“Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it; that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle; but that it should be holy and without blemish” Ephesians 5:25-27.

Jesus’ work for the sinner was so great and wonderful that it was necessary for Him to give Himself on the cross for that work. Jesus’ love for us was so great and wonderful that He actually gave Himself for us and to us. Jesus’ surrender is so great and wonderful that all which He gave Himself for can be truly and entirely ours. For Jesus, the Holy, the Almighty, has taken it upon Himself to do it. He gave Himself for us.1 And now the one necessary thing is that we should rightly understand and firmly believe in His surrender for us.

To what end, then, was it that He gave Himself for the Church? Hear what God says. The aim of Jesus is that He might sanctify the Church so that it would be without blemish.2 He will attain His aim in the soul as long as the soul falls into His will, makes His will its most important consideration, and relies on Jesus’ surrender of Himself to do so.

Hear this word of God, “Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a people for His own possession, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:14). Jesus gave Himself in order to prepare for Himself a pure people, a people of His own, a zealous people. When I receive Him, and when I believe that He gave Himself for me, I will certainly experience it. I will be purified through Him. I will be held securely as His possession and be filled with zeal and joy to work for Him.

And notice how the operation of this surrender of Himself will result in His having us entirely for Himself–“that He might present us to Himself,” “that He might purify us to Himself, a people of His own.” The more I understand and contemplate Jesus’ surrender of Himself for me, the more I give myself again to Him. The surrender is a mutual one–the love comes from both sides. His giving of Himself makes such an impression on my heart, that my heart, with the self-same love and joy, becomes entirely His. Through giving Himself to me, He takes possession of me. He becomes mine and I become His. I know that I have Jesus wholly for me, and that He has me wholly for Himself.3

And how do I come to the full enjoyment of this blessed life? “I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).4 Through faith, I reflect on and contemplate His surrender to me as sure and glorious. Through faith, I believe it. Through faith, I trust in Jesus to confirm this surrender, to communicate Himself to me, and to reveal Himself within me. Through faith, I await–with certainty-for the full experience of salvation which comes from having Jesus as mine, to do all for me. Through faith, I live in Jesus who loved me and gave Himself for me. And I say, “No longer do I live, but Christ liveth in me” (Galatians 2:20). Christian, please believe with your whole heart that Jesus gives Himself for you. He is wholly yours. He will do all for you.5

Lord Jesus, what wonderful grace is this, that You gave Yourself for me. In You there is eternal life. You are the life, and You give Yourself to be all that I need in my life. You purify me, sanctify me, and make me zealous in good works. You take me wholly for Yourself and give Yourself wholly for me. Yes, my Lord, in all You are my life. Make me rightly understand this. Amen.

Footnotes:

1) Gal. 1:4; 2:20; Eph. 5:2,25; I Tim. 2:6; Titus 2:14

2) Eph. 1:4; 5:27; Col. 1:22; I Thess. 2:10; 3:13; 5:23,24

3) Exodus 19:4,5; Deut. 26:7,18; Isa. 41:9,10; I Cor. 6:19,20; I Peter 2:10

4) John 6:29,35; 7:38; 10:10,38

5) Matt. 8:10; 9:2,22; Mark 11:24; Luke 7:50; 8:48; 17:19; 18:42; Rom. 4:20,21;

Notes

1. It was in His great love that the Father gave the Son. It was out of love that Jesus gave Himself (Rom. 3:16; Eph. 5:26). The taking, the having of Jesus, is the entrance into a life in the love of God. This is the highest life (John 14:21,28; 17:23,26; Eph. 3:17,18). Through faith we must press into love and live there (1 John 4:16-18).

2. Do you think that you have now learned all the lesson and how to begin every day with a childlike trust? I take Jesus this day to be my life and to do all for me.

3. Understand that to take and to have Jesus presupposes a personal communion with Him. To have pleasure in Him, to gladly hold conversation with Him, to rejoice in Him as my friend and in His love–this leads to the faith that truly takes Him.

“As many as received Him, to them gave He the power to become children of God, even to them that believe on His name” John 1:12.

What is given must be received, otherwise it does not profit. If the first great deed of God’s love is the gift of His Son, then the first work of man must be to receive this Son. And if all the blessings of God’s love come to us only in the ever-new, ever-living Son of the Father, then all these blessings enter into us daily through the always new, always continuing reception of the Son.

You, beloved young Christians, know what is necessary for this reception because you have already received the Lord Jesus. But all that this reception involves must become clearer and stronger–the unceasing, living action of your faith.1

Within this action lies the increase of faith. Your first receiving of Jesus rested on the certainty provided by the Word–that He was for you. Through the Word your soul must be further filled with the assurance that all that is in Him is literally and truly for you, given to you by the Father; He is to be your life.

The impulse to your first receiving was based on your want and necessity. Now, through the Spirit, you become still poorer in spirit, and you see how much you have need of Jesus for everything, every moment. This leads to a ceaseless, ever-active taking of Him as your a11.2

When you first received, it was by faith in that which you could not yet see or feel. That same faith must be continually exercised in saying, “All that I see in Jesus is for me. I take it as mine, although I do not yet experience it.” The love of God is a communicating–a ceaseless outstreaming of His light of life over the soul. It is a very powerful and genuine giving of Jesus. Our life is nothing but a continuous blessed understanding and reception of Him.3

And this is the way to live as children of God. To as many as receive Him, to them He gives the power to become children of God. This holds true, not only of conversion and regeneration, but also every day of my life. If to walk in all things as a child of God and to exhibit the image of my Father is indispensable, then I must take Jesus, the only begotten Son. It is He who makes me a child of God. The way to live as a child of God is to have the heart and life full of Jesus. I go to the Word to learn all the characteristics of a child of God.4 After each one of them I write–“Jesus will work in me; I have Him to help me to be a child of God.”

