The Oberlin Evangelist

The Oberlin Evangelist

LECTURE VIII.

April 8, 1840

SANCTIFICATION--No. 8

by the Rev. Charles G. Finney

Modernized by Cliff Collins

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.” (1 Thess 5:23-24)

VIII. When is entire sanctification attainable?

1. God promises the blessing of entire sanctification to Christians.

“Behold, the days are coming”, says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them,” says the Lord. “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel: After those days”, says the Lord, “I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord’, for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them”, says the Lord. “For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (Jer 31:31-34)

“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.” (Ezekiel 36:25-27)

“In whom you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also having believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.” (Eph 1:13)

These and many other passages show that the promise is made to those who have some degree of faith. In other words, the promise is made to those who have been regenerated. In the last passage, it says, “Also having believed, you were sealed”.

2. Faith is always the expressed or implied condition of the promises. Many believe that the promise in Jeremiah 31, together with other similar promises, is absolute in such a sense that it has no condition at all. However, the things that they promise are of such a nature that we can’t possibly receive these promises without faith. The law of love can only be written in our heart by the faith that works by love. Therefore, this promise, as well as all other promises of spiritual blessings, must be conditioned on our faith. Should someone say that the promise to write the law in our hearts includes doing all that is necessary to fulfill the law, and therefore a promise to produce love is virtually a promise to produce faith, I reply, that in some sense this is true. A promise to secure a goal is virtually a promise to secure the right use of whatever means are necessary to secure that goal. But this never excludes our own moral agency and responsibility. When Paul declared, that not a hair of any man’s head on board the ship should perish, this did not exclude the need for the sailors to remain on board. For afterwards, he told them, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved”. (Acts 27:31) Now it is true that the promise was that only the ship would perish, (V. 22) implied that God would secure the use of the necessary means to preserve them. Yet who would conclude, from this, that that promise was not conditioned on the sailors remaining on board, and conditioned the right use of the voluntary agency of Paul and all the rest on board to preserve their souls? Therefore, remember that the promises to create a new heart and a new spirit, to make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and to write the law in their hearts, certainly must be conditioned on the faith of everyone who would receive their fulfillment.

3. We are naturally able to attain sanctification at any time. If we weren’t naturally able to attain sanctification, God would not require it, and not attaining this state would not be sin. However, many people today doubt that the work of entire sanctification is such that, by its own nature, it can be instantly accomplished. To this I reply:

(1.) If sanctification can’t be instantly accomplished, it would not be instantly required.

(2.) If sanctification couldn’t be immediately attained, not attaining it immediately would not be sin. All that would be required would be to press forward as fast as we could.

(3.) In this situation, simply pressing forward would be a sinless state, because it would be all that could be required. Therefore, we should immediately possess what, according to their supposition, is naturally impossible, that is, a state of entire sanctification.

(4.) I have already shown that God has made provision against every temptation. And since some form of temptation is the cause of all sin, if sufficient provision is made against all present and future temptation, it follows that a state of entire sanctification is immediately attainable.

4. Full faith in the word and promises of God, naturally, certainly, and immediately produces a state of entire sanctification. By faith, I mean--

(1.) Realizing the truth and meaning of the Bible.

(2.) Grabbing a hold of all those truths that this state of mind depends on, especially realizing and believing the sacred record God has given of His Son, “that His blood cleanses us from all sin”. (1 John 1:7) It is easy to see that realizing and believing in the infinite love of God as manifested in Christ Jesus, would have a tendency to fill one’s mind with unutterable and constant love for God, to annihilate selfishness, and produce the most cordial and perfect love for man. This result is instantaneous on the exercise of faith, and in this sense, sanctification is an instantaneous work.

5. God is able to produce entire sanctification in any soul, when He is pleased to do so.

This appears to be clearly taught by Christ, when he spoke about the ability of God to save the rich. He asserts that their salvation is more difficult “than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle”. (Matt 19:24) And when the disciples expressed their astonishment, He replied, “with God all things are possible”. (V.26) Now, this seems to be a good example. To sanctify the rich is the only difficulty in the way of their salvation. And Christ says that God is able, not only to sanctify them, but that “all things are possible with Him”, that is, there is no limit to His ability in this respect.

