Because they have been perfectly sanctified by Christ, and because they have been made saints by the Holy Spirit, believers are called upon to lead saintly lives, that is, to yield unto God the throne of their hearts and aim at His glory in all their conduct. Therein does the practice of sanctification actually consist. It is the fitting response which the Christian is required to make unto the amazing grace that has been shown him. Negatively, he is to avoid everything which is contrary to and inconsistent with his high calling in Christ. Positively, he is to seek after and cultivate whatever will manifest and adorn the same. God claims the entire being, and demands holiness in every thought, word, and act. The standard of personal holiness which He has set before us is one of flawless perfection, and at this we must constantly aim.

At the close of the last chapter we pointed out how important it is that the Christian should watch against the abatement of his spiritual longings, and avoid whatever tends to dampen his love for God and dull his appetite for spiritual things. Let us now mention some of the things which bring deadness upon the soul and greatly hinder the practice of sanctification. First, the committing of sins which have not been duly repented of. Where sin is not fully repented of, it is allowed (condoned), and therein the Holy Spirit is resisted and grieved. Consequently, He withholds both His comforts and His grace, and the believer's strength is greatly reduced. God will not be trifled with, and when He is offended thus, He smites the heart with deadness and hardness, so that the spiritual life is much impaired and power for holy living is considerably reduced. Learn, then, to stand in awe not only of great, but smaller sins.

Second, slackness in the performance of duties, especially neglect of those means of grace whereby the Christian is kept healthy and fresh in living unto God. Slothfulness and carelessness more often steal in upon believers than positive outbursts and commission of sin. They are more insidious, less likely to be judged by them, and are frequent causes of deadness of heart. This sluggishness of soul is most reprehensible, for it is a despising of the means God has appointed for our good. To expect grace from God when we turn from the channels through which it flows, is to tempt Him or act presumptuously. To lie upon a bed of ease, and then say Christ must do it all, is a species of hypocrisy. When the Spouse sleeps, Christ withdraws (Song 5:6). Grace was never intended to incite to idleness. The fact that God works in us is the very reason why we must work (Phil. 2:12, 13).

Third, ingratitude or lack of thankfulness for those spiritual benefits we have already received. God requires to have His gifts acknowledged, therefore does He often stay His hand and suspend the influences of His grace where His bounty be not owned. "Rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving" (Col. 2:7): the way to grow in faith is to be thankful for what we have received--and not, under a pretence of humility and modesty, deny that we have any! To bless God for the grace he has already bestowed is an effectual means of retaining it and of having more added to it. But if you are ungrateful and querulous, be not surprised if deadness and discouragement of heart come upon you.

Fourth, fleshly indulgence and flirting with the world is a great hindrance to the practice of holiness. Just so far as we gratify the flesh, we are straitened in the spirit, and to the extent that we seek comfort and satisfaction from the world, do we deprive ourselves of the grace and joy there is to be found in Christ. An immoderate use of earthly things, an inordinate affection for human objects, an unequal yoke with unbelievers, brings deadness upon the soul. How much, then, we need to make that prayer our own: "Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken Thou me in Thy way" (Psa. 119:37). The Spirit is grieved when we become addicted to vain pleasures, and therefore as sensuality increases the vitality of grace in us decays.

Other things injure the life of practical holiness, but we name only two more. Pride in spiritual attainments. When we take credit to ourselves for our growth in grace or victories over sin, the Spirit is grieved and His operations cease. "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble" (James 4:6). He is jealous of His honour, and will not divide it with us. The garland we put upon our own heads soon withers, and those gifts we become puffed up with are quickly blasted. By humiliating falls God teaches us to ascribe all glory to Himself. Heavy troubles, temporal reverses, family bereavements, the loss of health dampen our spirits and retard the wheels of spiritual action. Therefore we find the Psalmist praying "I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O LORD, according unto Thy word" (Psa. 119:107).