Beloved young Christian, I implore you to learn to understand the simplicity and the glory of being a true Christian. It is to receive Jesus in all His fullness and in all the glorious relations in which the Father gives Him to you. Take Him as your Prophet, as your wisdom, your light, your guide. Take Him as your Priest, who renews you, purifies you, sanctifies you, brings you near to God, takes you, and forms you wholly for His service. Take Him as your King, who governs you, protects you, and blesses you. Take Him as your Head, your example, your Brother, your life, your all. The giving of God is a divine and an ever-progressive, effectual communication to your soul. Let your taking be the childlike, cheerful, continuous opening of mouth and heart for what God gives–the full Jesus and all His grace. To every prayer the answer of God is Jesus. All is in Him, and all in Him is for you. Let your response always be, “Jesus, in Him I have all.” You are and you live, in all things, as children of God through faith in Jesus.

Father, open the eyes of my heart to understand what it is to be a child of God and to live always as a child, through always believing in Jesus, Your only Son. Let every breath of my soul be faith in Jesus, a confidence in Him, a resting in Him, a surrender to Him, so that He may work all in me. Amen.

Footnotes:

1) 2 Cor. 10:15; 1 Thes. 1:8; 3:10; 2 Thess. 1:3

2) Matt. 5:3; I Cor. 3:10, 13,16; Eph. 4:14,15; Col. 2:6

3) John 1:16; Col. 2:9,10; 3:3

4) Matt. 5:9,16,44,45; Rom. 8:14; Eph. 1:4,5; 5:1,2; Phil. 2:15; Heb. 2:10; 1 Pet. 1:14,17; 1 John 3:1,10; 5:1,3

Notes

1. By the grace of God, you now know that you have received Jesus and are God’s child; you must now take pains to make His salvation known. There is many a one who longs to know and cannot find out how he can become a child of God.

2. Endeavour to make two things plain to him. First, that the new birth is something so high and holy that he can do nothing in it. He must receive eternal life from God through the Spirit. He must be born from above. This Jesus teaches (John 3:1-8).Then, make it clear to him how low God has descended to us with this new life, and how near He brings it to us. In Jesus there is life for everyone who believes in Him. This Jesus teaches (John 3:14-18). And Jesus and the life are in the Word.

3. Tell the sinner that when he takes the Word, he then has Jesus and life in the Word (Rom. 10:8). Take pains to tell the glad tidings that we become children of God only through faith in Jesus.

“They gave their own selves to the Lord” 2 Corinthians 8:5.

The chief element of what Jesus has done for me–always does for me–lies in His surrender of Himself for me. I have the main element of what He would have me do in my surrender to Him. For young Christians who have given themselves to Jesus, it is of great importance to always hold fast–to confirm and renew this surrender. This is the special life of faith which says again every day, “I have given myself to Him. I will follow and serve Him.1 He has taken me. I am His and entirely at His service.”2

Young Christian, hold firm your surrender and continue to make it firmer. When a stumbling or a sin recurs after you have surrendered yourself, do not think that the surrender was insincere. No, the surrender to Jesus does not make us perfect at once. You have sinned because you were not thoroughly or firmly enough in His arms. Adhere to this, even though it is with shame, “Lord, You know I have given myself to You, and I am Yours.”3 Confirm this surrender again. Say to Him that you now begin to see better how complete the surrender to Him must be. Every day, renew the voluntary, entire, and undivided offering up of yourselves to Him.4

The longer we continue as Christians, the deeper our insight into God’s Word will lead us to surrender to Jesus. We will see more clearly that we do not yet fully understand or contemplate it. The surrender must become more undivided and trustful. The language which Ahab once used must be ours, “My Lord, O King, according to thy saying, I am Yours, and all that I have” (1 Kings 20:4). This is the language of undivided dedication–I am thine, and all that I have. Keep nothing back. Keep back no single sin that you do not confess and turn from. Without conversion there can be no surrender. Lay upon the altar all of your thoughts, your utterances, your feelings, your labours, your time, your influence, and your property.6 Jesus has a right to all–He demands the whole. Give yourself, with all that you have, to be guided and used and kept, undivided and blessed. “My Lord, O King, according to thy saying, I am thine, and all that I have.”

That is the language of trustful dedication. It is on the Word of the Lord–which calls upon you to surrender yourself–that you have done this. That Word is your guarantee that He will take and guide and keep you. As surely as you give yourself does He take you. And what He takes He can keep. Only we must not take it out of His hand again. Let it remain fixed with you, that your surrender is in the highest degree pleasing to Him. Be assured of it, your offering is a sweet smelling savour. Not on what you are or what you experience or discover in yourselves do you say this, but on His Word. According to His Word you are able to stand on this–what you give He will take, and what He takes He will keep.

Therefore, every day let this be the childlike joyful activity of your life of faith. Surrender yourselves continually to Jesus, and you are safe in the certainty that He, in His love, takes and holds you securely. His answer to your giving is the renewed and always deeper surrender of Himself to you.

According to Your Word, my Lord and King, I am Yours, and all that I have. Every day, this day, I will confirm it. I am not my own, but am my Lord’s. Fervently I implore You to take full possession of Your property so that no one may doubt whose I am. Amen.

Footnotes:

1) Matt. 4:22; 10:24,25,37,38; Luke 18:22; John 12:25,26; 2 Cor. 5:15

2) Matt. 28:20

3) John 21:17; Gal. 6:1; 1 Thess. 5:24; 2 Tim. 2:13; 1 John 5:16

4) Luke 18:28; Phil. 3:7,8

5) Matt. 7:21; John 3:20,21; 2 Tim. 2:19,21

6) Rom. 6:13,22;12:1; 2 Cor. 5:15; Heb. 13:15; I Pet. 2:5

7) John 10:28; 2 Thess. 3:3; 2 Tim. 1:12

Notes

l . Ponder once again the words giving and taking and having. What I give to Jesus, He takes with a divine taking. And what He takes, He has and thereafter cares for. Now it is absolutely no longer mine. I must have no thought of it. I may not dispose of it. Let your faith find full expression in adoration. Jesus takes me. Jesus has me.

