Chapter XV: Section III: The Application Of Christ’s Redemption In Its Continuation (2)

_1 Cor. 2:6_—“_We speak wisdom, however, among the perfect,_” or,
as the Am. Revisers have it, “_among them that are fullgrown_”;
_Phil. 3:15_—“_Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, be thus
minded._” Men are often called perfect, when free from any fault
which strikes the eyes of the world. See _Gen. 6:9_—“_Noah was a
righteous man, and perfect_”; _Job 1:1_—“_that man was perfect and
upright._” On τέλειος, see Trench, Syn. N. T., 1:110.

The τέλειοι are described in _Heb. 5:14_—“_Solid food is for the
mature_ (τελείων) _who on account of habit have their perceptions
disciplined for the discriminating of good and evil_” (Dr.
Kendrick’s translation). The same word “_perfect_” is used of
Jacob in _Gen. 25:27_—“_Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents_”
= a harmless man, exemplary and well‐balanced, as a man of
business. Genung, Epic of the Inner Life, 132—“_’Perfect’_ in Job
= Horace’s ‘integer vitæ,’ being the adjective of which
‘integrity’ is the substantive.”

Fifthly, the Scriptures distinctly deny that any man on earth lives without sin.

_1 K. 8:46_—“_there is no man that sinneth not_”; _Eccl.
7:20_—“_Surely there is not a righteous man upon earth, that doeth
good, and sinneth not_”; _James 3:2_—“_For in many things we all
stumble. If any stumbleth not in word, the same is a perfect man,
able to bridle the whole body also_”; _1 John 1:8_—“_If we say
that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in
us._”

T. T. Eaton, Sanctification: “1. Some mistake regeneration for
sanctification. They have been unconverted church members. When
led to faith in Christ, and finding peace and joy, they think they
are sanctified, when they are simply converted. 2. Some mistake
assurance of faith for sanctification. But joy is not
sanctification. 3. Some mistake the baptism of the Holy Spirit for
sanctification. But Peter sinned grievously at Antioch, after he
had received that baptism. 4. Some think that doing the best one
can is sanctification. But he who measures by inches, for feet,
can measure up well. Some regard sin as only a voluntary act,
whereas the sinful nature is the fountain. Stripping off the
leaves of the Upas tree does not answer. 6. Some mistake the power
of the human will, and fancy that an act of will can free a man
from sin. They ignore the settled bent of the will, which the act
of will does not change.”

Sixthly, the declaration: “ye were sanctified” (1 Cor. 6:11), and the designation: “saints” (1 Cor. 1:2), applied to early believers, are, as the whole epistle shows, expressive of a holiness existing in germ and anticipation; the expressions deriving their meaning not so much from what these early believers were, as from what Christ was, to whom they were united by faith.

When N. T. believers are said to be “_sanctified_,” we must
remember the O. T. use of the word. “Sanctify” may have either the
meaning “to make holy outwardly,” or “to make holy inwardly.” The
people of Israel and the vessels of the tabernacle were made holy
in the former sense; their sanctification was a setting apart to
the sacred use. _Num. 8:17_—“_all the firstborn among the children
of Israel are mine.... I sanctified them for myself_”; _Deut.
33:3_—“_Yea, he loveth the people; all his saints are in thy
hand_”; _2 Chron. 29:19_—“_all the vessels ... have we prepared
and sanctified._” The vessels mentioned were first immersed, and
then sprinkled from day to day according to need. So the Christian
by his regeneration is set apart for God’s service, and in this
sense is a “_saint_” and “_sanctified_.” More than this, he has in
him the beginnings of purity,—he is “_clean as a whole_,” though
he yet needs “_to wash his feet_” (_John 13:10_)—that is, to be
cleansed from the recurring defilements of his daily life. Shedd,
Dogm. Theol., 2:551—“The error of the Perfectionist is that of
confounding _imputed_ sanctification with _inherent_
sanctification. It is the latter which is mentioned in _1 Cor.
1:30_—‘_Christ Jesus, who was made unto us ... sanctification._’ ”

