“What is, then, the perfection of which man is capable while he dwells in a corruptible body? It is the complying with that kind command, ‘My son, give me thy heart.’ It is the ‘loving the Lord his God with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his mind.’ This is the sum of Christian perfection: it is all comprised in that one word, love. The first branch of it is the love of God; and, as he that loves God loves his brother also, it is inseparably connected with the second, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself;’ thou shalt love every man as thy own soul, as Christ loved us. ‘On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets:’ these contain the whole of Christian perfection.
“Another view of this is given us in those words of the great [pg 276] apostle, ‘Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.’ For, although this immediately and directly refers to the humility of our Lord, yet it may be taken in a far more extensive sense, so as to include the whole disposition of his mind, all his affections, all his tempers, both toward God and man. Now, it is certain that, as there was no evil affection in him, so no good affection or temper was wanting; so that ‘whatsoever things are holy, whatsoever things are lovely,’ are all included in ‘the mind that was in Christ Jesus.’
“St. Paul, when writing to the Galatians, places perfection in yet another view. It is the one undivided fruit of the Spirit, which he describes thus: ‘The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, fidelity, [so the word should be translated here,] meekness, temperance.’ What a glorious constellation of grace is here! Now, suppose all these things to be knit together in one, to be united together in the soul of a believer,—this is Christian perfection.
How To Be Sought.
“'But what is that faith whereby we are sanctified, saved from sin, and perfected in love?' It is a divine evidence and conviction, first, that God hath promised it in the holy Scripture. Till we are thoroughly satisfied of this, there is no moving one step farther. And one would imagine there needed not one word more to satisfy a reasonable man of this than the ancient promise, ‘Then will I circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.’ How clearly does this express the being perfected in love!—how strongly imply the being saved from all sin! For as long as love takes up the whole heart, what room is there for sin therein?
“It is a divine evidence and conviction, secondly, that what God hath promised he is able to perform. Admitting, therefore, that ‘with men it is impossible’ ‘to bring a clean thing out of an unclean,’ to purify the heart from all sin, and [pg 277] to fill it with all holiness,—yet this creates no difficulty in the case, seeing ‘with God all things are possible.’ And surely no one ever imagined it was possible to any power less than that of the Almighty! But if God speaks, it shall be done. God saith, ‘Let there be light; and there [is] light.’
“It is, thirdly, a divine evidence and conviction that he is able and willing to do it now. And why not? Is not a moment to him the same as a thousand years? He cannot want more time to accomplish whatever is his will. And he cannot want to stay for any more worthiness or fitness in the persons he is pleased to honor. We may, therefore, boldly say, at any point of time, ‘Now is the day of salvation!’ ‘To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.’ ‘Behold, all things are now ready; come unto the marriage.’
“To this confidence that God is both able and willing to sanctify us now, there needs to be added one thing more—a divine evidence and conviction that he doeth it. In that hour it is done: God says to the inmost soul, ‘According to thy faith be it unto thee.’ Then the soul is pure from every spot of sin; it is clean ‘from all unrighteousness.’ The believer then experiences the deep meaning of those solemn words, ‘If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.’
“ ‘But does God work this great work in the soul gradually, or instantaneously?’ Perhaps it may be gradually wrought in some: I mean, in this sense, they do not advert to the particular moment wherein sin ceases to be. But it is infinitely desirable, were it the will of God, that it should be done instantaneously; that the Lord should destroy sin ‘by the breath of his mouth,’ in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. And so he generally does—a plain fact, of which there is evidence enough to satisfy any unprejudiced person. Thou, therefore, look for it every moment.”—See Wesley's Sermons, vols. i. and ii.
Oberlin Views Of Sanctification.