2. Should a time of doubting or darkness overtake you, and your assurance that the Lord has received you has come to be lost, do not allow yourself to become discouraged. Come simply as a sinner and confess your sins. Believe in His promises that He will by no means cast out those who come to Him, and begin simply on the ground of the promises to say, “I know that He has received me.”

3. Do not forget what the chief element in surrender is-it is a surrender to Jesus and to His love. Fix your eye not on your activity in surrender, but on Jesus who calls you, who takes you, and who can do all for you. This is what makes faith strong.

4. Faith is always a surrender. Faith is the eye for seeing the invisible. When I look at something, I surrender myself to the impression which it makes upon me. Faith is the ear that hearkens to the voice of God. When I believe a message; I surrender myself to the influence, whether cheering or saddening, which the words exercise on me. When I believe in Jesus, I surrender myself to Him, in reflection, in desire, in expectation, in order that He may be in me and do in me that for which He has been given to me by God.

“Thou shalt call His name Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins” Matthew 1:21.

“Ye know that He was manifest to take away sins; and in Him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not” I John 3:5,6.

It is sin that is the cause of our misery. It is sin that provoked God and brought His curse on man. He hates sin with a perfect hatred and will do everything to root it out.1 It is to take away sin that God gave His Son–that Jesus gave Himself.2 It is God who sets us free. Not only free from punishment, curse, uneasiness and terror, but also free from sin itself.3 You know that He was manifested so that He might take away our sins. Let us receive this thought deep into our hearts–it is God who takes away our sins. The better we grasp this the more blessed our life will be.

All do not receive this. They chiefly seek to be freed from the consequences of sin, from fear and darkness; and the punishment that sin brings.4 It is for this reason that they do not come to the true rest of salvation. They do not understand that to be saved is to be freed from sin. Let us hold it firmly. Jesus saves through the taking away of sin. Then we will learn two things.

The first is to come to Jesus with every sin.5 Now that you have given yourself over to the Lord, do not lose heart over the sin which still attacks and rules you. Make no endeavour to take away and overcome sin merely by your own strength. Bring every sin to Jesus. He has been ordained by God to take away sin. He has already brought it to nothingness upon the cross and has broken its power.6 It is His work– is His desire to set you free from it. Learn, then, to always come to Jesus with every sin. Sin is your deadly foe. If you confess it to Jesus–surrender it to Him–you will certainly overcome it.7

Learn to believe this firmly. This is the second point. Understand that Jesus Himself is the Saviour from sin. It is not you who must overcome sin with the help of Jesus, but Jesus Himself–Jesus in you.8 If, in this way, you become free from sin and enjoy full salvation, then endeavour to always stand in full fellowship with Jesus. Do not wait until you enter into temptation to ask for the help of Jesus. But let your life beforehand always be through Jesus. Let His nearness be your one desire. Jesus saves from sin, and to have Jesus is salvation from sin.9 O that we could rightly understand this! The saving from sin is not an occasional event, but, rather, it is a blessing through Jesus, to us and in us.10 When Jesus fills me, when Jesus is all for me, sin has no hold on me. “Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not.”

Yes, sin is driven out and kept out only through the presence of Jesus. It is Jesus Himself, through His giving to me and His living in me, who is my salvation from sin.

Precious Lord, let Your light stream over me. Let it become clearer to my soul that You Yourself are my salvation. To have You with me, in me-this keeps sin out. Teach me to bring every sin to You. Let every sin drive me to a closer alliance with You. Then Your name will truly become my salvation from sin. Amen.

Footnotes:

1) Deut. 27:26; Isa. 59:1,2; Jer. 44:4; Rom. 1:18

2) Gal. 2:4; Eph. 5:25,27; I Pet. 2:24; 1 John 3:3,8

3) Jer. 27:9; 1 Pet. 1:2,15,16; 2:14; 1 John 3:8

4) Gen. 27:34; Isa. 58:5,6; John 6:26; Jas. 4:3

5) Ps. 32:5; Luke 7:38; 19:7,8,10; John 8:11

6) Heb. 9:26

7) Rom. 7:4,9; 8:2; 2 Cor. 12:9; 2 Thess. 2:3

8) Deut. 8:17,18; Ps. 44:4; John 16:33; 1 John 5:4,5

9) 1 Cor. 15:10; Gal. 2:20; Phil. 4:13; Col. 3:3-5

10)Ex. 29:43; John 15:4,5; Rom. 8:10; Eph. 3:17,18

Notes

1. See of what importance it is that the Christian should always grow in the knowledge of sin. The sin that I do not know, I cannot bring to Jesus. The sin that I do not bring to Him is not taken out of me.

2. To know sin better the following things are required:

-The constant prayer, “Examine me; make known to me my transgression and my sin” (Job 13:23; Ps. 139:23,24).

-A tender conscience that is willing to be convinced of sins through the Spirit, as He also uses the conscience for this end.

—The very humble surrender to the Word, to think about sin only as God thinks.

3. The deeper knowledge of sin will be found in these results:

–That we will see as sin things which we previously did not regard in this light.

-That we will more exceedingly perceive the detestable character of sin (Rom. 7:13).

-That with the overcoming of external sins we come to understand more clearly the deep sinfulness of our nature, of the enmity of our flesh against God. Then we give up all hope of being or of doing anything good, and we are turned wholly to live in faith through the Spirit.

