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The Ministry of Health and Healing
The body is to be brought into subjection. The higher powers of
the being are to rule. The passions are to be controlled by the will,
which is itself to be under the control of God. The kingly power of
reason, sanctified by divine grace, is to bear sway in our lives.
The requirements of God must be brought home to the con-
science. Men and women must be awakened to the duty of self-
mastery, the need of purity, freedom from every depraving appetite
and defiling habit. They need to be impressed with the fact that all
their powers of mind and body are gifts from God, and are to be
preserved in the best possible condition for His service.
In ancient Israel’s sacrificial ritual, which was the gospel in
symbol, no blemished offering could be brought to God’s altar. The
sacrifice that was to represent Christ must be spotless. The Word
of God points to this as an illustration of what His children are to
be—“a living sacrifice,” “holy and without blemish,” “acceptable to
God.”
Romans 12:1
;
Ephesians 5:27
.
Apart from divine power, no genuine reform can be effected.
Human barriers against natural and cultivated tendencies are but as
a sandbank against the torrent. Not until the life of Christ becomes a
vitalizing power in our lives can we resist the temptations that assail
us from within and from without.
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Christ came to this world and lived the law of God that we might
have perfect mastery over the natural inclinations that corrupt the
soul. The Physician of soul and body, He gives victory over warring
lusts. He has provided every facility, so that human beings may
possess completeness of character.
When one surrenders to Christ, the mind is brought under the
control of the law—the royal law—that proclaims liberty to every
captive. By becoming one with Christ, we are made free. Subjec-
tion to the will of Christ means restoration to perfect manhood and
womanhood.
Obedience to God is liberty from the slavery of sin, deliverance
from human passion and impulse. Human beings may stand as
conquerors, conquerors of their own inclinations, conquerors of
principalities and powers, and of “the rulers of the darkness of this
age,” and of “spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
Ephesians 6:12
.