Salvation Fits Us For Heaven
What is the fitness needed to enter and enjoy that holy place of God’s awful presence? If we will attend to the voice of inspiration no man need be deceived in this matter.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Matt. 5:8. “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” Heb. 12:14.
Reader, do you now perceive why God created man in his own image? He designed that his intelligent creatures should enjoy the fellowship and companionship of their Creator. But this can only take place on the plane of his nature, in the possession of his own holiness. Hence, also, the injunction, “Be ye holy, for I am holy.” 1 Pet. 1:16. According to the very nature of the case, no person in this world, or in the world to come, can enjoy, or even endure the divine presence and glory unless transformed into the same image, and filled with his glory. Daniel was a righteous man, and yet he was “afraid and fell upon his face” (Dan. 8:17), at the approach of Gabriel, an angel from God’s presence. The Apostle John was a wholly sanctified man of God, and yet when he saw the Almighty Redeemer whose “countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength, fell at his feet as dead.” Rev. 1:16, 17. Though morally fitted to enjoy God, the resurrection and glorification of the body was yet wanting. How, then, can any soul with the smallest spot of sin hope to stand before God in the awful day of his coming and judgment? “Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.” 2 Pet. 3:14. O how many plain and solemn warnings God has given all men of that day when all must stand or fall in the presence of his majesty, and glory, when the earth and the works thereof shall be burned up! “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness?” 2 Pet. 3:11.
Reader, are you a candidate for heaven and eternal glory? Then mark well the conditions upon which you must take your crown, and in the default of which you must sink to an awful doom. How think you the gates of heaven will be guarded against the entrance of unworthy characters? We read of no mighty angel, who, with all-penetrating eyes shall examine those who would enter there. How then will the purity of heaven be protected? Find an answer in 2 Thess. 1:7–9. “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.”
At the same time we are told he will “be glorified in his saints, and admired in all them that believe.” So let it be known once for all that all who are unfit for heaven will be driven back to hell “from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.” Though heaven’s gates stand wide open before all men, no person will enter with a stain of sin upon his soul. No unholy man can endure the presence of God and his divine glory. The hottest place in hell was a relief to the soul unsaved and out of Christ.
A wit once said in a New York paper that he dreamed a certain man, prominent in his circle, had died, and approached the gates of heaven, where he was told, “YOU MAY COME IN BUT YOU WILL NOT LIKE IT.” A mighty truth was unwittingly uttered by the thoughtless sinner. Oh that the Almighty may make men to consider that heaven is worse than hell itself for all who are not of heavenly temper! Oh how sad and sickening the sight of our present evil world, and its awful destiny so near! The masses who profess the Christian name, know they are sinful and unholy, and yet hope to stop sinning when safe in heaven. We used to hear them sing with much animation,
“If I only get to heaven, If I only get to heaven,
If I only get to heaven when I die.”
They hope to see the beautiful gate ajar for them, and if they may only be permitted to slip into the golden city, imagine they will be all right. Oh how awful will be their disappointment! The very holiness of heaven will drive them back in terror. Jesus knew very well that men would base their eternal happiness on merely getting into heaven, and has given us a parable to show all men how such a faith will terminate. He tells of one who came in without the “wedding garment;” but he did not enjoy it. He was speechless, and was bound hand and foot, and cast out into outer darkness; “there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matt. 22:11–13. Nothing but the spotless robe of perfect holiness will make heaven a heaven for you.
“Be not deceived, God is not mocked.” None but the pure in heart can enter there and see God in peace. Yea, in the light of God’s truth we cry aloud and say unto all, you must be as pure as heaven to enter and enjoy that holy place. And, thanks be to the God of all grace and mercy, SALVATION will put you in that condition and preserve you ready to enter and enjoy all the glory of heaven. Many scriptures prove the fact. “For by one offering, he, Christ, hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.” Heb. 10:14. This does not mean that the holy state cannot be forfeited; but that entire sanctification perfects our salvation from sin, and puts us on the plane of heaven’s purity. Therefore Christ “being made perfect [a perfect Savior] became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.” The law was a temporary system; it made nothing perfect; but the bringing in of a better hope—Christ—did. In him we have come to the final and complete redemption, that fits us for the society of God through all remaining time and eternity.