Water from the Jordan is turbid, but it settles in the bottle and
seems pure—until it is shaken. Some Christians seem very free from
sin, until you shake them,—then they get “riled.” Clarke,
Christian Theology, 871—“Is there not a higher Christian life?
Yes, and a higher life beyond it, and a higher still beyond. The
Christian life is ever higher and higher. It must pass through all
stages between its beginning and its perfection.” C. D. Case: “The
great objection to [this theory of] complete sanctification is
that, if possessed at all, it is not a development of our own
character.”

(_c_) That the theory is disapproved by the testimony of Christian experience.—In exact proportion to the soul’s advance in holiness does it shrink from claiming that holiness has been already attained, and humble itself before God for its remaining apathy, ingratitude, and unbelief.

_Phil. 3:12‐14_—“_Not that I have already obtained, or am already
made perfect: but I press on, if so be that I may lay hold on that
for which also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus._” Some of the
greatest advocates of perfectionism have been furthest from
claiming any such perfection; although many of their less
instructed followers claimed it for them, and even professed to
have attained it themselves.

In _Luke 7:1‐10_, the centurion does not think himself worthy to
go to Jesus, or to have him come under his roof, yet the elders of
the Jews say: “_He is worthy that thou shouldest do this_”; and
Jesus himself says of him: “_I have not found so great faith, no,
not in Israel_.” “_Holy to Jehovah_” was inscribed upon the mitre
of the high priest (_Ex. 28:36_). Others saw it, but he saw it
not. Moses knew not that his face shone (_Ex. 34:29_). The truest
holiness is that of which the possessor is least conscious; yet it
is his real diadem and beauty (A. J. Gordon). “The nearer men are
to being sinless, the less they talk about it” (Dwight L. Moody).
“Always strive for perfection: never believe you have reached it”
(Arnold of Rugby). Compare with this, Ernest Renan’s declaration
that he had nothing to alter in his life. “I have not sinned for
some time,” said a woman to Mr. Spurgeon. “Then you must be very
proud of it,” he replied. “Indeed I am!” said she. A pastor says:
“No one can attain the ‘Higher Life,’ and escape making mischief.”
John Wesley lamented that not one in thirty retained the blessing.

Perfectionism is best met by proper statements of the nature of the law and of sin (Ps. 119:96). While we thus rebuke spiritual pride, however, we should be equally careful to point out the inseparable connection between justification and sanctification, and their equal importance as together making up the Biblical idea of salvation. While we show no favor to those who would make sanctification a sudden and paroxysmal act of the human will, we should hold forth the holiness of God as the standard of attainment, and the faith in a Christ of infinite fulness as the medium through which that standard is to be gradually but certainly realized in us (2 Cor. 3:18).

We should imitate Lyman Beecher’s method of opposing
perfectionism—by searching expositions of God’s law. When men know
what the law is, they will say with the Psalmist: “_I have seen an
end of all perfection; thy commandment is exceeding broad_” (_Ps.
119:96_). And yet we are earnestly and hopefully to seek in Christ
for a continually increasing measure of sanctification: _1 Cor.
1:30_—“_Christ Jesus, who was made unto us ... sanctification_”;
_2 Cor. 3:18_—“_But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a
mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image
from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit_.” Arnold of
Rugby: “Always expect to succeed, and never think you have
succeeded.”

Mr. Finney meant by entire sanctification only that it is possible
for Christians in this life by the grace of God to consecrate
themselves so unreservedly to his service as to live without
conscious and wilful disobedience to the divine commands. He did
not claim himself to have reached this point; he made at times
very impressive confessions of his own sinfulness; he did not
encourage others to make for themselves the claim to have lived
without conscious fault. He held however that such a state is
attainable, and therefore that its pursuit is rational. He also
admitted that such a state is one, not of absolute, but only of
relative, sinlessness. His error was in calling it a state of
entire sanctification. See A. H. Strong, Christ in Creation,
377‐384.

