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Sanctification Is The Result Of Lifelong Obedience, March 8
He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he
walked.
1 John 2:6
.
John was a teacher of holiness, and in his letters to the church he laid down
unerring rules for the conduct of Christians. “Every man that hath this hope in
him,” he wrote, “purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (
1 John 3:3
).... He taught
that the Christian must be pure in heart and life. Never should he be satisfied with
an empty profession. As God is holy in His sphere, so fallen man, through faith in
Christ, is to be holy in his sphere....
The sanctification of the church is God’s object in all His dealings with His
people. He has chosen them from eternity, that they might be holy. He gave His
Son to die for them, that they might be sanctified through obedience to the truth,
divested of all the littleness of self. From them He requires a personal work, a
personal surrender. God can be honored by those who profess to believe in Him,
only as they are conformed to His image and controlled by His Spirit. Then, as
witnesses for the Saviour, they may make known what divine grace has done for
them.
True sanctification comes through the working out of the principle of love.
“God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him”
(
chap. 4:16
). The life of him in whose heart Christ abides, will reveal practical
godliness. The character will be purified, elevated, ennobled, and glorified. Pure
doctrine will blend with works of righteousness; heavenly precepts will mingle
with holy practices....
It is the fragrance of our love for our fellow men that reveals our love for God.
It is patience in service that brings rest to the soul. It is through humble, diligent,
faithful toil that the welfare of Israel is promoted. God upholds and strengthens
the one who is willing to follow in Christ’s way.
[Sanctification] is not gained by a happy flight of feeling, but is the result of
constantly dying to sin, and constantly living for Christ. Wrongs cannot be righted
nor reformations wrought in the character by feeble, intermittent efforts. It is
only by long, persevering effort, sore discipline, and stern conflict, that we shall
overcome. We know not one day how strong will be our conflict the next. So long
as Satan reigns, we shall have self to subdue, besetting sins to overcome; so long
as life shall last, there will be no stopping place, no point which we can reach and
say, I have fully attained. Sanctification is the result of lifelong obedience.—
The
Acts of the Apostles, 559-561
.
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