How to Grow in Holiness

Some persons may admit the fact of growth in holiness after the experience of full sanctification, and still be in some degree of perplexity as to the manner of it. We proceed, therefore, ...without promising to remove this perplexity altogether, to enter into some explanations upon this topic.

Evangelical holiness, it will be recollected, is nothing more nor less than perfect love. Love is based, in part, upon knowledge, and is necessarily based upon it.  It is entirely evident, that we can never love an object of which we have no knowledge; and it is equally so, that, in proportion as our knowledge extends, we have a wider intellectual basis for the action of this principle. And accordingly every new manifestation of God's character, every new exhibition of his attributes, every additional development of his providences, will furnish new occasions for accessions of love. It is the privilege, therefore, of a person perfected in love, and consequently a holy person, to increase in holiness in exact proportion with his increase in knowledge.

Examples of Growth in Holiness from Scripture

We learn in relation to John the Baptist, that he was filled with the Holy Ghost from his birth, and that consequently he was sanctified from that early period. But when we contemplate him in after life, in the temptations and labors he underwent, in his faithful preaching, in his stern rebukes of wickedness in high places as well as low, in his imprisonment, and in the general growth and expansion of his matured and consecrated powers, can there possibly be any difficulty in ascribing to him a growth in holiness? Does not the opposite idea, viz., that in the degree of holiness he was not more advanced than at the period of his birth, carry an absurdity upon the very face of it? And we may remark further, that it is expressly said of him, "And the child grew, and waxed STRONG IN SPIRIT."

How Can the Holy Become More Holy?

If a person is holy, how can he be more holy? If he is perfectly holy, how can he increase in holiness? These are questions, which are frequently asked, and which it is desirable satisfactorily to answer.

That a thing may be perfect in its nature, and yet be susceptible of growth or advancement in degree, is, I suppose, a matter of common observation. An oak, when it first rises above the surface of the ground, is so small and weak, that it may be easily trodden under foot; and yet it is as really and truly an oak, as when it subsequently stands forth in the strength and stature of an hundred years. A human being is in his nature as much a human being in the period of infancy, as in the subsequent expansion and growth of manhood. And so consider a man in relation to any intellectual power of the mind, or in relation to any appetite or affection of the mind, and the same view may very properly be taken. A person is a reasoner, for instance; he understands perfectly the principles and process of reasoning, and he may be able to apply the principles and process perfectly in a given case, and yet under the favorable influence of the law of Habit, he may much increase the promptness and facility, and consequent perfection, in the operations of this mental faculty. Again, an intemperate man may become perfectly temperate, and yet we all  know the general fact, that one, who is thus entirely reformed from intemperance, is more likely to be overcome by temptation in the earlier periods of his reformation, than when subsequently the temperate principle has acquired growth and strength.

Christ's Yoke Easy

"Come  unto  me  all ye that  labor, and are heavy  laden, and  I will give you  rest. Take  my yoke upon you, and learn of me: for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls."
Matt. xi. 28, 29.

Where  love is strong, 'tis easy to obey;
'Tis thus the grateful and devoted child,
Who tends his aged parents night and day,
Finds all his labors by his heart beguiled.
The light of love can make deep darkness bright,
And change a bed of thorns to beds of roses;
'Tis love, celestial love, that makes so light
The yoke, which Jesus on his friends imposes.
Prompted by this, with ready will and hand,
They follow in the path, which He hath trod;
Revere alike his life and his command,
And bow with gratitude beneath his rod.
Nothing is grievous which he bids to do;
Where love inspires the heart, life, hope, and strength are new.

— American Cottage Life (1850) XXV.

Sorrow for Sin

"And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger. I  will  arise and go to my father, and  will  say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son."
Luke xv. 17, 18, 19.

In dust and ashes let me humbled lie,
For I have sinned against my God and friend;
Nor ever upward lift my troubled eye,
But only tears let fall and groanings send.
And wilt Thou hear, who, merciful as just,
Dost pity on the bleeding bosom take?
Yes, Thou wilt mark the suppliant in the dust,
The bowed and bruised reed Thou wilt not break!
Here is my hope, and it is only here;
For I have sinned — how much God only knows;
Thy law have broken, put away thy fear,
And caused the sneer and scoffings of thy foes.
Low in the dust my worthless head I lay,
Till God shall hear my prayer, and take my guilt away.

— American Cottage Life (1850) XXIV.

Holy Deliberation

What is done hastily, is not likely to be done well. There is need, therefore, of HOLY DELIBERATION; especially when we consider, that the results of an eternity may depend on the movements of a single moment.

— Religious Maxims (1846) CLI.

Solitude and Society

It implies great grace to remain, for any considerable length of time, in religious solitude, and in the performance of private religious duties. But it implies equally great and perhaps greater grace, to enter into society and to mingle in human conversations in a proper religious spirit. If it were otherwise, why is it so common for religious men to prepare for the special hazards of society, by first seeking religious strength in retirement?

— Religious Maxims (1846) CL.