note: it seems at times that Finney believes in the possiblity of sinless perfection...i include some content of these chapters on the names of Christ but must confess, at present, a lot even included below is beyond my ken or experience...but as he brings out, we certainly have an incomprehensible savior who is worthy of all our praise..and much more.
sanctify is a term frequently use in the Bible. simply put, sanctification is a state of consecration to God. to sanctify is to set apart for holy use - to consecrate a thing or person to the service of God.
entire sanctification implies entire conformity of heart and life to all the known will of God. love is the sum of all that is implied in entire sanctification. our love for God must be supreme. if anything is loved more than God, that is our god.
a state of entire sanctification can never be attained by the formation of holy habits or by any effort to have the right kind of feelings or by attempting to copy the experience of others. this state is to be attained by faith alone. it is based alone on the grace of God in Jesus Christ.
while individuals are taken up with contemplating themselves, their own characters, their own dangers and their own troubles, they cannot be sanctified. it is a consideration of the infinite excellence of Christ's character and this alone, that can inspire faith or love. God, and not yourself, must be the object of your thoughts.
CHRIST OUR KING
129 before we look in depth at the subject of sanctification, we need to look at the temptations that overcome us. when a person is first converted, the heart or will consecrates itself and the whole being to God. this is a commitment of the whole being to the promotion of the highest good of being. all sin, on the other hand is selfishness. all sin lies in the will seeking the indulgence or gratification of self. it lies in the will yielding obedience to the sinful inclinations instead of obeying God as His law is revealed in the reason.
now, what needs to be done to greatthe power of temptation and let the soul go free? in order to answer this question, we will consider the sensibility -the part of the mind that feels, desires, suffers, enjoys. the fact is that the department of our sensibility that is related to temporal and sensory things has developed enormously and is tremblingly alive to all that corresponds to it. meanwhile, because of the blindness of the mind to spiritual things, it is scarcely developed at all in its relationship to them. spiritual things are seldom that of by the carnal mind (see romans 7.14), and when they are, they are only thought of; they are not clearly seen and , of course, are not felt.
thoughts of God, of Christ, of sin, of holiness, of heaven and of hell excite little or no emotion in the carnal mind. the carnal mind is alive and awake to earthly and tangible objects but is dead to spiritual realities. this is why the spiritual world needs to be revealed
130 to the soul. the soul needs to see and clearly understand its own spiritual condition, necessities, and relationships. it needs to become acquainted with God and Christ, to have spiritual and eternal realities mad plain, present and all-absorbing realities. the woulds needs revelations of the eternal world - of the nature and guilt of sin and of Christ, the Remedy of the soul - that will kill its lusts and awaken it to spiritual realities. this will greatly diminish the frequency and power of the temptations to gratify self and will break up the voluntary slavery of the will.
..we often see those around us whose sensibility is so developed in one or more directions that they are led captive by appetite and passion in those directions in spirit of reason and of God. the alcoholic is an example of this. people who are gluttonous, immoral, or greedy are examples of this.
..however, because sin consists in the will being influenced by the sensibility, one great thing that needs to be done to strengthen and settle the will in the attitude of entire consecration to God is this: a spiritual counter-development of the sensibility must be brought about, so that it will not draw the will away from God. the sensibility needs to be crucified to the world, to things of time and sense, by a deep, clear and powerful revelation of self to self and of Christ
131 to the soul. this will awaken and develop all of the soul's sensitivity to Christ and to spiritual and divine realities. this can be done easily through and by the Holy Spirit, who takes the things of Christ and shows them to us (john 16.14).
..it is plain that men are naturally able to be entirely sanctified in the sense of rendering entire and continual obedience to God, for men would not be obligated to do something they cannot do. but what is implied in the ability to be as holy as God requires us to be? clearly, it is implied that we must have sufficient knowledge or light to plainly revel to us the means of overcoming every difficulty or temptation that lies in our way. this knowledge is offered to us on the condition that we receive the Holy Spirit, who offers Himself as an indwelling light and guide and is received by simple faith.
the light and grace that we need and that it is the office of the Holy Spirit to supply, concern mainly the following things:
1. the knowledge of ourselves and of our past sins -the nature, guilt and desert of dire damnation
2. the knowledge of our spiritual helplessness or weakness as a redsult of the following: the physical depravity of our natures, the strength of selfish habit and the power of temptation from the world, the flesh and the Devil.
3. the knowledge of the character of God, the nature of His government, the purity of His law and the necessity and fact of atonement for sin
4. the knowledge of our need of Christ in all His offices and roles
5. the revelation of Christ to our souls in all these roles and in the great power that will produce in us a faith that TAKES HOLD OF HIM, without which Christ is not and cannot be our salvation
132 we need to know Christ in His many roles...HE IS OUR
KING
we need to see and receive Christ as our king..His role is to
SET UP HIS GOVERNMENT and
WRITE HIS LAW IN OUR HEARTS jeremiah 31.33;
ESTABLISH HIS KINGDOM WITHIN us
sway His scepter over our whole being.