Eph. 3:20, proves the same point. Here the Apostle states that God is able to do “exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think”. Now, we can both think of and ask for the blessing of entire, permanent, and instantaneous sanctification, and if this passage of scripture is true, God is able to grant it.

God is not only able to produce present sanctification but also to confirm us in a state of perpetual sanctification. We can see this by looking at many other passages of scripture. Jude 24: “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” Concerning this passage let me say:

(1.) This passage declares that God is able to keep us from falling.

(2.) God is also able to present us faultless before the presence of His glory.

(3.) To keep us and present us faultless is to preserve us in a state of permanent sanctification. God declares that He is able to do this.

Some say that moral government implies the power to resist every degree of motive. I agree with this. However, it is one thing to have the power to resist, and another thing to use that power. God certainly knew when He created moral agents the extent, under their circumstances, that they would actually exercise their powers of resistance, and therefore whether He could sanctify and save them or not. As a matter of fact, God overcomes the voluntary resistance of all who are converted. And if God broke down their enmity, and subdued them, shouldn’t He be able to sanctify them completely, and preserve them blameless?

IX. How can we become completely sanctified?

1. A state of entire sanctification can never be attained by passively waiting for God’s time.

2. Entire sanctification can never be attained by any works of law, or works of any kind that are performed in your own strength without God’s grace. I’m not saying that if you used your natural powers properly, you couldn’t attain this state by exercising your natural strength. But I am saying, that because you are wholly indisposed to use your natural powers properly without the grace of God, none of your efforts made in your own strength or independent of His grace, will ever result in your entire sanctification.

3. Sanctification can’t be attained by any direct efforts to feel right. Many waste their time trying to force themselves into a right state of feeling. Please understand that faith, love, repentance, or any other right feeling is never the result of any direct effort to create those feelings. Those feelings spontaneously result when our mind directly and deeply considers the objects of faith, love, and repentance. By spontaneous, I don’t mean involuntary. These feelings are the natural result of willfully focusing on the things of God; and they are the easiest and most natural states of mind possible under such circumstances. Instead of requiring an effort to create such emotions, it would require an effort to prevent them, when our mind is intensely considering those objects that have a natural tendency to produce those emotions. This is so true that when people are exercising such affections, it feels so natural and effortless that they wonder why other people don’t feel like they feel. It seems to them so natural, so easy, and I may say, so almost unavoidable, that they often feel and express astonishment that anyone should find it difficult to love, believe, or repent.

The path that many people take on the subject of religion often amazes me. They make their selves, their own state, and interests, the central point that their own minds constantly revolve around. Their selfishness is so great, that their own interests, happiness, and salvation, fill their whole field of vision. And with their thoughts and anxieties, and their souls clustering around their own salvation, they complain of a hard heart. They complain that they cannot love God and that they cannot repent and believe. Because they are aware that they don’t feel right, they are concerned only about themselves; and this concern only increases their embarrassment and the difficulty of exercising the right affections. The deeper they feel the more they try to feel. The greater they try to make themselves feel without success, the more they are alarmed and discouraged, the more are they confirmed in their selfishness, and the more their thoughts are glued to their own interests. Meanwhile, they are drifting further away from any right state of feeling. Therefore, their selfish anxieties produce ineffective efforts, and ineffective efforts only deepen their anxieties. And if, while they are in this state, death should appear in a visible form before them, or the last trumpet should sound, and they are summoned to the solemn Judgment, it would only increase their obsession, strengthen their selfishness, and make their sanctification morally impossible.

4. Sanctification cannot be attained by any efforts to obtain grace by works. In my lecture on Faith last year, which appeared in the last volume of the Evangelist, (“Faith” Lecture II – January 16, 1839) I said the following:

1). Should this question be proposed to a Jew, “What shall I do that I may work the works of God”, he would answer, “keep the law, both moral and ceremonial”, in other words, keep the commandments.

2). To the same question, an Armenian would answer, “improve common grace, and you will obtain converting grace, in other words, use the means of grace according to the best light you have, and you will obtain the grace of salvation. This answer does not assume that the inquirer already has faith and is using the means of grace in faith; but that the one who is asking the question is still unrepentant, and is asking about converting grace. This answer is basically saying that “you must get converting grace by your unrepentant works; you must become holy by your hypocrisy; you must work out sanctification by your sin”.

