“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.

“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another” John 13:34,35.

“Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” Romans 13:10.

“Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in us” I John 4:11,12.

In the word of Micah, in the previous section, righteousness is the first thing which God demands. To love mercy is the second. Righteousness stood more in the foreground in the Old Testament. Love is first seen as supreme in the New Testament. Passages to this effect are not difficult to find. In the advent of Jesus, the love of God is first revealed, the new, eternal life is first given, and we become children of the Father and kindred to each other. On this ground the Lord can then, for the first time, speak of the New Commandment–the commandment of brotherly love. Righteousness is not required less in the New Testament than in the Old.1 Yet the burden of the New Testament is that we have been given a power for love which was unattainable in the early days.2

Let every Christian take it deeply to heart that in the first and the great commandment–the new commandment given by Jesus at His departure–the unique characteristic of a disciple of Jesus is brotherly love. And let him, with his whole heart, yield himself to Him to obey that command. For the right exercise of this brotherly love, one must pay attention to more than one thing.

Love of the brethren arises from the love of the Father. By the Holy Spirit, the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, and the wonderful love of the Father is unveiled to us, so that His love becomes the life and the joy of our soul. Our love of God springs out of the fountain of His love for us.3 And our love of Him naturally causes us to love the brethren.4 Do not attempt to fulfil the commandment of brotherly love by yourselves–you are not in a position to do this. But believe that the Holy Spirit, who is in you to make known the love of God to you, also certainly enables you to yield this love. Never say, “I feel no love. I do not feel as if I can forgive this man.” Your decision to act should not be based on feelings. Rather, it is your duty to believe the command and to have faith in God to give you the power with which to obey the command. In obedience to the Father–with the choice of your will, and in faith that the Holy Spirit gives you power–begin to say, “I will love him. I do love him.” The feeling will follow the faith. Grace gives power for all that the Father asks of you.5

Brotherly love has its measure and rule in the love of Jesus. “This is My commandment, that yea love one another, as I have loved you.”6 The eternal life that works in us is the life of Jesus. It knows no other law than what we see in Him. It works with power in us what it worked in Him. Jesus Himself lives in us, and loves in and through us. We must believe in the power of this love in us, and, in that faith, love as He loved. Do believe that this is true salvation–to love even as Jesus loves.

Brotherly love must be in deed and in truth.7 It is not mere feeling. The power in Christ arises from faith which works by love. It manifests itself in all the Christ-like characteristics that are specified in the Word of God. Contemplate its glorious image in 1 Corinthians I3:4-7. Notice all the glorious encouragements to gentleness, to longsuffering, to mercy.8 In all your conduct, let it be seen that the love of Christ lives in you. Let your love be a helpful, self-sacrificing love–like that of Jesus. Hold all children of God, however sinful or wrong they may be, fervently dear. Let your love for them teach you to love all men.9 Show your family, the Church, and the world that within you “love is greatest” (1 Corinthians 13:13). Show all that the love of God has a full dwelling and a free working in your life.

Christian, God is love. Jesus is the gift of this love-to bring love to you, to transplant you into that life of godlike love. Live in that faith, and you will not complain that you have no power to love. The love of the Spirit will be your power and your life.

Beloved Saviour, I discern more clearly that the whole of the new life is a life in love. You are the Son of God’s love–the gift of His love–who has come to introduce us into His love, and give us a dwelling there. And the Holy Spirit is given to shed abroad the love of God in our hearts, to open a spring out of which love will stream to You and to the believers and to all mankind. Lord, here am I, one redeemed by love, to live for it and, in its might, to love all. Amen.

Footnotes

1) Matt. 5:6,17,20; 6:33

2) Rom. 5:5; Gal. 5:22; 1 Thess. 4:9; 1 John 4:11; John 13:34

3) Rom. 5:5; 1 John 4:19

4) Eph. 4:2,6; 5:1,2; 1 John 3:1; 4:7,20; 5:1

5) Matt. 5:44,45; Gal. 2:20; 1 Thess. 3:12,13; 5:24; Phil. 4:13; 1

Pet. 1:22

6) Luke 22:26,27; John 13:14,15,34; Col. 2:13

7) Matt. 12:50; 25:40; Rom. 13:10; 1 Cor. 7:19; Gal. 5:6; Jas.

2:15,16; 1 John 3:16,17,18

8) Gal. 5:22; Eph. 4:2,32; Phil. 2:2,3; Col. 3:12; 2 Thess. 1:3

9) Luke 6:32,35; 1 Pet. 1:22; 2 Pet. 1:7

Notes

1. Those who reject the Word of God sometimes say that it is of no importance what we believe if we but have love, and so they are for making love the one condition of salvation. In their zeal against this view, the orthodox party have sometimes presented faith in justification, as if love were not of so much importance. This is likely to be very dangerous. God is love. His Son is the gift, the bringer, of His love to us. The Spirit sheds the love of God in the heart. The new life is a life in love. Love is the greatest thing. Let it be the chief element in our life–true love which is known in the keeping of God’s commandments (see 1 John 3:10,23,24; 5:2).

