Entire sanctification

“ And we proceed to affirm now that entire sanctification is not only essential as the condition of entering heaven, but that it is also necessary for the highest results of the Christian life on earth. It is not only an indispensable blessing to die by, but, if we would fulfill our Father’s will in this world, it is indispensable to live by. ”

“ If entire sanctification has been proved to be not a matter of option but a matter of necessity; if we cannot attain to the highest results in Christian privilege, nor in Christian enjoyment, nor in Christian service without this blessed experience, and if, at the end, we cannot be admitted into the celestial city unless we possess it, surely we cannot doubt for a moment that our gracious Heavenly Father has provided a way by which this indispensable requisite. ”

“ Nothing but wrong notions of perfect holiness or an evil spirit can oppose entire sanctification, as it does not in the least disturb or conflict with any doctrine of the church. It allows all that the Bible or any man attributes to regeneration. ”

“ I will put my own definition to the term sanctification, and say it consists in overcoming every sin and bringing all into subjection to the law of Christ. God has placed in us a pure spirit; when this reigns predominant, without let or hindrance, and triumphs over the flesh and rules and governs and controls as the Lord controls the heavens and the earth, this I call the blessing of sanctification. Will sin be perfectly destroyed? ”

“ If there is a man to be found who has to labor hard all day and has a life full of care, sanctification is just the experience he needs. Read the life of Mrs. Fletcher, and see how sanctification can help a woman with multitudinous domestic cares. Study the lives of "Billy" Bray and William Carvosso, and remember that it was sanctification which helped these men in their difficulties. If there is a soul anywhere filled with unspeakable sorrow, shivering alone in the dark, the brightest light that can come to that stricken soul is full salvation. ”

“ As the Father and the Son are one, so God the Son and God the Holy Ghost are one; and when the Lord Jesus saves the sinner, it is the Holy Ghost that applies that salvation to the soul. Without stopping, therefore, to study any such distinction, let us rather hasten to the practical lesson that sanctification, or consecration, here described, is a sanctification in Jesus Christ. You may look thus to your covenant union with Him, and trust Him by the in-breathing of His own Spirit to make you holy. ”

“ In the first place, we have to become sanctified; and I may here say that our views of sanctification differ very much from the views held by some of the popular sects of the day, for they think that sanctification consists in shutting the door and securely bolting it against fulfilling the first commandment that God gave to our first parents. ”

“ The seventh part of the answer to the question of how men are sanctified is found in Heb. 12:14, "Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord." Here we are taught that we have our [237] own part in sanctification, and that if we are to be sanctified in the fullest sense, sanctification is something that we must pursue, or seek earnestly, if we are to obtain it. ”

“ Who will tarry in Jerusalem awaiting the coming Spirit, and then, the Comforter having come, be ready to "Go into all the world, discipling all nations"? Answer: All who are truly children of God. The preaching of sanctification is the touchstone by which the genuineness of conversions can be tested. The truly living "hunger and thirst after righteousness"; the dead do not "bother their heads about a second blessing." ”

“ It is not till we are forgiven through the great blood-sprinkling that the real work of holiness begins. But in these words sanctification comes before it, and the sprinkling of the blood is described as the result of the sanctifying act. The reason is, not that this verse is at variance with the rest of Scripture,—God forbid the thought,—but that the word sanctification does not here express our growth in personal holiness, but means God’s great act of separation unto Himself by the mighty power of the Holy Ghost. ”

“ The work of sanctification is divine, “Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us . . . sanctification;” [20c] and the final gathering of God’s elect will be divine for “all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth.” ”

“ If they are destitute of the comforts thereof, or the fruits of righteousness, which are peace, assurance and joy in the Holy Ghost, let them consider, that the work of sanctification, in this present state, is, at best, but growing up towards that perfection which is not yet arrived to. ”

“ And blessed and holy are those who, enjoying the privileges of the sanctuary, give such proofs and evidences of their sanctification that the heathen may know it is no less than the almighty grace of God that sanctifies them. Such have God's sanctuary in the midst of them, the kingdom of God within them, in the principles of the spiritual life, and shall have it so for evermore in the enjoyments of an eternal life. ”

“ But inasmuch as these graces either have been, or will be particularly insisted on, in their proper place, we shall more especially consider sanctification as a progressive work, whereby it is distinguished from them, by which we daily consecrate, or devote ourselves to God; and our actions have all a tendency to advance his glory; and, by the Spirit, we are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and to live unto righteousness ”

“ I am not at this moment asking whether such indulgences are in themselves allowable or not, but whether the life which centres in them does not imply the absence of any very deep views of sanctification as a process, a change, a painful toil, of working out our own salvation with fear and trembling, of preparing to meet our God, and waiting for the judgment? You may go into mixed society ”

“ January 31. “Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (I. Cor. i. 30) .
More and more we are coming to see the supreme importance of getting the right conception of sanctification, not as a blessing, but as a personal union with the personal Saviour and the indwelling Holy Spirit. Thousands of people get stranded after they have embarked on the great voyage of holiness. ”

“ We learn that what redemption will be to the body, that sanctification is now to the soul. In a word, sanctification, in the sense in which it is here used, is immediate, and complete, a divine work. The one is no more progressive than the other. The one is as immediate as the other. The one is as complete and as independent of man as the other. No doubt, when the body shall have undergone the glorious change, there will be heights of glory to be trodden, depths of glory to be penetrated, wide fields of glory to be explored. All these things shall occupy us throughout eternity. ”

