One bright spot in the prevailing and increasing darkness around is seen in the intense desire, which has been begotten in many hearts, after more conformity to the will of God, as expressed in His word. Corruptions of the truth abound, and worldliness in manifold forms is blighting the spiritual life of numbers of God's people; but, together with this, there are many who are seeking for a larger measure of scriptural holiness. True it is that many untrustworthy guides and erroneous doctrines have appeared, misleading and entangling souls in bondage; for Satan is ever on the watch to turn to his own account every revival in souls of the work of God, and he never does this so effectually as when he transforms himself into an angel of light. Still whatever mistakes have been made, and however many the perversions of the truth, we cannot but thank God that any longing after more holiness, and after more devotedness to Christ, has arisen; and we cannot but hope, at the same time, that it is a real action of the Spirit of God, corresponding with trimming the virgins' lamps, (Matt. 25), in response to the cry that has gone forth, “Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.” It is on this account that we desire, in the following pages, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, to make straight paths for the feet of all who seek to follow after holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. May He so help us as both to preserve from error and guide into the truth.
One preliminary observation, however, must first be made. The primary need of souls is the forgiveness of sins, cleansing from guilt by the precious blood of Christ, peace with God through the death and resurrection of Christ (Rom. 4:24-25; 5:124But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. (Romans 4:24‑25)
1Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: (Romans 5:1)). If these blessings are unknown, vain will be the pursuit after holiness, however determined and resolute the efforts made. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh,” (John 3:66That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (John 3:6)), and will ever remain such, whatever the form — fair and pious often — it may take in the eyes of others. No, the first step in the way of holiness cannot be taken until after the new birth and the possession of peace with God. It is well therefore that the reader should pause, before proceeding further, to inquire if he, by the grace of God, knows what it is to be saved, to have passed from death unto life, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This question settled, he may then, but not before, seek to discover the way of holiness — according to God.
In unfolding the scriptures on this subject, it is necessary, before all, to ascertain what is GOD'S STANDARD OF HOLINESS. It is owing to the neglect of this point that so many serious errors have arisen. Raising a standard of their own, some have been deceived, and have, at the same time, deceived others, into thinking that they had attained holiness — mainly because they have not fallen into known sin, thereby substituting a good conscience for holiness. The warning words of the apostle, when writing to the Corinthians, should have been an antidote to this error. He says, “Measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves (they) are not wise” (2 Cor. 10:1212For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. (2 Corinthians 10:12)). Now, in regard to this, it will be sufficient to lay down the following positions: first, that God's standard is the only one believers can accept; and, secondly, that He alone is the judge as to our conformity to it.
Bearing then these principles in mind, we may proceed with our inquiry; and in order to this, we beseech the reader's earnest attention to the following scriptures. Speaking to the Father, our Lord says, “For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth” (John 17:1919And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. (John 17:19)). Again we read, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:1818But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:18)). “For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom. 8:2929For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Romans 8:29)). Once more, “Beloved, now are we the sons (children) of God; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this hope in Him (that is, in Christ), purifieth himself even as He (that is, Christ) is pure” (1 John 3:2-32Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. (1 John 3:2‑3)).
Leaving the exposition of these passages for the present, one and the same truth, it may be pointed out, appears in all: namely, that Christ glorified is the model, God's model, to which we are to be conformed; and it follows therefore that Christ in glory is His standard for the believer. Nor could it be otherwise, as will be seen, if we do but recall the character in which our Lord is sitting at the right hand of God. When He was down here He was God manifest in flesh, God in Christ, the presentation therefore — albeit He was perfect man — of God to men; but now that He has gone up on high He is there as man, as the glorified Man, although, and it must never be forgotten, in Him as such dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Hence He is spoken of as the beginning of the creation of God, as the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, for in truth He is according to the eternal counsels of God, the last Adam, the second Man (the Lord) from heaven.
Just therefore as all of Adam's race are born in His likeness, so, in result, all who are connected with the Christ will bear His image (1 Cor. 15:45-4945And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. 46Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 47The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. 48As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. 49And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. (1 Corinthians 15:45‑49)). Thus it is that Christ, and Christ alone, is presented to us as God's perfect pattern — His perfect pattern of holiness for His people. Nothing lower than this can then be accepted without injury to the soul, simply because it involves the substitution of man's thoughts for the thoughts of God.
This requires, however, a further word of explanation. When it is said that Christ in glory is our standard, we mean, when speaking of the present subject, that God desires that we should be holy even as Christ is holy, for it is only in Him that perfect holiness is discovered. Measures of it may be found in eminent and devoted Christians, according to the degree in which Christ has been formed within them, but it is only in Him, who is now seated at God's right hand, that it is seen and exhibited in all its blessed perfection.