A. J. Gordon, Ministry of the Spirit, 116—“It is possible that one
may experience a great crisis in his spiritual life, in which
there is such a total surrender of self to God and such an
infilling of the Holy Spirit, that he is freed from the bondage of
sinful appetites and habits, and enabled to have constant victory
over self instead of suffering constant defeat.... If the doctrine
of sinless perfection is a heresy, the doctrine of contentment
with sinful imperfection is a greater heresy.... It is not an
edifying spectacle to see a Christian worldling throwing stones at
a Christian perfectionist.” Caird, Evolution of Religion,
1:138—“If, according to the German proverb, it is provided that
the trees shall not grow into the sky, it is equally provided that
they shall always grow toward it; and the sinking of the roots
into the soil is inevitably accompanied by a further expansion of
the branches.”

See Hovey, Doctrine of the Higher Christian Life, Compared with
Scripture, also Hovey, Higher Christian Life Examined, in Studies
in Ethics and Theology, 344‐427; Snodgrass, Scriptural Doctrine of
Sanctification; Princeton Essays, 1:335‐365; Hodge, Syst. Theol.,
3:213‐258; Calvin, Institutes, III, 11:6; Bib. Repos., 2d Series,
1:44‐58; 2:143‐166; Woods, Works, 4:465‐523; H. A. Boardman, The
“Higher Life” Doctrine of Sanctification; William Law, Practical
Treatise on Christian Perfection; E. H. Johnson, The Highest Life.

II. Perseverance.

The Scriptures declare that, in virtue of the original purpose and continuous operation of God, all who are united to Christ by faith will infallibly continue in a state of grace and will finally attain to everlasting life. This voluntary continuance, on the part of the Christian, in faith and well‐doing we call perseverance. Perseverance is, therefore, the human side or aspect of that spiritual process which, as viewed from the divine side, we call sanctification. It is not a mere natural consequence of conversion, but involves a constant activity of the human will from the moment of conversion to the end of life.

Adam’s holiness was mutable; God did not determine to keep him. It
is otherwise with believers in Christ; God has determined to give
them the kingdom (_Luke 12:32_). Yet this keeping by God, which we
call sanctification, is accompanied and followed by a keeping of
himself on the part of the believer, which we call perseverance.
The former is alluded to in _John 17:11, 12_—“_keep them in thy
name.... I kept them in thy name.... I guarded them, and not one
of them perished, but the son of perdition_”; the latter is
alluded to in _1 John 5:18_—“_he that was __ begotten of God
keepeth himself._” Both are expressed in _Jude 21, 24_—“_Keep
yourselves in the love of God.... Now unto him that is able to
guard you from stumbling..._”

A German treatise on Pastoral Theology is entitled: “Keep What
Thou Hast”—an allusion to _2 Tim. 1:14_—“_That good thing which
was committed unto thee guard through the Holy Spirit which
dwelleth in us._” Not only the pastor, but every believer, has a
charge to keep; and the keeping of ourselves is as important a
point of Christian doctrine as is the keeping of God. Both are
expressed in the motto: _Teneo, Teneor_—the motto on the front of
the Y. M. C. A. building in Boston, underneath a stone cross,
firmly clasped by two hands. The colored preacher said that
“Perseverance means: 1. Take hold; 2. Hold on; 3. Never let go.”