3). To this question, “What shall I do that I may work the works of God”, most professing Calvinists would make basically the same reply. They would reject the language, and keep the idea. Their response would imply, either that the inquirer already has faith, or that he must perform works to obtain it, in other words, he must obtain grace by works.

Neither an Armenian nor a Calvinist would formally direct the inquirer to the law as the ground of justification. But most of the Church would give directions that would suggest that justification comes through the law. Their answer would be a legal, and not a gospel answer. For any answer that is given to this question, that does not distinctly recognize faith as the foundation of all virtue in sinners, is a legal answer. Unless the inquirer is made to understand that faith is the first grand fundamental duty; and without exercising faith, all virtue, all giving up of sin, and all acceptable obedience is impossible, he is misdirected. He is led to believe that it is possible to please God without faith; and to obtain grace by works of law. There are only two kinds of works: works of law, and works of faith. Now if the inquirer does not have the “faith that works by love”, directing him to any course of works in order to get faith, certainly directs him to get faith by works of law. Whatever is said to him that does not clearly convey the truth that both justification and sanctification are by faith, without works of law, is law, and not gospel. The only thing that the unbeliever can do before or without faith is works of law. His first duty, therefore, is faith; and every attempt to obtain faith by unbelieving works, is to lay a foundation of works and make grace a result of works. It is the direct opposite of gospel truth.

Let us look at some facts that take place in our everyday experience to show that what I have said is the experience of almost everybody. Whenever a sinner begins to seriously ask the question, “What shall I do to be saved”, he resolves to break off from his sins, even though he is still in unbelief. Of course, his reformation is only outward. He determines to do better. He is determined to reform in this, that, and some other thing, and thus he prepares himself for conversion. He does not expect to be saved without grace and faith, but he attempts to receive grace by works of law.

The same is true of millions of anxious Christians who are wondering what they must do to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. They overlook the fact that “the victory that overcomes the world” is “our faith”, (I John 5:4) that it is with “the shield of faith” that they are “to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one”. (Eph 6:16) They ask, “why am I overcome by sin? Why can’t I get above its power? Why am I the slave of my appetites and passions, and the sport of the devil?” They look around for the cause of all this spiritual wretchedness and death. At one time, they think they have discovered it in the neglect of one duty; and at another time, in the neglect of another. Sometimes they think that the cause of their spiritual misery lies in yielding to one sin, and sometimes they think their problem is because they yield to another sin. They put forth efforts in one direction, and then in another direction, and patch up their righteousness on one side of their jacket, while they make a tear on the other side of it. (See Matt 9:16-17)

Thus, they spend years running around in circles and making dams of sand across the current of their own corruptions. Instead of immediately purifying their hearts by faith, they spend their time trying to prevent its bitter waters from overflowing. “Why do I sin?” they ask; and looking around for a cause, they come to the solemn conclusion that because they neglect to do a certain thing, they are continuing to sin. But how shall they get rid of sin? The answer is by doing their duty, which is stop sinning. Now the real question is, why do they neglect their duty? Why do they commit sin at all? Where is the foundation of all this mischief? Will the reply be that the foundation of all this wickedness lies in the corruption of their nature, in the wickedness of their heart and in the strength of their evil tendencies and habits? But all this only brings us back to the real question once again: “How can we overcome this corrupt nature, this wickedness, and these sinful habits”? The answer is, “by faith alone”. No works of law has any tendency to overcome our sins; but rather all our works and efforts confirm our soul in self-righteousness and unbelief.

The great and fundamental sin, which is at the foundation of all other sin, is unbelief. The first thing we must do is to give up our unbelief and believe the word of God. There is no breaking off from one sin without this. “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin”. (Romans 14:23) “Without faith, it is impossible to please God”. (Hebrews 11:6)

Thus we see, that the backslider and the convicted sinner, when agonizing over how to overcome sin, they will almost always resort to works of law to obtain faith. They will fast, pray, read, struggle, and outwardly reform, and that is how they try to obtain grace. Now all this is worthless and wrong. Do you ask, “shouldn’t we fast, pray, read, and struggle? Shall we simply sit down in Antinomian security and inaction?” You must do all that God commands you to do; but you must begin where He tells you to begin, and do it in the way that He commands you to do it; which is, in exercising that faith that works by love. Purify your hearts by faith. Believe in the Son of God. “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven’? (that is, to bring Christ down from above) or, ‘Who will descend into the abyss’? (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith which we preach).” (Romans 10:6-8)

Now these facts show that, even under the gospel, most of those who claim to be religious, although they reject the Jewish notion of justification by works of the law, have adopted a disastrous substitute for it, and believe that in some way they will obtain grace by their works.