4. Let us thank God very heartily that Jesus is a Saviour from sin. The power that sin has had over us, Jesus now has. The place that sin has taken in the heart, Jesus will now take. “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:2).

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” 1 John 1:9.

The one thing which God hates is sin. It grieves and provokes Him, and He will destroy it. The one thing that makes man unhappy is sin.1 The one thing which Jesus had to give His blood for was sin. In all the communication between the sinner and God, this is the first thing which the sinner must bring to his God–sin.2

When you first came to Jesus, you perceived this in some measure. But you should learn to understand this lesson more deeply. The one counsel concerning sin is–bring it daily to the only One who can take it away, God Himself. You should learn that one of the greatest privileges of a child of God is the confession of sin. It is only the holiness of God that can consume sin. Through confession I must hand over my sin to God, lay it down in God, and get God’s acquittal of it. I must cast it into the fiery oven of God’s holy love which burns against sin like a fire. God, yes, God Himself, and He alone, takes away sin.3

The Christian does not always understand this. He has an inborn tendency to want to cover sin, or to make it less, or to root it out only when he desires to draw near to God. He considers covering the sin with repentance, self-blame, or with contempt for the temptation which caused him to sin. He tries to conceal sin with the fruits of the works he has done or still hopes to do.4 Young Christian, if you want to enjoy the peacefulness of a complete forgiveness and a divine cleansing of sin, see to it that you correctly use the confession of sin. In the true confession of sin, you have one of the most blessed privileges of a child of God, and one of the deepest roots of a powerful spiritual life.

For this end, let your confession be a precise one.5 The continued, uncertain confession of sin does more harm than good. It is much better to say to God, “I have nothing to confess,” than to say, “I do not know what to confess.” Begin with one sin. Let it come to a complete harmony between God and you concerning this one sin. Let it be fixed with you that this sin is–through confession–placed in God’s hands. You will experience that in such confessions there is both power and blessing.

Let the confession be a righteous one.6 Deliver up the sinful deed to be laid aside. Deliver up the sinful feeling with trust in the Lord. Confession implies renunciation–the putting off of sin. Give up sin to God, who forgives you of it, and cleanses you from it. Do not confess, if you are not prepared, or if you do not heartily desire to be freed from it. Confession has value only if it is a giving up of sin to God.

Let the confession be one of trust.7 Depend entirely on God to actually forgive you, and to cleanse you from sin. Continue in confession by casting the sin you desire to be rid of into the fire of God’s holiness until your soul has the firm confidence that God takes it on His own account to forgive and to cleanse. It is this faith which truly overcomes the world and sin. It is the faith that God, in Jesus, actually frees us from sin.8

Brothers and sisters, do you understand it now? What must you do with sin, with every sin? Bring it in confession to God, and give it to God. God alone takes away sin.

Lord God, what thanks I will express for this unspeakable blessing-that I may come to You with sin. It is known to You, Lord, how sin before Your holiness causes terror and flight. It is known to You how it is our deepest thought, first to have sin covered, and then to come to You with our desire and endeavour for good. Lord, teach me to come to You with sin-every sin-and in confession to lay it down before You and give it up to You. Amen.

Footnotes:

1) Gen. 6:5,6; Isa. 43:24; Ezek. 33:6; Rev. 6:16,l7

2) Judg. 10:10,15,16; Ezra 9:6; Neh. 9:2,33; Jer. 3:21,25; Dan. 9:4,5,20

3) Lev. 6:21; Num. 5:7; 2 Sam. 12:13; Ps. 32:5; 38:18; 51:5,19

4) Gen. 3:12; Ex. 32:22,24; Isa. 1:11,5; Luke 13:26

5) Num. 12:11; 21:7; 2 Sam. 24:10,17; Isa. 59:12,13; Luke 23:41;Acts 19:18,19; 22:19,20; 1 Tim. 1:13,15

6) Prov. 28:13; Lev. 26:40,41; Jer. 31:18,19

7) 2 Sam. 12:13; Ps. 32:5; Isa. 55:7

8) 1 John 5:5

Notes

1. What is the distinction between the covering of sin by God and by man? How does man do it? How does God do it?

2. What are the great hindrances in the way of the confession of sin?

-Ignorance about sin,

-Fear to come with sin to the Holy Father,

-The endeavour to come to God with something good,

-Unbelief in the power of the blood of Jesus and in the riches of grace.

3. Must I immediately confess an oath or a lie or a wrong word, or wait until my feeling has first cooled and become correctly disposed? Confess it immediately; come in full sinfulness to God, without first desiring to make it less!

4. Is it also necessary to confess before man? It is indispensable if our sin has been against man. Also, we must be careful, for it is often easier to acknowledge a wrong before God than before man (Jas. 5:16).

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” 1 John 1:9.

The one thing which God hates is sin. It grieves and provokes Him, and He will destroy it. The one thing that makes man unhappy is sin.1 The one thing which Jesus had to give His blood for was sin. In all the communication between the sinner and God, this is the first thing which the sinner must bring to his God–sin.2

When you first came to Jesus, you perceived this in some measure. But you should learn to understand this lesson more deeply. The one counsel concerning sin is–bring it daily to the only One who can take it away, God Himself. You should learn that one of the greatest privileges of a child of God is the confession of sin. It is only the holiness of God that can consume sin. Through confession I must hand over my sin to God, lay it down in God, and get God’s acquittal of it. I must cast it into the fiery oven of God’s holy love which burns against sin like a fire. God, yes, God Himself, and He alone, takes away sin.3

The Christian does not always understand this. He has an inborn tendency to want to cover sin, or to make it less, or to root it out only when he desires to draw near to God. He considers covering the sin with repentance, self-blame, or with contempt for the temptation which caused him to sin. He tries to conceal sin with the fruits of the works he has done or still hopes to do.4 Young Christian, if you want to enjoy the peacefulness of a complete forgiveness and a divine cleansing of sin, see to it that you correctly use the confession of sin. In the true confession of sin, you have one of the most blessed privileges of a child of God, and one of the deepest roots of a powerful spiritual life.