Physically, intellectually, morally, spiritually, there is need
that we persevere. Paul, in _1 Cor. 9:27_, declares that he smites
his body under the eye and makes a slave of it, lest after having
preached to others he himself should be rejected; and in _2 Tim.
4:7_, at the end of his career, he rejoices that he has “_kept the
faith_.” A. J. Gordon, Ministry of the Spirit, 115—“The Christian
is as ‘_a tree planted by the streams of water, that bringeth
forth its fruit in its season_’ (_Ps. 1:3_), but to conclude that
his growth will be as irresistible as that of the tree, coming as
a matter of course simply because he has by regeneration been
planted in Christ, is a grave mistake. The disciple is required to
be consciously and intelligently active in his own growth, as the
tree is not, ‘_to give all diligence to make his calling and
election sure_’ (_2 Pet. 1:10_) by surrendering himself to the
divine action.” Clarke, Christian Theology, 379—“Man is able to
fall, and God is able to keep him from falling; and through the
various experiences of life God will so save his child out of all
evil that he will be morally incapable of falling.”

1. Proof of the Doctrine of Perseverance.

A. From Scripture.

_John 10:28, 29_—“_they shall never perish, and no one shall
snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who hath given them unto
me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of
the Father’s hand_”; _Rom. 11:29_—“_For the gifts and the calling
of God are without repentance_”; _1 Cor. 13:7_—“_endureth all
things_”; _cf._ _13_—“_But now abideth faith, hope, love_”; _Phil.
1:6_—“_being confident of this very thing, that he who began a
good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ_”;
_2 Thess. 3:3_—“_But the Lord is faithful, who shall establish
you, and guard you from the evil one_”; _2 Tim. 1:12_—“_I know him
whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard
that which I have committed unto him against that day_”; _1 Pet.
1:5_—“_who by the power of God are guarded through faith unto a
salvation ready to be revealed in the last time_”; _Rev.
3:10_—“_Because thou didst keep the word of my patience, I also
will keep thee from the hour of trial, that hour which is to come
upon the whole world, to try them that dwell upon the earth._”

_2 Tim. 1:12_—τὴν παραθήκην μου—Ellicott translates: “_the trust
committed to me_,” or “_my deposit_” = the office of preaching the
gospel, the stewardship entrusted to the apostle; _cf._ _1 Tim.
6:20_—“_O Timothy, keep thy deposit_”—τὴν παραθήκην; and _2 Tim.
1:14_—“_Keep the good deposit_”—where the deposit seems to be the
faith or doctrine delivered to him to preach. Nicoll, The Church’s
One Foundation, 211—“Some Christians waken each morning with a
creed of fewer articles, and those that remain they are ready to
surrender to a process of argument that convinces them. But it is
a duty to _keep_. ‘_Ye have an anointing from the Holy One, and ye
know_’ (_1 John 2:20_).... Ezra gave to his men a treasure of gold
and silver and sacrificial vessels, and he charged them: ‘_Watch
ye, and keep them, until ye weigh them ... in thy chambers of the
house of Jehovah_’ (_Ezra 8:29_).” See in the Autobiography of C.
H. Spurgeon, 1:225, 256, the outline of a sermon on _John
6:37_—“_All that which the Father giveth me shall come unto me;
and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out._” Mr.
Spurgeon remarks that this text can give us no comfort unless we
see: 1. that God has given us his Holy Spirit; 2. that we have
given ourselves to him. Christ will not cast us out because of our
great sins, our long delays, our trying other saviors, our
hardness of heart, our little faith, our poor dull prayers, our
unbelief, our inveterate corruptions, our frequent backslidings,
nor finally because every one else passes us by.

B. From Reason.

(_a_) It is a necessary inference from other doctrines,—such as election, union with Christ, regeneration, justification, sanctification.

Election of certain individuals to salvation is election to bestow
upon them such influences of the Spirit as will lead them not only
to accept Christ, but to persevere and be saved. Union with Christ
is indissoluble; regeneration is the beginning of a work of new
creation, which is declared in justification, and completed in
sanctification. All these doctrines are parts of a general scheme,
which would come to naught if any single Christian were permitted
to fall away.

(_b_) It accords with analogy,—God’s preserving care being needed by, and being granted to, his spiritual, as well as his natural, creation.

