True and False Sanctification,
March 11
By their fruits you will know them. Matthew 7:20.
By their fruits you will know them. Matthew 7:20.
Jesus came into the world because the human race were under sentence of death for their transgressions. His work was to bring them back to allegiance to the law of God, which Paul declares is “holy, and just, and good.” He kept His Father’s commandments. Those who by repentance and obedience testify their appreciation of the salvation He came to bring will show the work of the Spirit on their hearts. And the test is the life. “By their fruits ye shall know them.” “He that saith, I know Him,” says John, “and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”
Yet notwithstanding these inspired testimonies as to the nature of sin, many claim to be sanctified and incapable of sin, while they are constantly transgressing the law of God....
No one who claims holiness is really holy. Those who are registered as holy in the books of heaven are not aware of the fact and are the last ones to boast of their own goodness. None of the prophets and apostles ever professed holiness, not even Daniel, Paul, or John. The righteous never make such a claim. The more nearly they resemble Christ, the more they lament their unlikeness to Him, for their consciences are sensitive, and they regard sin more as God regards it....
The only safe position for any of us to take is to consider ourselves sinners, daily needing divine grace. Mercy through the atoning blood of Christ is our only plea.... Those who have the truth as it is revealed in that Holy Word must stand fast on the platform of truth, relying on, “It is written.” ...
God has great blessings to bestow upon His people. They may have the “peace of God, which passeth all understanding.” They “may be able to comprehend with all saints” ... “what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height” of the love of Christ, being “filled with all the fulness of God.” But it is only to those who are meek and lowly of heart that Christ will thus manifest Himself. The ones whom God justifies are represented by the publican rather than the self-righteous Pharisee. Humility is heaven-born, and none can enter the pearly gates without it. All unconsciously, it shines in the church and in the world, and it will shine in the courts of heaven.—Signs of the Times, February 26, 1885.
Jesus came into the world because the human race were under sentence of death for their transgressions. His work was to bring them back to allegiance to the law of God, which Paul declares is “holy, and just, and good.” He kept His Father’s commandments. Those who by repentance and obedience testify their appreciation of the salvation He came to bring will show the work of the Spirit on their hearts. And the test is the life. “By their fruits ye shall know them.” “He that saith, I know Him,” says John, “and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”
Yet notwithstanding these inspired testimonies as to the nature of sin, many claim to be sanctified and incapable of sin, while they are constantly transgressing the law of God....
No one who claims holiness is really holy. Those who are registered as holy in the books of heaven are not aware of the fact and are the last ones to boast of their own goodness. None of the prophets and apostles ever professed holiness, not even Daniel, Paul, or John. The righteous never make such a claim. The more nearly they resemble Christ, the more they lament their unlikeness to Him, for their consciences are sensitive, and they regard sin more as God regards it....
The only safe position for any of us to take is to consider ourselves sinners, daily needing divine grace. Mercy through the atoning blood of Christ is our only plea.... Those who have the truth as it is revealed in that Holy Word must stand fast on the platform of truth, relying on, “It is written.” ...
God has great blessings to bestow upon His people. They may have the “peace of God, which passeth all understanding.” They “may be able to comprehend with all saints” ... “what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height” of the love of Christ, being “filled with all the fulness of God.” But it is only to those who are meek and lowly of heart that Christ will thus manifest Himself. The ones whom God justifies are represented by the publican rather than the self-righteous Pharisee. Humility is heaven-born, and none can enter the pearly gates without it. All unconsciously, it shines in the church and in the world, and it will shine in the courts of heaven.—Signs of the Times, February 26, 1885.
We Must Believe in Him, March 12
Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace. Luke 8:48.
On the way to the ruler’s house, Jesus had met, in the crowd, a poor woman who for 12 years had suffered from a disease that made her life a burden. She had spent all her means upon physicians and remedies, only to be pronounced incurable. But her hopes revived when she heard of the cures that Christ performed. She felt assured that if she could only go to Him she would be healed.... She had begun to despair, when, in making His way through the multitude, He came near where she was.
The golden opportunity had come. She was in the presence of the Great Physician! But amid the confusion she could not speak to Him, nor catch more than a passing glimpse of His figure. Fearful of losing her one chance of relief, she pressed forward, saying to herself, “If I may but touch his clothes, I shall be whole.” As He was passing, she reached forward, and succeeded in barely touching the border of His garment. But in that moment she knew that she was healed. In that one touch was concentrated the faith of her life, and instantly her pain and feebleness gave place to the vigor of perfect health....
Suddenly Jesus stopped, and the people halted with Him. He turned, and looking about asked in a voice distinctly heard above the confusion of the multitude, “Who touched Me”? ...
The Saviour could distinguish the touch of faith from the casual contact of the careless throng. Such trust should not be passed without comment. He would speak to the humble woman words of comfort that would be to her a wellspring of joy—words that would be a blessing to His followers to the close of time....
Jesus insisted on knowing who had touched Him. Finding concealment vain, she came forward tremblingly, and cast herself at His feet. With grateful tears she told the story of her suffering, and how she had found relief. Jesus gently said, “Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.” ... It was not through the outward contact with Him, but through the faith which took hold on His divine power, that the cure was wrought....
It is not enough to believe about Christ; we must believe in Him. The only faith that will benefit us is that which embraces Him as a personal Saviour; which appropriates His merits to ourselves. Many hold faith as an opinion. Saving faith is a transaction by which those who receive Christ join themselves in covenant relation with God. Genuine faith is life. A living faith means an increase of vigor, a confiding trust, by which the soul becomes a conquering power (The Desire of Ages, 343, 347).