Probably there are not a few of our readers ready to exclaim, In the last few sentences you have placed your finger closer to the seat of my trouble than in any of the previous points. It is the difficulty of the way, the trying nature of my circumstances, the unsuitable environment in which I am placed that really makes it impossible for me to live a saintly life and be a fruitful Christian. Ah, my friend, that is no valid excuse. The heavier be the pressure upon us, the more it should drive us to our knees. The deader we feel ourselves to be, the more earnest should we cry unto God for Him to quicken us. Was it not so in the case of the Psalmist? True, he was "afflicted very much," yet he did not give way to despondency and conclude his situation was beyond relief. No, he turned unto God and sough fresh supplies of grace.

"If one is placed in circumstances quite decent and honourable, yet not conducive to holiness, where does sanctification count in one's life?" This question was recently sent us by a reader who was much interrupted while writing us, and apologized for the wording. But the thought is quite intelligible: let us express it in a variety of forms. If one be placed in circumstances where there is nothing to encourage striving after a closer walk with God, how can he expect to thrive like those who are more congenially situated? If one be obliged to work day after day among a company of the godless, and even in the home meet with opposition and ridicule, will not the fruits of the Spirit be necessarily chilled? If one has so many domestic duties to perform that there is scarcely any time available for the cultivation of personal piety, and when at night she is too exhausted to read with profit, how can one expect to grow in grace?

Let us begin our answer to these very pertinent inquiries, by affirming that there are no "circumstances" which are uncongenial to the cultivation and exercise of personal holiness, no environment or situation in life which is unsuitable to a close walking with God. We quite understand what is in the mind of the above questioner, and fully appreciate the force of his difficulty--but he is failing to take into account several vitally important considerations, and it is his very failure in overlooking these considerations which will make him the more surprised at the answer we have given. Well can we imagine some saying, Ah, you would not be so quick to affirm that no circumstances are uncongenial to personal holiness if you had to live your life as and where I am compelled to live mine.

Bear with us for a few moments, dear friend, and seek to weigh impartially what we now write. Take first the Divine side of the matter. Is it not God Himself who regulates all our "circumstances"? Most certainly it is, for it is written "For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen" (Rom. 11:36). Then it is God, and not blind fate, not a fickle "fortune" (or misfortune), who has placed you in the very situation which you now occupy! He is the One who planned from all eternity the very environment which you are now in: to believe otherwise is virtual atheism! Moreover, if you are His child, then He always has in view your highest and ultimate welfare: "For we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose" (Rom. 8:28), and that "all things" includes your unpleasant "circumstances"!

Now let us turn to the human side of the matter, by which we mean the response which you ought to make to what has just been pointed out. Your first duty is to exercise faith in the above passages, and recognize God's shaping hand in your present lot. Your second duty is obviously to humbly submit and be content with what God has appointed, and not chafe and murmur at it, for that is nothing but a species of rebellion against the providential will of God. Not only will it not help you, but it is folly to envy those whom you suppose are more favourably situated for the cultivation of holiness: every situation has its own (relative) disadvantage and difficulties--you little know of the temptations which the "favourably situated" ones encounter!

Your third duty is to humbly but earnestly beg God to sanctify the "circumstances" to you. He is able to bring good out of evil, to make a real blessing what now seems to be a serious hindrance. Nothing is too hard for God to accomplish: He can bring a clean thing out of an unclean, He can make the desert to rejoice and the wilderness blossom as the rose; He can make the feeble mighty and bring the dead to life. Surely, then, He is well able to sanctify to your soul the most trying situation, the most unpropitious environment, and make fertile to you its sterile soil. The fact is, dear reader, that that very lot you find so hard to bear only provides a suitable opportunity for you to prove the sufficiency of God's grace.