He must be spiritually revealed and received as King.
MEDIATOR
to STAND BETWEEN THE OFFENDED JUSTICE OF GOD AND OUR GUILTY SOULS
BRING ABOUT RECONCILIATION between our souls and God.
He must be know and received as Mediator.
ADVOCATE
our best Friend, to PLEAD OUR CAUSE with the Father,
our righteous and all-prevailing Advocate to secure the triumph of our cause in the courtroom of God
-in this relationship He must be seen and embraced.
REDEEMER
to redeem us from the curse of the law (galatians 3.13) and from the power and dominion of sin,
PAY THE PRICE DEMANDED BY PUBLIC JUSTICE FOR OUR RELEASE
overcome and BREAK UP FOREVER OUR SPIRITUAL BONDAGE.
133 JUSTIFICATION
to PROCURE OUR PARDON AND ACCEPTANCE WITH GOD.
to know Him and embrace Him in this relationship is indispensable to peace of mind and to release from the condemnation of the law.
PROPITIATION (i JOHN 2.2)
as such, His role was to give Himself as AN OFFERING FOR OUR SINS.
seeing Christ as atoning for our sins seems to be indispensable to a healthy hope of eternal life.
..unless a person sees that Christ offered Himself to atone for our sins, his soul is not sufficiently impressed with a sense of the justice and holiness of God or with the guilt and deserved punishment of sin.
..it is remarkable and well worthy of consideration that those who deny the Atonement see sin as something small and insignificant. they seem to regard God's benevolence or love as good nature rather than, as it is, 'a consuming fire' (hebrews 12.29) to all the workers of iniquity.
134 JUDGE
Christ is our Judge, who PRONOUNCES upon us a SENTENCE OF ACCEPTANCE and awards us the VICTOR'S CROWN II timothy 4.8
REPAIRER OF THE BREACH
we also need Christ to be revealed to the soul (as this) isaiah 58.12 or as the One who MAKES GOOD to the government of God OUR DEFAULT
rendered to the public justice of God a full governmental equivalent of the infliction of the penalty of the law upon us
GUARANTEE OF A BETTER COVENANT
founded on better promises hebrews 8.6
Christ is THE UNDERWRITER OR ENDORSER OF OUR OBLIGATION.
one who UNDERTAKES FOR US
PLEDGES HIMSELF AS OUR SECURITY
to fulfill for us and in us all the conditions of our salvation.
OUR SUBSTITUTE
we need to see and receive CHRIST as DYING FOR OUR SINS..
truly A SUBSTITUTE FOR OUR DEATH
135 A RISEN AND JUSTIFYING SAVIOUR
we also need to know Christ as RISEN FOR OUR JUSTIFICATION romans 4.25 KJV
He arose and lives to OBTAIN OUR CERTAIN ACQUITTAL, OUR COMPLETE PARDON AND ACCEPTANCE WITH GOD.
..in order to BREAK THE BONDAGE OF WRONG MOTIVES..
SLAY ALL SELFISH FEAR
BREAK AND DESTROY THE POWER OF TEMPTATION from these sources
OUR SORROW BEARER
we also need to have Christ revealed to us as BEARING OUR GRIEFS AND CARRYING OUR SORROWS isaiah 53.4
OUR HEALER
we also need to see Christ as THE ONE BY WHOSE STRIPS WE ARE HEALED isaiah 53.5
as sorrowing so that we might eternally rejoice,
grieving so that we might be unspeakably and eternally glad,
as dying in unspeakable agony so that we might die in deep peace and unspeakable triumph.
136 SIN FOR US
Christ was made sin for us. II corinthians 5.21
TREATED AS A SINNER
THE ONE WHO MAKES US RIGHTEOUS
we also need to grasp the fact that Christ was made sin for us so that 'we might become the righteousness of God in Him (II corinthians 5.21)...so that
we might also be made personally righteous by faith in Him..
might inherit and be made partakers of God's righteousness
as that righteousness exists and is revealed in Christ;
so that we might in and by Him be made righteous as God is righteous.
137 THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE WORLD'S GOVERNMENT
we also need Him to be revealed to the soul as
THE ONE UPON WHOSE SHOULDERS IS THE GOVERNMENT OF THE WORLD isaiah 9.6,
who administers the moral and providential government of this world for the protection, discipline and benefit of believers.
HEAD OVER ALL
we also need Christ to be revealed to the inward being as 'head over all things to the church (ephesians 1.22). it is one thing to have thoughts and ideas and opinions concerning Christ and an entirely different thing to know Christ as He is revealed by the Holy Spirit. all the roles of Christ imply corresponding needs in us. the Holy Spirit reveals to us our need and then reveals Christ as exactly suited to meet that need. the Holy Spirit then urges us to accept Him in that role until we have received Him by faith.
many who profess to be christians know Christ only 'according to the flesh' II corinthians 5.16.
they think sanctification is brought about by forming holy habits instead of by, first, the revelation of Christ to the soul in all His foulness and roles and second, the soul's renunciation of self and acceptance of Christ in these roles..His roles as mentioned in the Bible are overlooked almost entirely until we discover our needs. when these are made known and the soul begins in earnest to seek a remedy, it need not seek in vain.
