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SANCTIFICATION
Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with
his own blood, suffered without the gate. Heb. 13:12.
By J. W. BYERS
Printed in 1902 by GOSPEL TRUMPET COMPANY
CONTENTS
What Is Sanctification? 5
The Apostolic Experience 11
Consecration and Dedication 19
The Holy Spirit of Promise 25
Our Inheritance 32
Sanctified by Faith 39
The Subtraction Process 45
Christian Perfection 51
Holiness 58
The Vine and The Branches 64
Some Helpful Thoughts on Consecration 69
Questions and Answers 76
Personal Experience 90
What is Sanctification?
Scripturally, the word =sanctification= has three meanings: First,
separation; second, dedication; third, spirit-filling. Webster's
definition of it is as follows: "1. Sanctification is the act of God's
grace by which the affections of man are purified, or alienated from sin
and the world, and exalted to a supreme love of God; also, the state of
being thus purified or sanctified. 2. The act of consecrating, or
setting apart for a sacred purpose." "=Sanctifier.= One who sanctifies or
makes holy; specifically, the Holy Ghost." "=Sanctify.= 1. To set apart to
a holy or religious use. 2. To make holy or free from sin; to cleanse
from moral corruption or pollution; to make holy by detaching the
affections from the world and its defilements and exalting them to a
supreme love of God." Scripturally and practically, the terms
sanctification, holiness, purity, and perfection are synonymous.
=Holiness=, Separation: setting apart; sacredness. =Purity.= Cleanness;
chastity. =Perfection.= Completeness; wholeness. All this is comprehended
in one word, =sanctification=.
It is evident that this term signifies much more in the New Testament
sense than it does in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament it meant
but a dedication, a setting apart to a holy use, as in the example of
the sanctification of the tabernacle and its contents--the altar and
laver, and all the vessels belonging thereto--and Aaron and his sons and
their garments. Lev. 8:10-30. In this dispensation of grace it means
infinitely more; for in that dispensation it was but an outward and
ceremonial work, but now it is an inwrought work, permeating and
purifying the affections through and through by the cleansing blood and
heavenly fire, and filling the dedicated temple, our body, with the Holy
Ghost, as in the example of the early church at Pentecost.
The justified believer must meet the conditions of complete separation
and exclusive dedication of himself to God, in a sense that no guilty
sinner can do. This is the believer's part. He must purify himself.
"Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is
pure."--1 John 3:3. "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved,
let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit,
perfecting holiness in the fear of God."--2 Cor. 7:1. This brings the
believer into the condition where God can fulfill his part. He can now
take exclusive possession of the dedicated temple, and sanctify it. "And
the very God of peace sanctify you wholly."--1 Thess. 5:23. "And they
were all filled with the Holy Ghost."--Acts 2:4. This brings the
believer into a more perfect spiritual relationship with God than when
simply justified.
Sanctification A Bible Doctrine
"And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace,
which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all
them which are sanctified." Acts 20:32.
"To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from
the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins,
and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in
me."--Acts 26:18.
"Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.... And for their
sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the
truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall
believe on me through their word."--John 17:17, 19, 20.
"If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto
honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto
every good work."--2 Tim. 2:21.
"That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in
sanctification and honour."--1 Thess. 4:4.
God Our Sanctifier
"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your
whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do
it."--1 Thess. 5:23, 24.
"Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that
are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and
called."--Jude 1.
Sanctified In Christ
"Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified
in Christ Jesus." "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made
unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and
redemption."--1 Cor. 1:2, 30.
Sanctified Through the Truth
"Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth."--John 17:17. "That
he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the
word."--Eph. 5:26.
By The Blood of Jesus
"Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own
blood, suffered without the gate." "For if the blood of bulls and of
goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to
the purifying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who
through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge
your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" "By the which
will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ
once for all." "For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that
are sanctified."
"Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy,
who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood
of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath
done despite unto the Spirit of grace?"--Heb. 13:12; 9:13, 14; 10:10,
14, 29.
And The Holy Spirit
"That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles,
ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles
might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost."--Rom. 15:16.
"But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved
of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth."--2 Thess.
2:13.
These and many other texts of scripture teach us that sanctification is
a Bible doctrine. There is but one reason why some people can not see it
in the Bible--their eyes are blinded. All who are willing to yield
themselves to God and His word, will soon be taught this blessed truth.