2. Do not wonder why I have said that you must love even though you do not feel the least bit of love. Not the feeling, but the will, is your power. It is not in your feeling, but in your faith, that the Spirit in you is the power of your will to work in you all that the Father bids you. Therefore, although you feel

absolutely no love for your enemy, say in the obedience of faith, “Father, I love him; in faith in the hidden working of the Spirit in my heart, I do love him.

3. Do not think that this is love, if you wish no evil to anyone, or if you should be willing to help, if he were in need. No, love is much more. Love is His love. Love is the disposition with which God addressed you when you were His enemy, and afterward ran to you with tender longing to caress you.

“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

“Learn of me that I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” Matthew 11:29.

One of the most dangerous enemies the young Christian must guard against is pride or self-exaltation. There is no sin that works more cunningly and more hiddenly. It knows how to penetrate into everything, into our service for God, our prayers, and even into our humility. Self-exaltation can extract the nutrients out of even the smallest thing in earthly life and the holiest thing in spiritual life.1 The Christian must therefore be on his guard against it. He must listen to what the Scriptures teach about it and about the humility by which it is driven out.

Man was created to have part in the glory of God. He obtains this by surrendering himself to the glorification of Clod. The more he seeks the glory of God to be his only trait, the more of this glory he will know for himself.2 The more he forgets and loses himself–desiring to be nothing so that God may be all and be alone glorified–the happier he will be.

Because of sin this design has been thwarted. Man seeks himself and his own will.3 Grace has come to restore what sin has corrupted. Grace will bring man to glory if he will deny himself and live solely for the glory of God. Jesus is the example of this humility or lowliness. He gave no thought to Himself–He gave Himself over wholly to glorify the Father.4

He who wants to be freed from self-exaltation must not consider obtaining it by striving against its mere workings. No, pride must be driven out and kept out by humility. The Spirit of life in Christ, the Spirit of His lowliness, will work in us true humility.5

He will most often use the Word to bring about this sense of humility. We understand that it is by the Word that we are cleansed from sin. It is by the Word that we are sanctified and filled with the love of God.

Now observe what the Word says about this point. It speaks of God’s dislike of pride and the punishment that comes with it.6 It gives the most glorious promises to the meek.7 In almost every Epistle, humility is commended to Christians as one of the first virtues.8 The most important characteristic which Jesus seeks to impress upon His disciples is humility. His whole incarnation and redemption have their roots in His humiliation.9

Take singly some of these words of God from time to time and lay them up in your heart. The tree of life yields many different kinds of seed–among them, the seed of the heavenly plant called humility. The seeds are the words of God. Carry them in your heart. They will shoot up and bear fruit.10

Consider, moreover, how lovely, how becoming, how well-pleasing humility is to God. As man, created for the honour of God, you find it suitable to you.11 As a sinner, deeply unworthy, you have nothing more to urge against it.12 As a redeemed soul, who knows that only through the death of the natural “I” does the way to the new life lie, you find it indispensable.13 As a child of the Father, overwhelmed with His love, you must consider it above all else.14

But here, as everywhere in the life of grace, let faith be the chief thing. Believe in the power of the eternal life which works in you. Believe in the power of Jesus, who is your life. Believe in the power of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you. Do not attempt to hide your pride, or to forget it, or to root it out yourself. Confess this sin–and all its workings that you can find–in the sure confidence that the blood cleanses and that the Spirit sanctifies. Learn that Jesus is meek and lowly in heart. Consider that He is your life, with all that He has. Believe that He gives His humility to you. Be clothed with humility, so that you may be clothed with Jesus. It is Christ in you that will fill you with humility.

Blessed Lord Jesus, there never was anyone among the children of men so high, so holy, so glorious as You. And never was there anyone who was so humble and ready to deny Himself as the servant of all. Lord, when will we learn that humility is the grace by which man can be most closely conformed to the divine glory? Teach me this. Amen.

Footnotes:

1) 2 Chron. 26:5,16; 32:26,31; Isa. 65:5; Jer. 7:14; 2 Cor. 12:7

2) Isa. 43:7,21; John 12:28; 13:31,32; 17:1,4,5; I Cor. 10:31; 2 Thess. 1:11,12

3) Rom. 1:21,23

4) John 8:50; Phil. 2:7

5) Rom. 8:2; Phil. 2:5

6) Ps. 31:23; Prov. 16:5; Matt. 23:12; Luke 1:51; Jas. 4:6; I Pet.5:5

7) Ps. 34:19; Prov. 11:2; Isa. 57:15; Luke 9:48; 14:11; 18:14

8) Rom. 12:3,16; 1 Cor. 13:4; Gal. 5:22,23,26; Eph. 4:2; Phil. 2:3

9) Matt.20:26,28; Luke 22:27; John 13:14,15; Phil. 2:7,8

10) I Thess. 2:13; Heb. 4:12; Jas. 1:21

11) Gen. 1:27; 1 Cor. 11:7

12) Job 42:6; Isa. 6:5; Luke 5:8

13) Rom. 7:18; I Cor. 15:9,10; Gal. 2:20

14) Gen. 32:10; 2 Sam. 7:18; 1 Pet. 5:6-10

Notes

1. Take heed that you do nothing to encourage pride on the part of others. Take heed that you do not allow others to feed your pride. Take heed, above all, that you do nothing yourself to feed your pride. Let God alone, always and in all things, obtain the honour. Endeavour to observe all that is good in His children, and to thank Him heartily for it. Thank Him for all that helps you to hold yourself in small esteem, whether it is sent through friend or foe. Resolve, especially, not to be eagerly bent on your own honour when this is not accorded to you as it ought to be. Commit this to the Father. Take heed only to His honour.

