At all events it is perfectly clear that it does not mean personal perfection, for St. Paul says, verse 12, ‘Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect.’
(5.) In Heb. x. 1, it means the complete removal of the guilt of sin through the sprinkling of blood. The law by its sacrifices could never ‘make the comers thereunto perfect.’ If they could have done so those sacrifices would have ceased to be offered, ‘because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.’ It should be observed that the passage is not speaking of the purifying of the heart, but of the purging of the conscience. To purify the heart, is to render it so pure that it will love only pure things; to purge the conscience is to remove from it the guilt of which it is conscious in consequence of the impurity of the heart. Thanks be to God, this purifying is complete through the offering of the Lord Jesus Christ once for all; and the comers thereunto are through it perfect before God!
I know of no passage in which the word is applied to a present sinlessness, or a present perfect purifying of the heart.
Note D.—Temptation. Heb. iv. 15.
It is said of our Blessed Saviour, ‘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.’ And it has been argued that because He was tempted, yet without sin, therefore there is no sin in temptation. I can scarcely imagine a more dangerous fallacy.
The meaning of the word, ‘to tempt,’ is to test, or to try. So ‘God tempted Abraham,’ or put him to the test. (Gen. xxii. 1.) Thus our Lord was in all points tried, or tested, like as we are: that is, by the sinless infirmities of the body; by the surrounding circumstances of life; by the influence of man, both friends and foes; by the Devil; and even, we may reverently say it, by God Himself, when He called Him to bear a burden much more heavy than that laid on Abraham. But He was never tempted by any corruption in His own heart or nature, for if He had been He would not have been ‘without sin,’ even though He had resisted it. There was clearly no sin in being thus tested, nor did He ever sin in yielding.
Temptation to evil must always be considered in its origin, as well as in its effect. In daily life we think worse of the author of the temptation than of the victim. But no temptation originated in the heart of our blessed Redeemer. According to this text He was ‘without sin;’ for not only did He never yield, but there was no evil in His heart in which sin could originate. We are not, therefore, justified in quoting the temptation of our sinless Saviour, that came upon Him from without, as proving that there is no sin in those temptations which arise out of the evil of our own hearts. There is certainly sin in such temptation as that described by our Lord Himself, when He said, ‘Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders,’ etc., (Matt. xv. 19); and in that condemned by St. James in the words, ‘Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.’ (James, i. 14.) In no such cases are we covered by our Lord’s example; for, even if we are preserved from falling, the temptation itself is sin, and the result of sin within the soul.
DOCTRINAL NOTES.
In the first edition of these Sermons I added a short review of two books that have lately excited some attention in the Church. I understand that their author is himself so much dissatisfied with them, that he has been for some time past engaged in re-writing them. It is, therefore, not worth my while to republish my review, and, instead of it, I have added the following Notes.
Some of them are of a controversial character; but my object is to promote agreement rather than controversy. Several excellent persons, both clergymen and laymen, have lately experienced a remarkable answer to their prayers for an increase of faith, and in consequence of the peculiarities of the channel through which the answer has been given, they have been supposed to have deviated from old paths, and to have embraced new opinions at variance with the Word of God. I fear that this may be the case in some instances, though I hope it is not so to any great extent, for I find that many of them have never read the books to which some of us have thought it our duty to object, and are as earnest for the old truths as ourselves. I have therefore drawn up these Notes, embodying what I believe to be the teaching of Scripture, in the hope that they may prove a basis of union amongst those who are of one heart and one mind in their common desire to exalt the name of their most blessed Saviour.