The best position and highest privileges will fail to keep a man right with God; dependence on the Lord and obedience alone can do this. The greater the privilege, the worse the fall, if the soul does not wait upon God. It is a great mistake to think that only the wicked can fall; the Christian may, and must, if unwatchful. The condition of the true worshipper is not such that he remains immovable as a statue. He is alive unto God, but he is responsible morally; he ought to grow but may decline. No doubt he has his “old man”; the only thing to do with it is to judge it, treating it as vile and evil, according to the cross, where it was condemned, root and branch in Christ who was made sin for us (Rom. 6:6; 8:3).
W. Kelly