Thus, in the scripture already cited, He says, “For their sakes I sanctify myself.” He was ever the holy One as He passed through this world ever undefiled, notwithstanding that He came continually into contact with sin and evil. He could even touch the unclean leper and yet not be contaminated; for the active energy of His own holy being repelled all the defiling influences of the scene through which He was passing. In a word, He is not more holy now than when a sojourner on the earth, for there could be no degrees or variations in that which was always perfect. When therefore He says, “I sanctify myself,” He means, that He was about to set Himself apart to God in that new place to which He was about to depart, that His own might also be sanctified, according to His own measure, by the truth of what He would be there as glorified Man. Here He had, though ever untainted, to do with sin and evil, but “in that He died, He died unto sin once, but in that He liveth He liveth unto God,” and, in a scene where neither sin nor evil can penetrate, He is set apart wholly for God, in a separation as complete as the perfection of His own moral being. His sanctification thus comprises perfect separation from evil, and, if the phrase may be permitted, entire separation to God — all the energies of His holy nature finding their perfect satisfaction and delight in God. And in this state and place He is, we repeat, our model or standard. This was shadowed forth even in the old dispensation. Speaking to His people through Moses and Aaron, Jehovah says, “I am the Lord your God: ye shall therefore sanctify 'yourselves, and ye shall be holy, for I am holy” (Lev. 11:4444For I am the Lord your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. (Leviticus 11:44)); and Peter, on the basis of this scripture, writes, “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 1:15-1615But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. (1 Peter 1:15‑16)).
Before proceeding, let the reader pause again, and consider the immense advantage it is to have his eye rightly directed to God's presentation, in Christ glorified, of holiness to His people. When holiness is made to consist in feelings, experiences, desires or attainments, the eye is necessarily turned within, and the soul occupied with itself; and the consequence is that, discovering its own vileness and corruption, together with its powerlessness to free itself from the power of evil, it will often fall into a state of despondency and hopeless bondage. Or if, as in some cases, deceived by seasons of bright and happy experiences, it should embrace the thought that holiness has been attained, it will only be to be painfully aroused from its dream, sooner or later, by some violent outbreak of the flesh and fall into sin. When, on the other hand, Christ is before the soul, and self and its experiences lost sight of and forgotten, the influence of all that He is, in His blessed perfection, is brought to bear upon us, His beauty and excellency are increasingly discerned and appreciated, and there will be, as may be explained further on, a gradual transformation into His likeness. Bear then, ever in mind, that holiness is to be found not in ourselves but in Christ, and hence, that if we would be holy we must ever have Him as the standard before our souls.
Having thus seen that Christ in glory is exhibited as the model of the believer, the model to which the saint is to be conformed, we may now consider the means by which this conformity is to be attained. A moment's consideration will show that there are two aspects of this part of our subject; that there must be on the one side, abstinence or separation from evil, the avoidance of sin, and on the other, positive growth in the likeness of Christ. Let us take these two aspects in the order stated.
First as to a sinless walk, or, if it may be so stated as to bear on recent discussions of the subject, ceasing from sin. Now it is freely admitted, or rather earnestly insisted, that THERE IS NO NECESSITY FOR THE BELIEVER TO SIN. It is the language of the apostle John, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not” (1 John 2:11My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: (1 John 2:1)). Nothing therefore can be plainer, whatever, alas, the actual facts of the case, than that the believer should heartily accept this truth. For though he may be often betrayed into sin, owing to his having an evil nature, to his want of watchfulness, and to his lack of dependence on God, he should never for one minute receive the thought that sin cannot be avoided. If he once admits that sin is a necessary part of his experience, he will soon lose sight of its true character, its hatefulness to God, will next give up the practice of self-judgment, and, in the end, become the prey and the sport of the evil one, as to his walk through this world.
“Whosoever,” says the apostle John, “abideth in Him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth, hath not seen Him, neither known Him.” And again, “He that committeth sin is of the devil.” “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God” (1 John 3:6,8-96Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. (1 John 3:6)
8He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 9Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. (1 John 3:8‑9)).
It is quite true that the Apostle speaks in these scriptures according to his wont, in what is termed an abstract way, that is, he confines his attention to what is born of God, and hence does not think, in this place, of the evil nature, or the constant failures of God's people. Still he points out what is characteristic, showing us that a Christian, or child of God, should be marked by, should have the distinguishing feature of, not sinning. They are therefore very solemn words, words which ought to have their due force in our hearts and consciences, if we would be in communion with the mind of God as to the conduct of His children. Nor let any be discouraged by such statements; for, together with them, will be found the means of being kept from sinning. Thus it is said, “Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not.”
Here then is the secret — it is abiding in Christ; and there are few who would not admit that sin could not be committed while abiding in Christ. We are therefore but shut up to Him; our very helplessness thus shuts us up to Him, and leads us to cry to Him that He would so keep us abiding in Him that we may not sin. But this is continual work; moment by moment there must be looking to Him. It is not one act; it is rather our life — our life of constant dependence upon Him and His power.
There is, in this connection, another scripture that may be helpful. “We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not” (1 John 5:1818We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. (1 John 5:18)). Again we have the absolute statement of what is characteristic — that he who is born of God sinneth not; but then the Apostle points out the practical means by which this result is secured. One born of God “keepeth himself,” and that wicked one toucheth him not.