For this end, let your confession be a precise one.5 The continued, uncertain confession of sin does more harm than good. It is much better to say to God, “I have nothing to confess,” than to say, “I do not know what to confess.” Begin with one sin. Let it come to a complete harmony between God and you concerning this one sin. Let it be fixed with you that this sin is–through confession–placed in God’s hands. You will experience that in such confessions there is both power and blessing.

Let the confession be a righteous one.6 Deliver up the sinful deed to be laid aside. Deliver up the sinful feeling with trust in the Lord. Confession implies renunciation–the putting off of sin. Give up sin to God, who forgives you of it, and cleanses you from it. Do not confess, if you are not prepared, or if you do not heartily desire to be freed from it. Confession has value only if it is a giving up of sin to God.

Let the confession be one of trust.7 Depend entirely on God to actually forgive you, and to cleanse you from sin. Continue in confession by casting the sin you desire to be rid of into the fire of God’s holiness until your soul has the firm confidence that God takes it on His own account to forgive and to cleanse. It is this faith which truly overcomes the world and sin. It is the faith that God, in Jesus, actually frees us from sin.8

Brothers and sisters, do you understand it now? What must you do with sin, with every sin? Bring it in confession to God, and give it to God. God alone takes away sin.

Lord God, what thanks I will express for this unspeakable blessing-that I may come to You with sin. It is known to You, Lord, how sin before Your holiness causes terror and flight. It is known to You how it is our deepest thought, first to have sin covered, and then to come to You with our desire and endeavour for good. Lord, teach me to come to You with sin-every sin-and in confession to lay it down before You and give it up to You. Amen.

Footnotes:

1) Gen. 6:5,6; Isa. 43:24; Ezek. 33:6; Rev. 6:16,l7

2) Judg. 10:10,15,16; Ezra 9:6; Neh. 9:2,33; Jer. 3:21,25; Dan. 9:4,5,20

3) Lev. 6:21; Num. 5:7; 2 Sam. 12:13; Ps. 32:5; 38:18; 51:5,19

4) Gen. 3:12; Ex. 32:22,24; Isa. 1:11,5; Luke 13:26

5) Num. 12:11; 21:7; 2 Sam. 24:10,17; Isa. 59:12,13; Luke 23:41;Acts 19:18,19; 22:19,20; 1 Tim. 1:13,15

6) Prov. 28:13; Lev. 26:40,41; Jer. 31:18,19

7) 2 Sam. 12:13; Ps. 32:5; Isa. 55:7

8) 1 John 5:5

Notes

1. What is the distinction between the covering of sin by God and by man? How does man do it? How does God do it?

2. What are the great hindrances in the way of the confession of sin?

-Ignorance about sin,

-Fear to come with sin to the Holy Father,

-The endeavour to come to God with something good,

-Unbelief in the power of the blood of Jesus and in the riches of grace.

3. Must I immediately confess an oath or a lie or a wrong word, or wait until my feeling has first cooled and become correctly disposed? Confess it immediately; come in full sinfulness to God, without first desiring to make it less!

4. Is it also necessary to confess before man? It is indispensable if our sin has been against man. Also, we must be careful, for it is often easier to acknowledge a wrong before God than before man (Jas. 5:16).

“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered” Psalm 32:1.

“Bless the Lord, O my soul….who forgiveth all thine iniquities” Psalm 103:2,3.

In connection with surrender to the Lord, it was said that the first great blessing of the grace of God was this–the free, complete, everlasting forgiveness of all your sins. For the young Christian, it is of great importance that he should stand firm in this forgiveness of his sins. He should always carry the certainty of it about with him. For this reason, he must especially consider the following truths.

The forgiveness of our sin is a complete forgiveness.1 God does not partially forgive. Even with man, we believe that half forgiveness is not true forgiveness. The love of God is so great, and the atonement in the blood of Jesus so complete and powerful, that God always forgives completely. Take time with God’s Word so that you may fully understand that your guilt has been blotted out completely. God absolutely thinks no more about your sins. “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” 2

The forgiveness of our sin restores us entirely again to the love of God.3 Not only does God no longer attribute us with sin, but He also restores us to the righteousness of Jesus–for His sake we are as dear to God as He is. Not only is wrath turned away from us, but the fullness of love now rests upon us. “I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him” (Hoses 14:4). Forgiveness is the access to all of God’s love. On this account, forgiveness is also an introduction to all the other blessings of redemption.

Live in the full assurance of forgiveness, and let the Spirit fill your heart with the certainty and the blessedness of it. Then you will have great confidence in expecting all from God. Learn from the Word of God–through the Spirit-to know God correctly, and to trust Him as the ever-forgiving God. That is His name and His glory. To one to whom much, yes, all is forgiven, He will also give much. He will give a11.4 Therefore, let it be your joyful thanksgiving every day. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, who forgiveth all thine iniquities.” Then forgiveness becomes the power of a new life. “Her sins which are many, are forgiven: for she loved much” (Luke 7:47). The forgiveness of sins, received in living faith every day, is a bond which binds you to Jesus and His service.5

Then, the forgiveness of former sins supplies the courage to immediately confess every new sin and to trustfully receive forgiveness.6 Look, however, to one thing-the certainty of forgiveness must not be a matter of memory or understanding, but must be the fruit of life. It must be our living relationship with the forgiving Father and with Jesus in whom we have forgiveness.7 It is not enough to know that I once received forgiveness. My life in the love of God, my living communion with Jesus by faith–this makes the forgiveness of sin again always new and powerful. It is the joy and the life of my soul.