Ah, that is the very essence of the matter. If you definitely and diligently seek grace from God and are then enabled to be submissive, trustful, humble, patient, unmurmuring, thankful that your lot is not far worse than it is, then you are bringing forth the fruits of holiness! Are we not told that "a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price" (1 Peter 3:4)? Yes, valued by Him more highly than some of the showier gifts which others are permitted to exercise in the pulpit. All plants are not the same, nor do they all thrive equally well in the same kind of soil. Likewise, there is great variety in the graces of the Spirit, and different environments are needed for their cultivation and manifestation. Shall the fern complain because God placed it in a damp and shaded nook? Shall the water lily murmur because a pond rather than a garden be its dwelling place?

Alas, you say, how that condemns me! How sadly have I failed to see God's will appointing and His hand shaping my circumstances. I am almost, if not quite as blind, as the grossest skeptic. Of course I am quite familiar with the words "All things work together for good to them that love God," but I have never applied them to the unpleasant details of my life. And oh! what complaining, impatience, unbelief, rebellion, I am guilty of! Truly I am like "a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke" (Jer. 31:18). I must admit how often I have envied those whose path appeared to be much smoother and easier than mine, and it does seem to me that if I had more leisure or a stronger body, and close contact with those who are spiritually minded, I would make better progress.

As for the third duty you mentioned, I have begged God to sanctify trials to my heart, to give me strength to carry the cross, to make a blessing to me those things which I find most unpleasant. O how earnestly and frequently have I besought Him for grace to be meek and quiet, content and unmurmuring, patient and trustful. But alas, I cannot have His ear, for I often find the more I pray the more trying things become and the worse I am. I acknowledge that I am a complete failure and feel utterly discouraged. I know not what more to do, and can only cry out "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Rom. 7:24). Tell me, is there no remedy, no relief to be obtained, no way in which I can obtain deliverance from my sinful self?

It is just at this very point that the religious quacks of the day so often obtain a hearing, and persuade distressed Christians to give a trial to their remedy. Struggling against the power of indwelling sin, often tripped up by Satan, brought to seriously question their regeneration, at their wit's end to know what to do for relief, certain preachers will assure them that God has provided for just this contingency. Varying somewhat in their terms (according to the particular school they belong to), they will tell such an one whose experience we have described above that he or she has been "justified" but not yet "sanctified," and that if "the second blessing" be sought and obtained, a tremendous difference will follow. Or, the distressed one will be informed that what he needs is the "filling" or "baptism of the Spirit," or that "the higher life," or "the victorious life" is what provides the grand panacea for all his ills.

Let us take the "second blessing" people first. This blessing is referred to by them as "entire sanctification," "perfect love," and "complete cleansing." They insist that it is a second work of grace wrought in the believer, as definite and distinct as what took place at his conversion. They teach that the first blessing bestows the pardon of sin, whereas the second removes the root of sin, purifying the heart from all corruption. They claim that those who enter into this second blessing may live a life which is without spot or blemish, wholly acceptable unto God. Its leaders affirm that they are entirely delivered from evil inclinations, all inward pollutions, that temptations only come to them now from without, and that the fiery darts of the Wicked One fall harmlessly against the shield of their faith. They are pure internally and victorious externally: filled with perfect love, peace and joy.

This second blessing is entered into by the seeking soul "laying his all upon the altar," unreservedly consecrating himself to God. He must believe without the slightest doubting that the Lord is able and willing to perform this work of grace in him and eradicate the sinful nature from his being. He is told that just as surely as the Lord sent down fire from Heaven and consumed the sacrifice which was placed upon the temple altar of old, so the Holy Spirit will now come as a flame of fire and burn up his evil propensities root and branch. He is informed that the secret of the whole thing lies in the exercise of childlike faith. Having placed his all upon the altar, he must be fully assured that God has accepted his sacrifice, and totally ignoring the evidence of his senses and feelings, he is to believe the great work is done, that he is now entirely sanctified, that sin has been eradicated from his being, and he must now thank God for it and testify to his fellows that the second blessing is his.