Our blessed Lord, in the temptation in the wilderness, is the perfect example in this as in all else. Satan sought to ply Him with every possible seduction, but He “kept” Himself by the maintenance of entire dependence and perfect obedience, and thus Satan could not touch Him, could not withstand the two-edged sword of the Spirit which He wielded, namely, the Word of God. And may we also not “keep” ourselves? Satan has no enticements for the new nature, and God has graciously given us the power, in the gift of the Holy Spirit, wherewith to mortify “the deeds of the body,” our “members which are upon the earth” (See Rom. 8:1313For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. (Romans 8:13); Col. 3:55Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: (Colossians 3:5)), to keep the old man under the power of death, as well as to use the sword of the Spirit, so that there can be no necessity to become entangled in his snares. To overcome his solicitations, however, will require incessant vigilance and dependence, as is shown by our Lord's words to His disciples, “Watch, and pray, that ye enter not into temptation” (Matt. 26:4141Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. (Matthew 26:41)).
If, together with this, there is the constant occupation with divine things (“things that are above”), with all those objects, of which Christ is the full expression, which, are suited to the new nature, and feeding on which, that which is born of God in us will thrive and grow (see Heb. 5:12-1412For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. 13For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 14But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. (Hebrews 5:12‑14); 1 Peter 2:2-32As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: 3If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. (1 Peter 2:2‑3)); if, in a word, the heart is filled with Christ, we shall be “kept,” and the wicked one, whatever his subtlety, will not be able to touch us. Nothing is more certain; and we must beware therefore of deriving our standard from the actual state of Christians, instead of measuring our condition by God's thoughts and God's standard as given in His word.
There is another thing of equal importance found in the scriptures — a thing full of encouragement to us, especially if we are disheartened by the contemplation of the truth which has just been considered. It is that God is able to keep us from falling (Jude 2424Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, (Jude 24)). To doubt this would not only be to disbelieve His own word, but also to forget that He is God. And this truth also is full of comfort, because it takes our eyes off from ourselves, our own utter weakness and our many failures, and directs them upward to God and His almighty power. It was in this manner the Lord encouraged His disciples when, daunted by His words concerning the obstacles riches were to salvation, they exclaimed, “Who then can be saved?” He replied, “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible” Matthew19:26. This indeed is a blessed foundation on which the soul can rest in the presence of the greatest dangers and snares in the Christian life. Does any child of God then ask, Is it possible to be kept from falling? The answer is at once found. Yes, God is able to keep you; all things are possible with Him. He who has saved us is He alone who can keep us. As is truly expressed in the lines of a hymn,
“Myself I cannot save,
Myself I cannot keep;
But strength in Thee I surely have,
Whose eyelids never sleep.”
Peter also speaks of those who are “kept by the power of God.”
Now it is an immense relief to the soul to learn that it is God who keeps; for as soon as this lesson is apprehended, all anxiety and all fear instantly cease, for the soul then instead of tormenting itself with constant apprehensions, looks up to God in childlike confidence, and leans on Him for daily preservation, as it did at first for salvation. Walking thus, day by day, in the knowledge that God is able to keep us from falling, our lives would be characterized by victory instead of defeat, because we should be borne along in the arms of Omnipotence — folded to His breast in the everlasting arms, where no shaft of Satan could penetrate, and out of which no temptation could entice us.
Thus of Israel it is said, “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and He shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.... Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places” (Deut. 33:27-2927The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them. 28Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew. 29Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places. (Deuteronomy 33:27‑29)). Omnipotence was thus engaged both for their safety and in their conflicts; and this is none the less true of the believer now; for if God be for us, who can be against us?
It is only a simple consequence of what has been already said to add, that it is faith which brings divine power into exercise on our behalf. This is taught everywhere in the scriptures. Peter thus speaks of those who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Peter 1:55Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:5)). When, moreover, the disciples inquired of the Lord why they could not cast the demon out of the child, He replied, “Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you” (Matt. 17:19-2019Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? 20And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. (Matthew 17:19‑20)). We also read of those “who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens” (Heb. 11:33-3433Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. (Hebrews 11:33‑34)).
It is therefore abundantly manifest that faith links the believer with, and brings in the exercise of, the almighty power of God, or, as might be truly said, brings God Himself in to act for His people, so that, in the words of our Lord, nothing is impossible to them. But faith, and it should never be forgotten, is a real thing, a divine plant that only grows out of the soil of a broken will; for until we have come to the end of ourselves and our resources, and have learned our utter helplessness, we shall never be cast upon God in the sense of entire dependence upon Him and His power — His power which is made perfect in weakness.
A beautiful illustration of this is found in the life of king Jehoshaphat. The children of Moab and the children of Ammon, with others, came against him to battle. Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah, and Judah gathered themselves from all their cities to seek the Lord. The king presented their case before Jehovah, and he concluded his prayers with these remarkable words, “O my God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us, neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon Thee.” At once the Lord interposed, and encouraged the hearts of His people by the mouth of one of His prophets; “Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's....Ye shall not need to fight in this battle; set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them; for the Lord will be with you” (2 Chron. 20). And so it came to pass, for when all Judah began to sing and praise, lifting up their voices in the well-known words, “Praise the Lord; for His mercy endureth forever,” God came in, and smote their enemies with utter destruction. God is still God, and His power is still available for the conflicts of His people; and they that trust in Him, whatever the activity and malice of the enemy, will never be confounded.