Lord God, this is the wonder of Your grace–that You are a forgiving God. Teach me every day to know in this the glory of Your love. Let the Holy Spirit seal forgiveness to me as a blessing, everlasting, ever fresh, living, and powerful. And let my life be like a song of thanksgiving. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, who forgiveth all thine iniquities.” Amen.

Footnotes:

1) Ps. 103:12; Isa. 38:17; 55:7; Mic. 7:18,19; Heb. 10:16-18

2) Jer. 31:34; Heb. 8:12; 10:17

3) Hos. 14:5; Luke 15:22; Acts 26:18; Rom. 5:1,5

4) Ps. 103:3; Isa. 12:1,3; Rom. 5:10; 8:32; Eph. 1:7; 3:5

5) John 13:14,l5; Rom. 12:1; 1 Cor. 6:20; Eph. 5:25,26; Tit.2:l4; 1 Pet. 1:17,18

6) Ex. 34:6,7; Matt. 18:21; Luke 1:77,78

7) Eph. 2:13,18; Phil 3:9; Col. 1:21,22

Notes

1. Forgiveness is one with justification. Forgiveness is the word that looks more to the relation of God as Father. Justification looks more to His acquittal as Judge. Forgiveness is a word that is more easily understood by the young Christian. But he must also endeavour to understand the word justification and to become familiar with all that the Scriptures teach about it.

2. About justification we must understand:

-That man in himself is totally unrighteous;

-That he cannot be justified by works, that is, pronounced righteous before the judgement seat of the Father;

-That Christ Jesus has brought righteousness for our sake. His obedience is our righteousness;

-That we, through faith, receive Him, are united with Him, and then are pronounced righteous before God;

-That we, through faith, have the certainty of this, and, as justified, draw near to God;

-That union with Jesus is a life by which we are not only pronounced righteous, but are truly righteous and act righteously.

3. Let the certainty of your part in justification, in the full forgiveness of your sins, and full restoration to the love of God, be your confidence in drawing near to God every day.

“If we walk in the light, the blood of Jesus His Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” 1 John 1:7,9.

The same God who forgives sin also cleanses from it. Cleansing is no less a promise of God than is forgiveness; therefore, it is a matter of faith. Cleansing, as well as forgiveness, is as obtainable from God as it is indispensable and impossible for man.

And what now is this cleansing? The word comes from the Old Testament. While forgiveness was a sentence of acquittal passed on the sinner, cleansing was something that happened to him and in him. Forgiveness came to him through the Word. Cleansing was something done to him that he could experience.1 Consequently, we are liberated from unrighteousness and from the pollution and the working of sin by the inner revelation of the power of God–cleansing. Through cleansing we obtain the blessing of a pure heart–a heart in which the Spirit can complete His operations with a view to sanctifying us and revealing God within us.2

Forgiveness and cleansing are both through the blood of Jesus. The blood breaks the power that sin has in heaven to condemn us. The blood also breaks the power of sin in the heart which holds us captive. The blood has a ceaseless operation in heaven from moment to moment. The blood has likewise a ceaseless operation in our heart–to purify the heart from the sin which always seeks to penetrate from the flesh. The blood cleanses the conscience from dead works, to serve the living God. The marvellous power that the blood has in heaven, it also has in the heart.3

Cleansing is also through the Word–the Word testifies of the blood and of the power of God.4 Therefore, cleansing is also through faith. It is a divine and effectual cleansing, but it must be received in faith before it can be experienced and felt. I believe that I am cleansed with a divine cleansing, even while I still perceive sin in the flesh. Through faith in this blessing, cleansing itself will be my daily experience.

Cleansing is sometimes ascribed to God, or to the Lord Jesus, or sometimes to man.5 That is because God cleanses us by making us active in our own cleansing. Through the blood, the lust which leads to sin is mortified, the certainty of power against sin is awakened, and the desire and the will are thus made alive. Happy is the person who understands this. He is protected against the useless pursuit of self purification in his own strength, because he knows God alone can do it. He is protected against discouragement, for he knows God will certainly do it.

Accordingly, our chief emphasis occurs in two things–the desire and the reception of cleansing. The desire must be strong for a real purification. Forgiveness must be only the gateway or beginning of a holy life. I have remarked several times that the secret of progress in the service of God is a strong yearning to become free from every sin–a hunger and thirst after righteousness.6 Blessed are they who thus yearn. They will understand and receive the promise of a cleansing through God.

They also learn what it means to do this in faith. Through faith they know that an unseen, spiritual, heavenly, but very real cleansing through the blood is being worked in them by God Himself.

Child of God, you remember how we have seen that it was to cleanse us that Jesus gave Himself. Let Him, the Lord God, cleanse you. Having these promises of a divine cleansing, receive this cleansing for yourself. Believe that every sin, when it is forgiven you, is also cleansed away. It will be to you according to your faith. Let your faith in God, in the Word, in the blood, in your Jesus, continually increase. “God is faithful and just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Lord God, I thank You for these promises. You not only give forgiveness, but also cleansing. As surely as forgiveness comes first, does cleansing follow for everyone who desires it and believes. Lord, let Your Word penetrate my heart, and let a divine cleansing from every sin that is forgiven me be the continual expectation of my soul.

Beloved Saviour, let the glorious, ceaseless cleansing of Your blood, through Your Spirit in me, be made known to me and shared by me every moment. Amen.

