heavenly glory, some upon the dusty plain of common duties and dull affections, and others in the gloomy valleys where no Divine ray seems to penetrate. But may we not say that for wise and holy purposes there is a long gradation of souls, which places them in relations of mutual dependence and helpfulness; that spiritual gifts are bestowed, not only for the sake of the recipient, but that they may be communicated to the world; that the waiting, and the hope, and the strife against sin and on behalf of the kingdom of God, are a strengthening discipline in the education of our race; and that every man will finally be judged according to his opportunities and faithfulness? Owing to the modifications which we have found it necessary to introduce into the doctrines of original sin and of atonement, we must universalize our conception of faith. It is no longer the appropriation to oneself of some long past transaction in heaven or on earth, but that inward apprehension of spiritual things, and that peaceful trust in God's forgiving and sustaining love, which Christ sought to establish in the world. This is the true way of righteousness, leading to the free acceptance of an inflowing grace and power, in contrast to the weary struggle of meritorious works. But this very faith, which seems to reveal to us the inmost heart of God, forbids us to believe that he has doomed to eternal woe all from whom he has withheld this precious gift. In ways which he sees best he is leading every man in his own order; and wherever any unselfish ideal floats before the mind and captivates the will, we may see the beginning of that faith which is ultimately to overcome the world, and bring in the kingdom of God.

It has already been pointed out that sanctification, as distinct from justification, almost necessarily involves a prolonged and varying experience. It is possible that in some fiery and convulsive moment heart and will may turn to God, and life begin again under the government of new principles, new faith and hope and love, and the soul, amid its sorrow for the past, find peace and joy in the assurance of

the Divine forgiveness, and in the consciousness of being now on the side of God against all evil in itself and in the world. But sanctification, the perfect cleansing of the inward springs of life, the bringing of the whole nature, all the thoughts, desires, and affections, into complete harmony with the Spirit of God, is confessedly not an instantaneous process. A man may have become a temple of the Holy Spirit, and fully conscious of the oracles of truth and righteousness within him, and, nevertheless, the weeds of sin may grow in some neglected corner, and the sacrifice offered on the altar of the heart may not be always pure. If there are hours of exalted communion and blessed vision, there are also times of humiliation and repentance, and the peace that knows no change is not yet. We must, however, observe a very wide distinction between. the sin of the good man and the sin of the bad man. The former does not sin through deliberate preference, but falls before some sudden temptation or impulse owing to the frailty of a nature which is not yet made perfect; and so, while he looks upon sin as a foe that must be conquered, his faults may draw him nearer to God by deepening his humility and his sense of dependence on a strength higher than his But the bad man sets his will deliberately against the law of right, and looks upon holiness and justice as the foes that stand in the way of his desires.

own.

In considering the conditions of sanctification the old question of the will meets us once more. Is 'the perseverance of saints' to be relied upon? Can a man who is truly converted never become a castaway? Is he to lie passive in the hand of God, and simply wait for the Spirit to breathe upon the trembling strings of the heart, and draw forth a heavenly music? Not only the Catholics, but the Lutherans, admit the possibility of relapse; and the Augsburg Confession expressly rejects the teaching of those who say that if men have once become pious, they cannot fall again.1 To me it seems clear from ordinary

1 Art. xii.

4

experience that this is a correct view, and consequently that here at least the will must co-operate with the work of God. Even in the first glowing age of inspiration the danger of a relapse through faithlessness of will was plainly seen. Paul practised self-discipline, lest, having preached the gospel to others, he should himself be reprobate ;1 and it is not without reason that we are warned against quenching the Spirit, and forgetting that we were cleansed from our former sins, and are exhorted to be earnest in making our calling and election sure, and to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, to say nothing of the constant admonitions to live in a manner worthy of our Christian profession. All may be summed up in the terse injunction, 'If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit';6 that is, let the outward conduct, which is so largely dependent on the will, be conformed to the promptings of the Spirit, the principle of life, within. From such passages, founded as they are on a genuine experience, we may see where the action of the will is required. It is plain that we cannot by a direct exercise of will create any spiritual grace; but we can use or abstain from using the means of grace. As I have already explained, I cannot lay down any hard and fast doctrine about these, and each man must judge for himself where he can find the best help. For the generality of men it is reasonable to assume that those which have been sanctioned by prolonged usage are really such; and, if nothing else, the fact that they come to us laden with the prayer and consecration of saints in many lands and many ages, must give them, for those at least who are not strangely destitute of human sympathy and imagination, a power of appeal which cannot belong to any new observance. However, this is not the place to discuss again the existing means of cultivating the spiritual life; what concerns us at present is this, that a man may by deliberate choice observe or neglect to observe the 3 II Pet. i. 9. 6 Gal. v. 25.