“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” 1 Thess. 5:23, 24.
“And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind of wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight.” Col. 1:21, 22. “Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” 1 Peter 1:5.
“Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is so are we in the world.” 1 John 4:17.
These scriptures clearly and positively affirm that the salvation of God sanctifies us soul, body, and spirit, and preserves us blameless. “Kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last day.” Even as Christ is, so are we in this world, and therefore will have boldness in the day of judgment.
There is, therefore, no purgatory needed by the Christian. Nor is such a thing taught in the scripture. Nor yet that other deception of Satan; namely, extreme unction. SALVATION is God’s extreme unction; the fullness of his power revealed in us; keeping us blameless and spotless in his sight. And, “So an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly, into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” 2 Pet. 1:11.
It Is God’s Salvation
Salvation is a plan, a cure, which has for its object the restoration of man from the power of sin and the effects of the fall. Now any project should command attention and confidence in proportion to the greatness of its author. Who has conceived and devised the plan of Salvation? Thus it is written: “Salvation belongeth unto the Lord.” He is the sole originator and proprietor of this most stupendous undertaking and marvelous business that has ever been opened upon earth. Therefore, “The salvation of the righteous is of the Lord.” Psa. 37:39. And thus hath Jehovah spoken to his anointed: “I will also give thee for a light unto the Gentiles, that thou mayest be MY SALVATION unto the ends of the earth.” Isa. 49:6. Here we learn that the Son of God is the only authorized mediator and embodiment of God’s salvation. To him, therefore, every human being must either apply and be saved; or, if refusing or neglecting to do so, in the day of judgment stand condemned “of sin because they believed not on him.” John 16:9. “Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation.” Psa. 78:22. When, therefore, good old Simeon saw the infant Redeemer, he embraced him saying, “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation.” Luke 2:29, 30. Salvation belongeth unto God, and Jesus Christ is his salvation. Bless his dear name! No person can ignore the Son and be saved by the Father, nor despise the Father without rejecting the Son. Luke 10:6. Let it be distinctly understood that God has so arranged the plan of redemption that no man or set of men can monopolize, control, or get a patent upon it. God has offered a FREE SALVATION to all the world, and it is impossible for the most crafty to convert it into a means of speculation. It is true there are money-run religions many, and hirelings many. But “the hireling is not the shepherd;” not sent of God and the money-making religions are frauds. Salvation is “without money and without price;” therefore, whosoever would set a price upon it, proves he is not in possession of the article himself, and has but a counterfeit to offer. Every man on earth can come directly to the Author of salvation through Jesus Christ, and be saved independent of all men or angels. Dear reader, be sure that you get the genuine article, the salvation that really saves. Remember there is only one firm in control of the business. Only one name under heaven whereby ye must be saved. All modern organizations are frauds. Though they offer you cheap terms, a broad road, and a flesh-pleasing policy, there is death in the end. Be sure and get your salvation direct from God through his Son. See that your ticket for heaven has upon it the seal of the living God. If you have religion and yet a sinner, you have been badly taken in. You have dealt with the wrong firm. For your soul’s sake cast away your religion and seek God’s salvation. Thus call upon him: “O visit me with thy salvation!” Psa. 106:4. “Show us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation.” Psa. 85:7.
Stop your ears to every other offer, and be satisfied with nothing short of God’s true and only salvation.
If you have a religion which has not “raised you up together, and made you sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6), you have not found God’s salvation, and you are yet on too low a plane to enter heaven. You should come to him with this earnest prayer, “Let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.” Psa. 69:29.
If you have not had a salvation that lasts all the year round with uninterrupted peace and victory in your soul, God says to you, “My salvation shall be forever.” Isa. 51:6.
“If the darts of the wicked one and the powers of hell oppress and overcome your soul, for Christ’s sake do not think you must remain in that wretched condition. Acquaint yourself with God, and get an experience where you can joyfully say to him, “Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation, and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.” Psa. 18:35.
