We propose to examine this all important subject in the light of the Bible. One plain text of the Scriptures proves more than a thousand human assertions.

The words sanctification and holiness, as used in the Bible, mean the same thing. The same Greek word, hagiasmos, is translated in our Bible, sometimes by the word, holiness, and sometimes by the word, sanctification. The same is true of the word translated sometimes holy, and sometimes saint. The original is one and the same word.

1. Holiness implies, in common with a state of justification, or pardon, victory over outward sin. A person that is holy does not commit sin. This is also true of one who lives justified before God. "For sin shall not have dominion over you for ye are not under the law, but under grace." That is, grace has the mastery over you. In the struggle between grace and sin, grace triumphs. "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin."-- I John 3:9. But, "Sin is the transgression of the law." So that he who imagines that he enjoys the blessing of holiness, and yet does what God in his word forbids, or neglects to do what he commands, is deceived. His so-called faith is fatal presumption.

2. Holiness is a state. It does not consist of a repetition of good acts, but is the gracious condition of the soul which prompts to the performance of all good actions. It is the pure fountain from which pure water continually flows. Proof: "Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy." -- I Peter 1:16. This does not say, Do holy things, but BE HOLY. "To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness." -- I Thess. 3:13. It is the heart that is to be established; then the habits will be right, of course. These texts show that holiness is a state, and not merely good habits, much less simply a relation.

3. Holiness implies deliverance from all wrong dispositions, tempers and desires; and from all inclination to indulge those that are right, in an unlawful manner, or to an inordinate degree. There are dispositions of the soul that are wrong in themselves, such as anger, pride, and covetousness. From all wrong tempers a holy person is so far delivered that be not only does not yield to them, but he does not feel them. Other desires become sinful only when indulged in an unlawful manner, or to an inordinate degree. Our Saviour hungered. In this he did not sin, but he would have sinned, if he had yielded to the temptations of Satan to satisfy His hunger in an unlawful manner. Enoch walked with God, and begat sons and daughters. In a holy person all his powers of body and mind are brought into harmony with the will of God.

"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." -- I Thess. 5:23. This prayer teaches:

1. That the body is so far sanctified as to be blameless. For it must be so, before it can be preserved in that state. Hence, when the victim of the use of tobacco, or of strong drink, is sanctified, his body undergoes such a change, through the power of the Spirit of God, that he no longer feels the terrible cravings for indulgences, which were fast hastening him on to destruction.
2. The affections, passions, desires, and propensities are so subdued that they are the occasion of good, and not of harm.
3. The intellect, the judgment, the will and the imagination, are made pure and holy in all their exercises. "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." -- II Cor. 7:1. Here we see that holiness is opposed to all filthiness, either of body or mind. It removes from soul and body everything that defiles. "Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." -- Rom. 8:12, 13. He that does not live after the flesh, does not bring forth the works of the flesh. These are: "Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditious, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: . . . they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." -- Gal. 5 :19-21. They who are holy are led by the Spirit, and bring forth the fruit of the Spirit, which is "Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." -- Gal. 5:22, 23.

4. Holiness is distinct from justification, and subsequent to it. When one is converted, he is so far made holy that he has victory over sin. But sin remains, though it does not reign.

"And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ." -- I Cor. 3:1. These persons were "brethren," "babes in Christ." Therefore they were justified, they were not sinners, or backsliders, yet they were carnal -- not yet made holy. A celebrated minister of the Gospel, suddenly attacked by disease, was recommended to drink brandy. He took a small quantity, and being unused to it, its effects were painfully visible. He was drunk, yet not a drunkard. So these believers were carnal -- there were divisions among them, as is too often the case, over the respective merits of their favorite preachers -- yet they were not carnally minded. In the main, their lives were in accordance with the precept of the Gospel.

"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly." -- I Thess. 5:23. This language implies that they were sanctified in part. Paul says that he remembered, without ceasing, their "work of faith and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." He says they were worthy of imitation by believers in the regions around, "So that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia." -- I Thess. 1:7. Therefore they were not deluded, self-deceived, unconverted men and women who had crept into the church for the sake of popularity. Nor were they backslidden from God. Yet they needed to have God do a farther work for them -- to sanctify them wholly.

"Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection." Heb. 6:1.

These persons were living in the principles of the doctrine of Christ. They were justified believers. Paul exhorts them to go on to a perfection of holiness.

Do not these plain passages abundantly sustain all we have said as to the nature of holiness?

1. It is indispensably necessary to qualify us for heaven. We cannot get there without it. None ever did, and none ever will. "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." -- Heb. 12:14. "To see God," is to be in His presence, to enjoy the bliss He alone can impart. So that, unless he "Follows peace with all men and holiness," no one, no matter what his church or his creed, can stand before the throne of God. "These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." -- Rev. 7:14. But "white robes" are the emblem of purity. (Rev. 19:8.) "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully." -- Ps. 24:3, 4. God's holy place is heaven. But only those who are pure in heart, and clean in life shall dwell there.

