This is dangerous doctrine, but all great doc- trines are dangerous. Freewill, by the teaching of Scripture itself, was a very dangerous ex- periment. It is not surprising that St. Paul's principle of freedom should not only have occa- sioned abuse, but al.so excited grave doubts in the minds of those who were morally in earnest. The existence of abu.se is suggested in the question, 'Shall we sin that grace may abound?'; but, in the fact that the question is a quotation, it is equally suggested that he had to develop his doctrine of sanctification, as he does in Ro 6, also in opposition to those who were seriously concerned
about the interests of morality. It is impossible to escape the feeling that the return of the (!ala- tians to the observance of days, months, seasons, years, and to the moral preempts involved in it, was really for safety, and as a result of moral earnestness. Tliey might have said, equally with Fe.stus, ' Paul, thou art mad.'
If, then, the Pauline doctrine of sanctification is developed in opposition both to the morally lax and to the morally earnest, it is of deep interest to note the lines of his answer. It is typu'al of the NT ethic generallj'. He deals with the subject more than once — lio 6 is perhaps the fullest answer he gives.
(1) He refuses to think in terms of abstractions or mere forces. His opponents were talking of ' sin ' and ' grace ' as though they were impersonal principles. To him, ' sin ' is a personal power, the arch-demon ; 'grace' is the grace of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He reminds them that they are baptized ' into Chtist Jesus ' (Ro 6') ; Avith Him they died, and with Him they rise again. ' If we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him ' (v.*). ' Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus' (v."). In short, the ethical motive is an enriched and reinforced form of noblesse oblige. The noblesse is not only a state of ennoblement that carries with it duties, but One to whom we stand in deepest indebtedness for pardon and life, in whose fellowship we are raised to high rank and high responsibility. We sit in heavenly places with Christ Jesus. Sin again.st grace is now the sin of those who have been adopted into the family of God. Our motive is a sense not only of honour, but above all of gratitude. The old bad habit of obedience to sin persists, but not in that direction urges our loyalty. Sanctifi- cation means the growth of grateful loyalty to Christ. We die to sin, and live to Christ. For- giveness is needed and souglit for unwilling obedi- ence to an evil power that has now no dominion or authority over us. And at this point we may glance at theattitude of St. Paul to the Law. At one moment he seems utterly to depreciate it, at another he says that the Law is good, and holy, and righteous. It is an illustration of his idea of progress in sanctification. Obedience to law is good for those to whom God says only ' Thou shalt ' or ' Thou shalt not ' ; for ' law ' to St. Paul is not what we would understand by ' natural ' or ' spiritual order ' of things. He can speak of the law of sin and the law of death, as well as of the law of God. ' Law ' is God speaking in an authoritative voice, and while his use of it is not confined to the Mosaic Law, yet he regards the Mosaic Law as the most definite embodiment of the Divine authority. For the Christian, fortho.se that are ' sanctified,' the ' law ' of sin and death is done away altogether, and obedience to the law of God is merged in a higher and nobler loyalty to the God and Father of Jesus Christ, and above all in a sense of supreme indebtedness. We are ' servants ' of God, but our reward cannot be called ' wages.' It is a ' free gift ' (Ro 6-"). The progress is in the idea of God.
(2) St. Paul everywhere recognizes the need of strenuous moral eiibrt on our part. In this re- gard, he is not alone among the NT writers. We find it equally in the Epistle to the Hebrews : 'Follow (pursue) peace with all men, and holiness (afia<Tij.6s), without which no man shall see the Lord ' (12'''). ' Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling' (Ph 2'-). In what does the efibrt primarily consist? It is in what might be called a persistent daily reaffirmation of the act of consecration : ' Present your members as servants to righteousness unto sanctification ' (Ro 6'°). Here
SAXCTIFICATI02J
SANCTUARY
453
again we shall misunderstanJ the meaning of fit ayiaaiiov unless we remember that St. Paul is not really expressing his thought in abstract nouns like 'righteousness,' '^sanctilication.' These are really personilications, like 'sin' or 'lawlessness.' ' Sanctilication ' here is reallj' the timeless act of God, which is gradually realized in time. There is a moment, as we shall see later, when we are 'wholly' samtilied, when God has been able to work His complete will in us, and to this end (e/s d-)iao-,u(ic) we must co-operate by renewed acts of ooiisccration. The rituiilistic idea is still in the background. In the OT, as the idea of sacrifice became spiritualized, ' the sacrilices of God are a broken spirit,' and in the NT God is satisfied with no less than a constant and persistent oflerin" of the whole personality — the (twim including the life- principle. ' Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is vour reasonable service ' (\oyiKTi Xarptla, Ko 12' ; of. It. Keitzenstein, Die kellcnistischen Mysterienreligionen, Berlin, 1910, pp. '24, 91, 155).