5. A state of entire sanctification cannot be attained by trying to copy the experience of others. It is very common for convicted sinners, or for Christians seeking entire sanctification, to ask others to relate their experience. They then pay careful attention to every detail they hear, and then dedicate themselves to pray for and make every effort possible to attain those same experiences. They don’t’ appear to understand that they can no more exercise the same feelings in detail like others, than they can look like others. Human experiences differ as human appearances differ. The whole history of a person’s former state of mind comes in to modify everything he is and will do. So that the precise train of affections which may be required in your situation, and which will actually occur in your situation if you are ever sanctified, will not, in all their detail, coincide with the exercises of any other human being. It is very important for you to understand, that you can’t be a copycat in any true religious experience; and that you are in great danger of being deceived by Satan, whenever you try to copy the experiences of someone else. I beg you, therefore, don’t pray for, or try to obtain the same experience of any uninspired person, whatever. All truly Christian experiences are like human appearances, in form or outline they are so much alike that they can be recognized as definite characteristics of the religion of Jesus Christ. But they aren’t any more alike than two human faces are alike.

6. You can’t come into this state of sanctification by waiting until after you are prepared. Notice that you are seeking a state of entire consecration to God. Now don’t imagine that you must preface this state of mind with a long series of preparatory exercises. It is common for persons, when seriously inquiring on this subject, to think that their progress is hindered by a lack of this or that or some other exercise or state of mind. They look everywhere else but at the real problem. They give any other and every other but the true reason for their not being already in a state of sanctification.

7. You can’t be sanctified by simply attending meetings, asking for prayers from other Christians, or relying on some method to get into this state. I’m not saying that means are unnecessary, or that it is not through the instrumentality of truth, that this state of mind is induced. But as long as you depend on any instrumentality whatever, your mind is directed from the real point before you, and you are never likely attain sanctification.

8. You can’t be sanctified by waiting for a particular view of Christ. When persons in this state of mind, hear those who live in faith describe their views of Christ, they say, “Oh, if I had such views, I could believe. I must have these views before I can believe.” But these views are the result and the effect of faith. These views are those views that faith discovers in those passages of Scripture that describe Christ. Faith apprehends the meaning of those passages, and sees in them those things that you expect to see before you exercise faith. You imagine that changing your view will produce faith. But faith changes your view. Therefore, grab a hold of the simple promise of God. Take God at His word. Believe that He means exactly what He says. And this will immediately bring you into the state of mind that you are seeking after.

9. Sanctification cannot be found in any way that you may establish for yourself. Without being aware of it, people who are seeking will likely use their imagination to stake out the way, and set up a flag where they intend to come out. They expect to do this and that, and to have these peculiar views and those feelings by the time they reach their goal. Now probably, there never was a person who did not find himself disappointed with the results. God says, “I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, and not forsake them.” (Isaiah 42:16) Allowing your imagination to mark out your path is a great hindrance to you, since you wind up making many fruitless, and worse than fruitless, attempts to achieve this imaginary state of mind. This wastes much of your time, exhausts much of your physical and mental energy, wearies God’s patience, and grieves the Spirit of God. While He is trying to lead you right to the point, you are wandering off the path He has set before you, and insisting that what your imagination has marked out is the way, instead of the way that God is trying to lead you. Thus, in your pride and your ignorance, you create delays, and abuse the long suffering of God. He says, “This is the way, walk in it”. (See Isaiah 30:21) However, you say, “No, this is the way”. Thus, you stand and argue, while, with every passing minute, you are in danger of grieving the Spirit of God away from you, and losing your soul.

10. Sanctification cannot be attained in any way, or at any time, or place, that you decide. If there is anything in your imagination that has fixed itself on any particular manner, time, place, or circumstances, you will probably be either deceived by the devil, or entirely disappointed with the result. No matter what you imagine as important and wise, you will discover that the wisdom of man is foolishness with God; that your ways are not His ways, and your thoughts are not His thoughts. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than your ways and His thoughts higher than your thoughts. But,

11. Sanctification can be attained by faith alone. Always remember, that “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin” (Romans 14:23) and “Without faith, it is impossible to please God”. (Hebrews 11:6)

Both justification and sanctification are by faith alone. “Since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.” (Romans 3:30) “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1) “What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness.” (Romans 9:30-31)

That you may clearly understand this part of the subject, I will quote again from my lecture on Faith in the last volume of the Evangelist.