We thus see that God has made abundant provision for His saints; that if He teaches us that there is no necessity to sin, He also reveals to us the secret of our preservation from it; that our safety lies in Himself who alone is able to guard us, and that He never fails to respond to the cry of faith. It is therefore as true now, as in the days of the Psalmist (and there is power available for the saint today that the Psalmist never knew) that if we cry, “O Lord, hold Thou us up,” we shall be safely kept.
Before going further, we ask the reader to remember that, while all this is true, and that, even if the believer were kept from sinning, this is not holiness according to God. If one were so kept, it would be a most blessed testimony to God's power and grace, and He would be indeed glorified by such a blameless walk; but still, it would not be scriptural holiness. This, as has been shown, is conformity to Christ in glory. It is this, and nothing less; and nothing less could be accepted without doing violence to the whole teaching of the word of God.
It is precisely on this point that so many mistakes have been made. Failing to perceive that God could not accept any standard of holiness short of that which He has displayed, in all its perfection, in the One He has glorified at His right hand, many have made it consist, as before stated, in being kept from sin — from known sin. The Apostle has anticipated this error, when he says, “I know nothing by myself”; (or, as some translate, I am conscious of nothing in myself that is, he did not know of any allowed sin, but he adds) “yet I am not hereby justified: but He that judgeth me is the Lord” (1 Cor. 4:44For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. (1 Corinthians 4:4)). The Lord alone can discern the true state of our souls.
But it is sometimes advanced, that, by the constant application of the blood of Christ, the very tendency to sin may be eradicated. The doctrine is so widespread, and the point is so important, that we call special attention to it. There lies in the contention a threefold misconception: first, as to the real nature of holiness; secondly, as to the efficacy of the precious blood of Christ; and, thirdly, as to the abiding character of the flesh. Let us, then, examine the scripture on which this contention is based.
“If,” says the Apostle John, “we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)).
Three things are here plainly indicated: walking in the light, fellowship one with another, and the blood of Christ cleansing from all sin. Now in the teaching to which allusion has been made, the last two are dependent on the first, upon walking in the light; and it thus becomes necessary to inquire into its meaning. Is it, as contended a practical thing? Is it, that is, a state to which some Christians, as distinguished from the mass, attain? In other words, does walking in the light mark out a holy class, those who are living in true separation to God? The whole teaching of the context forbids the supposition. The third verse shows that all who received what the apostles had “seen and heard” concerning “the word of life” (vs. 1), were brought into fellowship with them, and thus into fellowship (for that was the character of their own fellowship) with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. All believers, therefore, are in this fellowship; there is no other; it is, in fact, Christian fellowship.
This truth is laid down as the foundation of what follows; and hence the Apostle proceeds to supply a test of its reality, whereby he shows that it is not enough to say that we have it, for if we are in its possession our whole sphere and position are changed — we are brought, that is to say, into the light. He thus declares the message that he had heard of Him that “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” This being the case, if our fellowship be with the Father and the Son, we must also be in the light, and could not be in the darkness. If therefore, we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth; but if we walk in the light, we have fellowship with one another (and our fellowship is with the Father and the Son — be it remembered), and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.
Those who walk in the darkness, are those, then, who, whatever their pretensions, have never received the message of the Apostle, and those who walk in the light are, on the other hand, those who have received it, and with it, eternal life, and have thereby been brought into the holy circle of fellowship with the Father and the Son, into the light as God is in the light. They are two contrasted classes — not two different classes of Christians, but the two contrasted classes really of believers and unbelievers. Darkness is the moral sphere in which the latter walk, as light is that of the former. This will explain the word “walk,” because it is the circle or sphere in which the respective classes live and move and have their being, light and darkness designating the moral character of each. (Compare Eph. 5:88For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (Ephesians 5:8); 1 Peter 2:99But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: (1 Peter 2:9).)
It may be, however, asked, whether it is true then that, all believers (if all are included in the term “walk in the light”) have fellowship with one another? The reply is, that the question misses the character of the Apostle's teaching. He is not dealing with the practical state of believers, but with what is characteristic, with what belongs to all alike before God. He does not enter upon the consideration, whether all are in the enjoyment of fellowship with the Father and with His Son, and so with one another, but he confines himself, according to his manner, with what pertains to all who possess eternal life. All such are brought into the place of fellowship; the enjoyment of it will undoubtedly depend upon practical states, but this is no part of John's subject. One other thing may be pointed out in confirmation of the above exposition. The words used are “walk in the light as He is in the light,” that is, up to the full character of the light in which God dwells —which would imply, if it were a practical thing, a walk as spotlessly perfect as the holiness of God. To walk according to the light should be the desire of every saint, but to walk in the light as God is in the light, marks in this scripture, the position into which all are brought as a consequence of having a new nature and eternal life through the reception, in the grace of God, of the divine message concerning the Eternal Life which was with the Father, and was manifested on earth.
It remains, then, only to speak of the cleansing power of the blood of Christ. The above interpretation will have made it clear that it in no way depends upon a practical walk. If this is apprehended, the special argument alluded to is at once answered, for the contention is that where a believer walks practically in the light, the blood of Christ goes on to cleanse (pressing the present tense — cleanseth), as in continuous operation, from all taint of sin. As one has written, “A victory over sin itself, His blood being the purifying medium, whereby we gradually, being already justified, become pure and clean from all sin.”
