repeatedly and in detail. In the seventh chapter of the Epistle to the Romans we have an account of this conflict elaborately de- scribed by the Apostle as drawn from his own experience. And the same thing occurs in Galatians v. 16, 17. This I say then, " Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh : and these are contrary the one to the other : so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." Again, in Ephesians vi. 10 -18, in view of the conflict which the believer has to sustain with the evils of his own heart and with the powers of darkness, the Apostle exhorts his brethren to be strong in the Lord, and in the
power of his might " Wherefore take unto you the whole
armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."
With the teachings of the Scriptures the experience of Chris- tians in all ages and in all parts of the Church agrees. Their writings are filled with the account of their struggles with the re- mains of sin in their own hearts ; with confessions ; with prayers for divine aid ; and with longings after the final victory over all evil, which is to be experienced only in heaven. The great lights of the Latin Church, the Augustines and Bernards and Fe*nelons, were humble, penitent, struggling believers, even to the last, and with Paul did not regard themselves as having already attained, or as being already perfect. And what the Bible and Christian experience prove to be true, history puts beyond dispute. Either there is no such thing as regeneration in the world, or regenera- tion does not remove all sin from those who are its subjects.
Putting off the Old, and putting on the New Man. Such being the foundation of the Scriptural representations concerning sanctification, its nature is thereby determined. As all men since the fall are in a state of sin, not only sinners be- cause guilty of specific acts of transgression, but also as depraved, their nature perverted and corrupted, regeneration is the infusion of a new principle of life in this corrupt nature. It is leaven introduced to diffuse its influence gradually through the whole mass. Sanctification, therefore, consists in two things : first, the removing more and more the principles of evil still infecting our nature, and destroying their power ; and secondly, the growth of the principle of spiritual life until it controls the thoughts, feelings, and acts, and brings the soul into conformity to the image of Christ.
222 PART HI. Ch. XVm. — SANCTIFICATION.
Paul details his own Experience in Romans yii. 7-25.
The classical passages of the New Testament on the nature of this work are the following, — Romans vii. 7-25. This is not the place to enter upon the discussion whether the Apostle in this passage is detailing his own experience or not. This is the interpretation given to it by Augustinians in all ages. It is enough to say here that the " onus probandi " rests on those who take the opposite view of the passage. It must require very strong proof that the Apostle is not speaking of himself and giving his own experience as a Christian, when, —
1. His object in the whole discussion throughout the sixth and seventh chapters, is to prove that the law, as it cannot justify, neither can it sanctify ; as it cannot deliver from the guilt, so neither can it free us from the power of sin. This is not the fault of the law, for it is spiritual, holy, just, and good. It com- mends itself to the reason and the conscience as being just what it ought to be ; requiring neither more nor less than what it is right should be demanded, and threatening no penalty which want of conformity to its requirements does not justly merit. What is the effect of the objective presentation of the ideal stand- ard of moral perfection to which we are bound to be conformed on the penalty of death ? The Apostle tells us that the effects are, (a.) A great increase of knowledge. He had not known lust, had not the law said, Thou shalt not covet. (6.) A sense of moral pollution, and consequently of shame and self-loathing. (<?.) A sense of guilt, or of just exposure to the penalty of the law of which our whole lives are a continued transgression, (d.) A sense of utter helplessness. The standard, although holy, just, and good, is too high. We know we never can of ourselves con- form to it ; neither can we make satisfaction for past transgres- sion, (e.) The result of the whole is despair. The law kills. It destroys not only all self-complacency, but all hope of ever being able to effect our own salvation. (/.) And thus it leads the sinner to look out of himself for salvation ; i. e., for deliver- ance from the power, as well as the guilt of sin. The law is a schoolmaster to lead us to Christ. Why could not the Apostle say all this of himself ? There is nothing here inconsistent with the character or experience of a true believer. It is as true of the Christian that he is not sanctified by moral suasion, by the objective presentation of truth, as it is of the unrenewed sinner, that he is not regenerated by any such outward influences. It is,