If your heart is not joyful, but gloomy, you have not been blessed with the salvation of the Lord. Seek him with all your heart; then shall ye break forth in praise to God, saying, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him and he will save us; this is the LORD; we have waited for him; we will be glad, and rejoice in his salvation.” Isa. 25:9. Yea, “In thy salvation how greatly shall we rejoice?” Psa. 21:1. Thank God for his perfect salvation. Reader, are you really in possession of it?
God Himself Is Our Salvation
The holy prophet Isaiah seemed to have been filled with surprise and admiration at the revelation of this wonderful truth to his mind. Hence he cries out, “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.” Isa. 12:2, 3.
Surely we should draw water in abundance and with great joy from a well so deep, so boundless, and so glorious. When the children of Israel stood upon the wilderness side of the Red Sea, and beheld the waters of God’s judgment swallowing up their enemies, they sang this song: “The Lord is my strength and song, and He is become my salvation.” Ex. 15:2.
When David was beset by many and great foes, and his life was chased and hunted like a wild roe, he turned to God with this prayer: “Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.” Psa. 35:3. But we need not now ask God to speak this word to our soul. He has clearly declared himself, and freely offers himself to be the perfect salvation of all those who put their trust in him.
“He only is my rock and my salvation.” Psa. 62:2. “The Lord is my strength and song; and is become my salvation.” Psa. 118:14. “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” Psa. 27:1. What precious and soul-cheering truth! With God, the Almighty, for our salvation, and he the strength of our life, well may it be asked, What shall we fear?
“Truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.” Jer. 3:23. Many other scriptures identify our salvation with God. What a wonderful announcement to lost and helpless humanity. Surely no person can read and believe these scriptures and yet think of salvation as something limited, and insufficient to meet the utmost wants of fallen man. If the Almighty is our salvation, then it can do for us all that lies in the power of God to do. And there is nothing too hard for him. Is God able to create worlds? to call forth into being that which had no being? Behold, all things were made by him. Then if man was so utterly destroyed by the fall that nothing short of a new creature could save him, thank God the power is at hand to meet the demand. And such is actually the work of our redemption. “Therefore, if any man be in Christ there is a new creation: old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new; and all things are of God.” 2 Cor. 5:17, 18. “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.” Gal. 6:15. We quote the rendering of Rotherham, Emphatic Diaglott, and many other translations. A new creation takes place in our restoration from the death and ruin of sin. God only possesses creative power. So he is become our salvation. No wonder we read of a “great salvation.” It is as great as God himself. My soul doth make its boast in the Lord, and stand triumphant over all the powers of sin, of earth and hell; having for its salvation the greatest and most mighty One of the whole universe.
Therefore, in many respects at least, what may be affirmed of God is also true of our salvation. If God is holy so is our salvation; and it invests us with the same moral quality.
“God is love.” So is our salvation. Only he whose very life and being is love is in possession of salvation. The two elements are inseparable. Therefore we read that “the gift of prophecy,” “all knowledge,” “all faith,” benevolence that gives all our goods to feed the poor; and a zeal that delivers our body to be burned at the stake, will profit us nothing without love. The salvation of all men is gauged by the measure of the pure love of God shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit, and manifest in our life. 1 Cor. 13:1–3. Is God almighty? So is our salvation. The energy of omnipotence is the arm of our deliverance.
“O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.” Psalm 140:7.
“The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my Savior.” 2 Sam. 22:3. “The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.” Psa. 18:2.
How can Satan and all his hosts stand before us, or prevail over us, having a salvation that has God for its strength? He is the horn of our salvation. Anciently, horns were worn upon the cap to denote office, rank and authority. So our salvation ranks with the power and authority of Jehovah. O praise God for such a salvation!
