Health, or, How to Live

THE LADDER WITH EIGHT ROUNDS: OR BIBLE SANCTIFICATION

“SIMON PETER, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue; whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall; for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:1-11. HHTL 5.1

This quotation from Peter is a clear and beautiful illustration of the advances in the Christian life which constitute Bible sanctification. In introducing this subject we call attention to the following points! HHTL 5.2

1. The apostle addresses young converts, or those who have just “obtained like precious faith,” and sets before them the victories to be obtained, or the graces to be added, in their order, necessary to insure an admittance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. HHTL 6.1

2. If the apostle regarded a happy frame of mind as alone constituting sanctification, then we might expect him to illustrate the victories of the onward course in the Christian life by higher and still higher flights of feeling. But in this quotation he is silent in regard to feeling, and presents progress in well-doing as the basis of true sanctification. The love of God shed abroad in the heart, enlightening the mind, and purifying the affections, is the result of faith in Jesus Christ while living in obedience to the word. Such blessedness, resulting from walking in the self-denying path of obedience, in Bible sanctification. It is certainly the privilege of the true Christian, who walks in willing obedience to the word, to enjoy all that peace and fullness of joy expressed in the Bible. But to make flights of feeling constitute the sum total of sanctification, is to expose the minds of inexperienced disciples to the wildest freaks of fanaticism. HHTL 6.2

3. Peter’s progressive work system of sanctification is safe to embrace and follow, as it leads to all that faith and hope can grasp. It secures an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. HHTL 6.3

4. The apostle teaches the young Christian to progress by the simple rule of addition, with an all-persevering hand, all the way through to the kingdom. We may illustrate his system of sanctification by a ladder with eight rounds, reaching from earth to Heaven, or from a state of sin to a condition of moral fitness for the kingdom of God. Here are the rounds of the ladder: “And besides this giving all diligence, add to your HHTL 6.4