Jesus prayed that His disciples might become sanctified. They had not
yet come into this experience. Jesus knew that they needed it. It was
His desire for their highest good. They were not able to go forth and
cope with the powers of sin. They had been under the teaching of the
Master and in His presence, and therefore were protected by Him from the
enemy; but now he was soon to be taken from them, and He knew that they
must be "endued with power from on high." Therefore He implored the
Father for the sanctification of the eleven; and not "for these alone,"
but "for them also which shall believe on me through their word." This
reaches down through the entire gospel dispensation. It is His blessed
will that we all shall be sanctified. As justified believers, we each
are as needy of this grace as were the eleven disciples. It is
indispensable for our spiritual welfare.
Some are disposed to look upon this matter as optional with them; but
such is a mistake. The time comes in the experience of every true
believer when the Holy Spirit brings before him the conditions of a
definite and absolute consecration. A refusal to meet these conditions,
done ignorantly, will bring a cloud over our experience of justification
and, eventually, if persisted in wilfully, will bring us into God's
utter disapproval. "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth
it not, to him it is sin."--Jas. 4:17.
Sanctification is the normal state of the Christian. The Father, Son and
Holy Spirit are jointly interested in us, that we attain unto this
grace. Our unity with the Godhead is incomplete without it, so also is
our unity with each other; "For both he that sanctifieth and they who
are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call
them brethren."--Heb. 2:11. A heart washed and made pure by the blood of
Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit will always be in perfect
fellowship with divinity, and also with all other hearts of like
experience. The unsanctified heart of the believer cannot be fully
satisfied, because of the consciousness of the presence of the carnal
nature, more scripturally called "our old man." Just what it is may not
perhaps be perfectly understood by the new convert, but that something
abnormal exists will soon be discovered, and there will be a longing in
the heart for an inward cleansing--a normal desire for the normal
experience. On the other hand, when this blessed experience is attained,
there comes with it the consciousness of inward purity which fully
satisfies the heart, and it can sing with the spirit and with the
understanding, "Hallelujah for the cleansing; it has reached my inmost
soul."
For this purpose Christ gave himself for the church--"That he might
sanctify and cleanse it." God gave him to the world that whosoever
believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life, for our
justification; but Christ gave himself for the church, for our
sanctification.
The gospel commission of the apostle Paul specifies clearly the doctrine
of sanctification, the "inheritance among them which are sanctified." He
could not have been faithful to this commission without leading souls
from "forgiveness of sins" into this "inheritance." His ministry and
epistles to the different churches prove his faithfulness. Upon his
first acquaintance with the brethren at Ephesus he asked them the
question, "Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?" And after
three years of faithful ministry in that city, upon the solemn event of
his departure from them, among his last words he reminds the church of
the "inheritance among all them which are sanctified." Then about four
years later, while a prisoner at Rome, he writes back to them his
epistle to the Ephesians, which in every chapter sparkles with beautiful
gems of thought upon the subject of sanctification. In his letter to the
church of Rome we are forcibly reminded that this doctrine was prominent
in his teaching, employing such terms as, "this grace wherein we stand"
(Rom. 5:2), "our old man is crucified," "that the body of sin might be
destroyed," "dead indeed unto sin," "free from sin" (Chap. 6), "married
to ... him who is raised from the dead" (Chap. 7), "present your bodies
a living sacrifice" (Chap. 12) "being sanctified by the Holy Ghost"
(Chap. 15). These terms and others signify the precious experiences of
sanctification.
In the first and second epistles to the Corinthians we also notice the
mention of this experience, and that there were some saints at Corinth
that were sanctified (1:2, 30), although some were not, and were told
that they were yet carnal. There were evidently only the two
classes--sanctified and justified, in the church there, the same as is
usually the case everywhere today. In speaking of the congregation, he
says "But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in
the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of God."--1 Cor. 6:11. In
the second epistle, Chap. 7:1, he exhorts them: "Let us cleanse
ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting
holiness in the fear of God," and among the closing words of this
letter, he says, "Be perfect."
