1:8,9,10; 3:4,6,8,9).
On the face of it, these last Scriptures appear to
present a contradiction of the first magnitude, but as
the Word of God cannot contradict itself there must be
some way in which they are all true.
But first let us repeat that these Scriptures were not
written in the first instance in connection with
sanctification. Romans 7 was written in relation to
justification and deliverance from the law. 1 John was
written in relation to a true and a false Christianity,
the genuine new birth, and the claim of some to be
Christians. The two categories are represented by two
clauses or phrases: "We know"; "He that
saith". One indicates living experience, the other
the unsubstantiated claim. Apostasy was in view with
John.
But in both cases one thing is common; it is the
nature of the new birth and its outworking in life
afterward. Sanctification comes up as one with
regeneration in nature, but as the issue and progressive
outworking of regeneration. We cannot therefore read
Romans 7 without going on into Chapter 8, and we cannot
read 1 John without noting all of its governing words,
such as "walk", "abide",
"practise". We will touch that again.
The Place in Experience of
Romans 7
We must first of all place this chapter. To what part
of man's history or experience does it belong? Is it the
experience of one who has no inward work of the Holy
Spirit, or is it that of one who has been spiritually
quickened? We think that it is the latter. There are
several reasons for this conclusion. Firstly, the letter
was written to believers, amongst whom were Jewish
converts whose clean cut with the law had not been made,
and who, on the one hand, were in a state of unsettled
and restless or uncertain spiritual life, really neither
one thing nor the other as to daily experience, failing
and repenting, failing and repenting in monotonous
repetition, and almost despairing of victory; and, on the
other hand, needing further enlightenment and instruction
as to what being "in Christ Jesus" really
means. They were not in liberty or deliverance because of
an inadequate apprehension of the death and resurrection
of Christ; that is, of its representative aspect as in
addition to its substitutionary. Secondly, Paul, having
already stated what identification with Christ really
means (Chapter 6), goes on to show that its result is to
draw a line between the flesh and the spirit in the
believer, and makes the demand that the "walk"
shall be in the spirit. Failure to do this always
produces the state set forth in Chapter 7. It was a
condition not uncommon amongst Christians even in New
Testament times, as see 1 Corinthians and Galatians, and
which drew out the mass of New Testament writings.
The Effect of Spiritual
Awakening
Thirdly (and this is a fairly strong point) writing
many years later the Apostle said that in his
unregenerate days his position as to the righteousness
which is of the law was "found blameless" (see
Phil 3). He puts himself into Romans 7 and there says
that the law was too much for him; it smote him; it slew
him; he could not stand up to it. Under its burden he
cried "O wretched man", not "found
blameless". Something must have happened to disturb
his complacency and make him such a divided man with
civil war raging within. In the unregenerate man
conscience was hiding behind the ritual and observance of
the law. Rigid observance of its forms and rites made
conscience play deceiving tricks; saying peace, peace,
when there was no peace. But when the time of spiritual
awakening comes, this kind of thing can go on no longer.
It cannot play deceit any more, and, while there may be
some flirting with sin on the part of the soul, the
awakened and quickened spirit hates and loathes its own
soul and calls a spade a spade—that is, calls sin
sin! Instead of treating the ceremonial law as an offset
to the moral, it sees that the latter is the important
one, and that "to obey is better than sacrifice, and
to hearken than the fat of rams" (1 Sam 15:22).
Two Possible Evils—Romans
7, or Antinomianism
Unless the meaning and value of the death and
resurrection of Christ is known, and the truth of
identification by faith therewith, one of two terrible
things will follow. Either there will be a history such
as is set forth in Romans 7, a history of struggle,
longing and defeat: fear of going back on faith in
Christ, and yet deep disappointment with the Christian
life: leading ever nearer to despair and gloom; or else
there will set in that terrible, conscious-searing,
spirit-deadening evil known as antinomianism. It might be
useful to state here what that doctrine is. The word is—anti,
against, and nomos, law. The term was first used
by Luther as a designation of the followers of John
Agricola, who maintained that the moral law was not
binding, as such, upon Christians. But the thing itself
existed long before Luther's time or the name given to
it. From the earliest Christian times, there have been
those who have denied that the law was of use or
obligation under the Gospel dispensation. It would appear
from several passages in the New Testament (Rom 3:8,31;
6:1; Eph 5:6; 2 Peter 2:18,19), that the principle was at
work even in Apostolic times, for in those passages the
Apostles warn their converts against perversions of their
teaching as an excuse for licentiousness. At the heart of
this doctrine there lies a mistaken interpretation of the
doctrine of justification by faith. Some have in the past
even taught that, being spiritual, their nature could not
be corrupted, whatever their moral conduct might be; or
that an elect person did not sin even when he committed
actions in themselves evil.
Now, no one would sponsor such a doctrine
deliberately, but the principle may operate all the same.
