Phoebe Palmer Quotes on Holiness, Faith and the Altar
Phoebe Palmer led the Tuesday Meeting for the Promotion of Holiness in New York for decades and wrote some of the most widely read holiness books of the nineteenth century. Her style is earnest and direct. She writes like a friend leaning across the table, asking whether you've really given everything to God and whether you'll believe Him now.
Every quotation below is copied exactly from her books in TheWay Library, with the book and chapter it comes from, so you can read each one in its setting. The Way of Holiness tells her own story in the third person, as "the sister," so some lines say "she" where she means herself. For her life story, see who was Phoebe Palmer. For a guide to her books, see Phoebe Palmer books.
On faith before feeling
This was the lesson that changed her life. For years she waited to feel something before she would believe. Then she saw that faith comes first.
Faith is taking God at his word, relying unwaveringly upon his truth.
The Way of Holiness, Section V
Yet, faith and feeling are two distinct objects, though so nearly allied.
The Way of Holiness, Section V
She now perceived that she had been much more solicitous about feeling than faith — requiring feeling, the fruit of faith, previous to having exercised faith.
The Way of Holiness, Section V
… she would take God at his word, whatever her emotions might be.
The Way of Holiness, Section V
This would be expecting the fruit before the tree is planted; the power to live and dwell in God comes through believing.
Present to My Christian Friend, Chapter III: How May We Enter into the Enjoyment of Holiness?
I feel that I have been greatly deficient, and have lost inconceivably, by not exercising that faith which takes God at his word.
The Way of Holiness, Notes by the Way: Section VIII
On the altar
Palmer's best-known teaching. Christ is the altar, and "the altar sanctifieth the gift." Lay everything on it, and believe God's word that it's accepted.
The altar, thus provided by the conjoint testimony of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is Christ.
The Way of Holiness, Section IX
I now saw that I had obtained this blessing, by laying all upon the altar.
The Way of Holiness, Notes by the Way: Section VIII
Bring the offering of all your redeemed powers; not only to the altar, but, through Almighty grace, lay the sacrifice upon the altar.
Faith and Its Effects, Letter LV: To Rev. Mr. U——
The work is accomplished the moment we lay our all upon the altar.
Present to My Christian Friend, Chapter III: How May We Enter into the Enjoyment of Holiness?
And it is thus that the soul, laid upon the altar, is cleansed and kept clean.
The Way of Holiness, Notes by the Way: Section VIII
On what holiness is
She wanted holiness taken out of the clouds and made plain. It is a whole heart given to God, now.
Holiness implies salvation from sin, a redemption from all iniquity.
Present to My Christian Friend, Chapter II: What Is Gospel Holiness, or Sanctification?
Holiness is the mark; that state of soul in which all the powers of soul and body are consciously given up to God, And here you have it.
Present to My Christian Friend, Chapter III: How May We Enter into the Enjoyment of Holiness?
I realize that holiness to the Lord consists in being set apart for his service — not doing my own will, or leaning to my own understanding.
Faith and Its Effects, Letter XIII: To Mrs. W——
No longer think of holiness as a doctrine peculiar to a sect, but rather as a doctrine peculiar to the Bible
Present to My Christian Friend, Introduction
No! within the lids of the Bible a more authoritative command cannot be found, than, “Be ye holy.” And would the command be given, and yet the power to obey it withheld?
Faith and Its Effects, Letter XIV: To Mrs. W——
On holding nothing back
Consecration, for Palmer, meant everything: the known and the unknown, the dear and the dearest.
Make no provision for future emergencies; give up all, whether known or unknown.
Present to My Christian Friend, Chapter III: How May We Enter into the Enjoyment of Holiness?
Resolve that, as duty shall be made plain, you will follow on, in obedience to the command, though death may await you.
Present to My Christian Friend, Chapter III: How May We Enter into the Enjoyment of Holiness?
Conformity to the will of God in all things was the absorbing desire of her heart.
The Way of Holiness, Section IV
God will never do our part of the work, neither does he require that we should do his.
Faith and Its Effects, Letter XXIV: To Mr. P——
On keeping the blessing
She taught that holiness isn't a single moment you look back on. It's a sacrifice you keep offering.
Yet she also found that one act of faith is not sufficient to insure a continuance in the “way of holiness,” but that a continuous act was requisite.
The Way of Holiness, Section IX
Thus I learned the imperative necessity of living by the moment.
Faith and Its Effects, Letter XIII: To Mrs. W——
I learned, that in order to maintain a constant witness of present purification, the sacrifice to God must be ceaselessly made.
Faith and Its Effects, Letter XIII: To Mrs. W——
It is of great importance that you look at this great salvation as a present salvation, received momentarily from above.
Present to My Christian Friend, Chapter III: How May We Enter into the Enjoyment of Holiness?
My experience continually attests the truth of the assertion, that the life of the believer is a heaven below.
Faith and Its Effects, Letter XIV: To Mrs. W——
On the word of God
She settled every question by Scripture, and she wanted others to do the same.
… being settled thus, the voice of duty is literally the voice of God to the soul.
The Way of Holiness, Section VII
Let me tell you, my dear brother, to the praise of the God of the Bible, that in my experience I find faith always brings power.
Faith and Its Effects, Letter XXVI: To Mr. P——
I apprehend the lively oracles as the words of the living God, and to me the Bible is not a “dead letter,” but spirit and life.
Faith and Its Effects, Letter XXVI: To Mr. P——
… the religion of the Bible does not require great powers of mind to reach it, but deep humility of spirit
Faith and Its Effects, Preface
On everyday life and home
Holiness, for Palmer, reached into the kitchen and the nursery.
From that time she felt that the honor of God was as much concerned in judicious, external and internal household arrangements, as in closet duties.
The Way of Holiness, Notes by the Way: Section IV
It is certainly far more desirable to rule by love than by fear, if such a thing may be.
Faith and Its Effects, Letter XVIII: To Mr. K——
Before the routine of domestic duty for the day commences, I feel it a blessed privilege to present each member of our household individually before God.
Faith and Its Effects, Letter XVIII: To Mr. K——
It is my opinion that the Lord generally calls us to be lights to those around us, by a consistent christian example, in just the circle from which He has singled us out.
The Way of Holiness, Notes by the Way: Section VIII
On sorrow
Palmer buried children of her own. In her preface to The Useful Disciple, the story of a widow who lost her whole family, she wrote to the afflicted:
… to those who fully trust the keeping of their soul to a faithful Creator, every event should be regarded as a link in the golden chain leading them forth in a right way to a city of habitation.
The Useful Disciple, Preface
And from the woman whose story she edited, Mary Gardner, a line Palmer would have said amen to:
To go or stay was the same to me, so long as I felt assured that the will of God was done.
The Useful Disciple, Chapter IX: Her Success in Looking Up Destitute Children
Where to read more Phoebe Palmer
If you want one book of hers first, read The Way of Holiness. It's her own story, and it's where these ideas began. For her teaching in a short, direct form, read Present to My Christian Friend on Entire Devotion to God. All her books are listed on the Phoebe Palmer author page, our reading guide explains what's in each one, and our guide to the best Christian books on holiness will take you further.