As natural life cannot uphold itself, but we “_live, and move, and
have our being_” in God (_Acts 17:28_), so spiritual life cannot
uphold itself, and God maintains the faith, love, and holy
activity which he has originated. If he preserves our natural
life, much more may we expect him to preserve the spiritual. _1
Tim. 6:13_—“_I charge thee before God who preserveth all things
alive_” (R. V. marg.)—ζωογονοῦντος τὰ πάντα = the great Preserver
of all enables us to persist in our Christian course.

(_c_) It is implied in all assurance of salvation,—since this assurance is given by the Holy Spirit, and is based not upon the known strength of human resolution, but upon the purpose and operation of God.

S. R. Mason: “If Satan and Adam both fell away from perfect
holiness, it is a million to one that, in a world full of
temptations and with all appetites and habits against me, I shall
fall away from imperfect holiness, unless God by his almighty
power keep me.” It is in the power and purpose of God, then, that
the believer puts his trust. But since this trust is awakened by
the Holy Spirit, it must be that there is a divine fact
corresponding to it; namely, God’s purpose to exert his power in
such a way that the Christian shall persevere. See Wardlaw, Syst.
Theol., 2:550‐578; N. W. Taylor, Revealed Theology, 445‐460.

_Job 6:11_—“_What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is
mine end, that I should be patient?_” “Here is a note of self‐
distrust. To be patient without any outlook, to endure without
divine support—Job does not promise it, and he trembles at the
prospect; but none the less he sets his feet on the toilsome way”
(Genung). Dr. Lyman Beecher was asked whether he believed in the
perseverance of the saints. He replied: “I do, except when the
wind is from the East.” But the value of the doctrine is that we
can believe it even when the wind _is_ from the East. It is well
to hold on to God’s hand, but it is better to have God’s hand hold
on to us. When we are weak, and forgetful and asleep, we need to
be sure of God’s care. Like the child who thought he was driving,
but who found, after the trouble was over, that his father after
all had been holding the reins, we too find when danger comes that
behind our hands are the hands of God. The Perseverance of the
Saints, looked at from the divine side, is the Preservation of the
Saints, and the hymn that expresses the Christian’s faith is the
hymn: “How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, Is laid for
your faith in his excellent word!”

2. Objections to the Doctrine of Perseverance.

These objections are urged chiefly by Arminians and by Romanists.

A. That it is inconsistent with human freedom.—Answer: It is no more so than is the doctrine of Election or the doctrine of Decrees.

The doctrine is simply this, that God will bring to bear such
influences upon all true believers, that they will freely
persevere. Moule, Outlines of Christian Doctrine, 47—“Is grace, in
any sense of the word, ever finally withdrawn? Yes, if by grace is
meant any free gift of God tending to salvation; or, more
specially, any action of the Holy Spirit tending in its nature
thither.... But if by grace be meant the dwelling and working of
Christ in the truly regenerate, there is no indication in
Scripture of the withdrawal of it.”

B. That it tends to immorality.—Answer: This cannot be, since the doctrine declares that God will save men by securing their perseverance in holiness.

_2 Tim. 2:19_—“_Howbeit the firm foundation of God standeth,
having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his: and, Let
every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from
unrighteousness_”; that is, the temple of Christian character has
upon its foundation two significant inscriptions, the one
declaring God’s power, wisdom, and purpose of salvation; the other
declaring the purity and holy activity, on the part of the
believer, through which God’s purpose is to be fulfilled; _1 Pet.
1:1, 2_—“_elect ... according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and
sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ_”; _2 Pet. 1:10,
11_—“_Wherefore, brethren, give the more diligence to make your
calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall
never stumble: for thus shall be richly supplied unto you the
entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ_.”

C. That it leads to indolence.—Answer: This is a perversion of the doctrine, continuously possible only to the unregenerate; since, to the regenerate, certainty of success is the strongest incentive to activity in the conflict with sin.