God is eternal. So is our salvation. “And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.” Heb. 5:9. God has become our salvation, by his divine incarnation in the person of his Son, in whose body a complete sacrifice was made for our sins. He has become our salvation because his love reaches even to us, in the low depths of our wretchedness. He has become our salvation by clothing our souls in his own beautiful righteousness, wherein we can stand in his presence without fear, with great joy. Again he has become our salvation by infusing his own holy life in us, which enables us to walk in the steps of him who did no sin. Finally, he has become our salvation by giving us the sure covenant of his mercy, in which all his honor and integrity is pledged to save to the uttermost all that come to him through Jesus Christ. O beloved, if you would but properly consider this one fact, all your groveling ideas of our possibilities in divine grace would vanish away. Think of it; the great Jehovah has bound himself in an everlasting covenant, sealed by the blood of his own Son, and has even sworn to by himself, that he would fully save every soul that believes on him. He has thus obligated himself, and all the immutability and veracity of his holy character back up his words of eternal life. Oh what assurance his promises must inspire when we think that they are as firm as God himself! While I stand upon his Word, and obey his precious will, he has made himself responsible for my constant salvation. And “he has magnified his Word above all his name.” Bless his holy name forever!
Salvation Leaves No Cloak For Sin
By nearly all sin-serving professors it is admitted that the Bible requires us to be pure and holy, and to live free from sin. But most of them claim that we cannot in this life meet those requirements. That the commands, “be ye holy,” “be ye perfect,” etc., are simply set before us as the standard toward which we should ever approach, but cannot, while living in this world, hope to attain. For instance, before us is a letter from a man who subscribes his name, Stixtus, from Brookville, Pa., in which the sectish Dunkard seeks to cloak over his sins. He speaks against what he calls our “ridiculous attempt to bolster up that old and long since exploded doctrine of perfect sanctification in this life.” On the next page appear these words: “All admit that perfect sanctification ought to be, and in fact is the aim of every child of God in every stage of his progress here on earth. It is also certainly true that God requires all capable and responsible men everywhere to be holy as he is holy, and perfect as he is perfect. No one denies this, or in fact ever did deny it. The real question is simply this: Are true believers all they ought to be? Are they as holy, as perfect, as sinless, as they ought to be, and as God requires them to be? The true church universal answers emphatically in the negative. The reply of your dupes is an emphatic yes. Thus you, in effect, say we are as holy, as perfect, as sinless, and immaculate as we ought to be, or in fact can be. From this it follows that those who claim to be perfectly sanctified in this life will not be, and do not expect to be any more holy, sinless, or spotless, when singing the song of redeeming love in heaven, than they are here on earth.
“The apostle says, speaking of true believers after death, ‘We shall be like him [Christ], for we shall see him as he is.’ But those who believe in perfect sanctification in this life, as represented by you, believe themselves now to be as pure, as holy, and as sinless, as the Lord Jesus Christ. Permit me to say that such a belief is simply disgusting to any one who realizes that the human heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. It is worse than disgusting; it is blasphemy.
“Let us notice some of the leading passages of scripture you rely on to give authority to your belief. ‘Be ye holy for I am holy.’ ‘Be ye perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect.’ These commandments you seem to think prove that the true believer is holy in this life. This simply proves your lamentable ignorance of the scriptures. These commandments declare what the true believer ought to be and must be, not what he really is, your arrogant gabble to the contrary notwithstanding.”
How does this last sentence sound from a man who accuses us with being “scurrilous to the extreme in most, if not all, our articles”? Nay, Mr. Stixtus, we have no time nor inclination to condescend to such words. “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God.” We have no need of anything stronger than the truth, nor sharper than the Word of God.
This disputer of the power of God to fulfill in us his Word, and make us what we ought to be, is a fair sample of Babylon confusion in general. He calls the doctrine of “perfect sanctification in this life,” “old and long exploded.” And yet admits that it is just what God requires of all men everywhere. So the man seems to think that the requirement of God is long since exploded, i. e., proved a fallacy. But, says he, “The real question is simply this: Are true believers all they ought to be? Are they as holy, as perfect, as sinless as they ought to be, as God requires them to be?” That is always the way with hirelings. “The real question” with them is not what God requires, and what men “ought to be;” but what they are, and what will please them? He would have us drop the standard of the divine requirement, because the masses of sectism are far below it. How forcibly the words of the apostle apply here. “For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” Gal. 1:10. There is a variance between God and the people. He requires them to be holy, perfect and spotless in his sight. But they are far from this. So if they become one with God, he will have to come to them, or they to him. He must either recall his commandments, or the people measure to them. What shall we, as God’s ambassadors, do in the case? “Do we persuade men or God?” Persuade him to modify his Word, or the people to change their ways? “Or do I seek to please men?” God forbid; “for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.”
