Page 137 - That I May Know Him (1964)

Perfection Through Christ’s Merits, May 4
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is
perfect. Matthew 5:48.
Christ presents before us the highest perfection of Christian character,
which throughout our lifetime we should aim to reach.... Concerning this
perfection Paul writes: “Not as though I had already attained, either were
already perfect: but I follow after.... I press toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-15)....
How can we reach the perfection specified by our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ—our Great Teacher? Can we meet His requirement and attain
to so lofty a standard? We can, else Christ would not have enjoined us to
do so. He is our righteousness. In His humanity He has gone before us
and wrought out for us perfection of character. We are to have the faith
in Him that works by love and purifies the soul. Perfection of character is
based upon that which Christ is to us. If we have constant dependence on
the merits of our Saviour, and walk in His footsteps, we shall be like Him,
pure and undefiled.
Our Saviour does not require impossibilities of any soul. He expects
nothing of His disciples that He is not willing to give them grace and
strength to perform. He would not call upon them to be perfect if He had
not at His command every perfection of grace to bestow on the ones upon
whom He would confer so high and holy a privilege. He has assured us
that He is more willing to give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him than
parents are to give good gifts to their children.
Our work is to strive to attain in our sphere of action the perfection that
Christ in His life on the earth attained in every phase of character. He is our
example. In all things we are to strive to honor God in character. In falling
day by day so far short of the divine requirements, we are endangering
our soul’s salvation. We need to understand and appreciate the privilege
with which Christ invests us, and to show our determination to reach the
highest standard. We are to be wholly dependent on the power that He has
promised to give us.4 [131]
4 Manuscript 148, 1902.
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