Scriptural Sanctification - Media Sabda Org

SCRIPTURAL SANCTIFICATION:
An
Attempted Solution of the Holiness Problem
By The
Rev. John R. Brooks, D.D.
Chapter 24
SOME QUESTIONS ANSWERED
1. Can one who is filled with the Spirit live without sin? Is he not liable to, and does he not sin
every day? We might possibly silence without satisfying the questioner by quoting the following
from St. John:
"Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
Little children, let no man deceive you ... He that committeth sin is of the devil Whosoever is born
of God doth not commit sin: for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of
God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not
righteousness is not of God, etc."
Here the apostle certainly seems to teach (1) that the regenerate man, who may or may not be fully
saved from "inbred does not or need not commit actual sin -- "transgress" God's law of love. (2) That
the mark of distinction between the Christian and the non-Christian -- the child of God and the child
of the devil -- is that one sins and the other does not, this difference making "manifest" to which
class one belongs. (3) That the probability of not daily sinning is so great in the case of one who "is
born of God" in the highest and best sense -- is thoroughly renewed and "strengthened by his Spirit
in the inner man," and has "his seed" remaining in him -- one whom Dr. Pope calls the "perfectly
regenerate" -- that the apostle, in the language of hyperbole, says "he cannot sin."
That St. John does not mean to teach that it is literally and absolutely impossible for a converted
or fully saved man to sin is indicated plainly enough in I John ii. 1. Here he says that he wrote them
certain things to prevent their sinning, but reminds them that if, notwithstanding, they should do so,
they had an "Advocate" and "propitiation" in the person and work of Jesus Christ, through whom
they might find forgiveness and cleansing. Dr. Steele gives the following translation of this difficult
passage: "Whosoever has been born of God [perfect tense implying that the new life has continued]
is not sinning, because he that has been born of God cannot be sinning because his seed remaineth
in him" -- the love of God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost given unto him." The idea is
that he cannot pursue a course of sin while the Holy Ghost abides in him and imparts love to his
heart. Yet, he may be surprised into the act of sin -- "if any man sin" -- for which he may find instant
forgiveness through the "propitiation" of our "Advocate."
We leave those who say that we sin every day, "by thought, word, and deed," to harmonize their
theory with the teaching of St. John in the above quotation. They attempt to do so by turning to such
passages as I Kings viii. 46, Ecclesiastes vii. 20, and I John i. 7-10, which they suppose teach that
all men sin daily. But, as critics have repeatedly shown, the first two passages, properly rendered,
only teach that men may sin -- are liable to do so. The first passage is part of Solomon's prayer at the