This man-pleasing and God-dishonoring policy is all foretold in prophecy. “Which say to the seers, see not, and to the prophets, prophesy not unto us right things; speak unto us smooth things; prophesy deceits.” Isa. 30:10.
“Shall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?” Jer. 5:29–31.
The position taken by crooked Stixtus is virtually this: “God requires all capable and responsible men everywhere to be holy as he is holy, etc. But all men everywhere—down in Babylon where he lives—are unholy and imperfect. Therefore, what God requires is “old and exploded.” Well, if we accept the standard of Babylon, God’s Word is exploded and fallen; but, on the other hand, if we accept the Bible standard, behold, Babylon is exploded and fallen. Which is true? “A voice from heaven” answers, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit.” Rev. 18:2.
But we might apply the above logic with equal propriety to repentance and a hundred other demands of God that the people come short of. It is certainly true that God requires all capable and responsible men everywhere to repent of their sins. But the real question is simply this: Have the world of sinners and professors repented as they should? By no means. Therefore the doctrine of genuine repentance in this life is an “old and long since exploded” thing. And all who teach it are “lamentably ignorant,” and all who believe their teaching, “dupes.” The reasoning is the same; and if it has any weight against perfect sanctification, it weighs equally against repentance and justification.
But of course it is ridiculous falsehood, blind confusion. According to this strange Stixtus, a “true believer” is one that does not believe the truth, is “not what he ought to be, nor what God requires him to be.” But a man that really believes the Word of God, and lives and testifies accordingly is pronounced “lamentably ignorant,” “disgusting,” “blasphemer.” “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!” Isa. 5:20, 21.
After quoting, “Be ye holy for I am holy,” “Be ye perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect,” “Darkness-for-light” says: “These commandments you seem to think prove that the true believer is holy in this life. This simply proves your lamentable ignorance of the scriptures. These commandments declare what the true believer ought to be and must be, not what he really is.”
We confess that we are very ignorant indeed of all scriptures which teach that a true believer is yet an unholy man. That he is not what he “ought to be,” nor what he “must be.” Our knowledge of the Bible is so limited that we have not learned how a man can serve two masters; can be a Christian and a sinner at the same time. We have never yet learned in that sacred volume that a “good tree can bring forth evil fruit, nor an evil tree good fruit.” Nor have we attained that modern wisdom which maintains that a true believer is one who does not believe the Word of God, and he that does believe and teach the same is a blasphemer.
Our friend Stixtus is greatly shocked by the testimony of God’s children that the blood of Christ has made us “as holy, as perfect, as sinless as we ought to be.” Will he please prove by the Word that it is consistent, and to the glory of God to be anything else? Remember that all we contend for in the provisions of divine grace he admits we ought to be, and must be, and God requires it of us. There is no question of this. But the real question with him is, “Are we all we ought to be?” A very questionable thing in Babylon. But this has nothing to do with the Word of God, nor yet with those who have come out of her and are “complete in Him who is the head of all principality and power.” God pity the dwellers in the dark city of confusion. Like the disciples of Christ who became offended at the words of Christ. The very thing they admit God requires of all his children they pronounce a “hard saying:” “Thus you in effect say, we are as holy, as perfect, as sinless, as we ought to be, or in fact can be,” and “do not expect to be any more holy, sinless, or spotless, when singing the song of redeeming love in heaven than you are here on earth.” To all of which we answer, Why not? Read the preceding chapters, and answer before the Almighty, Where is there a cloak to cover your sins? What man is fool enough to think he can stand before the judgment bar of God and say, “Lord, we knew you required all capable and responsible men everywhere to be holy as you are holy, and perfect as you are perfect. No one denies this, but we confess we are not as holy, as perfect, as sinless as we ought to be; and as God requires us to be. But this is our plea: We could not be what you demanded of us.” Will you thus stand before the bar of God and make him a liar who says, “My grace is sufficient for thee”? And in a thousand other promises which leave absolutely nothing wanting to perfect in holiness and preserve blameless in soul and body, in heart and life, all who are willing and obedient? Will you say to the Judge, “Our preachers told us we could not be pure and perfect while living in the flesh?” Then shall the Judge say, “I never sent them.” Jer. 23:21, 22. “For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God.” John 3:34 “Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.” Jer. 17:5.
