B. S.VNCTIFICATION AS TAUGHT IN THE NT.— (a) By Christ. — Christ's own teaching on this sub- ject is too ideal or timeless to yield definite results
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as to the condiiions imposed by human frailty upon the ivalizatii'ii of Divine sonship. ' Ye shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect ' (Mt 5**), is tlie siauilard at once of obli^'ation and possi- bility. Hut it stands, like the Mosaic precept of wiiich it seems to be the equivalent. ' Ve sliall be holy, for I am holy ' (Dt IS^^j, uucouditioned by any how or ichen.
{h) .SV. J*auL — Accordingly it is to St. Paul, the great exponent of the gospel from the experi- mental or appropriative side, that we have to look for the fullest account of the mailer. There is a state possible to Christians, corresponding to the ideal of their calling, in which they can be describeil as 'unblanieable in holiness' {d^i^fjurrovs iv 071^- avvri), and into which they may be brought by the grace of (iod in this life. Therein Ihey stand hallowed through and through (oXoTeXcts), every part of tlieir being {oKbKXr^pov t6 ttwO^o k. i) ^vxv ^'• tA ffuifxa) abiding by grace in a condition fit to bear the scrutiny of their Lord^s presence without re- buke {d^i/xvTUS ivrrj irapovo'i^ toO Kvpiov i}fi.a>v 'IrjaoO Xp. T-np-n0€i-n). Such is the teaching of 1 Th 3*3 51^1 The fidelity of God to His purpose in calling men to be Christians is pledged to this achievement (5-^), though there is no definite time, as measured from the initial hallowing of tlie spirit in conver- sion, at which it must needs be accomplished. God, who begins the good work in the soul, also continues to work at its perfecting (4TriT€\€tv), right up to the day of Jesus Christ (Vh l^); and yet, ere that day dawns, Christians may become already ' pure in i)urpose (fiXiKpiveT^ = Christ's KaBapoi T17 Kapbiq.) and void of otfence,' and so remain * until the day of Christ * (1'*'). It is this state of realized sanctiiication of conduct or ' walk,' so as to ' please God/ that St. Paul has constantly in view in exhorting his converts to holy living {ejj. 1 Th 4^). This is what he means, at times, by his use of dyia.<jp6^. Hut the conception needs to be carefully guarded and exphiined by other aspects of his thought. Thus (1) it represents a growth in holi- ness rather than into holiness out of something else ; (2) it is conceived as realizable by a definitive act of faith — claiming and appropriating its right- ful experience by an act of will informed by the living energ>' of the Holy Spirit — rather than as the cumulative result of a slow, instinctive process after conversion ; (3) it is not the same as absolute moral perfection or consummation (Tc\cioO(r(?ot), but is rather the prerequisite to its more rapid and steady realization.
(1» :*t. Paul (like the XT as a w hole ) bases the riiristtan llfeon an inltiiil nn<l most ruiticnl hallowing' uf the spirit or liiniost st-ax of iKT^uiiality, itM|>llcit In Jii>tiryln^ faith; and it Is In ronse<|Ufnco of this iliat the (,'hristl:in is stylt-d ' rcjreDerate.' Thus the prime 8[irin(f of life is renewed ; the root iin|uilf<e or attitude (tf the cj/o Is chanced and liallowed ; and so the whole man can he rejrarded as virtually consecrati-d to Uod. 'I'he outward hiillnwlntf of tiie 'walk' or conduct proceeds on tlie basis and in the power of this hallowed 'Inner man' of the heart. From the flrst this * Inner nuin ' enjoys the salvation of wliich consecration to God's will and ends Is one aspect. Itut thl> salvation neeijs to work outwards, through the spheres of man's life more nloselv bound up with his sensuous nature and lis fal>e et'olsiii (<Topf)— themau asi//yyiic6t. jtossessed of a num- ber of faculties not vet adjusted to (iott s ends, hut often biassed rattier towanls selfliood. The wh<de man, spirit, soul, arul IhkIv. bus to be leavened. This is what St. Paul means when birhllni; the Phillp[>ians * work out ' into realization (ftarrp- ya^taBt I ' tlu'lr own salvation,' a salvation already possessed in principle, ndylntr upon the In-worklnir of <.;<«! for ability so to do (Ph "2\'*). The end of such actuallzlnp *>f the partly latent salvation Is the irnaire of Christ, Just set forth iti majestic and miivinc terms. Conformitv to the lina^'o of God's >son Is the hope of the ("hrlstlan's calhn^^ (Kos29i. that whereiinto tends tin- Intorcrsslon of the Holy Spirit Immanent in the human spirit (v. 2«'.), Not until this has been realized In fulness can simctllleatlon become perfection : and St. Paul himself re- pudiates all claim to having attained to this (Ph :<13,. Yet In the viiry same context he ranifes himself with the class of * mature ' believers (r<A(io(, ii'"). whose settled purpose it is to reach that (fnal, and for whom the one preat rule Is, 'walk according to the full extent of your presout Ideal, and nothing less.' In such
persons, as in himself (t Co -t*), he assumes an habitual enjoy* ment of a good conscience, the absence of a sense of yielding^ to sin. Such is the sanctiiication of Christian maturity, the tvpe of life belonging to those already • spiritual ' as distinguished from * babes in Christ ' (.1 Co 8'). The latter are still largely de- termined by nature, ill contrast to grace (o-apKti'Oii, by ' the He-^h,' In its contlict with ' the Spirit' (o-apxtKot, cf. tial M'). They have not yet come to realize their own position, its dangers, and the 'resources at hand in tlie Spirit, in obedience to whose impulse they are bidden consciously to walk (Gal 5" iTvtvti.ari TrepiiraTetr* «ot iTciOvpiiav capjcor ov ^t») TeAeVi^Tc). To such St. Paul says in remonstrance: * If it bo to the Spirit that vou are fain to trace any true life you possess, why do ye not habitually walk in conscious reliance upon Ills promptings, but rather follow promiscuously the lirst instinct— whatever that may he, whether of tlesh or Spirit? The principle of either sort of action is still within ; yet if you yield yourselves delini- tively to the Spirit, an<l wait on Ilis illumination, as He reveals the things of Christ, the flesh will be practically neutralized and not affect your walk, whicli shall then be ever ** in the Spirit," relative to your degree of enlightenment' (Gal S^e. li-ss)