_1 John 5:4_—“_For whatsoever is begotten of God overcometh the
world; and this is the victory that hath overcome the world, even
our faith_.” It is notoriously untrue that confidence of success
inspires timidity or indolence. Thomas Fuller: “Your salvation is
his business; his service your business.” The only prayers God
will answer are those we ourselves cannot answer. For the very
reason that “_it is God who worketh in you both to will and to
work, for his good pleasure_,” the apostle exhorts: “_work out
your own salvation with fear and trembling_” (_Phil. 2:12, 13_).

D. That the Scripture commands to persevere and warnings against apostasy show that certain, even of the regenerate, will fall away.—Answer:

(_a_) They show that some, who are apparently regenerate, will fall away.

_Mat. 18:7_—“_Woe unto the world because of occasions of
stumbling! for it must needs be that the occasions come; but woe
to that man through whom the occasion cometh_”; _1 Cor.
11:19_—“_For there must be also factions_ [lit. ‘_heresies_’]
_among you, that they that are approved may be made manifest among
you_”; _1 John 2:19_—“_They went out from us, but they were not of
us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us:
but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they all
are not of us_.” Judas probably experienced strong emotions, and
received strong impulses toward good, under the influence of
Christ. The only falling from grace which is recognized in
Scripture is not the falling of the regenerate, but the falling of
the unregenerate, from influences tending to lead them to Christ.
The Rabbins said that a drop of water will suffice to purify a man
who has accidentally touched a creeping thing, but an ocean will
not suffice for his cleansing so long as he purposely keeps the
creeping thing in his hand.

(_b_) They show that the truly regenerate, and those who are only apparently so, are not certainly distinguishable in this life.

_Mal. 3:18_—“_Then shall ye return and discern between the
righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him
that serveth him not_”; _Mat. 13:25, 47_—“_while men slept, his
enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat, and went away....
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast
into the sea, and gathered of every kind_”; _Rom. 9:6, 7_—“_For
they are not all Israel, that are of Israel: neither, because they
are Abraham’s seed, are they all children_”; _Rev. 3:1_—“_I know
thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and thou art
dead_.” The tares were never wheat, and the bad fish never were
good, in spite of the fact that their true nature was not for a
while recognized.

(_c_) They show the fearful consequences of rejecting Christ, to those who have enjoyed special divine influences, but who are only apparently regenerate.

_Heb. 10:26‐29_—“_For if we sin wilfully after that we have
received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more a
sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment,
and a fierceness of fire which shall devour the adversaries. A man
that hath set at nought Moses’ law dieth without compassion on the
word of two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment,
think ye, shall he be judged worthy, who hath trodden under foot
the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant
wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite
unto the Spirit of grace?_” Here “_sanctified_” = external
sanctification, like that of the ancient Israelites, by outward
connection with God’s people; _cf._ _1 Cor. 7:14_—“_the
unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife_.”

In considering these and the following Scripture passages, much
will depend upon our view of inspiration. If we hold that Christ’s
promise was fulfilled and that his apostles were led into all the
truth, we shall assume that there is unity in their teaching, and
shall recognize in their variations only aspects and applications
of the teaching of our Lord; in other words, Christ’s doctrine in
_John 10:28, 29_ will be the norm for the interpretation of
seemingly diverse and at first sight inconsistent passages. There
was a “_faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints_,”
and for this primitive faith we are exhorted “_to contend
earnestly_” (_Jude 3_).

(_d_) They show what the fate of the truly regenerate would be, in case they should not persevere.

