“Charity contains the sum of all holiness* of heart and life. No action, however commendable, no character, however highly esteemed, that is not formed upon the love of the truth, can be well pleasing to God. All love to the truth is influenced by the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of the truth, who is therefore likewise called the Spirit of love. And thus we see the true difference betwixt the Spirit of God, and the spirit of the world, or the spirit of pride, by which men fortify themselves in their disobedience to God, and flatter one another down to eternal perdition” (Sandeman).
For a fairly detailed explanation of what constitutes Biblical charity (love), see the following sermons about true vs false love:
Sandeman’s explanation of what he asterisked above:
* All sanctification solely springs from the bare truth, so much set at nought by our preachers. Jesus Christ said in his prayer, John xvii, Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.– And for their sakes I sanctify myself that they also might he sanctified through the truth. Only by this truth are the consciences of the unclean sanctified, and encouraged to draw nigh to God. Only by this truth is the heart purified from evil affections, for obeying the new commandment of love Only by this truth do men overcome the world: Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? If we attend to these passages of Scripture, we will readily be disentangled from many volumes of nonsense that have been writ by many famous preachers on sanctification (Sandeman).
Some “volumes of nonsense” containing damnable heresy include:
Walter Marshall’s Gospel-Mystery Of Sanctification.
John Owen’s volume containing this treatise (I’ve shortened the title): The Nature, Power, Deceit, and Prevalency of the Remainders of Indwelling Sin in Believers.
Jerry Bridges’ The Pursuit Of Holiness
Agrammatos 