Ans. Because the conditions for the two graces are not the same. The penitent sinner cannot, in his sinful condition, meet the requirements for sanctification, and God does not mean that he should. All that the sinner can possibly do is to repent. When he has fully repented, then he can believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and receive his pardon. This is justification. He is justified from all his sins through true repentance and faith. Those are the Scriptural conditions for justification, but the conditions for sanctification are consecration and faith. Repentance and consecration are vastly different. The first means to give up all sinful things, with a godly sorrow for all sins committed, and a solemn determination that by the grace of God all sinning shall forever cease. The second means to yield up to God all our good things, every sacred treasure of our heart and affections, with our body and every ransomed power, as a living sacrifice. The first is God's requirement of every sinner. The second is his requirement of every justified believer. The first is all that the guilty sinner can possibly comprehend. The second is that which only the justified believer can comprehend. Therefore it is utterly impossible for us to get sanctified at the time of our justification. The two are distinct and separate works of grace, obtained upon distinct and separate conditions.
Some people have vainly believed, and some vainly teach, that there is but one work of grace; but such a doctrine is contrary to the word of God, the conditions of the plan of redemption, and the glorious testimonies of thousands of saints who have lived in the past and those who are living witnesses today. It is perfectly natural and logical to every honest and willing child of God who is not yet sanctified to soon believe that there is a second work of grace. Perhaps it will take a few months for some to find out their need, but it is only a question of time till every one will find an inward longing for something more, to satisfy the inward condition of the heart. To prove this statement let us listen to the testimonies of those who are simply justified and have had no teaching on sanctification, whether their Christian life be one of years or but a few months. Everyone who stands in this justified relation with God gives expression in some respects according to the following: "I thank God for salvation and am not sorry that I ever gave my heart to God, but I do feel the need of a deeper work of grace." Another will say, "Pray for me that I may have a clean heart." Another will request prayer for perfect love; another will confess to having been overcome by sin, and having made some crooked paths, and feels sorry and wants to get nearer to God and get a better experience.
Now we cannot doubt the sincerity of these hearts, neither their experience. Their experiences are those of honest, willing children of God who are anxious to do the whole will of God. Such expressions would not be given by professors who are void of salvation. The fact is, the experiences of these hearts teach them the need of the second grace, and unless they should be deceived by some false doctrines, they would keep on with such testimonies until they should obtain that perfect love, or a clean heart, or a deeper work of grace.
Do they not testify that the first work of grace is not deep enough? They are glad for the first work, but they want something deeper. They are glad that grace has found their heart, but they want a clean heart—one that is free from those conscious uprisings of evil which, if unrestrained, would bring them into condemnation and guilt, and perhaps have already overcome them and produced such an effect in their lives. They are glad for the sweet love of God that has found its way into their hearts, but they long for perfect love. They are conscious of some obstacles which hinder that love from being perfect, and yet they do not understand just how those obstacles can be removed. Someone may tell them that they have all they can get from God and to ask for more would be presumption, and yet their souls cry out for that which is natural in the grace of God, and how ready they are, when they hear sanctification taught, to meet the conditions and enter into the rest for their souls—this perfect love, this deeper work of grace, and this experience of a clean heart, and this baptism with the Holy Ghost.
Now let us listen to their testimonies. What do we hear? Ah, we hear them praising God for this they were so longing for. One will praise God for a clean heart; another will say he has found the perfect love; another will testify to the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Others will thank God for sanctification, and others will call it this sweet soul-rest, etc., which all mean the same blessed experience of sanctification. Now if we ask them if they believe in a second work of grace, what will they answer us? Ah, there is no question about it. They have it in their hearts, and they are spoiled for any argument upon the subject.
So it is with all God's people who have met the definite conditions for sanctification and have come into this precious grace. We know it is a second work.
Ques. How can one keep free from evil thoughts?
Ans. The pure heart and mind do not entertain an evil thought. As soon as such thoughts are presented they are banished. In 2 Cor. 10:5 we read how such things are dealt with. "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." An evil thought thus captivated does not enter into the heart and therefore does not become a sin to us. The apostle James says, "When lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin." The evil thought must first enter into the heart and be conceived into a desire before it becomes sin.
This world is full of sin and iniquity on every hand. We may hear profanity as we pass along the street, or we may see iniquity before our eyes daily as we come in contact with the world, we may pick up a secular paper and read of murder and theft, and thus these evil thoughts may enter into our minds, but they do not conceive or take root in our hearts. They are brought into captivity and banished from us. If when reading or hearing of a murder or theft, someone should see an opportunity to commit a similar deed and resolve in his heart that he would do so at his first opportunity, that person would have conceived the thought in his heart, and in the sight of God he would be a murderer or a thief, even though he never had the opportunity to carry out the design. The heart that is purified by the cleansing blood of Christ and momently kept in the efficacy of that blood, is the sacred dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit, who has the full and exclusive control of the heart.
As long as our will is kept in line with the will of God the Holy Spirit will abide. The word of God says, "Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world," and, "No man can enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man." The strong man—the Holy Spirit—is in his own house, and it is impossible for sin to enter in unless we by our own will consent to it. The word of God speaks of the Holy Spirit as the seal. This thought is practically illustrated by the common use of a seal in canning fruit. We may be ever so careful with fruit in getting it properly prepared for the can, but if we set it away without the seal, it will not be long until the fruit is spoiled. It requires the seal to keep the fruit from spoiling. There is something in the air which, if not excluded, will spoil the fruit. The use of the seal is to exclude the air.