Chapter 228—Fashions the Character
As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the
former lusts in your ignorance: but as he which hath called you is holy,
so be ye holy.
1 Peter 1:14, 15
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The transforming power of Christ’s grace molds the one who gives
himself to God’s service. Imbued with the Spirit of the Redeemer, he is
ready to deny self, ready to take up the cross, ready to make any sacrifice
for the Master. No longer can he be indifferent to the souls perishing around
him. He is lifted above self-serving. He has been created anew in Christ, and
self-serving has no place in his life. He realizes that every part of his being
belongs to Christ, who has redeemed him from the slavery of sin; that every
moment of his future has been bought with the precious lifeblood of God’s
only-begotten Son.
Christ is our pattern, and those who follow Christ will not walk in
darkness, for they will not seek their own pleasure. To glorify God will be
the continual aim of their life. Christ represented the character of God to the
world. The Lord Jesus so conducted His life that men were compelled to
acknowledge that He had done all things well. The world’s Redeemer was
the light of the world, for His character was without fault. Though He was
the only begotten Son of God, and the heir of all things in heaven and earth,
He did not leave an example of indolence and self-indulgence....
Christ never flattered any one. He never deceived or defrauded, never
changed His course of straightforward uprightness to obtain favor or applause.
He ever expressed the truth. The law of kindness was in His lips, and there
was no guile in His mouth. Let the human agent compare his life with the life
of Christ, and through the grace which Jesus imparts to those who make Him
their personal Saviour, reach the standard of righteousness.... Those who
follow Christ will be continually looking into the perfect law of liberty, and
through the grace given them by Christ, will fashion the character according
to the divine requirements.
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