Scriptural Sanctification - Media Sabda Org

A word of explanation as to the term "instantaneous." If Dr. Tillett simply means that entire
sanctification is instantaneous in the same sense in which regeneration is, then we accept the term
as expressing our view of the matter. But it should be remembered that the conditions out of which
regenerating faith springs may be, and generally are, gradual in their development, running possibly
through days, weeks, months, and even years. But the final act of faith and the work of God in
regeneration are both instantaneous. So is it in sanctification. The believer may in a day, a year, or
ten years after conversion be gradually brought to the point at which he more fully and intelligently
consecrates himself, and, by a strong faith, appropriates the promise of the Spirit in the fullness of
His cleansing and strengthening grace. But the act of faith and the coming into His heart of the Spirit,
in His baptismal and sanctifying power, are both instantaneous.
The revelation to consciousness of the fact that this work has been wrought in the soul may not,
however, in either case, be marked or instantaneous. Indeed, the soul may never know the exact
instant at which it was regenerated or fully sanctified. Some of the greatest and most saintly of men
could never say definitely when they were born again; yet they, in due time, had meridian evidence
of the fact that they had passed from death unto life. And so has it been with men who have come
into the richer experience of "perfect love." They may not have been able to fix on the day or the
hour of their entire sanctification, yet ere long they became as thoroughly convinced of it as they had
previously been of their regeneration. In both these experiences there has been a gradual increase of
light from dawn to sunrising, but there was a time in both cases when the sun rose and shed His full
and assuring light.
In the case of others there have been what may be called "sudden" conversions and sanctifications,
and instantaneous revelations of these facts to consciousness, like that of Paul and the disciples at
Pentecost. Like the sun bursting through the rifted cloud, or the opening of the door to a lighted hall,
the light has come instantaneously, flooding the mind with assurance and peace.
It is believed that this second work of the Spirit just as really marks an epoch or crisis in the
believer's life as does His first work in regeneration -- that the soul's emerging out of the dispensation
of the Son into that of the Spirit is just as marked and epochal as is its passage from the dispensation
of the Father into that of the Son; and that both are as instantaneous as is a baptism.
4. We would substitute "before or at death" for Dr. Tillett's "before death." It is believed that men
who have lived under inferior dispensations, and hence have not realized the necessary conditions
for exercising a faith that brings full salvation, will be saved at death from all sinward depravity, just
as we believe infants are. We may discuss this point more fully in another chapter, though we may
never in this life perfectly understand the rationale of this change at death.
5. If by "all sin" Dr. Tillett means actual or volitional sin, We do not concur with him, for we
believe one is saved from that in regeneration -- from its guilt and the necessity for its commission.
But if by the term he means what is usually called "original" or "inbred" sin, "sin dwelling in us,"
"sinwardness, a "bias toward sin," or "sinful feelings," we accept that part of his hypothetical
proposition. We do not believe that, as a rule, men are saved from this or these in regeneration.