Thus we can see in all the epistles of this apostle, the theme of
sanctification. His personal testimony to the Galatians reads: "I am
crucified with Christ." His statement to the brethren at Philippi was:
"As many as be perfect"; to those at Colosse: "Ye are dead and your life
is hid with Christ in God," "Ye have put off the old man with his deeds,
and have put on the new man"; his teaching in the epistles to the
Thessalonians, showing them that sanctification is the will of God to
them, and his desire that the "God of peace sanctify you wholly." His
instructions to Timothy show how we may become a vessel "sanctified and
meet for the Master's use," and he refers to the fact that there were
some who "call on the Lord out of a pure heart." His letter to Titus, in
which he mentions how Jesus gave himself for us, that he might "purify
unto himself a peculiar people." These all add testimony to this
doctrine and the apostle's faithfulness in his ministry. Some scholars
think Apollos is the author of the epistle to the Hebrews; but whether
Paul or Apollos, it abounds with truth upon sanctification.
All the other writers of the New Testament teach the same truth. James
says, "Purify your hearts, ye double-minded." Peter gives emphasis to
the doctrine of holiness: "Be ye holy," and that "we, being dead to
sins, should live unto righteousness"; and desires that the God of all
grace "make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you;" and that at
the coming of Christ "ye may be found of him in peace, without spot and
blameless." Jude addresses his epistle "to them that are sanctified,"
and "preserved."
Then when we search the writings of John we are almost overwhelmed with
glory, as we read his beautiful teachings upon this theme, which he so
clearly sets forth. God grant that we all may "walk in the light as he
is in the light," walking "even as he walked," that his love in us may
be "perfected," that we may prayerfully hold fast and abide in this
"unction from the Holy One," that the "anointing" may abide in us. Such
an experience can be realized only by every one that "purifieth himself
even as he is pure."
CHAPTER II
The Apostolic Experience
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good
works."--2 Tim. 3:16, 17.
In our study of this theme we find that the word of God is our only
standard to prove that sanctification is a Bible doctrine. The
experience and testimony of the Bible writers and the other apostles of
the early church also prove to us and teach the nature of this doctrine
and its relative position to the experience of justification. It will be
important and profitable for us to review these experiences, not only to
establish the doctrine in our faith, but also to examine our own hearts
and see that our experiences are truly apostolic.
The author of this treatise was sanctified at a time when there was a
battle raging against the doctrine as a second work of grace. He had
himself taken a stand against it for some years, because it did not seem
that the scriptures and apostolic testimonies were sufficiently clear to
establish the second-work doctrine. In this he had been blinded by the
theories on the opposing side, notwithstanding the brilliant
testimonies to the contrary of those whose lives were unimpeachable. Of
course it was impossible to consecrate for and receive the experience
under such circumstances, and consequently years of unsatisfactory
experience passed by, until at last the indisputable symptoms of inborn
depravity, and the deplorable weakness of the heart and will to cope
with the mighty power of the enemy, brought the struggling soul into
depths of despair at the feet of Jesus, crying, "Forgive me, O Lord, for
all my sad failures, and 'create in me a clean heart, O God.'" It was
not a question at this crisis about it being a second work of grace. The
crying need of the soul was a clean heart. It was all too evident that
the heart was not clean, and it was also evident that it was the will of
God, even my sanctification; and dear loved ones were daily proving by
life and testimony that the experience was attainable.
It will be sufficient to say at present that the definite consecration
and definite faith in the definite promises of God brought the definite
experience. The inward struggle was over, and the soul had entered into
its promised land--the heavenly rest; "for we which have believed do
enter into rest."--Heb. 4:3. Experimentally, the question of the second
work was most thoroughly and satisfactorily answered, and it seemed as
clear as the noonday sun in a cloudless sky. The internal evidence was
overwhelming, and now it only remained necessary to become established
scripturally, which, by the study of the apostolic experiences and
testimonies, was by the anointing received in due time. Praise God!
Were it not for the perverted teaching, every truly justified child of
God would soon be led by the Holy Spirit into this grace, because it is
the inheritance of the soul, and its normal state. The apostles before
Pentecost needed it, and so does every other child of God. Let us
briefly consider the experience of the apostolic brethren, both before
and upon their Pentecost.
=They were born of God before Pentecost.= This is very definitely
established by the following scriptures. "Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God"--1 John 5:1. "He saith unto them, But whom
say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God."--Matt. 16:15, 16. "But as many as
received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to
them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."--John 1:12, 13.
"Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of
God."--John 1:49. "Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and
behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side;
and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto
him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast
seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and
yet have believed."--John 20:27-29.