Footnotes:

1) Lev. 13:13; 14:7,8; Num. 19:12; 31:23,24; 2 Sam. 22:21,25; Neh. 13:30; Mal. 3:3

2) Ps. 51:12; 73:1; Matt. 5:8; I Tim. 1:5; 2 Tim. 2:22; l Pet. 1:22

3) John 13:10,11; Heb. 9:14; 10:22; 1 John l:7

4) John 15:3

5) Ps. 51:3; Ezek. 30:25; John 13:2; 2 Cor. 7:1; I Tim. 5:22; 2 Tim. 2:21; Jas. 4:8; 1 John 3:8

6) Ps. 19:13; Matt. 5:6

7) Eph. 5:26; Tit. 2:14

Notes

1. What is the connection between cleansing by God and cleansing by man himself?

2. What, according to 1 John 1:9, are the two things that must precede cleansing?

3. Is cleansing, as well as forgiveness, the work of God in us? If this is the case, of what inexpressible importance is it to trust God for it? To believe that God gives me a divine cleansing in the blood when He forgives me is the way to become partaker of it.

4. What, according to Scripture, are the evidences of a pure heart?

5. What are “clean hands” (Ps. 24:4)?

“But as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation: because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy” 1 Peter 1:15,16.

“But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us sanctification” 1 Corinthians 1:30.

“God hath from the beginning chosen you unto salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth”2 Thessalonians 2:13.

Not only has God chosen and called us for salvation, but also for holiness–salvation in holiness. The goal of the young Christian must not only be safety in Christ, but also holiness in Christ. Safety and salvation are, in the long run, found only in holiness. The Christian who thinks that his salvation consists merely in safety and not in holiness will find himself deceived. Young Christian, listen to the Word of God–Be ye holy.

And why must I be holy? Because He who called you is holy and summons you to fellowship and conformity with Himself. How can anyone be saved in God when he does not have the same disposition as God?1

God’s holiness is His highest glory. In His holiness, His righteousness and His love are united. His holiness is the flaming fire of His zeal against all that is sin. This is how He keeps Himself free from sin, and in love makes others also free from it. It is as the Holy One of Israel that He is the Redeemer, and that He lives in the midst of His people.2 Redemption is given to bring us to Himself and to the fellowship of His holiness. We cannot possibly take part in the love and salvation of God if we are not holy as He is holy.3 Young Christians, be holy.

And what is this holiness that I must have? Christ is your sanctification. The life of Christ in you is your holiness.4 In Christ you are sanctified–you are holy. In Christ you must continually be sanctified. The glory of Christ must penetrate your whole life.

Holiness is more than purity. In Scripture we see that cleansing precedes holiness.5 Cleansing is the taking away of that which is wrong–liberation from sin. Holiness is the filling with that which is good and divine–the disposition of Jesus. Holiness is conformity to Him. It is separation from the spirit of the world and being filled with the presence of the Holy God. The tabernacle was holy because God lived there. We are holy, as God’s temple, after we have God living within us. Christ’s life in us is our holiness.6

And how do we become holy? By the sanctification of the Spirit. The Spirit of God is named the Holy Spirit because He makes us holy. He reveals and glorifies Christ in us. Through Him, Christ dwells in us, and His holy power works in us. Through this Holy Spirit, the workings of the flesh are mortified, and God works in us both the will and the accomplishment.7

And what work do we have to do to receive this holiness of Christ through the Holy Spirit? “God bath chosen you to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth”.8 The holiness of Christ becomes ours through faith. Naturally, there must first be the desire to become holy. We must cleanse ourselves from all pollutions of flesh and spirit by confessing them–giving them up to God–and having them cleansed away in the blood. Then, holiness can be perfected.9 Then, in belief of the truth that Christ Himself is our sanctification, we have to take and receive from Him what is prepared in His fullness for us.10 We must be deeply convinced that Christ is wholly and alone our sanctification as He is our justification. We must believe that He will actually and powerfully work in us what is pleasing to God. In this faith, we must know that we have sufficient power for holiness, and that our work is to receive this power from Him by faith every day.11 He gives His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, in us to communicate the holy life of Jesus to us.

Young Christian, the Trinity is three times holy.12 And this Trinity is the God who sanctifies you. The Father sanctifies by giving Jesus to you and confirming you in Jesus. The Son sanctifies by becoming your sanctification and giving you the Spirit. The Spirit sanctifies by revealing the Son in you, preparing you as a temple for the indwelling of God, and making the Son live in you. Be holy, for God is holy.

Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, what thanks will I render to You for the gift of Your Son as my sanctification, and that I am sanctified in Him. And what thanks for the Spirit of sanctification to live in me, and transplant the holiness of Jesus into me. Lord, help me to understand this correctly, and to long for the experience of it. Amen.

Footnotes:

1) Exodus 19:6; Lev. 11:44; 19:2; 20:6,7

2) Exodus 15:11; Isa. 12:6; 41:14; 43:15; 49:7; Hos. 11:9

3) Isa. 10:17; Heb. 12:14

4) 1 Cor. 1:2; Eph. 5:27

5) 2 Cor. 7:1; Eph. 5:26,27; 2 Tim. 2:21

6) Ex. 29:43,45; 1 Cor. 1:2; 3:16,17; 6:19

7) Rom. 1:4; 8:2,13; 1 Pet. 1:2

8) 2 Thess. 2:13

9) 2 Cor. 7:l

10) John 1:14,16; I Cor. 2:9,10

11) Gal. 2:21; Eph. 2:10; Phil. 2:13; 4:13

12) Isa. 6:3; Rev. 4:8; 15:3,4

Notes

1. What is the distinction between forgiveness and cleansing, and between cleansing and holiness?

2. What made the temple a sanctuary? The indwelling of God. What makes us holy? Nothing less than the indwelling of God in Christ by the Holy Spirit. Obedience and purity are the way to holiness; nothing is higher than holiness itself.

