Christian Perfection by F. P. S.

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Feb 19, 1885

Christian Perfection.

By F. P. S.

It may be asked, "Shall we not profess all that God has done for us?" We answer, We never yet saw a person who was conscious of all that God has done for him. Even the best specimens of sanctified humanity are yet quite blind to their own faults, and to the extent of God's blessings. One may be conscious of receiving a very clear victory over self and the world, and to confess, in a humble manner, such an attainment is to magnify the grace of Christ. But to call such a victory "entire sanctification," "perfect love," or "freedom from all sin," is quite another thing, and we think altogether unwarrantable from the point of view of experience, or from any example of such a general custom among either Old Testament or New Testament worthies. Suppose one is conscious of a victory over pride, temper, and a love of money (which, by the way, is assuming quite as much consciousness as is warrantable), does that signify that he has a victory over all fleshly besetments? If a Christian is honestly searching for faults in himself, he will find many, long after he imagined himself entirely sanctified. The nearer he approaches to Christian perfection the less he will see his own goodness.

What H. W. Longfellow applies to humility, will equally apply to all graces of religion:— > "If it but look upon itself 'tis gone, > And they who venture to believe it theirs, > Prove by that single thought > They have it not."

David professed it before he got it; but after he obtained it he did not profess it. Before his fall his profession was, "I have walked in mine integrity." "I have walked in thy truth." "I will wash mine hands in innocency." After his fall he plead, "O God, according to thy loving-kindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions." Thus he prayed for a clean heart, seeing in himself all uncleanness, and in God "loving-kindness," and a "multitude" of "tender mercies."

The Lord called Job "perfect." Job did not seem conscious of any such attainment. He confesses,—"If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me; if I say, I am perfect, it shall prove me perverse." Then he adds, "Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul."

It is very doubtful if any other saint knows his own heart well enough to make a profession of perfection. John Wesley, the illustrious preacher of Christian perfection, made no profession of it himself. His brother, Charles Wesley, wrote the expressive hymn:— > "Though all the precious promises > I find fulfilled in Jesus' love, > If perfect I myself profess, > My own profession I disprove. > The purest saint that lives below, > Does his own sanctity disclaim; > The wisest owns, 'I nothing know,' > The fullest cries, 'I nothing am.'"

John Wesley counseled the Methodists concerning the profession of purity, "never to profess it before unbelievers, rarely before believers, and then only in the most modest terms; not by saying, 'I am perfect,' but that, 'I feel in my heart nothing contrary to love.'"

When Bishop Hedding was upon his dying bed, Mrs. Phebe Palmer pressed him to make a profession of full sanctification. "Rather," says the good bishop, "let me profess— > "I the chief of sinners am, > But Jesus died for me."

Says Solomon, "Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness." A failing from which even the sanctified are not all free. It has long been noticeable that many of those who make the highest profession are the slowest to confess their own faults.

The apostle James says, "Confess your faults one to another." A humiliating consciousness of sinful propensities, and a frank confession of personal faults are prerequisites to heart purity, while a mean opinion of self, a distrust of one's own heart, belongs to a sanctified experience.

It is very important to learn a fault in order to gain a victory over it. The grace of God brings no triumphs over sins of which we are unconscious, though the amount of the victory is not always known to the person who has confessed and abhorred his sin. Grace unveils faults, but often veils personal goodness. It hangs one's errors up to his view, and his virtues behind his back. Humility has no eyes for itself. How becoming the exhortation of Paul, "I say through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think."

My brethren, seek after all that God has for you; confess both your faults and the Lord's blessing. When you reach completeness in Christ, the spiritual will discover it quite as quickly as you will, in your own experience. Do not lose what little modesty you previously had, in displaying imaginary attainments. Modesty and humility belong to every stage of Christian growth in the Lord.—F. P. S., in Bible Banner.