2. Holiness is indispensable to present happiness. The unholy person cannot be happy. He may enjoy pleasure; but pleasure is not happiness. People seek after pleasure because the are unhappy. The pleasures of the world are short-lived and unsatisfactory. But he who is holy has a never-failing spring of enjoyment within. "In whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory." -- I Peter 1:8. "The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous." -- Ps. 118:15.

3. Holiness is essential to usefulness. Unholy men may spread Christianity, but they pervert it as they spread. it. Their "riches are corrupted," and they corrupt Christianity when employed for its support. Perhaps no man ever devoted so much wealth for the spread of the Gospel as Constantine; and no one ever did so much to corrupt it. An impure channel will foul the purest water. Colored glass imparts its own hue to the light that passes through it. A holy soul alone is qualified to lead others into holiness. "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free Spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee." -- Ps. 51:10-13. One may, without a clean heart, or the joy of salvation, convert people to the church, but it is to be feared that few of them will be found to be converted to the Lord.

"And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls." -- Acts 2:4, 41. Holiness is power. He that possesses it can do good. "For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power." -- I Cor. 4:20.

1. God commands it. "Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God." -- Lev. 20:7. "But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation." -- I Pet. 1:15. God never commands that which is impossible. To affirm that he does is blasphemous. It would make him out a tyrant.

2. To sanctify the soul or make it holy, is God's work. If this can be proved, then it follows that holiness is possible. With Him things are easy that are impossible for men. "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh. And I will give you a heart of flesh, and I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them." Ezek. 36:25-27. Here God says He will do the work, and do it thoroughly.

1. He will cleanse -- not from some, -- but from ALL idols, and from ALL filthiness.
2. He will give a new heart and a new spirit.
3. He will cause us to walk in His statutes and judgments. He will impart the spirit of obedience, and with it the power to obey.

"Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth." -- John 17:17. "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly. " -- I Thess. 5:23. These passages plainly imply that it is God's work to make believers holy.

3. Some have attained to holiness.

1. Enoch walked with God three hundred and sixty-five years. -- Gen. 5:21, 22.
2. Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. -- Gen. 6:9. 3) Job was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil. -- Job 1:1. 4) In the New Testament, the disciples of Jesus are called Christians but three times, never Methodists, Baptists, or Presbyterians. Over sixty times they are called Saints, or the holy ones.

If it is by the power of God that we are sanctified, then why are not all, and especially all professing Christians, holy? Because they do not meet the conditions. These are:

1. Giving one's self fully to God. All of time, talent, property, reputation influence, yea life itself, must be handed over to God to be His for ever. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." -- Rom. 12:1. The body includes all. A living sacrifice is a constant, perpetual one.

"For I am the Lord your God; ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy: for I am holy." Lev. 11:44. That is, set yourselves apart for God's service, and he will make you holy.

"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall save it. "Matt. 16:25.

1. Confession of all sin actual or inbred. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." -- I John 1:9. If we confess our actual sins he is faithful and just to forgive us. If we confess our inbred sins he is faithful and just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

3. Faith in Christ as our sanctifier. "God put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. "Acts 15:9. "That they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me." -- Acts 26:18.

But beware that your so-called faith is not presumption. Otherwise you may become a self-conceited Pharisee, instead of a humble, meek, holy follower of Jesus. "How can ye believe which receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh from God only." John 5:44.

In both these passages faith is spoken of as the medium through which sanctification is received.

Reader, what do you think of these passages of Scripture that we have brought before you? Do they not show you the necessity and the attainability of holiness? Do you live in this state of grace? If so, thank God, and press forward. If not, make no delay to obtain it. You have too much at stake to live without it a single day. Resolve that you will be holy. Ask God to search you. If, in the light of the Spirit, you see, as is often the case, that you are not justified, have the courage and honesty to confess your condition. If in a backslidden state you seek for holiness, you will, in all probability, take up with something short of reality. Be thorough! Confess as fully as the word and the Spirit of God direct. Give yourself up without the least reserve to obey the Lord in everything. Look to Jesus as your present Saviour from all sin. Plead His promises. Rely upon His grace to save you to the uttermost. Thus you shall soon feel the sanctifying power the Spirit of God all through soul and body. You will then, in your daily life, have your fruit unto holiness; and the witness of the Spirit will be given, to assure you of your present gracious state, and to give you a pledge of untold glories to be enjoyed in the world to come.

"Now we have received, not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God." -- I Cor. 2:12.