PURIFIED— BUT HOW FAR?

There is a specious and crippling error set afloat on the current of holiness teaching, that sanctification is never complete in this life, and that we are made pure only up to what light or knowledge we have. I say it is specious, for while there is no passage of Scripture that teaches purification up to our knowledge, yet the theory seems plausible to the mere human reason, and those of an introspective and meta physical turn are apt to get tangled in the meshes of this error. It is certainly crippling, for those who imbibe this error,- however sincere and devoted they may be, yet they can never be satisfied (according to their own theory) of their complete salvation, and can never be successful in leading believers into heart purity. The sanctified soul must learn, sooner or later, that there is a great distinction between being purified from all sin, and being illuminated from all ignorance. Purity of heart is to be complete; but growth in spiritual discernment is never complete in this life. A great many sanctified people persist in confounding the native ignorance of the mind with the native sin of the soul, for getting that even angels have a native ignorance of some things, but no native sin. Peter was cleansed from all sin and sanctified entirely on the day of Pentecost, but his mind was still narrow, and ignorant of many things, and it required a special revelation to lead him unto the Gentiles. When the fully saved soul finds that it is being more and more liberated from its ignorance, and has an ever-widening illumination on Divine things, unless it is clearly instructed in the truth, it is liable to confound a lack of knowledge with sin, and then jump into the heresy that there is an inexhaustible source of sin in the soul down below our knowing, and that this depravity is cleared away only as it comes to the surface, and that we are sanctified only as far as we can see.

There are the following objections to this doctrine:

1. The Scripture terms, salvation, cleansing, sanctify, purify, wash, etc., always refer to sin, and not to ignorance. True, we must grow in the knowledge of God, have the eyes of our understanding enlightened, and ever progress in spiritual discernment; but the Scriptures never put any limit to this growth in knowledge, whereas, on the other hand, they always put a limit to being cleansed from sin; it is to be a perfect, complete, finished work. The work of purity is limited, complete; but the work of illumination is unlimited and ever widening. There is no more sin in a pure soul, though there may be much ignorance. There is no verse in the Bible proving that illumination is attributed to the blood of Christ; it is the blood that cleanseth, applied by the Spirit; it is truth that illuminates, applied by the same Spirit. The cleansing of the "precious blood" is to be instantaneous and perfect; the illumination of the precious truth is to be gradual and ever advancing, though both works are executed by the Holy Ghost, the Executive of the God head.

2. The word all, as applied to salvation in Scripture, is God's all, and not man's. "From all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you." These are, the words, of the Omniscient God. He; does not mean all the filthiness that we see, but all that His. infinitely searching eye can find. If we can't penetrate to the deepest recesses of our hearts, He can, and He pledges Himself to search and purify us until His own eye sees no sin in us; though it may see much weakness and ignorance, yet not a spot of sin.

3. If we look at the meter of salvation on the Divine side, we find it as infinite as His attributes. "According to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions." Here the extent of the blotting out is measured by the extent of God's mercies; but nothing is said about blotting them out, as far as I can see. "According to His mercy He saved us;" but it is nowhere said that according to the extent of our vision He saved us. "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Here the extent of supply is not up to our knowledge, but the measuring-line is the "riches of God's glory." "Strengthened with all might according to his glorious power." If the baptism of strength be according to His glorious power, then it is not limited by our short knowledge. This is the tenor of the word; it is salvation according to His mercy, His glory, His goodness, His power, etc. The, Scriptures - reveal to us a salvation from sin, from all sin, limited only by the utmost-bounds of the attributes of God.

.4. On the Human side, the meter of salvation is faith, but never knowledge or vision. It is the very office and nature of faith to go out be yond knowledge and seeing; in fact, when things become known and seen, to that extent they terminate faith; so that salvation up to our faith is a very different thing from salvation up to knowledge. In fact, persons who insist that we are perfected only up to knowledge, do virtually destroy salvation by faith; for if faith does not go beyond our vision, it is no faith at all. According to your faith be it unto you. All things are possible to him that believeth. Only believe.

We are justified by faith. We are sanctified by faith. From faith to faith. We walk by faith, not by sight; that is, we are saved and kept up to the measure of our faith, and not up to the measure of our vision. We can believe far beyond our knowledge.

5. By this theory of being cleansed from impurity only up to our light, the work of purity may never be finished, for the light of heaven may shine in hitherto undiscovered recesses of the soul, and show us hitherto unimagined depths of corruption. It is a poor creed that has no definite line for the perfect extirpation of sin.

6. Those who hold to this error can never expect to experience perfect deliverance from sin, for if they do not really believe that Jesus saves them from all sin, how can they expect to experience it? A brother said, "If it is not true that we are purified only up to our light, then why is it we keep discovering new evils in our hearts?"

The answer is, You get just exactly according to your faith; you expect to keep finding sin in your heart, and when it turns out just according to your faith, why do you complain? If you find, or think you find, a new mine of depravity within you, after you have been sanctified, do not try to shape the Scriptures to your experience, but determine through the grace of God to have an experience which conforms to the word of truth.

Your faith must firmly claim the perfect cleansing, or you can not experience it. We must not stagger at the fullness of the truth.