_Heb. 6:4‐6_—“_For as touching those who were once enlightened and
tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy
Spirit, and tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the
world to come, and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them
again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son
of God afresh, and put him to an open shame._” This is to be
understood as a hypothetical case,—as is clear from _verse 9_
which follows: “_But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of
you, and things which accompany salvation, though we thus speak_.”
Dr. A. C. Kendrick, Com. _in loco_: “In the phrase ‘_once
enlightened_,’ the ‘_once_’ is ἅπαξ = once for all. The text
describes a condition subjectively possible, and therefore needing
to be held up in earnest warning to the believer, while
objectively and in the absolute purpose of God, it never
occurs.... If passages like this teach the possibility of falling
from grace, they teach also the impossibility of restoration to
it. The saint who once apostatizes has apostatized forever.” So
_Ez. 18:24_—“_when the righteous turneth away from his
righteousness, and committeth iniquity ... in them shall he die_”;
_2 Pet. 2:20_—“_For if, after they have escaped the defilements of
the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the last
state is become worse with them than the first_.” So, in _Mat.
5:13_—“_if the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be
salted?_”—if this teaches that the regenerate may lose their
religion, it also teaches that they can never recover it. It
really shows only that Christians who do not perform their proper
functions as Christians become harmful and contemptible (Broadus,
_in loco_).

(_e_) They show that the perseverance of the truly regenerate may be secured by these very commands and warnings.

_1 Cor. 9:27_—“_I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage: lest
by any means, after that I have preached to others, I myself
should be rejected_”—or, to bring out the meaning more fully: “_I
beat my body blue_ [or, ‘strike it under the eye’], _and make it a
slave, lest after having been a herald to others, I myself should
be rejected_” (“unapproved,” “counted unworthy of the prize”);
_10:12_—“_Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed
lest he fall_.” Quarles, Emblems: “The way to be safe is never to
be secure.” Wrightnour: “Warning a traveler to keep a certain
path, and by this means keeping him in that path, is no evidence
that he will ever fall into a pit by the side of the path simply
because he is warned of it.”

(_f_) They do not show that it is certain, or possible, that any truly regenerate person will fall away.

The Christian is like a man making his way up‐hill, who
occasionally slips back, yet always has his face set toward the
summit. The unregenerate man has his face turned downwards, and he
is slipping all the way. C. H. Spurgeon: “The believer, like a man
on shipboard, may fall again and again on the deck, but he will
never fall overboard.”

E. That we have actual examples of such apostasy.—We answer:

(_a_) Such are either men once outwardly reformed, like Judas and Ananias, but never renewed in heart;

But, _per contra_, instance the experience of a man in typhoid
fever, who apparently repented, but who never remembered it when
he was restored to health. Sick‐bed and death‐bed conversions are
not the best. There was one penitent thief, that none might
despair; there was but one penitent thief, that none might
presume. The hypocrite is like the wire that gets a second‐hand
electricity from the live wire running parallel with it. This
second‐hand electricity is effective only within narrow limits,
and its efficacy is soon exhausted. The live wire has connection
with the source of power in the dynamo.

(_b_) Or they are regenerate men, who, like David and Peter, have fallen into temporary sin, from which they will, before death, be reclaimed by God’s discipline.

Instance the young profligate who, in a moment of apparent
drowning, repented, was then rescued, and afterward lived a long
life as a Christian. If he had not been rescued, his repentance
would never have been known, nor the answer to his mother’s
prayers. So, in the moment of a backslider’s death, God can renew
repentance and faith. Cromwell on his death‐bed questioned his
Chaplain as to the doctrine of final perseverance, and, on being
assured that it was a certain truth, said: “Then I am happy, for I
am sure that I was once in a state of grace.” But reliance upon a
past experience is like trusting in the value of a policy of life
insurance upon which several years’ premiums have been unpaid. If
the policy has not lapsed, it is because of extreme grace. The
only conclusive evidence of perseverance is a present experience
of Christ’s presence and indwelling, corroborated by active
service and purity of life.

On the general subject, see Edwards, Works, 3:509‐532, and 4:104;
Ridgeley, Body of Divinity, 2:164‐194; John Owen, Works, vol. 11;
Woods, Works, 3:221‐246; Van Oosterzee, Christian Dogmatics,
662‐666.