1 I Cor. ix. 27.

2 I Thess. v. 19.

5 Philip. ii. 12.

4 Ibid. 10.

means of grace, or, to put it more generally, cultivate or neglect to cultivate the religious life. The other opportunity for the exercise of the will is in the manifestation of the hidden life upon the visible scene. We can deliberate on the requirements of Christian principle, and endeavour to carry out these requirements faithfully and simply. When we are perfectly holy within, good works will be the spontaneous and inevitable fruit of the Spirit; but till then reflection must decide where Christian duty lies, and the will must direct the steps on the path which is seen to be right.

5. The Consummation of the Divine Life

The consummation of man's religious growth is described in the New Testament as 'eternal life," or simply life.' This life is a present possession, a fact which is emphasized especially in the Johannine writings. It is the life that belongs to the eternal realm, as distinguished from the transience of a mere earthly existence, the death of sin and alienation from God. In its highest expression, it is the life of God'3 and as the eternal life was made manifest in Christ, it is the life of Jesus,'4 which was given to the Son by the Father. Hence Christ, being a 'quickening spirit,' is himself called 'the life.' It follows that this highest life is, for the Christian, Divine sonship, an incorporation of the Divine life with our humanity, God dwelling in man, and man in God. This, and not any profession of dogma, is the essential distinction between the Christian and the nonChristian. If any man has not Christ's spirit, he is not his.' This spirit is love, and he that abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.'8 So it is that He who has the Son has the life'; and he need not fear the scorn and reproaches

9

6

1 Ζωὴ αἰώνιος.

2 John iii. 36, v. 24, vi. 47, 54; I John iii. 14, 15, v. 12, 13.

3 Eph. iv. 18.

5 John v. 26. 7 Rom. viii. 9.

4 II Cor. iv. 10.

6 John xi. 25, xiv. 6; Col. iii. 4.
I John iv. 16.

9 I John v. 12.

of men, for 'no one can snatch him out of the Father's hand.'1 Is it said that eternal life consists in the knowledge of God and Christ ?2 Yes; but, taken in connexion with all the other teaching, this cannot be a mere intellectual knowledge of their metaphysical relations, but a spiritual comprehension of their spiritual nature, a profound perception of their love and holiness, and of the communion of the Father with his children, which is possible only to the purified heart and surrendered will; and this living in the upper air, where alone we gaze upon Divine realities, is the eternal life, even though the intellect may stumble through the want of lower knowledge, and the lips may be dumb in the presence of unutterable revelations to the soul. It is not the wise, or the disputers of this world, that enter this holy of holies, but those who, in humility and faith, seek not their own wills, but the will of him that sent them, and who know that following the commandment which speaks in their conscience is eternal life.3 This leads to the doctrine of a future life. It is not my purpose to survey here the philosophical arguments which bear upon this subject. They confessedly furnish no more than probabilities, and many wise and good men have failed to find in them the satisfaction which they desired. Our faith in immortality is not due to the cold perception of a scientific fact, but to the glowing anticipations of religious trust. The belief, whatever may be its precise origin, seems to be a constituent part of religion. Professor Salmond, who has carefully examined the evidence, says, 'There is the fact that, so far as investigation has gone, belief in some sort of existence after death is found to be a catholic belief of humanity." Frequently, however, the future life was regarded as a dim and shadowy existence; and it seems clear that the first Christian disciples felt that 'life and immortality' had been brought to light with a vividness which was wholly new. Whatever may be the precise facts connected with the resur3 John xii. 49 sq.

1 John x. 29.

2 John xvii. 3.

4 The Christian Doctrine of Immortality, 1895, p. 12.

5 II Tim. i. 10.