Justification by faith: having finality and fullness of
perfection in Christ: Final Perseverance, i.e.
once in grace always in grace: and suchlike beliefs, can—strange
to say—produce a hard and legal kind of Christianity
if wrongly held, and result in many things which may be
either positively evil, questionable, or other than
according to the graciousness of Christ.
Two Doctrines of Sanctification
From the Scriptures it is possible to frame two
mutually exclusive doctrines of sanctification. One is
that our sanctification is in Christ Jesus, complete and
perfect, and, having taken Him as our holiness
objectively, we must just trust that He answers for us in
all Divine demands and requirements. We in ourselves are
not holy, and it can only be contrary to faith, and an
unhealthy introspection or subjectivity, if we become
intensely occupied with the matter of personal holiness.
We must believe that His Cross has done something which
holds good in the sight of God in spite of our state, and
"looking unto Jesus", or the attitude of faith,
is the way, and the only way, of deliverance from despair
or unrest. We have no hesitation in saying that such is a
mixed and indefinite position. It uses certain glorious
truths to obscure other equally glorious truths. This is
a position which makes it necessary for those who hold it
to keep ever on their guard lest their defences are
broken down. They are always having to go round to see if
their position is intact. It really does not settle the
question when they either fall into sin and its resultant
shame, or meet another and more desirable position in
teaching, or those who have it. They know that they
cannot accept an alternative position which to them goes
to the other extreme, and so they have to dig themselves
into that which is not perfectly satisfactory.
The other doctrine is that which, with varying forms
of words and phraseology, and minor shades of
differences, means that sanctification is the rooting
out, eradication, cleansing, destroying of all sin, so
that a sanctified person does not sin, and cannot sin;
the sin nature has been fully dealt with. To those who
hold this view, sanctification—in this sense here
mentioned—is an act, a conclusive experience at a
given moment, just as is new birth; and it is to be taken
as such by faith.
Here, again, we have to say that there is mixture and
a position which has brought a very great number of
believers into confusion and despair. We say that both of
these positions have Scripture used for their support,
and when you look at the Scriptures, on the face of them,
there seems to be such support.
The passages cited from John's Epistle appear to
present a contradiction:
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us".
"He that doeth sin is of the devil".
"Whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither
knoweth him".
"Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not".
"Whosoever is begotten of God doeth no sin:… he
cannot sin".
These words must be regarded as all addressed
to Christians. This seems proved by Chapter 1:7: "If
we walk in the light... the blood of Jesus his Son
cleanseth (Gk., cleanses, or is cleansing; present
active tense) us from all sin".
Here, then, is the position. A child of God has to
walk in the light, confess his sins, acknowledge
sinfulness, and, as he does so, the Blood keeps
on cleansing. At the same time "He that doeth
sin is of the devil", and "Whosoever
sinneth hath not seen him, neither knoweth him". And
yet, again, at the same time "Whosoever is
begotten of God doeth no sin...he cannot sin".
The usual way through the apparent dilemma is to
correct the translation, and this is certainly a help;
but it does not give anything like a final clearance. Let
us get the help that lies in that course by trying to
retranslate the passages more accurately and literally.
The reader of the English will understand that different
Greek words are used for one common English word in
certain places, and certain Greek words mean more than
the English word employed for them.
(1 John 2:29) "Everyone that practiseth (or,
is practising) righteousness is begotten of him".
(1 John 3:4) "Everyone who practiseth (or, is
practising)* iniquity practiseth lawlessness".
*FOOTNOTE: A.T. Robertson says: "The present active
principle (poion) means the habit of doing".
(1 John 3:6) "Whosoever abideth in him does
not wander from (or, miss) the right path"
("sinneth not", Gk. harmartano = to miss the
mark or the right way). Or, "Whosoever abideth in
him is not missing the mark".
(1 John 3:7) "He that doeth (or, is
practising) righteossness is righteous".
(1 John 3:9) "Whosoever hath been born of God
is not practising sin (or, is not missing the mark)
because a seed of him abideth in him and he cannot be
practising sin" (moral aberration).
The help given by a knowledge of the actual words
employed lies mainly in the word 'practise' as
representing both an habitual course and a present—ever-present—conduct.
The Real Key to Sanctification
But all this does not settle the whole matter. We
therefore submit that the key to this dilemma is the
difference between soul and spirit. We have said that
what begins in regeneration proceeds in sanctification.
The carry-over of the atonement as a sanctifying power is
thus: there is in the born-again spirit a striving after
holiness as well as a new desire for the Lord. When the
spirit is renewed and quickened, something happens. That
spirit itself is that in man which is the image or
likeness of God (spirit). It has been dead—that is,
it has been severed from its life in God, and has ceased
to function in any Divine way. The Holy Spirit, in virtue
of the atonement, first renews it by cleansing and
quickening, and also imparts Divine life (eternal life)
in Christ to it, thus making it one in nature and
fellowship with God. The spirit, when thus dealt with, is
that seed or has that seed of God which is said by the
Apostle to be unable to practise sin—"cannot
sin". This new 'inner man' cannot be committing or
practising sin. The dilemma of many is that there are two
natures and two springs of life in believers. One gives
forth sweet water and the other bitter, and the Bible
says that a fountain cannot do this. "Can the
Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his
spots?" (Jer 13:23). Therefore there must be two
fountains.
