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wrong side in the quarrel, and that he took this side against good reason, or that he prosecuted the controversy in an unchristian spirit. All contention is not sin. But I need not enlarge.

Was ever an argument put forth by a Christian divine so entirely baseless as the whole of this of Dr. S. to prove that St. Paul had within him unsanctified affections? We are bound to criminate no one without evidence which excludes reasonable doubt, and certainly we should not fasten upon the holy apostle the charge of sin without the clearest evidence. And what evidence has been adduced? Passages are brought forward, which, rightly construed, imply no moral defect in the apostle; but which will not admit of the construction put upon them by Dr. S. without violence to all correct rules of interpretation. He often depends upon the mere sound of a word without any reference to the connection, much less to the original. If this is the true mode of discussing any disputed point, I am yet totally uninstructed upon the subject.

It is, however, but fair to state that Dr. S. makes his principal dependance upon the seventh chapter of Romans. As I have already fully discussed this chapter, and shown, I trust, that the apostle is not there speaking of his own spiritual state after his conversion, I need say no more upon that subject.

Let us now see if there is not good reason, on the other hand, for believing that Paul was, in the sense in which that character is spoken of in the Scriptures, a perfect Christian. We will take the apostle's own representations of himself, for certainly he would make no false professions. Says he,-"I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the

flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God," Gal. ii, 20. "Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily, and justly, and unblameably, we behaved ourselves among you that believe," 1 Thess. ii, 10.

Again, let it be observed, that the apostle sets himself up for an example to others without any reserve He says:-"Those things which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you," Phil. iv, 9. "Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample," Phil. iii, 17. "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ," 1 Cor. xi, 1.

Now need any further evidence be sought to prove our point? Could the apostle use such language as this if he was capitally deficient in any of the attributes of a perfect Christian? And should any in these times employ the same language in relation to their own religious character and experience, how long would it be ere they would be branded as perfectionists by such divines as Drs. Snodgrass and Woods, and declared by the Princeton and Christian Reviews mad enthusiasts?

If then St. Paul has spoken truly concerning himself, he was "crucified with Christ"-lived "holily, and justly, and unblameably"-was "perfect"-and so followed Christ, that he could safely admonish all to follow him in like manner. This is a clear development of Christian perfection. And I suppose our opponents will not pretend to dispute our conclusion, provided we can maintain our premises. That is, if we can prove that Paul was an instance of the perfection we contend for, we may conclude the state attainable. The conclusion follows so obviously from the premises, that those who oppose the doctrine of Chris

tian perfection direct their efforts altogether to the refutation of the premises. They undertake to show that St. Paul was not a perfect Christian. With what success they have prosecuted their argument we have seen. I now leave the whole which has been presented, pro and con, for the candid to examine and decide upon, according to their honest convictions. I have endeavoured to present the whole argument in as clear a light as possible, and hope I have not been guilty of using needless severity in my reflections upon views and arguments which I have judged it necessary to oppose.

Here I leave the controversial part of this discussion, and proceed to the more agreeable work of presenting its experimental and practical parts.

LECTURE XVIII.

THE WAY TO THE ATTAINMENT OF CHRISTIAN PERFECTION.

"Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God ?" John xi, 40.

THE subject of Christian perfection is eminently a practical one. It has much to do with the heart and the life. And if I have succeeded in the preceding lectures in obviating the objections which are brought against this doctrine, and in adducing clear and conclusive Scripture proof of its truth, still but a part of my object is accomplished. It now remains more particularly to point out the way and the means of its attainment, and to urge the motives for immediate action. We have done but little when we have merely admitted that Christian perfection is a specula

tive or doctrinal truth. The next, and by far the most difficult matter, is to feel a personal interest in the truth;-to realize what it is to us-to feel that it infinitely concerns ourselves. To bring the subject home, then; to labor to produce conviction of the present need we all stand in of entire sanctification; and give appropriate directions to such as feel this conviction, shall be my leading object in the present lecture and those which follow.

The purpose of the present lecture shall be to show by what means the grace of entire sanctification may be attained.

I may presume here, first, that it has been sufficiently proved that God has provided for the entire sanctification of his people in the present life. And, secondly, if so, that we are all personally and individually interested in this provision. If we credit these propositions, and are at the same time conscious that this great work has never been effected in our hearts, can we but feel solemn conviction of our need of itof the importance of employing such efforts as are the appointed and appropriate means of its attainment? It is for the special benefit of such as have this convic tion that I shall now proceed to consider the steps to be taken in order to the attainment of that triumph over sin, and that complete renovation of the soul, implied in Christian perfection.

1. Endeavour to have a definite idea of the thing.

What we see indistinctly we are likely to feel little personal interest in, and to seek waveringly. How much effort is lost for the want of a definite point! This is true in every thing. The worldling fixes his eye upon wealth in general, and the politician upon the triumph of his party, or his own aggrandizement. But those who succeed in either of these departments of

action do not content themselves with the general object. They fix their eye upon some distinct point, as involving the general object, and absolutely essential to it. To this they direct their energies, never losing sight of it for a moment. All they do, directly or indirectly, bears upon this one point. This is one grand secret of success. The man who aims at nothing in particular, however strongly he may feel impressed with the importance of some general object, will never accomplish much. His efforts will be various, hesitating, and often conflicting. He will spend his life in fruitless toil, and live and die under the influence of sad disappointment and chagrin.

What, then, is the definite object, in relation to the subject under consideration, upon which the attention must be fixed? The object is entire sanctification. This, as we have seen, consists in the destruction of sin, and the renewing of the soul in the image of God. Now of this we must have a distinct view. We must be able, in our conceptions, to separate it from every thing not necessarily or immediately connected with it. We must view it as distinct from simple justification and regeneration on the one hand, and from the resurrection and the glorified state upon the other. If we confound entire sanctification with simple regeneration, or if we give them an immediate connection, so that the latter cannot exist without the former, the evidence of regeneration will obviate the necessity, and indeed preclude the possibility, of special efforts in pursuit of this entire sanctification. And on the other hand, it will be impossible for us to make rational efforts to attain now what we in our conceptions connect with the state of the glorified. Let us then fix our eye upon this one point-the reduction of the whole man to the government and guidance of the divine will.

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