Two fatal objections lie against such a thought. First, the apostle is not speaking at all of the application of the blood in this scripture — only of its efficacy. His subject is eternal life; first Christ as the eternal life, and then as displayed in and through the believer. This seventh verse points out, as already seen, three things belonging to all believers — a walk in the light as God is in the light, fellowship with one another, and the efficacy of the blood of Christ. The last is introduced to show how a saint can be in the light in perfect liberty, without fear, through the all-cleansing efficacy of the blood. But we repeat, that the point here is not its application but its efficacy.
The second objection is, that, according to the teaching of scripture, the blood of Christ is never applied a second time to the believer. Once applied, it cleanses, and forever cleanses, from all guilt. “By one offering he has perfected forever them that are sanctified.” God has graciously made another provision for the sins of His people; if they should fall into them (1 John 2:11My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: (1 John 2:1)); but it is to miss the whole teaching of scripture to insist upon a repetition of the application of the blood of Christ, and is really derogatory to its eternal value and preciousness before God (See Heb. 9 & 10). The very next verse, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us,” should have revealed the fact that sin is in the believer, though he is endowed with power in the Holy Spirit to hold it in the place of death, and will be in him unchanged, and unchangeable, until Christ comes, or until he departs to be with Christ.
Having cleared the subject of what is a real difficulty in the minds of many, we may now pass on to the consideration of the second aspect, namely, the means FOR THE ATTAINMENT OF HOLINESS. It must be borne in mind, that we are speaking of practical holiness, and that the measure of this is conformity to Christ. At conversion we are sanctified through the Spirit in the new birth; and thus Paul could write to the saints at Thessalonica, “God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth” (2 Thess. 2:1313But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: (2 Thessalonians 2:13)); and to those at Corinth, “But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:1111And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:11)). He also speaks of the saints as sanctified in Christ Jesus (1 Cor. 1:22Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: (1 Corinthians 1:2)), and further says, “But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:3030But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: (1 Corinthians 1:30)). Now this sanctification, whether that through the Spirit, or that possessed as being in Christ Jesus, is perfect from the commencement, and thus admits of no degrees or growth, so that God on this ground can call His people saints, and holy (1 Cor. 1:11Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, (1 Corinthians 1:1); Eph. 1:11Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: (Ephesians 1:1); Col. 3:1212Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; (Colossians 3:12); Heb. 3:11Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; (Hebrews 3:1)). But the question now before us relates to practical sanctification, in which there may be growth and development, and our object now is to ascertain the means by which this is to be attained; and if we refer again to the scriptures which were adduced at the outset, we shall find the answer to our inquiry.
First of all, we will ask the reader to turn to 2 Corinthians 3:18: “But we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” In this striking scripture the Lord is presented to us as glorified, with the glory of God displayed in His face (2 Cor. 4:66For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)), as He is seated at God's right hand. The contrast is with Moses who, when he came out from the presence of Jehovah, put on a veil, because the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold his face for the glory of his countenance (2 Cor. 3:77But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: (2 Corinthians 3:7); Ex. 34:33-36). Our blessed Lord has His face unveiled (the word “open” is really unveiled), and we, that is, believers, are permitted, and are able, to behold it, for the very glory that shines there proclaims the eternal satisfaction of God with the work of Christ accomplished on the cross — on the ground of which it is we have been saved, and brought to Himself. The glory that shone in the face of Moses was a legal glory, and told the people of the holiness of their God, and of His righteous requirements through the law; and they were afraid, for the law was necessarily to them, sinners as they were, a ministration of condemnation and death; but the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, as revealed in the gospel, is a ministration of righteousness and of the Spirit.
The point however now to be observed is, that Christ as so exhibited, that is, glorified as Man, as before shown, is God's ideal of holiness, for, in truth, His glory displayed in His face is but the expression of His own perfections. God is light, and God is love, and this is what He is, and, confining our thoughts to holiness, the perfection of what He is as light (though, blessed be His name, this can never be dissociated from what He is as love) is now seen in Christ as glorified.
How then are we to be transformed into that glorious likeness? The answer is plainly given. “We all beholding the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory as by the Spirit of the Lord.” The agencies of our transformation are then beholding the glory of the Lord, and a divine operation through the Spirit of the Lord. Let us then examine these two things.
First, beholding the glory of the Lord. This glory, it may be repeated, is what is seen in Christ as man at the right hand of God. Down here He, while truly man, was God manifest in flesh; there He sits as man, glorified as man in response to His having glorified God on the earth, and finished the work which had been given Him to do (John 13:31-32; 17:4-531Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him. (John 13:31‑32)
4I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. 5And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. (John 17:4‑5)). This glory is fully revealed in the gospel, and believers, rejoicingly beholding it as the proof of accomplished redemption, delight to trace it out, and to meditate upon the glorious perfections of the One who is now their Saviour and their Lord.
