Much controversy on the subject
of Christian Perfection has arisen from the use of terms
having various meanings. It is our purpose to notify the
reader whenever we pass from one signification of a term to
another.
1. HOLY.
- Set apart to the
service of God. Applied to persons and things.
- Morally pure,
free from all stain of sin. Persons.
- In the New
Testament the original Greek word is used technically to
designate all justified believers, and is translated by
the word "saints" or holy ones.
2. HOLINESS. The state of,
- Consecration to
God.
- Moral purity.
3. SANCTIFY.
- To hallow, to
consecrate to religious uses. "I sanctify myself." -
Jesus.
- To make pure, to
cleanse from moral defilement "The very God of peace
sanctify you wholly." - St. Paul.
- Sanctified - In
the New Testament used technically to designate the
justified.
4. SANCTIFICATION. Holiness:
the act of making holy.
5. THE MORAL LAW.
- Unwritten; the
sense of moral obligation felt within.
- Written; the
Decalogue, with its (1) Prohibitions; (2) Precepts. Also
the two tables, prescribing (1) Duties to God; (2)
Duties to man.
6. SIN
- Actual. A
willful transgression of the known law of God. Sin of
commission, disobedience to a prohibition. Sin of
omission, neglect of a precept. "Sin is the
transgression of the law." - St. John
- Original
or inbred -- often without any adjective, and
always in the singular number -- a state, not an act.
Native corruption of the moral nature derived from
Adam's apostasy. A lack of conformitv to the moral law.
Under the remedial dispensation it involves no guilt
till approved by the free agent and its remedy is
rejected. It is intensified by acts of sin of which it
is the source. "All unrighteousness is sin." - St. John
7. PERFECTION. As applied to
man.
- Legal or
Adamic. Entire conformity to the moral law. "I
have seen an end of all perfection, (for) thy law is
exceeding broad." - David.
- Celestial,
The complete restoration of both soul and body in the
glorified state after the resurrection. "Not as though I
had already attained, either were already perfect" - St.
Paul,
- Ideal or
Absolute. The combination of all conceivable
excellencies in the highest degree. Ascribed only to
God, and not to beings capable of endless progress. "I
am perfect" - God. "If I say I am perfect, it shall also
prove me perverse." - Job.
- Evangelical
or Christian. The loving God with all our heart,
mind, soul, and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves,
with the complete exclusion of every feeling contrary to
pure love. "Love is the fulfilling of the law." - St.
Paul. "The bond of perfectness;" the sum total of the
virtues. - St. Paul translated by Bengel. "There is a
twofold perfection, the perfection of the work, and that
of workman." - Bishop Hopkins. The former is legal, the
latter is evangelical perfection, which is nothing but
inward sincerity, and uprightness of heart toward God
although there may be many imperfections and defects
intermingled.
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