“ Dear brother, are you at Kadesh Barnea today, and afraid of the giants? God has given the land to us. The message of reproof comes to you with this solemn and important question, "How long are ye slack to go to possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers hath given you?"
This gospel of sanctification is preached to us today as the gospel of literal Canaan was preached to those descendants of Abraham in that day. It did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. ”

“ We believe the Scriptures teach that sanctification is the process by which, according to the will of God, we are made partakers of His holiness; [1] that it is a progressive work; [2] that it is begun in regeneration; that it is carried on in the hearts of believers by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, the Sealer and Comforter, in the continual use of the appointed means—especially the Word of God—self-examination, self-denial, watchfulness and prayer ”

“ Their creed began to change, and now one of the leading factions of the movement ridicules the thought of sanctification as a second work of grace, and declares, that while sanctification does come in, yet all the cleansing one gets is in the first work when pardon takes place; that is, [Pg 133] all inbred sin is then eradicated from the heart. They still hold to the baptism with the Holy Ghost and speaking in tongues. Many of the good people of the land have been caught in this theological mix-up, and have dropped out of the old-time holiness ranks. ”

“ Why is the work of our sanctification especially ascribed to the Holy Ghost?
Because He, as the Spirit of Love, is the Giver of all inward holiness, and the Dispenser of all supernatural gifts and graces, whereby we are sanctified.
It is true, the work of our sanctification is common to all the three Divine Persons; nevertheless, as a work of love it has a special relation to the Holy Ghost—the Spirit of Love. ”

“ By sanctification of the Spirit, we are to understand the whole spirituall change of our condition, even unto perfect holinesse and glory, because sanctification is the meanes of salvation unto which we are chosen, 2 Thessalonians 2.13. ”

“ It is an evil that affects our nature. This evil is destroyed, and its effects banished. The Holy Spirit comes in, filling the nature of man with righteousness and purity. You must get your mind on the real work of sanctification, not on some of its special manifestations in some people's experiences. The manifestations of sanctification may be more specific for some people than others, because they may need such.
It is possible, too, that your conversion made a greater perceptible change in your soul and life than did your sanctification. ”

“ It is only as we are thus perfected in this grace that the prayer of Jesus will be fully answered and his people lose every vestige of division. No sanctified heart can remain loyal to anything that separates the people of God. All sect holiness is below the Bible standard, for it upholds that which sanctification destroys. ”

“ For as the Father is called Creator, the Son Redeemer, so the Holy Ghost, from His work, must be called Sanctifier, or One that makes holy. But how is such sanctifying done? Answer: Just as the Son obtains dominion, whereby He wins us, through His birth, death, resurrection, etc., so also the Holy Ghost effects our sanctification by the following parts, namely, by the communion of saints or the Christian Church, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting ”

“ If our sanctification be God’s will, its central thought and its contents, every part of that will must bear upon it, and the sure entrance to sanctification will be the hearty acceptance of the will of God in all things. To be one with God’s will is to be holy. Let him who would be holy take his place here and ‘stand in all the will of God.’ He will there [p229] meet God Himself, and be made partaker of His Holiness, because His will works out its purpose in power to each one who yields himself to it. ”

“ We had one strange glorification and sanctification, but it was interrupted by the coming of a Methodist preacher, who claimed to having sought, in vain, the gift of sanctification. The last few days of lovely Sister Smith’s visit were spent in the library with closed doors, wrestling with the halting soul of Brother Camp.
These were the expiring days of the old “Peace which passeth understanding.” After that came the war, which sorely tried the heart of the glorified woman, and she proved faithful to her gift of sanctification even unto the bitter end.... ”

“ Christianity impelled men frequently to seek for the stillness of the inward sanctuary, and here to pour forth their heart to God, who dwells in such temples; but then the flames of love were also lighted in their hearts, which sought communion in order to strengthen each other mutually, and to unite themselves into one holy flame which pointed toward heaven. The communion of prayer and devotion was thought a source of sanctification, inasmuch as men knew that the Lord was present by his Spirit among those who were gathered together in his name ”

“ It begins with the spirit, which is the holy of holies; the Spirit of God acting first on the spirit of man in renewing grace, then upon the soul, till at last it reaches the outer court of the body, at the resurrection and translation. When the body is glorified, then only will sanctification be consummated, for then only will the whole man, spirit, soul, and body, have come under the Spirit's perfecting power.
We may see the difference between progressive {123} sanctification and perfected sanctification, or glorification, by comparing familiar texts. ”

“ If by sanctification we mean, not a sloughing off of remaining depravity, but an ever increasing purity and perfection, then we may hold that the process of sanctification goes on forever. Our relation to Christ must always be that of the imperfect to the perfect, of the finite to the infinite; and for finite spirits, progress must always be possible. Clarke, Christian Theology, 373—“Not even at death can sanctification end.... The goal lies far beyond deliverance from sin.... There is no such thing as bringing the divine life to such completion that no further progress is possible to it.... ”

“ I set also sanctification above pity, for pity is only going out of oneself to sympathize with one's fellow-creature's sorrows. From such an out-going sanctification is free and abides in itself, and does not let itself be troubled. To speak briefly: when I consider all the virtues I find none so entirely without flaw and so conducive to union with God as sanctification. ”