This is sufficient to prove their experience, both before and after the
death and resurrection of Christ. Some would contend that the disciples
could not have been regenerated in a true New Testament sense before
Pentecost, because the plan of salvation was not finished before
Christ's death on the cross. If this were true, there is sufficient in
the foregoing text (John 20:27-29) to prove that the eleven were
enjoying the regenerating grace; for they all had at least as much faith
as Thomas, that Jesus is the Christ; and when Thomas was invited to
prove to his own satisfaction that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead,
he at once acknowledged him "My Lord and my God." This was after the
atonement for sin was made, and the disciples believed in him and beyond
doubt were justified and born of God in the perfect New Testament sense.
This not only is true of the eleven, but equally so of all who believed
that he arose from the dead; for he said, "Blessed are they that have
not seen and yet have believed."
The language of the apostle to the Roman brethren (Chap. 10:9, 10) adds
to this testimony--"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from
the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
The apostle John says (1 John 2:29), "If ye know that he is righteous,
ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him." He also
says, "Every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God."--1 John
4:7.
=Their names were written in heaven.= "Notwithstanding in this rejoice
not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because
your names are written in heaven."--Luke 10:20. The critic will say that
this was said of the seventy and not of the twelve. Well, it was said of
the seventy, but how could it be less true of the twelve whom he had
previously chosen and sent out to preach the kingdom of God, to cast out
devils, and to heal the sick? It is likely that a number of those
seventy, if not all, were among the one hundred twenty at Pentecost. To
say the least concerning the spiritual standing of the twelve, they were
equal with the seventy.
=They were not of the world.= "If ye were of the world, the world would
love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you
out of the world, therefore the world hateth you."--John 15:19. "I have
given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not
of the world, even as I am not of the world.... They are not of the
world, even as I am not of the world." John 17:14,16.
=They kept the word of God.= "I have manifested thy name unto the men
which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest
them me; and they have kept thy word. For I have given unto them the
words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known
surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst
send me."--John 17:6, 8.
=They belonged to God.= "I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. All mine are
thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them."--John 17:9, 10.
This was the spiritual condition of the eleven before Pentecost
testified to by Jesus himself. It is certainly a blessed condition--born
of God, their names written in heaven, not of the world. They belonged
to God, and they kept His word. Would that every professing follower of
Jesus were in this blessed state. It would produce a revolution in
Christendom. Does not this signify all that can possibly be comprehended
in justification?
Then after the blood of Jesus had been shed and the ransom for sin paid,
he opened their understanding (Luke 24:45) that they might understand
the scriptures, how he should suffer and rise again from the dead. We
see that they believed in him the Redeemer, and now understood the
object of his suffering and death; but there was still a glorious work
of grace awaiting them, to be inwrought by the Holy Ghost, the
sanctifier.
=They were not yet sanctified=, and for this reason Jesus prayed for them
as he did. He well knew that they could not be kept from the evil of the
world in a manner that would prove satisfactory to themselves and the
Father, unless there should be accomplished in them more than had yet
been done. Therefore he prayed, "Sanctify them through thy truth, thy
word is truth."--John 17:17.
=They had not yet received the Holy Ghost.= "And, behold, I send the
promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem,
until ye be endued with power from on high."--Luke 24:49. "For John
truly baptized with water: but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost
not many days hence."
=This promise was fulfilled.= "And when the day of Pentecost was fully
come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there
came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all
the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven
tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all
filled with the Holy Ghost."--Acts 2:1-4.
We will presently consider the testimony of the apostle Peter with
reference to this experience at Pentecost, but will first notice the
experience of
Cornelius And His Household
This brother was a devout man; he feared God with all his house; he
prayed to God always and gave much alms, which were accepted of God and
were had in remembrance in his sight; he had a good report. God heard
his prayers, accepted him, and answered his prayers; and he and his
household were all anxious to hear the preaching of Peter, testifying,
"Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things
that are commanded thee of God."--Acts 10:33.
This was not a company of sinners. Peter did not preach repentance to
them. Although they were Gentiles and did not have the privileges that
many others had and were not acquainted with the apostles, they were
acquainted with God. Peter expressed his surprise at this, saying, "Of a
truth, I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in every
nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with
him." Acts 10:34, 35. Here Peter testifies both to the righteousness and
to the acceptance with God of this household.