2. By no means suppose that faint-heartedness or doubting is humility. Deep humility and strong faith go together. The centurion who said, “I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof,” and the woman who said, “Yea, Lord, yet even the dogs eat of the crumbs,” these two were the most humble and the most trustful that the Lord found (see Matt. 8:10; 15:28). The reason is this–the nearer we are to God, the less we are in ourselves, but the stronger we are in Him. The more I see of God,the less I become, the deeper is my confidence in Him. To become humble, let God fill eye and heart. Where God is all, there is no time or place for man.

“In many things we all stumble” James 3:2.

This word of God by James is the description of what man is–even the Christian–when he is not kept by grace. It serves to take away from us all hope in ourselves.1 “Now unto Him that is able to guard you from stumbling…be glory, majesty, dominion, and power …for evermore” (Jude 24,25). This word of God by Jude points to Him who keeps us from falling, and who stirs our soul to give Him the honor and the power. It serves to confirm our hope in God.2 “Brethren, give the more diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never stumble” (2 Peter 1:10). This word of God by Peter teaches us the way in which we can become recipients of the care of the Almighty, and it confirms our having been chosen by God to walk as He did (see verses 4,8,11). It serves to lead us into diligence and conscientious watchfulness.3

For the young Christian, what he should think about his stumblings is often a difficult question. On this point, he should especially be on his guard against two errors. Some become discouraged when they stumble–they think that their surrender was not sincere, and they lose their confidence toward God.4 Others again take it too lightly. They think that it cannot be any other way. They seldom concern themselves with stumblings and, therefore, continue to live in them.5 Let us take these words of God to teach us what we should think of our stumblings. There are three lessons.

Do not let stumblings discourage you. You are called to perfection–yet this does not come at once. Time and patience are needed for it. Therefore, James says, “Let patience have its perfect work that ye may be perfect and entire.”6 Do not think that your surrender was insincere–acknowledge only how weak you still are. Do not think that you must continue to stumble–acknowledge only how strong your Savior is.

Let stumbling arouse you to faith in the mighty Keeper. It is because you have not relied on Him with a sufficient faith that you have stumbled.7 Let stumbling drive you to Him. The first thing that you must do with a stumbling is to go with it to your Jesus. Tell it to Him.8 Confess it, and receive forgiveness. Confess it, and commit yourself with your weakness to Him, and depend on Him to keep you. Continually sing the song, “To Him that is mighty to keep you, be the glory.”

And then, let stumbling make you very wise. 9 By faith you will strive and overcome. In the power of your Keeper, and in the joy and security of His help, you will have courage to watch. The firmer you make your commitment, the stronger the certainty that He has chosen you–He will not let you go. You will become more conscientious to live in all thing: only for Him, in Him, through Him.10 By doing this the Word of God says, you will never stumble.

Lord Jesus, as a sinner who is capable of stumbling, I give honor to You every moment. You are mighty to keep men from stumbling. Yours is the might and the power–I take You as my Keeper. I look to Your love which has chosen me and wait for the fulfillment of Your word, “Ye shall never stumble.” Amen.

Footnotes

1) Rom. 7:14,23; Gal. 6:1

2) 2 Cor. 1:9; 1 Thess. 5:24; 2 Thess. 2:16,17; 3:3

3) Matt. 26:41; Luke 12:35; I Pet. 1:13; 5:8-10

4) Heb. 3:6,14; 10:35

5) Rom. 6:1; Gal. 2:18; 3:3

6) Matt. 5:48; 2 Tim. 3:17; Heb. 13:20,21; Jas. 1:4; 1 Pet. 5:10

*The Dutch version has it: “Let endurance have a perfect work, that ye may be perfect and wholly sincere”-Tr.

7) Matt. 14:31; 17:20

8) Ps. 38:18; 69:6; I John 1:9; 2:1

9) Prov. 28:14; Phil. 2:12; 1 Pet.1:17,18

10) 2 Chron. 20:15; Ps. 18:30,37; 44:5,9; John 5:4,5; Rom. 11:20; 2 Cor. 1:24; Phil. 2:13

Notes

1. Let your thoughts about what the grace of God can do for you be taken only from the Word of God. Our natural expectations-that we must always be stumbling-are wrong. They are strengthened by more than one thing. There is secret unwillingness to surrender everything. There is the example of so many sluggish Christians. There is the unbelief that cannot quite understand that God will really keep us. There is the experience of so many disappointments when we have striven in our own power.

2. Let no stumbling be tolerated just because it seems to be a small or insignificant thing.