Holiness Unto The LORD JESUS

"As He who hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation." —I Peter 1:15 [KJV]

Legal hearts turn evangelical exhortations into legal commands. So children of faith are brought back again from the land of promise to the house of bondage. Not more absurd to exhort a dead corpse to exert itself to perform actions of life in order to get life, than to suppose a believer destitute of the life of holiness, and excite him to holy actions in order to procure it. Zeal for holiness, without knowledge of the true nature of it, is unscriptural ignorance. Every believer in Jesus is holy. 

As being a member of the first Adam, he partakes of the life of sin and the spirit of unholiness; but being united to Jesus, Christ is his life. He partakes of the life of holiness and the spirit of holiness. This is evidenced by the outward holiness of his life. Therefore exhortations to excite such to a holy conversation, are as necessary as they are frequent. Art thou a child of God by faith in Christ Jesus? What inestimable honor is this! It should be thy daily care and constant concern to walk worthy of this high and honorable vocation. It degrades thy birth to stoop to gratify base lusts; it demeans thy character to take up in the least with the slavery of sin and drudgery of Satan. 

It was good advice a heathen gave a prince, lest he should learn evil from bad company, "Always remember thou art a king's son." So ever remember, O Christian, thou art a son of the KING OF KINGS. Thy Father is holy; study to be like Him; aim to resemble Him in thy daily walk. This day thou wilt be exposed to the snares of sin and temptations to evil; they ever beset thee. Remember thy calling, it is to holiness of life; think of the end of it, happiness in glory. It sounds as harsh in one's ears to hear of a wicked Christian as to hear of a dark sun. But beware of making an idol of thy own holiness. 

We read of Pygmalion, who had got an image so lively that he took it for a real person, and fell in love with it. This seems to be the case with some; they are more taken up with, talk more about, and seem more in love with an image they have made of their own holiness and perfection, than of the glorious righteousness of Jesus. Yea, they so esteem their own holiness, that they think it is to effect for them more than Christ's righteousness hath, even secure and make effectual their own salvation. 

Thus the imputed righteousness of Christ is cashiered out of their faith and affection, to make way for their pretended holiness. This is the very essence of a Pharisee. But "being made free from sin (the power of pride within, as well as of sin without) ye become servants of God, ye have your FRUIT unto holiness, and the end everlasting life."—Romans 6:22.

-preacher William Mason (1724-1797 A.D.)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

CHRIST OUR ONLY AND PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS

" The flesh lusteth against the Spirit." —Galatians 5:17 [KJV] Christian experience fully proves this apostolic truth. Hence the children of God cannot do the things that they would: nor have we any authority from God's word to conclude this lusting ever ceased in any of the saints till they got to glory; none are delivered from it while in the flesh. For, as the renewed soul or spirit loves to enjoy spiritual and heavenly objects, so the flesh, or unrenewed part, lusts after those objects it is naturally conversant with, and from which it derives its happiness.  Here is thy conflict, O Christian. Hence the necessity of thy Lord's command, "Watch always." This is the use of the doctrine. What woeful effects have fulfilling the lusts or desires of the flesh produced in eminent saints! Thou standest by faith, be not high-minded, but fear. The conceptions of lust are the productions of sin.— see James 1:15 . The commission of sin contracts fresh s
Read more

Incoming GOOD NEWS!

  Weekend Gospel message to follow for All Hands   (17-19SEP21) Heads-Up   ---   Please find enclosed encouragement in   SO GREAT SALVATION   by the perfect and finished work of   our Lord Jesus Christ in saving poor, needy and wretched sinners by His sovereign free grace - God's unmerited favor to save us  from our sins and from Hell: HOW GOD SAVES SINNERS In Genesis chapter six and seven we have the story of the flood and how God  saved Noah and his family from the horrendous destruction by putting them  into an Ark. We see the righteous judgment of God against sin and the mercy  of God revealed through Christ. The Ark of God is a worthy picture and  pattern of how the Lord is pleased to save sinners and justify them in Jesus  Christ. Here are five things to remember about how God saves sinners. 1). The grace of God , "Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD" (Genesis 6:8) .  Noah did not earn, merit or deserve grace, he found God to be gracious. It  was the sovereign
Read more

3 LIES ABOUT GOD & 3 TRUTHS ABOUT GOD

 I want to share three lies about God I’ve recently seen tossed about on social media as truth by professed believers: (1) God can move in your life.......if you permit Him. (2) Christ can be Lord.......if you confess Him. (3) God can do anything ........except overcome a man’s will. Friends, if God doesn’t even have sovereignty over the human heart (without being granted permission, of course) who is serving who? Who really has all power in this universe? Many of you reading this post pray to God for the salvation of your loved ones. Yet you believe it is your loved one who has to grant God permission to save! God is left only to making their life miserable in the hopes they come to Him. Such foolishness! Such powerlessness! Truth #1 : God moves in the lives of His children without human permission . Truth #2 : Men do not make Christ Lord. He IS Lord. Your current opinion of Him no more changes His Lordship over you than if you declared a boiling lava pit to be a s
Read more