The soul, which is the fountain of the natural life,
is poisoned and impure. It is ever prone to evil, like
the "flesh" in it. The soul is that which has
to be continually subdued, won and eventually
saved (Heb 10:39, etc.).
The renewed spirit is prone to good; its course is
naturally upward. The life in it makes it gravitate to
its source—God. It judges and condemns all the
motions of the flesh. It strives, as energized by the
indwelling Holy Spirit, to make the whole man go Godward.
Its nature is Divine, although it does not
become the Divine Person. It is here that
"there is a new creation" (2 Cor 5:17), and
that which "is being renewed... after the image of
him that created him" (Col 3:10).
As we have pointed out elsewhere, this is all a deeper
reality than the life and motions of the soul, and
registers itself continually against ourselves
in the natural. There are stages in spiritual experience,
more or less pronounced in different cases for certain
reasons. The first phase may be a great and overflowing
joy, with a marvellous sense of emancipation. In this
phase extravagant things are often said as to total
deliverance and final victory. An earnest of the ultimate
is often given with the incoming of the Holy Spirit. He
is that earnest, and His advent in the human spirit is
celebrated with glory.
Then there may, and often does, come a phase of which
inward conflict is the chief feature. It may be very much
of a Romans 7 experience. This will lead under the Lord's
hand to several things; firstly, to the fuller knowledge
of the meaning of identification with Christ, as in
Romans 6. Happy the man who has been instructed in this
from the beginning.
Sanctification and Education go
Together
Then it will introduce to the way of spiritual
education. Sanctification and spiritual education are
one, as Hebrews 7:1-13 makes clear. The advance in this
double course is marked by the growth of the spirit. When
the spirit is first quickened, it is barely able to show
its existence. It is far from able to show its mastery
over soul and body. The advance of sanctification is
marked by a growth of the spirit. It begins to assert its
supremacy, to compel the physical and animal life to know
their bounds, and to obey God. The more sanctification
advances, the more marked is the spiritual intelligence,
power and life, until at last it reaches its
coming-of-age in "the revealing of the sons of
God... conformed to the image of his Son" (Rom
8:19,29). This education and sanctification is the result
of walking, "not after the flesh, but after the
spirit". Such a walk leads away from carnality and
babyhood, as 1 Corinthians 3 shows.
There may be crises in this course marked by definite
and tremendous experiences. But no such crisis is final:
every one has to have an outgrowth leading to greater
fullnesses. It is fatal to relate everything to a crisis
or experience of years ago, and to stop there. So the
distinction between soul and spirit is the true key to
sanctification, for sanctification must not be negative
like innocence, but positive in the sense that it goes
along with spiritual understanding and responsibility.
Sonship, which is all of a piece with sanctification (see
Rom 8) is a matter of spiritual and moral responsibility
in God's house. We are born "children"; we are
adopted "sons". "Adoption" in the New
Testament is not bringing an outsider into the family,
but the born one reaching his majority and being made his
father's responsible representative with 'rights'. Romans
7 has to do with condemnation by the law, and the big
question is that of deliverance from the death which has
become such a real, terrible and intolerable thing
because of spiritual awakening. Romans 6 shows that such
deliverance from death and condemnation, is by union with
Christ's death and resurrection. Romans 8 transfers the
law from the outside as an obligation imposed, to the
inside as a power imparted. Thus, in the spirit,
the new covenant is written by the Spirit of the living
God (2 Cor 3 & 4).
It will help us if we get Paul's mental picture again.
He had in mind the gladiators in the arena. (Remember,
the letter was to the Romans, and familiar
scenes in Rome were drawn upon.) When the victorious
gladiator had been given the 'thumb-down' signal from the
judge, which meant 'kill', it was incumbent upon him to
drag his victim's body round the arena for the spectators
to applaud. It was a horrible and loathsome thing, and
the one who had to do it would be longing to reach the
exit. Paul imagined such an one saying to himself,
"O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from
this dead body?" and then, espying an exit, he
cried, 'Thank God, through here!' This was carried over
into Christian truth, and the way out for the
"wretched man" was "through our Lord Jesus
Christ". This has been more fully explained as being
through His death, burial and resurrection. So then, the
death of Christ is something to be made good in a
believer's life by the Holy Spirit, through faith's
deliberate identification. Then the resurrection of
Christ is likewise proved to be a present mighty,
delivering power; or the power by which the believer, by
the spirit, puts to death the doings of the flesh.