(1.) The first element of saving faith is a realizing sense of the truth of the Bible. But, this is not saving faith alone, because Satan has this realizing sense of truth, which makes him tremble.

(2). The second element in saving faith is the consent of our heart or will to the truth perceived by our mind. It is a cordial trust or resting of our mind in those truths, and a yielding up of our whole being to their influence. Now it is easy to see, that without the consent of our will, there can be nothing but an outward obedience to God. A wife, without confidence in her husband, can do nothing more than outwardly perform her duty to him. You are contradicting yourself if you say that without confidence, she can perform her duty from her heart. The same is true of parental governments and all other governments. Works of law may be performed without faith; in other words, we may serve from fear or hope, or for some selfish reason; but without the confidence that works by love, obedience from our heart is naturally impossible. In fact, the very term, obedience from the heart without love, contradicts itself.

(3.) Faith is the most simple and rational state of mind conceivable. Faith is that state of mind that makes infants so remarkable. Before they are taught to distrust by the experience of human depravity, they seem to know nothing about unbelief. They are so simple and honest, that they have complete confidence in everyone around them. Faith is merely trusting in testimony, resting our heart in truths perceived by our mind, and naturally yielding our voluntary powers to the testimony of God.

(4.) This state of mind is spontaneous. Faith is not the result of any efforts to believe, but our mind naturally rests in the truth of God. And when our soul believes, all it can say is “while I mused the fire burned”. When I thought on the truth to be believed, before I was aware, I found myself believing. As I have already said, I don’t mean that this is an involuntary state of mind, but that it is voluntary in so high a sense that it is not the result of effort, but the joyful, natural, and easy yielding up our mind to the influence of truth.

(5.) Faith discovers the real meaning, and apprehends the fullness of those passages that describe Christ. Faith therefore presents Christ to our mind not from a distance, but near; not enveloped in clouds but in those passages that describe Him, He is full, glorious, and so overwhelmingly lovely that it over-powers and melts our soul.

(6.) The truths that we must believe, in order to induce this state of mind, are those that comprise “the record that God has given of His Son”. (I John 5:10) Our mind needs to apprehend God in Christ. To be like God, we must know who He is. To be led to spontaneously consecrate ourselves to Him, our selfishness must be overcome by knowledge of who God is. And we obtain this knowledge only by seeing God in Christ. God took to Himself human nature for this propose, that He might reveal Himself to the sons of men, and thus present to them a true knowledge of His character.

(7.) The natural, and certain effect of knowing God, is a state of entire consecration to Him. As long as individuals occupy their time thinking about themselves, their characters, dangers, and troubles, they can’t be sanctified because there is no tendency, in any of those thoughts, to produce sanctification. They can dwell on their own misery, or their wretchedness throughout eternity, without finding it possible to consecrate their souls to God, for what is there in such thoughts that can produce such a result. Only a consideration of the infinite excellence of Christ’s character can inspire faith or love. Therefore, if you ever expect to trust in God and love Him with all your heart, you must acquaint yourselves with the reasons for loving and trusting Him. You must know God. You must have the true knowledge of God. God, and not you, must be the object of your thoughts. I beg you to stop expecting to be sanctified by any works of your own, or by any direct efforts to feel or do more or less, and remember, “that faith comes by hearing”. (Romans 10:17) In other words to understand and believe the record that God has given of His Son, will immediately give you a familiarity with the truth, that “blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7)

The New Testament and Old Testament dispensations differ in two respects.

(a) The New dispensation is a fuller and more perfect revelation of Christ, or of those things that are indispensable to sanctification.

(b) There is a greater amount of the Holy Spirit’s influences exerted under the New dispensation. The Old made nothing perfect, because of the obscure nature of the revelation of Christ, and because there wasn’t enough divine influence to posses the mind of the truths necessary for sanctification. The mind must know enough of God to slay selfishness, and without this, neither love nor sanctification is possible. Praise God, the New with the influences of the Holy Spirit, have brought us into the clear sunlight, and so revealed God as to overcome sin.