3. In Isaiah 57, verse 17, there is a description of the man who will become holy. It is he who, in poverty of spirit, acknowledges that even when he is living as a righteous man he has nothing, and he looks to God to come and dwell in Him.

4. No one is holy but the Lord. You have as much holiness as you have God in you.

5. The word “holy” is one of the most profound words in the Bible, the deepest mystery of the Godhead. Do you desire to understand something of it and to obtain part of it? Then take these two thoughts, “I am holy,” “Be ye holy,” and carry them in your heart as a seed of God that has life.

6. What is the connection between the perseverance of the saints and the perseverance in holiness?

“He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” Micah 6:8.

“Yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God ….Being then made free

from sin, ye became servants of righteousness. Even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness” Romans 6:13,18,19.

The word of Micah teaches us that the fruit of the salvation of God is chiefly seen in three things. The new life must be characterised, in my relation to God and His will, by righteousness and doing right. It must be characterised in my relation to my neighbour, by love and benevolence. It must be characterised in relation to myself, by humility and lowliness. For the present, we will meditate on righteousness.

Scripture teaches us that no man is righteous before God, or has any righteousness that can stand before God.1 It says that man receives the rightness or righteousness of Christ for nothing, and that by this righteousness–received in faith–he is justified before God.2 This righteous sentence of God is something binding by which the life of righteousness is implanted in man, and he learns to live a righteous life.3 Being right with God is followed by doing right. “The just shall live by faith” a righteous life (Galatians 3:11).

It is to be feared that this is not always understood. One sometimes thinks more of justification than of righteousness in life and walk. To understand the will and the thoughts of God, let us trace what the Scriptures teach us on this point. We will be convinced that the man who is clothed in a divine righteousness before God must also walk before God and man in a divine righteousness.

Consider how, in the Word, the servants of God are praised as righteous 4–how the favour and blessing of God are pronounced on the righteous 5 –how the righteous are called to confidence, to joy.6 See this especially in the Book of Psalms. See how often in Proverbs all blessing is pronounced upon the righteous. See how everywhere men are divided into two classes–the righteous and the godless.8 See how, in the New Testament, the Lord Jesus demands this righteousness.9 See how Paul, who announces most of the doctrine of justification by faith alone, insists that this is the aim of justification-to form righteous men, who do right. 10 See how John names righteousness along with love as the two indispensable marks of the children of God.11 When you put all these facts together, it must be very evident to you that a true Christian is a man who does righteousness in all things, even as God is righteous.

Scripture will also teach you what this righteousness is. It is a life in accordance with the commands of God, in all their depth and profoundness. The righteous man does what is right in the eyes of the Lord.12 He does not obey the rules of human action–he does not ask what man considers lawful. A man who stands right with God, who walks uprightly with God, dreads, above all things, even the least unrighteousness. He is afraid, above all, of being partial to himself and of doing any wrong to his neighbour for the sake of his own advantage. In great and little things alike, he takes the Scriptures as his measure and line. As an ally of God, he knows that the way of righteousness is the way of blessing and life and joy.

Consider, further, the promises of blessing and joy which God has for the righteous. Then live as one who–in friendship with God, and clothed with the righteousness of His Son through faith–has no alternative but to do righteousness.

O Lord, You have said, “There is no God else beside Me: a just God and a Saviour” (Isaiah 45:21).You are my God. It is as a righteous God that You are my Saviour and have redeemed me in Your Son. As a righteous God, You make me righteous also, and say to me that the righteous will live by faith. Lord, let the new life in me be the life of faith, the life of a righteous man. Amen.

Footnotes

1) Ps. 14:3; 143:2; Rom. 3:10,20

2) Rom. 3:22,24; 10:3,10; 1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 2:16; Phil. 3:9

3) Rom. 5:17,18; 6:13,18,19; 8:3; Tit. 1:3; 2:12; 1 John 2:29;

3:9,10

4) Gen. 6:9; 7:1; Matt. 1:19; Luke 1:6; 2:25; 2 Pet. 2:7

5) Ps. 1:6; 5:12; 14:5; 34:16,20; 37:17,39; 92:13; 97:11; 146:8

6) Ps. 32:1l; 33:1; 58:11; 64:10; 68:4; 97:12

7) Prov. 10:3,6,7,11,16,20,21,24,25,28,30,31,32

8) Eccles. 3:17; Isa. 3:10; Ezek. 3:18,20; 18:21,23; 33:12; Mal. 3:18; Matt. 5:45; 12:49; 25:46

9) Matt. 5:6,20; 6:33

10)Rom. 3:31; 6:13,22; 7:4,6; 8:4; 2 Cor. 9:9,10; Phil. l:11; 1 Tim. 6:11

11) 1 John 2:4,11,29; 3:10; 5:2

12) Ps. 119:166,168; Luke 1:6,75; 1 Thess. 2:10

Notes

1. Observe the connection between the doing of righteousness and sanctification in Romans 6:19,22 – “Yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.” “Having become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto sanctification.” The doing of righteousness, righteousness in conduct and action, is the way to holiness. Obedience is the way to become filled with the Holy Spirit. And the indwelling of God through the Spirit is holiness.

2. “Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matt. 3:15). It was when Jesus had spoken that word that He was baptised with the Spirit. Let us set aside every temptation not to walk in full obedience toward God as He did, and we too will be filled with the Spirit. “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness” (Matt. 5:6).

3. Take pains to set before yourselves the image of a man who so walks that the name of “righteous” is involuntarily given to him. Think of his uprightness, his conscientious care to cause no one to suffer the least injury, his holy fear and carefulness to transgress none of the commands of the Lord–righteous and walking blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord. Then say to the Lord that you should so live.

4. You understand now the great word, “The Just shall live by faith” (Gal. 3:11). By faith the godless man is justified and becomes a righteous man. By faith he lives as a righteous man.