“As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:15,16).
“Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4).
[Jesus declared] “Follow me…” (Mathew 4:19). This is not merely a life to which we are called, but a walk …; not a sitting alone; not a private enjoying of religion, but a walk—a walk in which we are visible on all sides, a walk which fixes many eyes upon us, a walk in which we are “made a spectacle” [1 Cor. 4:9] to heaven, earth and hell. It is no motionless resting or retirement from our fellows, but a moving about in the midst of them, a coming into contact with friends and foes, a going to and fro upon the highways and byways of earth. As was the Master so must the servant be. On His way to the Cross He looked round and said, “Follow me” (John 12:26); on His way to the throne, after He had passed the Cross, He said the same to Peter.
“Peter, seeing him [John], said to Jesus, ‘But Lord, what about this man?’
Jesus said to him, ‘If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me’” (John 21:21, 22).
To the Cross, then, and to the crown alike, we are to follow Him. It is one way to both.
He then that would be holy must be like Christ, and he that would be like Christ must be “filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18); he that would have in him the mind of Christ [Phil. 2:5] must have the same “anointing” as He had, the same indwelling and inworking Spirit, the Spirit of “adoption,” of life, faith, truth, liberty, strength, and holy joy. It is through this mighty Quickener that we are quickened [made alive]; it is through “sanctification of the Spirit” that we are sanctified (2 Thess. 2:13; 1 Pet. 1:2). It is as our Guest that He does His work, not working without dwelling, nor dwelling without working (2 Tim. 1:14); not exerting a mere influence, like that of music on the ruffled soul, but coming into us and abiding with us; so that being filled with His company, as well as pervaded by His power, we are thoroughly “transformed.”
The Holy Spirit does not merely ply us with arguments, nor affect us with “moral persuasion,” but impresses us with the irresistible touch of His divine hand, and penetrates us with His own vital energy; nay, He impregnates us with His own purity and life, in spite of desperate resistance and unteachableness and unbelief on our part, all the days of our life.
He that would be like Christ [1 John 2:6], moreover, must study Him. We cannot make ourselves holy by merely trying to be so, any more than we can make ourselves believe and love by simple energy of endeavour. No force can effect this. Men try to be holy, and they fail. They cannot by direct effort work themselves into holiness. They must gaze upon a holy object and so be changed into its likeness “from glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18). They must have a holy Being for their bosom friend. Companionship with Jesus, like that of John, can alone make us to resemble either the disciple or the Master.
[“…put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” Eph. 4:24]
Let us be true…, in the best sense of the word:
- true to ourselves,
- true to our new birth and our new name,
- true to the Church of God,
- true to the indwelling Spirit,
- true to Christ and to the doctrine concerning Him,
- true to that Book of which He is the sum and the burden.
Let us be true to truth, loving it, not because it is pleasant or picturesque or ancient, but because it is true and divine. Let us feed on God’s Word with appetite new-whetted every day; so shall we add, not one, but many cubits to our stature, growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ [2 Pet. 3:18].
An excerpt from God’s Way of Holiness, by Horatius Bonar (1808-1889) 57, 60.
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