captivity to the obedience of Christ." Love is the sum of the evangelical law; and when, in the language of St. John, it is "made perfect," all the sensibilities of the soul are restored to their appropriate objects, and the voluntary power is conformed to the will of God, or, in other words, the affections and the will are fully sanctified. And who will say that any thing short of the entire man-the intellect, the sensibilities, the will, and the senses-is intended by the apostle in that comprehensive prayer, "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit, and soul, and body, be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thess. v, 23. Indeed, this seems to cover the whole ground. The whole man -all the powers of his soul, and all the functions of his body are embraced. All these may be sanctified -sanctified wholly-and "preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." And to give the fullest assurance of this high privilege, the apostle adds, "Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it," verse 24. Having exhausted so much time upon the Scripture sense of entire sanctification, I must waive the views which have been presented by theologians until another occasion. I shall now conclude with a brief improve ment. 1. I would ask those who have experienced justifying grace, but still feel the remains of the carnal mind, whether the entire sanctification of which I have been speaking does not appear necessary to the high ends. of Christianity? Can we, dear brethren, feel the sediment of our inward corruptions stirred even by slight circumstances of temptation, and not feel that we need to be entirely cleansed from inward sin? Is it not a source of heartfelt grief; that the hateful passions of lust, anger, pride, covetousness, jealousy, &c., are often detected in our heart? Do these roots of bitterness spring up and trouble us, and yet are we satisfied with our state? How should these things bring us into the dust; and with what earnestness should we groan to be delivered! We have doubtless often felt these enemies of the Lord, and of our own peace, as thorns in our sides and as pricks in our eyes. We have compelled them, for the time, to give the ground; we have prayed, resolved, and reresolved, and yet we have too much evidence that "the Canaanite" still remains "in the land." We have prayed with the Psalmist, "Create in me a clean. heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me," and yet, alas! is not our condition but too accurately described by the poet "With outstretch'd hands and streaming eyes, Oft I begin to grasp the prize; I groan, I strive, I watch, I pray, 2. Does not this complete renewing appear desirable? Can we glorify God in any way so fully as by a full conformity of heart and life to his holy will? Is any thing so beautiful, so glorious in the whole universe, as complete holiness? What so fully promotive of our own happiness, as entire conformity to the image of God? O, why should we not "serve the Lord in the beauty of holiness?" Why not "rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and in every thing give thanks?" How beggarly is all the glory of this world in comparison with the "pearl of perfect love!" How insipid the pleasures of sense, in comparison with "joy and peace in believing!" How utterly worthless all the honours of the world, in comparison with the peculiar honours of the "saints" or holy ones in whom the Lord "delighteth!" Here are riches, and honours, and pleasures, pure as the source whence they emanate, glorious as heaven, and lasting as eternity! LECTURE III. THEORIES ON THE DOCTRINE OF PERFECTION-WESLEYAN THEORY. "Let us go on unto perfection," Hebrews vi, 1. HAVING, in the preceding lecture, deduced the doctrine of entire sanctification, or Christian perfection, from the Scriptures, I shall next proceed to present the leading theories which have been maintained upon the subject by Christian divines. And I shall begin with what, for distinction's sake, I shall denominate the Wesleyan theory of evangelical perfection. This theory simply asserts the attainableness, in the present life, of a state of holiness truly denominated CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. This Christian perfection implies loving God with all the heart, soul, mind, and strength―a perfect fulfilment of the terms of salvation. These terms being based upon the covenant of grace, do not imply a perfect compliance with the requisitions of the covenant of works. In relation to the latter it is truly said, "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." "There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not." "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves." The following are the views of our standard writers upon the subject. I begin with Mr. Wesley : 'On Monday, June 25, 1744, our first conference began; six clergymen and all our preachers being present. The next morning we seriously considered the doctrine of sanctification, or perfection. The questions asked concerning it, and the substance of the answers given, were as follows: 66 6 QUESTION. What is it to be sanctified? "ANSWER. To be renewed in the image of God, "in righteousness and true holiness." "Q. What is implied in being a perfect Christian? "A. The loving God with all our heart, and mind, and soul. Deut. vi, 5. "Q. Does this imply, that all inward sin is taken away? "A. Undoubtedly; or how can we be said to be "saved from all our uncleannesses?" Ezek. xxxvi, 29.' "Our second conference began Aug. 1, 1745. The next morning we spoke of sanctification as follows:"'Q. When does inward sanctification begin? "A. In the moment a man is justified. (Yet sin remains in him, yea, the seed of all sin, till he is sanctified throughout.) From that time a believer gradually dies to sin, and grows in grace. "Q. Is this ordinarily given till a little before death? "A. It is not, to those who expect it no sooner. "Q. But may we expect it sooner? "A. Why not? For, although we grant, (1.) That the generality of believers, whom we have hitherto known, were not so sanctified till near death;* (2.) That few of those to whom St. Paul wrote his epistles were so at that time; nor, (3.) He himself at the time of writing his former epistles; yet all this does not prove that we may not be so to-day. 'Q. In what manner should we preach sanctifi cation? "A. Scarce at all to those who are not pressing forward; to those who are, always by way of promise; always drawing, rather than driving.' "Our third conference began Tuesday, May 26, 1746. In this we carefully read over the minutes of the two preceding conferences, to observe whether any thing contained therein might be retrenched or altered on more mature consideration. But we did not see cause to alter in any respect what we had agreed upon before. "Our fourth conference began on Tuesday, June 16, 1747. As several persons were present who did not believe the doctrine of perfection, we agreed to examine it from the foundation. "In order to this it was asked, "How much is allowed by our brethren who differ from us with regard to entire sanctification? "A. They grant, (1.) That every one must be en tirely sanctified in the article of death. (2.) That till then a believer daily grows in grace, comes nearer and nearer to perfection. (3.) That we ought to be continually pressing after it, and to exhort all others so to do. 66 6 "A. We grant, (1.) That many of those who have died in the faith, yea, the greater part of those we have known, were not perfected in love, till a little before their death. (2.) That the term sanctified is continually applied by St. Paul to all that were justified. 3.) That by this term alone he rarely, if ever, means, 'saved from all sin." (4.) That, consequently, it is not proper to use it in that sense, without adding the word wholly, entirely, or the like. (5.) That the in |