The Difference Between the Sinful and the Legitimate

"We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but riot destroyed"-struck to the ground, yet never slain- (2 Cor. 4: 8-9). 

For the benefit of converts, and new beginners in the sanctified life, I want to draw the line between the sinful and the lawful, or, in other words, How much of the human remains in the individual after he is sanctified wholly This is a very difficult point, and many good, honest souls have thrown down a genuine experience, owing to not being able to draw the line between the two.

I confess that to give the proper light and instruction this subject demands is too great a task for me; however, by the help of the Holy Spirit, I shall endeavor to give a few helpful thoughts.

1. One of the first places new beginners get puzzled and confused, is regarding their thoughts, especially when they read the following passage: "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor. 10: 5). The trouble is, they are not able to discern between "evil thoughts," and "thoughts of evil." We must remember, it is no sin to have thoughts of evil; for to avoid this we would have to go out of the world. Thoughts of evil are only to think of the sinful happenings that we see and hear daily. Suppose I see a man murdering his wife as I pass by on the street. It is such a brutal crime that it stands before my mind for four or five days, regardless of what I say or do. God does not blame for this. It is thinking of evil as Jesus thought of evil, when the devil told him to fall down and worship him. But an "evil thought" is when the devil presents a wrong thought to the door of our heart, and we open the door and take it in, and nurse and harbor it; then it becomes sin; but if we steadfastly resist and beat it back, why, we are kept pure and innocent.

2. The next thing I want to loosely explain, is the difference between infirmities and carnality. Some people place holiness too high, by teaching that when one gets sanctified wholly, he is delivered from all infirmities: this is not true. Mr. Wesley says, "To place holiness too high crowds it out of the world, as well as preaching it too low." But the trouble is, they confound infirmities with carnality, not knowing one from the other. The following are some of the bodily infirmities which we may never be delivered from while on this side of the river of death: a slowness of speech, a poor memory, ignorance of many things, dullness of perception, a weak constitution, impaired health, a disfigured form, etc. Infirmities are the result of a decaying body; carnality is the result of a corrupt heart. The traits of carnality are: anger, impatience, jealousy, envy, fear of man, pride, self-love and self-will, prejudice, lust, deceit, uncharitable suspicions, foolish desires, peevishness, sloth, formality, bigotry, evil shame, self-righteousness and carnal confidence. We do not need to go on and harbor these traits in our heart, for the blood of Jesus can cleanse them all out. Praise God! See 1 John 1: 7.

3. The next point at which beginners are confused is on the line of temptation. They have a preconceived idea, that because they are saved or sanctified they are never to be tempted again; and should they get tempted at any time, the devil tells them they have backslidden and lost their religion. But we must remember that temptation is universal; there never lived a man or woman on earth (no matter how holy), who was exempt from temptation. Jesus, our great Pattern and Living Head was tempted. What saith the scripture "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Heb. 4: 15). It is no sin to be tempted; the sin comes in yielding to the temptation.

4. The next place souls get confused, is in not being able to determine between heaviness through temptations, and darkness from condemnation. One comes from pressure, the other from disobedience. Some persons have seasons of awful confusion and soul perplexity, sometimes to the extent that they cast away their confidence altogether. There are times in the lives of almost all Christians, when they are severely tried, tempted and pressed, and generally during these seasons they are in great heaviness of spirit; therefore Satan tells them they have lost their experience, because they do not feel any joy or ecstasy; but by holding on to God through prayer and faith, the pressure is lifted, the clouds rolled away, and the soul flooded again with sunshine and gladness. But darkness that comes as the result of condemnation, when the individual has sinned or grieved God, cannot be chased away by the above method, but can only be removed by confession, repentance and pardon.

5. The next thought that generally perplexes many people is, What does one have to do to lose holiness Many of them think holiness is such a delicate thing, that they are unable to keep it over night; they seem to think it is something on the order of a sunbeam, that just gets away from one anyhow, regardless of how he struggles to keep it. But this is not true. As it requires prayer, deliberation and faith to get sanctified wholly, it also requires a deliberate act of the WILL to lose it. A man can keep it if he so desires, or he can get careless, slack and indifferent, and let it go. And not only this, but God has a way of letting a man know when he gets this experience, and also letting him know when he loses it. If a man could lose it and not know anything about it, and he should go on and lose his soul, God would be responsible, since the man is only responsible for the light (knowledge) he has. But God doesn't do this kind of slipshod business. He makes souls know when they get it, and when they lose it. I confess many go on professing to have it when they have lost it, nevertheless, deep down in their hearts, they know they have lost it.

 6. The last inquiry we give space here, is, Can we lose holiness and retain justification B. T. Roberts answers this question as follows: "When one loses the blessing of holiness by transgression, as David did, he loses all. He is no longer justified; if he ever gets back to God it must be by repentance and confession. But when one loses the blessing of holiness by giving way to doubts and fears, under manifold temptations, the case is different. He has not willingly given up anything. The blessing is gone; he feels it, he laments it; he cries out, 'O that I knew where I might find Him!' When one listens to the accusations of Satan and fails to bear a clear testimony of being washed by the blood of the Lamb, he loses the blessing; the witness is gone, but he does not necessarily fall into sin; he may still be keenly alive to the fear of God; he may still watch against sin and have victory over it. He may still truly love God and faithfully endeavor to keep all his commandments. Such a person in losing the blessing of holiness has not lost his justification. He is still a child of God."