138 THE POSSESSOR OF ALL POWER
Christ as having all power or authority in heaven and earth (matthew 28.18) needs also to be revealed to the soul and received by it through faith, to dwell in and rule over it. it is essential that the corresponding need be known to the mind before the soul can see and receive Christ by faith in this or any other role. the soul needs to see and feel its weakness, its need of being protected, defended, watched over and controlled. it also needs to see the power of its spiritual enemies, its troubles, its dangers and its certain ruin unless the Almighty One intervenes on its behalf. the soul needs to truly and deeply know itself in this way. then, to inspire the soul with confidence, it needs a revelation of Christ as God, as the almighty God, as the One who possesses absolute and infinite power and as the One who is presented to the soul to be accepted as its strength and as all the power it needs.
Oh, how infinitely blind a person is to the fullness and glory of Christ if he does not know himself and know Christ as both are revealed by the Holy Spirit. when self, in all its loathsomeness and helplessness, is fully revealed until all hope of finding any help in self is gone and when Christ, the All in All, is revealed to the soul as its all-sufficient portion and salvation, then, and not until then, does the soul know its salvation. this knowledge is the indispensable condition of appropriating faith -the act of receiving Christ and committing all to Him that brings Him home to dwell in the heart by faith and to preside over all its states and actions. but it is one thing to theorize and speculate about Christ and an infinitely different thing to know Him as He is revealed by the Holy Spirit. when Christ is fully revealed to the soul by the Comforter, it will never again doubt the attainability and reality of entire sanctification in this life.
139 PRINCE OF PEACE
whoever knows and has embraced Christ as his peace and as the Prince of Peace knows what it is to have the peace of God rule in his heart. but no one else understands the true spiritual import of this language, nor can it be explained to him in such a way that he will understand it unless it is explained by the Holy Spirit.
THE CAPTAIN OF SALVATION hebrews 2.10
Christ as THE SKILLFUL CONDUCTOR AND GUIDE OF THE SOUL in all its conflicts with its spiritual enemies. Jesus.. is ever at hand to lead
140 the soul on to victory and make it more than a conqueror in all its conflicts with the world, the flesh and the Devil.
CAPTAIN OF SALVATION AND CAPTAIN OF THE LORD'S HOST
OUR PASSOVER (I corinthians 5.7)
141 OUR WISDOM
OUR SANCTIFICATION
..He watches over it and works in it both to will and to do continually..philippians 2.13
142 OUR REDEMPTION
to see and receive Christ in this role, the soul needs to see itself as 'sold as a slave to sin' romans 7.14 NIV, as being the voluntary but real salve of lust and appetite - except as Christ continually delivers it from sin's power by strengthening its will in resisting and overcoming the flesh.
OUR PROPHET
...the great Teacher of our soul
OUR HIGH PRIEST
we need to know that He ever lives and ever sustains this relationship to us, offering up, as it were, by a continual offering, His own blood and Himself as a propitiation for our sins. He has entered within the veil and ever lives to make intercession for us hebrews 7.24-5
143 ..in relationship to spiritual truths and eternal realities, we are naturally as dead as stones.
when a person is first converted, if he knows enough about himself and about Christ to thoroughly correct and develop the action of his appetites and to strengthen his will in a state of entire consecration, he should not fall. to the degree that the law-work preceding conversion has been thorough and the revelation of Christ at or immediately subsequent to conversion has been full and clear, to that same degree do we witness stability in converts. in most, if not in all, instances however, the convert is too ignorant of himself and of course, knows too little about Christ, to be established in PERMANENT OBEDIENCE (note: !!!!!!)
...the soul will abide in this state in the hour of temptation only insofar as it takes itself to Christ and only insofar as it sees and receives Him by faith in those roles that meet its present, pressing needs. the temptation is the occasion of reveling the need and the Holy Spirit is always ready to reveal Christ in the particular role suited to the newly developed need. the realization and acceptance of Him in this role, under these circumstances of trial, is absolutely essential to our remaining in the state of entire consecration.
144 THE BREAD OF LIFE
we also need to know ourselves as starving souls and Christ as the Bread of Life john 6.35..
to hear Christ talk of eating His flesh and of drinking His blood was a great stumbling block tothe carnal jews, as it is now to carnal professing christians. nevertheless, this is a glorious truth, that Christ is the constant sustenance of the spiritual life as truly and as literally as food is the sustenance of the body. but the soul will never eat this Bread until it has ceased to attempt to fill itself with the husks of its own doings, or with any provision this world can furnish. do you know, Christian, what it is tho eat of this Bread? if so, you will never die.
FOUNTAIN OF THE WATER OF LIFE
He said, 'if anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink' john 7.37. and 'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts'. revelation 21.6
the soul needs to have revelations that will produce a thirst for God...in order for the soul to be established in perfect love, it is indispensable that its hungering after the Bread and its thirsting for the Water of Life be aroused.
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