Again we ask, Why not be pure and holy and sinless in this life? Was not Christ “manifest to take away our sin, and in him is no sin?” Is it not true that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin? Are we not “kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time?” Is not the power of God sufficient to do all this for us?
Thus answers Stixtus: “The apostle says, speaking of true believers after death, ‘We shall be like him [Christ], for we shall see him as he is.’ This is a perversion of the Word of God, a quiet, soothing deception of the devil. The reference is to 1 John 3:2, 3.
“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” 1 John 3:2, 3.
While this includes saints of God whose bodies have fallen asleep, it does not refer to a condition that was produced by death, nor is it confined to the departed; but equally refers to the faithful who will be living at the instant of Christ’s coming. “We shall see him as he is,” in the morning of his glorious coming, and shall be found like him. We know there will be a change take place then which will fashion our mortal bodies like unto his glorious body. That will be the resurrection. But that change is not alluded to in the above words. Else would the apostle have said, “When he comes we shall be made like him.” But he refers to the moral condition into which the grace of God has transformed us. The “image” of our Creator (Col. 3:10), which is perfect holiness. This is positively proved in the next verse. “We shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he [Christ], is pure.” 1 John 3:2, 3. Whoever expects to be like Christ, must attain that condition before his coming; must purify himself even as Christ is pure. Then, of course, he will be like him when he appears. The third verse explains the second. To be like Christ is to be sanctified wholly, “pure in heart;” for such the Savior said shall see him. The same state is again referred to in chapter 4, verse 17. “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as he is so are we in this world.”
This does not defer the likeness of Christ in our soul until the next world. It does not speak of a state after death. But our love being made perfect we are already like him. This state is not produced by death, but love made perfect is the result of heart purity. A heart so perfectly cleansed by the blood of Christ that nothing remains but the love of God shed abroad by the Holy Spirit. Perfect purity and perfect love are co-relative, and inclusive of each other. So the only text cited to prove that we will not be like Christ until after death, with its context proves that we are like him in this life. “As he is so are we in this world.” Reader, are you now, in this world, like Christ in moral purity as he sits at the right hand of the throne of God? If not, your hope to stand in the day of judgment will prove a fatal delusion.
Observe that the opposer of Bible sanctification in this life, freely admits that we ought to be holy and sinless in this life. Even said we “must be.” Now these terms very positively enjoin moral obligation. If we ought to be holy, we are morally bound to be such. No doubt in other things he has told people that they could not enter heaven if they leave undone commands of Christ they ought to do. How, then, can he expect to stand in the day of judgment, if not what he ought to be in perfect holiness, and what God requires him to be? If a person can set aside God’s law and solemn command, “Be ye holy,” what part of the Bible is binding? Be not deceived, the Word of God is forever settled in heaven, and will judge us in the last day. Then “be ye holy” will speak in thunder tones to all the unholy; will strike terror to their souls, and drive them back from the presence of God and the glory of his power. If not pure as Christ in this life, some sin remains in you. Death will not remove sin. Therefore if you die in that condition, the judgment day will find you the same, and drive you from the presence of God.
But here is the key to Mr. Stixtus’ unbelief: “Permit me to say that such a belief, i. e., that of being pure, holy and sinless as Christ in this life—such a belief is simply disgusting to any one who realizes that the human heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” Alas! here it all comes out what kind of a heart is back of this wretched unbelief in perfect sanctification. “Unto the pure all things are pure, but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving, is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.” Titus 1:15. No wonder the man is so extremely disgusted with the idea of heart purity in this life; for “it is abomination to fools to depart from evil.”
Now we do not call in question the statement of the prophet that “the human heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.” But who is so blind as not to see that this refers to the human heart in its natural depraved state? Surely Jesus had reference to a very different heart in the beatitude, “Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God.” The application of the description given by Jeremiah to Christians, and all indiscriminately, sadly betrays ignorance of the work of heart cleansing in the blood of Christ. Yea, his words clearly imply that such is his own heart.