But where do they “behold” this glory, these excellent perfections, unfolded? It is in the written word; and the word of God becomes their constant study, because the various rays of His glory are seen shining forth through its pages. In the Gospels His moral glory brightens up every step of His pathway through the wilderness, and on the cross there was the concentrated display of His perfection as man, for there He was tested to the uttermost in a new way, in the place of sin and for sin, when He endured the hidings of the face of His God. It was to this He Himself referred when He said to His disciples, “Now is the Son of man glorified.” But at the right hand of God He subsists in a new condition. Down here, except for a brief moment on the mount of transfiguration, His glory was shrouded, save to the eye of faith (See John 1:14; 2:1114And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
11This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him. (John 2:11)); but now it is all displayed in and through His glorified body — more fully and more completely than when the three disciples were “eye-witnesses of His majesty.”
All these perfections of God — His holiness, His love, His majesty, His truth, His power, His righteousness, His mercy, His grace — are all unveiled in Him, for in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the God-head bodily; and not only are all these unveiled in heaven, but they are also revealed in the scriptures that speak of His present place and power at God's right hand. What rays of His present glory, for example, shine forth from Ephesians 1-4; Colossians 1-3; Philippians 1-3, as also in the Epistle to the Hebrews and elsewhere?
This is what the apostle means by “beholding,” not endeavoring to imagine what Christ is like, but gazing with the spiritual eye upon the various unfoldings of His glory in the written word. And if He has been made precious to our souls, if our hearts have been drawn out to Him, loving Him because He first loved us, we shall find unceasing delight in meditating on His perfections — on the glories of Him who bore our sins in His own body on the tree. We shall seek and love to be in His company — in this way anticipating the joys of eternity; and, thus occupied, while thus engaged, (for this is the teaching of the Apostle) we shall be gradually transformed into His likeness.
Even in human things, if we admire the character of some great man, we love to study his life, to read his history, and we thus insensibly catch something of his spirit. It is indeed a moral law that we become assimilated to that which we admire. Human characters are often formed by taking some chosen model for imitation. Much more is this the case with the Christian. His only model, as we have seen, is Christ, and by keeping Him before his soul, not in one aspect but in all that He is, and delighting in Him, he is changed, as this scripture teaches, “into the same image from glory to glory, as by the spirit of the Lord.”
These last words reveal the second agency of transformation under which we are brought. It is not by the action, so to speak, of a natural law, as in human things, but it is by the mighty operation of the Holy Spirit, who loves to fashion us after the image of Him on whom we gaze, who takes every ray of the glory that falls upon “the eyes of our heart,” and seeks to reproduce it, and does even now in measure reproduce it, in us. Alas, that we should so often hinder His working! But if we have Christ before our souls in the way indicated, then the Holy Spirit works, for He delights, wherever there is purpose of heart, to take the things of Christ and show them unto us, and by showing, to give them all their transforming power upon our souls. Then there is growth, and in no other way, in practical holiness.
If we now refer to another scripture, we shall find abundant confirmation of the above statements. “I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth. As Thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth” (John 17:15-1915I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 16They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. 18As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. 19And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. (John 17:15‑19)). The most cursory glance at this scripture reveals the intense desire of our blessed Lord for the holiness of His people; and, while uttering His prayer to the Father that they might be thus sanctified, He reveals the means of its attainment. The foundation of all lies undoubtedly in verse 16. “They,” He says, “are not of the world, even as I am not of the world;” for, as He says elsewhere, He had chosen them out of the world, and, by being born again, they had been forever morally separated from it. He therefore desired that they should be kept from its evil, should have their garments unspotted and moreover, that they should be sanctified by “thy truth,” adding, “Thy word is truth,” showing that the Father's word was to be the means of their sanctification.
Then He speaks of having sent His own into the world even as He Himself had been sent into the world, and thereon grounds the statement, “And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.”
We have already explained that to sanctify Himself was to set Himself apart to God on high as the glorified Man, and thus as the model to which they were to be conformed; and the means of their conformity to Him is contained in the words, “that they also might be sanctified through the truth,” through the truth of what He is as glorified. The sanctification of His people is thus seen here, as in 2 Corinthians 3:18,18But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:18) to be effected by the constant application of the truth — the truth of what Christ is. The difference between the two scriptures lies in the fact that in the former, the use of the means — beholding the glory of the Lord — is brought into prominence, whereas in the latter, our attention is directed rather to the application of the means. But the mode of sanctification, of growth in holiness, is the same in both, and in both cases the goal is entire conformity to Christ in glory.
The passage quoted from 1 John is slightly different, though entirely in harmony with the teaching of those just considered. First, the apostle reminds us that we are now the children of God; and then he says that it is not yet manifested what we shall be, but we know, he says, that when Christ is manifested, when, that is, He appears in glory, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And every man, he adds, that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself even as He is pure (1 John 3:2-32Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. (1 John 3:2‑3)).
Here again, as the reader will perceive, Christ in glory, Christ as He will be displayed at His appearing, is set forth as our model, for we shall be like Him when we see Him as He is; and this prospect is given to us as a motive to our daily sanctification, to our judging ourselves continually according to what He is. The means of this sanctification we have gathered from other scriptures; here the point is, that even now we can accept no lower standard than the glorified Christ. We measure ourselves in the hope of being like Him when we see Him, by His absolute purity, and thus, by the grace of God, refuse all that is not suited to Him, and judge ourselves for the least allowance of anything inconsistent with His holiness.
