4. That the process of cleansing is in some cases gradual, the reniaius of the evil nature wearing away by de- grees; iu others instantaneous, the believer receiving the blessing of "a clean heart" a few daj's, or even hours only, after his regeneration.
5. That this great gift is to be sought for speciflcallv, and is to be obtained by a special act of faith directed to- wards this very object.
6. That this second attainment is attested by the Holy Spirit, which witnesses to the completion ofthe cleans- ing, as it did to the regeneration which began it.
7. That this gracious aUainment, thus attested by the Holy Spirit, should be couf'essed, on suitable occasions, to the glory of God.
S. That the soul may lapse from this gracious state, and become again partially corrupt, or even fall wholly away from God, and be lost forever.
9. That it is the high privilege of every one who is born of God to live from that moment free from the sins which bring the soul into condemnation: that is, from " voluntary transgressions of known law ;" but that in- voluntary errors and mistakes, needing the atonement of Christ, remaiu to the end.
This last item in the statement of Wesley's views, as well as those numbered 1 and "2, is accepted by all classes of JMethodist thinkers, and therefore need not be referred to again.
(3.) The Theory of the Eiu/lish Wesleyans. — It is pre- sumable that the Compendium of Theoloyy, recently published by the IJev. Dr. Pope, theological tutor in the Didsbury College, a school established by the Wesley- ans for the training of the j'oung men who are to enter their travelling ministry, may be taken as a standard of the general sentiment of the AVesleyan body at the present time. In several important points he differs from Wesley. He pronounces sanctification always a gradual work. " It must be remembered that this final and decisive act of the Sjiirit is the seal set upon a pre- vious and continuous work. The processes may be hastened, or condensed into a small space; they must be passed through." Instead of lying within the reach of any novice, to be attained at any moment, "Chris- tian perfection is the exceeding great reward of perse- verance in the renimciafion of all things for God; in the exercise of love to (Jod, as shown in the passive submission to his will, and in the strenuous obedience of all his commandments." He intimates that the time when the work is completed is "known only to God;" or, "if revealed in the trembling consciousness of the believer, a secret that he knows not how to utter;" con-
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sequeiitly there is no place for the confession of it. Dr. Pope tcaclies also that after the hii;hest point is attained there still remains '•something of the peculiar concu- piscence, or liability to temptation, or affinity with evil, which besets man in this world." His views are almost identical with those set forth by Wesley and the Con- ference of 1745, but are widely different from the doc- trine which Wesley began to jireach in 17G0.
(■1.) There is still another view, which expresses the convictions of not a few of the clearest thinkers in the Methodist Episcopal churches, and is accepted by many of the clergymen and people of other denominations. It is set forth in the following propositions :
1. Moral depravity is a real and positive quality of the uu- regeuerale human spirit.
2. In the renewal of the soul at conversion, whereby man becomes a neio creature, a new man, which after God is created in riqhteousness and true holiness, the iuborn moral depravity is removed from the immortal nature, which, so far as the work of cleansing is coucerued, is in that moment fitted for heaven itself.*
3. From the very hour of jiistiticatiou the renewed soul is summoned to live a holy life, a life of continuous victory over shi, and of freedom from condemnation, and is, throu'j;h grace, equipi)ed for such a life, so that he who fails thus to live fulls below both his high privilege and his bounden duty.
4. Such a Wie—holj, freed from sin, cleansed from all nn- righteoicsness— is liie Christian life, to which every child of God is summoned.
5. The believer, thus renewed, is still human, nothing less than man, possessing all the innocent appetites, pas- sions, aud affections which belong to human nature; and that these, though in themselves innocent, need to be controlled by reason aud conscience, else they lead to sin.
0. It is tiie privilege of the believer, thus renewed, to grow in grace au"d in the knowledge of God, gaining day by day more of spiritual strength and beauty, until he becomes a perfect man, aud reaches the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; aud that this is what is properly called maturity, or Christian perfection.
III. Arguments on the Subject. — The evangelical churches, therefore, divide on this line; the Calvinists holding that believers must of necessity remain in some degree depraved, and go on daily committing sin, '-in thought, word, and deed," to the end of their lives ; the Arminians, with some differences among themselves in regard to the time and the conditions, holding that en- tire sanctification, incluiling the cleansing of the human spirit from moral depravity, and freedom from actual sin, in the sense of "voluntary transgression of known law," is attainable in this life.