What shall we say of these things? First, that they are an utter delusion, a religious mirage which mocks the weary traveler across the desert of time. They promise that which is unfulfilled and unattainable in this life. Second, they cruelly raise hopes in the heart of distressed people, the dashing of which leaves them in a far worse state than they were before. These poor souls have implicit confidence in their teachers, and carry out their instructions to the letter, and when they find the result is not what they were told, they blame themselves--for their lack of faith, etc. In the course of our experience we have met with numbers who have honestly and earnestly sought this "second blessing" of "entire sanctification," only to meet with disappointment and then sink into abject despair. Some of them (known to us personally) ended in the madhouse, while others committed suicide. Third, such teaching is directly contrary to the Word of God, and therefore is to be shunned as a plague.

A few words now upon the "higher life" teaching. While not so extreme and pernicious as the former, it is nevertheless delusive and disappointing. There are various schools with different terms to describe their "blessings." But that which is common to them all is this: God has provided something far better for His children in this life than that which merely accompanies conversion, something which if sought and received will lift them above the level occupied by so many Christians, which will deliver them from an up-and-down experience, from doubting and mourning, and make them overcoming believers. Though the "flesh" be not eradicated, they will now live constantly in the Spirit, though the sinful nature be not removed, they will have complete victory over it; though they are yet feeble and fallible creatures, the Spirit will so fill and energize them that they shall possess wondrous "power for service" and become successful "winners of souls for Christ."

And how is this wondrous change brought about? What must one do who is keenly desirous of entering into this blissful experience? Various answers are returned. Some say we must wait upon God and continue in earnest prayer, pleading Christ's promise, as the disciples did the 10 days preceding Pentecost. Others say at conversion we simply accepted Christ as our Saviour, and that now we must surrender to Him as "absolute Lord and Master of your life, so that never again will you question His authority, or disobey His commands." Still others tell us that the reason why we have failed so sadly hitherto is because we have attempted to resist the Devil and overcome sin in our own strength, but that if we now receive Christ in His fullness, turn the battle completely over to Him, and trust Him moment by moment, we shall be more than conquerors.

What shall we say to these things? First, that they are entirely without Scriptural warrant. Where is there any record in Acts of the Apostles revisiting their converts and telling them of something far better than what became theirs at conversion? Where is there anything in the Epistles (some of which were addressed to churches in a very low spiritual state!) exhorting the saints to seek a "baptism" or "anointing" of the Spirit? There is none! Second, to talk about first accepting Christ as Saviour and then surrendering to Him as Lord betrays a deplorable ignorance or perverting of the Scriptures: He must be received as Lord before He becomes the Saviour of any--the New Testament uniformly refers to Him as "Lord and Saviour" (2 Peter 3:2, 18), never as "Saviour and Lord!" Third, the closing sentences of the last paragraph are absurd: where is the truly born-again soul who seeks to overcome sin in his own strength? A prayerless Christian is a contradiction in terms. The very fact that he is a Christian ensures that he has learned of his own powerlessness (Phil. 3:3), and that he now seeks grace and help from God.

Surely if ever there were a saint who fully surrendered the throne of his heart to the sceptre of Christ, who was filled with the Spirit, and who had entered into God's best for him in this life, it was the Apostle Paul. Was, then, he completely free from sin? Did he fully measure up to the standard of holiness God has set before us? Were there no faults and failings in his Christian life? Witness the sharp contention between him and Barnabas (Acts 15:39), and remember that it always takes two to make a quarrel. Hear him acknowledging "without were fightings, within (not all was perfect peace, but) were fears" (2 Cor. 7:5). Observe his vacillation in 2 Corinthians 7:8: first, determining to sharply rebuke their sin, then sorrowing because he had done so, lest their feelings had been unduly hurt, and then regretting that he had been sorry. If any reader be inclined to give ear to the errors we have mentioned above, we beseech him to candidly test them by the Apostle's own experience in Romans 7:14-24 and Philippians 3:11-14.