This involves, and most blessedly involves, two things; our having Christ ever before our souls, and our being continually in His presence. Then, and then only, shall we detect, by the light of His glory, what is not according to His holy presence, and in communion with His own mind, shall delight to put from us everything of which He would not approve, and to acquire all that would satisfy His own mind and heart. Hence our diligence in this will be a question of affection, for if He possesses our hearts our one desire will be to meet His approval, and it will be our earnest endeavor, as the apostle Paul writes, whether present or absent, to be acceptable to Him.
There are several other scriptures bearing on the subject, to some of which we may refer. In 1 Thessalonians are the following words: “The Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all, even as we do toward you: to the end He may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints” (1 Thess. 3:12-1312And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: 13To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. (1 Thessalonians 3:12‑13)). This connection between the exercise of love (not human love, but love in the Spirit, the activity of the divine nature, for “God is love”) toward one another, and toward all saints, is exceedingly beautiful. As another has written, “This power of love maintains the heart in the presence of God, and makes it find its joy in the light of His presence, and earnestly desire that all saints may be in His presence, their hearts fitted for it, and there. For God is love, and the exercise of love in the Christian's heart (fruit of the presence and the operation of the Spirit of God) is in fact the effect of the presence of God; and at the same time it makes us feel His presence, so that it keeps us before Him, and maintains sensible communion in the heart.” And further, he adds, “Being thus the development of the divine nature in us, and the sustainment of our hearts in communion with God Himself, love is the bond of perfectness, the true means of holiness, when it is real. The heart is kept far away from the flesh and its thoughts, in the pure light of the presence of God, which the soul thus enjoys.” Another scripture, speaking of entire sanctification, is found in the same epistle. “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and {I pray God} your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:2323And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)).
We add but one other passage, one that presents another aspect of the subject. Speaking of chastening, the Apostle says that the fathers of our flesh chastened us for a few days after their own pleasure, but God “for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness.” Here we are taught that God Himself takes us in hand, using the trials and persecutions by the way as needed discipline, to encourage us in the pursuit of holiness (vs. 4), and indeed to secure that we shall be partakers of it. His chastenings therefore are out the expression of His love to us (vss. 6-7); and reading our trials and sorrows in the light of this truth, what sustainment, what consolation is afforded! All this the heart of the reader will appropriate to itself, as our object now is only to point out that if, on the one hand, we are given the positive means of growing conformity to Christ, on the other, we are taught that God has His own way of weaning us from things around, and of drawing us closer to Himself, that, learning more of His own heart, we may increasingly desire to become partakers of His holiness. God is for His people, and if He reveals His desires for them, according to His eternal purposes of grace in Christ Jesus, that they should be “holy and without blame before Him in love,” (Eph. 1:44According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: (Ephesians 1:4)), He Himself provides for their accomplishment. To this end He has bestowed on us the gift of the Holy Spirit to enable us both to hold the flesh in check, to reckon ourselves dead to sin, and also to appropriate the means of growth in holiness as revealed to us in His word. He moreover watches over us unceasingly in His grace and love, that brings in, when needful, death upon all that might hinder us in this blessed occupation; and, by the revelation of Himself to our hearts in His dealings with us, He ever seeks to draw us closer to Himself, so that His Spirit, ungrieved within us, might be free to fashion us after the image of Christ, according to His sovereign will.
We may now sum up in distinct form the teaching we have gleaned from the scriptures on our subject.
1) Holiness according to God is conformity to Christ in glory; and hence the believer cannot accept any lower standard. We never surpass even our own ideal; on the other hand, being what we are, we seldom attain to the pattern prescribed even in human things. It is of paramount importance, therefore, that our eyes should be fixed upon God's ideal, that is, upon Christ. Thus the Apostle says, You “have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him; where” he says, “there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond, nor free: but Christ is all, and in all” (Col. 3:10-1110And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: 11Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. (Colossians 3:10‑11)). Christ is the expression of the image of Him who created the new man, and it is after Him that the new man is to be renewed in knowledge. He is everything as our object, as well as in all as the power of life, and all else therefore, all human distinctions utterly disappear — leaving Christ alone to fill the vision of the soul.
2) It follows from this truth that holiness according to God will not be fully attained until we are with the Lord. This, indeed, is the precise statement of the word of God. We shall be like Him when we see Him as He is (1 John 3:22Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)). Beholding His glory we are changed into the same image from glory to glory — gradually, that is, from one degree to another, until we see Him face to face, and then His name will be in our foreheads, full likeness to Christ will be displayed on every brow (Rev. 22:44And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. (Revelation 22:4)), for all then will be conformed to the image of God's Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Even our bodies will then be transformed, for the apostle teaches that when the Lord Jesus Christ comes, He will change the body of our humiliation into the likeness of the body of His glory, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself (Phil. 3:20-2120For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. (Philippians 3:20‑21)). It is for this we wait: for the return of our Lord, and then, and then alone shall we be holy according to the thoughts of God.
