The "Holiness" Man and the "Justified" Man.
By W. N. Glenn
ALTHOUGH the so-called holiness movement in this country is of recent origin, the leading principle of its votaries is quite ancient. Holiness men of this stamp were numerous and influential in the days when Christ sojourned upon the earth. Their true character is exposed by him in a parable, recorded in the eighteenth chapter of Luke, which was spoken "unto certain which trusted in themselves as being righteous." Verse 9, margin. "Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess." The modern "holiness" man is just a little behind the ancient Pharisee in this,—he does not pay tithes; he does not fast twice in the week; those acts are "Jewish." But his testimony is of the same self-righteous tenor as the Pharisee's prayer. He is "wholly sanctified;" has not committed a sin in so many months or years; and he thanks God that he is "not as other men," especially as that more humble-minded man who feels that he is a sinner, and in need of saving grace every hour. But what is the Saviour's estimate of such righteousness? "The publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." The man who claimed to be faultless was condemned; and the one who realized that he was a sinner, and pleaded for mercy, was "justified." The true position of one who would obtain the favor of the Master could not be more plainly set forth. The man who feels that he is not a sinner places himself outside the pale of the Saviour's mission. "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance," was the declaration made to the same class of holiness men represented above. The apostle John dwells particularly upon this subject in his first letter, using even stronger language than his Master did. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." There is, moreover, another point of similarity between the ancient and the modern "holiness" man. The Saviour charged the self-righteous Jews with making void the commandments by their traditions; and that is just what the "holiness" preachers and their "bands" are doing to-day, only they are a little more bold, and ignore the commandments altogether,—some of them claiming that the law is done away, and others that Christ fulfills the law in their stead. In either event, the "holiness" man is exempt from keeping the law. On this point the apostle John is equally emphatic: "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." Again, the "holiness" man, although ignoring the law, talks flippantly about progressing from a "justified state" to a "sanctified state." By the latter he means a position in this life where he cannot sin; and the qualification for this attainment consists, practically, in being presumptuous enough to assert the claim that he is sanctified. He is his own judge in the matter. But Christ prayed for those who had been justified by faith in him, "Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth." And David says, in Ps. 119: 142, "Thy law is the truth;" and in verse 151, "All thy commandments are truth." Christ and his apostles recognized David as a prophet; then, according to his testimony, the Saviour's prayer was, Sanctify them through thy law. The justified man cannot consistently ignore the law. He has acknowledged himself a sinner, and "sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John 3: 4. He is justified by faith in Christ's blood, concerning sins that are past (Rom. 3: 25) "through the forbearance of God." "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law." Verse 31. Then the man who is justified by faith in Christ, and forgiven his past sins, comes face to face with an established law. But how does he establish it? His acknowledgment that he is a sinner, which must precede his justification, is a recognition of the claims of the law; then having confessed that it was wrong to violate it, he thereby acknowledges or establishes his obligation to observe it in future. A pardon for a past offense does not grant a license to recommit the offense. On the contrary, to repeat the crime once pardoned simply destroys the pardon, or justification, and another pardon becomes necessary to shield the offender from the penalty of the law. On what other principle could a pardoned criminal expect to be retained in the favor of God than by obedience to the law for the violation of which he has been mercifully pardoned? We see then that the "holiness" man reaches his boasted sanctification while trampling the law under foot, by asserting his own righteousness; but the justified man must attain sanctification through obedience to the law. "We conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law" (Rom. 3: 28); so far it is an act of mercy on God's part—no amount of obedience on the part of the sinner could atone for the past. But his sanctification is through the truth (the law), and hence becomes a life-work. The law is established, and with this mirror before him to point out his defects and guard him from error, he starts out, by the help of God, to overcome the world. "By the law is the knowledge of sin." With this chart before him, written upon his heart (Heb. 8: 10), in the strength of the Spirit of God, he "adds to his faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity,"—thus growing to a perfect "holiness in the fear of God." There is no "boasting" in this work, for that is "excluded" by "the law of faith." Rom. 3: 27. True faith will not admit of boasting; it is a result of humility and conscious unworthiness, and calls for corresponding works.
W. N. GLENN.