Surely great darkness reigns in Babylon, else her teachers would know better than to use the deceitful and wicked hearts of sinners as a standard for Christians, and hope thereby to cloak over their sins. Surely if Hezekiah had been in possession of a heart that was “desperately wicked,” he could not have testified in the face of God that he had “walked before him in truth, and with a perfect heart.” If such were the case of Christian hearts, we would like to know what Christ has done for us? What virtue is there in his blood? What benefit in his salvation? Then what did Paul mean when he wrote Timothy to “follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart? 2 Tim. 2:22. Oh, when will men cease to drag the Word of God and their obligations down on a level with their deceitful hearts and unholy lives, rather than measure their responsibilities by the Word of God, and then appropriate his almighty grace to lift them up to its holy standard? One minute’s reflection with common sense upon the theme must lead every candid mind to the conclusion that, since salvation is of God, and is no more limited than the Infinite himself, no person needs to fall short of what he ought to be, what he must be, and what God requires him to be. Who dare for a moment deny that the Almighty is able to remove all sin out of our entire being, restore our soul to the same holy image in which he created man; “bruise Satan under our feet,” and give us power over all the power of the adversary; “make a way of escape in every temptation,” and preserve us “holy and unblameable and unreproveable” in his sight; living free from sin every moment and second of our lives? The omnipotence and omnipresence of God stop every mouth! “Where is the disputer of this world” that will question His ability to do these things for us?
Then one of two things must inevitably follow. Either we can “live holy, and righteous, and godly in this present world,” or else God can, but will not, keep us. If he will not do so, then it is evident he does not want us to live pure and holy; in other words he allows sin in us, and justifies us in sin. Which would prove that he himself has pleasure in unrighteousness. And that would prove him unholy.
Again, let it be remembered that to make and keep us perfect, pure and spotless, is just what he has pledged himself to do in all his “exceeding great and precious promises.” If he will not do so, his word fails, and his character is divested of truthfulness; which would again strip him of holiness.
Then it follows that to doubt God’s ability to make and keep us perfect in holiness, denies his infinity. And to question his willingness, is to deny his holiness. Therefore, any attempt to apologize for sin in any form and to any extent, robs God of his attributes, and reduces him to no God. Here then is the conclusion of the whole matter: The Christian is no sinner, or God is no God. Therefore, thus saith the Lord, “If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sins.” John 15:22. In the margin it is “No excuse for sin.” If therefore, any man on earth who has heard the gospel of God, supposes he has an excuse for sin and uncleanness, for not being what he “ought to be, and must be, and what God requires him to be,” he is deceived of the adversary of his soul; and will hear at the bar of God, these awful words: “Depart from me, ye that work iniquity, for I never acknowledged you.” Oh what multiplied thousands Satan has in this very trap! The words of Jesus are truly being fulfilled: “Many false prophets shall arise and shall deceive many.” They, “having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” 2 Tim. 3:5. Reader, for your soul’s sake, get saved in Jesus from all sin, and live holy and unblameable before God. For if you are not what you ought to be now, you will be weighed in the balance and found wanting in the day of judgment.
The Promises Of Salvation Are As Great As The Commandments Of God
As we have already observed, it is generally admitted that God’s Word demands of all men to live holy and sinless lives. But foolish men look at these high commands of God, then at their inward proneness to evil and impotency in that which is good; and also look at the world of wicked forces around them, and they say, “No man can keep the commands of the Lord.” But, dear reader, this is altogether unwise. Let us now look at the strongest commands of the Bible, and then place along side of them the corresponding promises of God. And we will see that no command exceeds the proffered grace of God to fulfill it in us. Let us weigh the two in opposite ends of the scale. Read one point at a time. We will begin with
Heart Purity
Command: “Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil.” Isa. 1:16.
Promise: “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.” Ezek. 36:25.
Command: “Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” James 4:8.
Promise: “When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.” Isa. 4:4.
Command: “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” 2 Cor. 7:1. Promise: “And the voice spake unto him again the second time. What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.” Acts 10:15.