3) While this is true, and ever to be insisted upon, it is equally of moment to remember what has been seen, that there is no necessity for the believer to sin. To expect to fall into sin, to allow the actings of the flesh in any shape or form, or to admit the thought that we are powerless against our evil nature, our inborn corruptions, is to forget the truth of the cross, of our association with Christ in His death and resurrection, of the gift of the Holy Spirit, and of the place into which we have been brought in Christ before God. Every failure, every sin is due to ourselves, to our want of the maintenance of dependence upon God, to our disobedience to the word, or to our want of watchfulness, and should be so owned and judged in the presence of God. No quarter, no excuse, no palliation must be allowed for sin; and if, by the grace of God, this were fully accepted, there would be far more brokenness of spirit, a far more thorough self-judgment whenever the believer is unhappily betrayed into sin; and, together with the perception of the possibility of a blamleess walk, grace would be looked for to preserve and sustain in it, and, looked for, it would be received.
Does the reader doubt this? Let him search the Scriptures, and if he find it as stated, as he surely will, let him set this path before himself, and remember for his encouragement the words, “I will cry unto God Most High; unto God that performeth all things for me,” (Psa. 57:22I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me. (Psalm 57:2)), and this also, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil. 4:1313I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. (Philippians 4:13)). The answer to our helplessness is His strength which is made perfect in weakness; and in Him therefore we may confidently rest, for He is able to keep us from falling, and to present us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy (Jude 2424Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, (Jude 24)).
4) It should also be observed that our growth in holiness, while we are waiting for its full attainment at the coming of the Lord, will depend upon our diligence, our purpose of heart in the use of the divinely given means. As we have seen, beholding the glory of the Lord, occupation with Christ, contemplation of Him and His things, is what is used to form us after His likeness. If, therefore, instead of busying ourselves with this blessed occupation, our minds are set on things of the earth, on those things that minister to our own ease, comfort, or pleasure, upon political agitations or movements, upon the world or the things of the world, there could be no increase in likeness to Christ. The mind takes its color from that with which it is occupied: hence it is only the mind that is engaged with Christ that will receive the impress of Christ. This fact cannot be urged too earnestly.
The Apostle Paul in Philippians 3 is our example in this respect, as he himself teaches (vs. 17); and the secret of this is, that he had only one object before his soul, and so entranced was he with its beauty, that he counted all things but loss for (because of) the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord. He thus desired only to have Christ as his gain, and with his eye on the goal of full conformity to the One on whom he gazed, he did but one thing, namely, to forget the things that were behind, and, reaching forth unto those things that were before, to press toward the mark of the prize of the calling on high of God in Christ Jesus. The attractions of Christ, as so presented to his soul, were the secret of his purpose of heart, as they must be also of ours; and the reader will not fail to remark, that the Apostle calls on all who are perfect, that is, all who have before their souls the prospect of being like Christ in glory, accepting no lower truth of their calling, to be like-minded with himself. And he adds, “If in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal this unto you” (vs. 15). Shall we then accept anything lower than this which God Himself sets before us? Communion with God is to have His own desires in our hearts; and, if we are but under the power of the attractions of Christ, we shall be drawn away from all that might have detained us, and, with full purpose of heart, shall follow after (growing daily as we follow after), if that we may get possession of that for which also we have been taken possession of by Christ Jesus.
5) Connected with this truth is the fact that our walk will be like that of our great Example in the proportion of our attainment to His image. Whatever measure of likeness to Christ has been really attained will, if we are walking in the Spirit, be expressed. The apostle John writes, “He that saith he abideth in Him [in Christ] ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked” (1 John 2:1616For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. (1 John 2:16)). He thus shows us that Christ is our perfect example, and that, even as to walk, no lower standard can be accepted, as also that such a walk can only flow from abiding in Him. John, as before observed, deals only with the abstract, and therefore perfect thing, and in this case supplies a test thereby for any who profess to be abiding in Christ. Abiding in Him we must accept, however it may judge and condemn us, His walk as our pattern as we pass through this world.
But the other truth remains, that we cannot exhibit more holiness than we already possess, more conformity to Christ than we have actually gained. We may deceive ourselves and others as to our attainments, but this is the truth before God. Moreover, for the expression of what of holiness may have been acquired through “beholding the glory of the Lord,” two things are necessary: an ungrieved Spirit, and, what is a consequence of this, the acceptance of death upon all that we are as born of Adam; even as the Apostle writes, “Always bearing about in the body the dying [putting to death) of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body” (2 Cor. 4:1010Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. (2 Corinthians 4:10)). Self indeed must be set aside if Christ is to be displayed; and the reader will not forget that Christ displayed is the holiness of the believer.
6) It will have already been gathered that the Holy Spirit is our only power for a holy walk. Of ourselves we cannot take a single step in this path. The utmost human efforts, the most resolute determination, are of no avail either to keep ourselves from evil or to follow after Christ. It can only be by the Holy Spirit; and He will display His mighty energy in and through us, just in proportion as we have Christ before us as the object of our souls, as we are walking with a single eye to His glory.
7) In conclusion, we beg to commend the whole subject to the earnest attention of the reader. There is nothing that brings so much glory to our blessed Lord and Saviour, or that gives such a powerful testimony to His name before men, as a holy life. May He grant that both reader and writer may grow daily in His likeness for His present joy, and for their truest blessedness!
“Blest Saviour, keep our spirits stayed,
Hard following after Thee;
Till we, in robes of white arrayed,
Thy face in glory see!”
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