ritan pastor Thomas Watson. This quote comes from his, "A Body of Divinity" book. . . .
"What are the counterfeits of sanctification?
"There are things which look like sanctification, but are not.
"The first counterfeit of sanctification is moral virtue: to be just, be temperate, to be of a fair deportment. Not to have one's reputation blotted with ignominious scandal is good, but not enough; it is not sanctification. A field-flower differs from a garden-flower. Heathens have attained to morality; as Cato, Socrates, and Aristides. Civility is but nature refined; there is nothing of Christ there, and the heart may be foul and impure. Under these fair leaves of civility the worm of unbelief may be hid. A moral person has a secret antipathy against grace; he hates vice, and he hates grace as much as vice. The snake has a fine colour, but a sting. A person adorned and cultivated with moral virtue, has a secret spleen against sanctity. The Stoics who were the chief of the moralized heathens, were the bitterest enemies Paul had, (Acts 17:18).
"The second counterfeit of sanctification is superstitious devotion. . . . A superstitious holiness costs no great labour; there is nothing of the heart in it.
"The third counterfeit of sanctification is hypocrisy; when men make a pretence of that holiness which they have not. As a comet may shine like a star, a lustre may shine from their profession that dazzles the eyes of the beholders. 'Having a form of godliness, but denying the power,' (2 Tim 3:5). These are lamps without oil; whited sepulchres, like the Egyptian temples, which had fair outsides, but within spiders and apes. . . . To pretend to holiness when there is none is a vain thing. What were the foolish virgins better for their blazing lamps, when they wanted oil? What is the lamp of profession without the oil of saving grace? What comfort will a show of holiness yield at last? Will painted gold enrich? painted wine refresh him that is thirsty? or painted holiness be a cordial at the hour of death? A pretence of sanctification is not to be rested in."
