CHAP. XX.

SAINT PAUL AN EXAMPLE TO FAMILIAR LIFE.

THE highest state of moral goodness is compounded of the avowed properties of ripened habits, growing out of genuine Christian principles, invigorated and confirmed by the energy of the Holy Spirit:—this is evangelical virtue.

Saint Paul contrasts the power of opposite habits with wonderful force in his two pictures, one of the debasing slavery of a vicious mind, and the other of the almost mechanical power of superinduced good habits is a virtuous one:- Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?’* What a dominion must holy principles and holy habits have obtained in that mind, when he could say, 'The life that I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.'—' I am crucified to the world, and the world is erucified to me! Mere morality never rose to this super-human triumph, never exhibited such a proof of its own power to establish Christian practice. To these rooted habits the sacred writers sometimes apply the term perfection.

Saint Paul, when he speaks of perfection, could only mean that fixedness of principle, and Christian elevation of character, which, under the influence of Divine grace, is actually attainable; he could

* Romans, ch. vi,

not mean to intimate that he expected man to be freed from liability to error, to be completely exempted from the inroads of passion, to be no longer obnoxious to deviations and deflections from the law, by which he is yet mainly guided and governed. He - could not expect him to be entirely and absolutely delivered from the infirmities of his frail and fallen nature. But though this general uniformity of good habits may occasionally, through the surprises of passion and the assaults of temptation, be in some degree broken, yet these invaders are not encouraged, but repelled: though some actions may be more imperfect, and some wrong tempers may still unhappily intrude themselves, yet vigilance and prayer obtain such a power of resistance, as finally almost to subdue these corruptions; and those that are not altogether conquered, but occasionally break out, induce a habit of watchfulness over the suspected places, and keep the heart humble, by a feeling of these remains of infirmity.

But even here, such are the stratagems of the human heart for concealing its corruptions, not only from others, but from itself, that it is incumbent on every individual so to examine, as clearly to discover, his own real character; to inquire, whether he is at the same time sincerely mourning over his remaining disorders, and earnestly desiring and diligently cultivating a new vital principle of faith and holiness; or whether he has only been making a certain degree of improvement in this or that particular quality, while he continues both destitute and undesirous of this vital principle, which is the first seed of the Divine life.

It should seem, that the term' perfect,' as well in other parts of Scripture as in the writings of St.

Paul, not only has not always the exact meaning which we assign to it, but has different meanings, according to the occasion on which it is employed. Sometimes this term expresses the aim rather than the acquisition, as in that injunction of our Saviour -Be ye perfect, as your Father who is in heaven is perfect.' Sometimes it appears to imply, being furnished with needful instruction in all points, as in Paul's direction to Timothy, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.' Often it means nearly the same with religious sincerity, as in Proverbs,—' for the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.' Sometimes it is used with a special reference to abhorrence of idolatry, as when the expression 'perfect heart' is applied to various kings of Judah. The meaning in Philippians, 'Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded,' seems to import only real earnestness. Perfection, in the precise notion of it, admits not of gradation, nor of advancement in the same quality.

The highest kind of perfection of which man is capable, is to love God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent, with all his heart;' that is, so to love as to obey the laws of the one, while he rests on the merits of the other. Paul intimates that our happiness consists in the pardon of our sins, and our holiness in our conquest over them; and perhaps there is not a more dangerous delusion, than to separate the forgiveness from the subjugation: the pardon, indeed, is absolute, the conquest comparative. He places attainable perfection in the obedience of faith, in the labours of charity, in the purity of holiness; proving, that to aspire after this perfection, all men, according to their respective advantages, are under

equal obligation; and it is not too much to assert, that no one lives up to the dignity of man, who does not habitually aspire to the perfection of a Christian. For to come as near to God, that is, as near to perfection as our nature was intended to approach, is but to answer the end for which we were sent into the world. And do we not defeat that end, while we are not only contented to live so much below our acknowledged standard, but while we rest satisfied, without even aspiring towards it?

While Paul strenuously endeavours to abate confidence, and beat down presumption, he is equally careful, not by lowering the tone of perfection, to foster negligence, or to cherish indolence. He speaks as one who knew that sloth is an enemy, the more dangerous for being insidiously quiet. It saps the principle as effectually, if not as expeditiously, as other vices storm it. It is, indeed, in the power of this one inert sin, to perform the worst work of all the active ones to destroy the soul. He admonishes us equally, by his writings and by his example, to carry all the liveliness of our feelings, and all the vigour of our faculties, into our religion. He knew that a cold indifference, that a lifeless profession, would ill prepare us for that vital world, that real land of the living, that immortality which is all life, and soul, and spirit. He therefore prescribes for us as patients who need to be stimulated, full as often as to be lowered, in our moral temperature; nay, whose general constitution of mind presents a large portion of languor to be invigorated, and of lethargy to be animated. A physician,' says bishop Jeremy Taylor, 'would have small employment on the Riphæan mountains, if he

could cure nothing but calentures;-dead palsies and consumptions are their diseases.'

The apostle, however, intimates frequently that perfection does not consist in a high heroic elevation in some particular point, which, as few could reach, so fewer would aim at it; but in a steady principle, an equable piety, a consistent practice, an unremitting progress. If the standard held up were singular, it would be unprofitable. An exhibition of character rather to be wondered at, than imitated, would be a useless perfection. A prodigy is not a model. It would be no duty to copy a miracle, but presumptuous to expect that a miracle would be wrought for us. To call on all to perfect holiness in the fear of God'-to exhort men to go on unto perfection,' would be mocking human infirmity, if the apostle meant something which only a very few could attain. Pressing on unto perfection,' can mean little more than a perpetual improvement in piety and virtue.

Let us then be animated and encouraged by Scripture instances of excellence, and not deterred by them, as if they were too sublime for our imitation, as if exalted piety were to be limited to a few peculiar favourites of Heaven, were the exclusive prerogative of some distinguished servants of God, the rare effect of some miraculous gift. All grace is indeed a miracle, but it is not a singular, it is not an exclusive miracle. Whole churches, with exceptions no doubt, have been favoured with it. Saint Paul speaks of large communities, not univer sally, we presume, but generally, touched by divine grace, so as collectively to become the joy and crown of his rejoicing.' Hear him declare of his Roma n converts, that they were full of all goodness-filled