From Peter's statement in Acts 11:14, in his testimony to the church
concerning this event, a doubt might arise as to this company being
saved in the full New Testament justification. He refers to the words of
the angel in his message to Cornelius, instructing him to send for
Peter, "Who shall teach thee words whereby thou and all thy house shall
be saved." But this statement in itself cannot be interpreted to mean
that this company were not already justified. We have a parallel
statement of Peter in his testimony to the church upon another occasion,
when he again refers to the grace of God to the Gentile world, saying
(Acts 15:10, 11), "Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon
the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to
bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we
shall be saved, even as they." The term "saved" in both these instances
signifies more than justification; for truly Peter and the disciples to
whom he was speaking in this last instance were justified.
The household of Cornelius were ready with open hearts to receive all
that God had for them, and while Peter spoke the word of God to them
"the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word." This experience
was identical in character with that of the Jewish saints at Pentecost.
Peter's Testimony
In rehearsing this wonderful event to the brethren and apostles at
Jerusalem he testified to the unquestionable leading of the Spirit to
this company of believers. He said (Acts 11:15, 17), "And as I began to
speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. Forasmuch
then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on
the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?" Upon
another occasion at Jerusalem Peter again spoke of the same event,
saying, "And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving
them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; and put no difference
between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith."--Acts 15:8, 9.
But Peter testified to the fact that the Gentiles are placed upon a
level with the Jews, not only in the reception of the Holy Spirit, but
in the experience of cleansing. He testified to these two phases of
sanctification, equally wrought in the hearts of the Jews and Gentiles,
making "no difference between us and them"; and in this same testimony
he plainly states that "purifying their hearts" was an experience
co-incident with the reception of the Holy Ghost--"giving them the Holy
Ghost," "purifying their hearts," "even as he did unto us." Opposers of
this truth have argued that Peter's statement, "purifying their hearts,"
in the Greek text reads, "having purified their hearts," the word
"having" signifying that their hearts were purified previous to the
event of their reception of the Holy Ghost; but this objection has no
foundation in scripture, history, or experience. If there could be a
shadow of meaning in this form of this word in the Greek text, to
signify that the "purifying their hearts" occurred prior to the
outpouring of the Holy Ghost, it simply has reference to the order of
these two phases of sanctification, which were effected within them upon
this occasion.
It is evident that in the divine order of sanctification purifying the
heart by faith is preparatory to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. He
must have a pure heart in which to make his abode. However, there is no
lapse of time perceptible between the =negative= and =positive= phase of
sanctification. How easily this is understood by those who have truly
received the Pentecostal experience. How the "anointing" teaches us and
witnesses in our hearts to the testimony of Peter; but to those who have
not yet had their Pentecost, and especially such as are blinded by
theory and the doctrines of men, there is likely to be discussion and
argument of words. The apostles and brethren at Jerusalem had no
argument to make when Peter rehearsed his experience. They simply
"glorified God."
Paul's Testimony
"Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some
sort, as putting you in mind, because of the grace that is given to me
of God, that I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles,
ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles
might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost."--Romans 15:15,
16.
This testimony agrees with Peter in his account of the outpouring of the
Holy Ghost upon the Gentile believers. It is not plainly stated that
Paul has reference to this event in his testimony quoted, yet we can see
clearly that he does have reference to the experience of sanctification,
and that it is identical with that of all believers, being a specific
work of the Holy Ghost.
Experiences of the Brethren at Samaria
"Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto
them. But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the
kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both
men and women."--Acts 8:5, 12. About three years prior to this time
there was a greater One than Philip at Samaria preaching the words of
life, and many more than the woman at the well believed, and they said
to the woman, "Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have
heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the
Saviour of the world."--John 4:42. This was an effectual introduction of
the gospel, and when Philip went to that city he found much good soil
for the precious word in the name of Jesus Christ. There is no room for
doubt as to the acceptable condition of these converts. They believed
in the name of Jesus and were baptized. Some had doubtless remained firm
believers since Jesus' visit to that city; others believed through the
preaching of Philip. Certainly they were justified by faith in the name
of Jesus, but like the disciples before Pentecost they were not yet
sanctified, and when the apostles at Jerusalem heard of this work of
grace at Samaria they sent down Peter and John, "who when they were come
down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as
yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name
of the Lord Jesus) then laid they their hands on them, and they received
the Holy Ghost."--Acts 8:15-17.
How clearly the inspired record here proves the second work of grace,
and how beautifully this event harmonizes with the others relative to
the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And then, how glorious to have an
experience like it in our own hearts. Praise God for this glorious,
vivid, and living reality which by its divine power pales every theory
into utter obscurity.