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The Beauty of Holiness


Or, Beautiful Holiness: The Fruit of Loving Obedience

(Part 1)

[Read "The Beauty of Holiness" (Part 2) ---New Window by Tom Stewart]

"O worship the LORD in the Beauty of Holiness"
(Psalm 96:9).


by Katie Stewart

Preface

hen obedience comes hard, as "heavy burdens and grievous to be borne" (Matthew 23:4), we either don't stop to think of Holiness at all, or else only in a sarcastic reference to the strictness of the Law. This is not love. This is not obedience. This is not Holiness. Love obeys, and does so readily and joyfully. "For this is the love of God, that we keep His Commandments: and His Commandments are not grievous" (1John 5:3). Holiness is beautiful because it is the fruit of your love to Him. Our love union with the LORD is beautiful because it yields our obedience to Him, which yields to Him great joy. "He that hath My Commandments, and keepeth Them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him" (John 14:21). What can you offer God Who has everything? You can choose Him. Be called by His Name. Agree with Him. Please Him. "Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my LORD" (Philippians 3:8). Give Him the love and worship of an obedient heart to His every Word. "Thy Words were found, and I did eat Them; and Thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by Thy Name, O LORD God of hosts" (Jeremiah 15:16).



Obedience Yields Holiness

oliness means "to be set apart or consecrated, sanctified". Holiness is the state in which a true Christian lives his life. Holiness is the state of moral being in which absolutely no sin can exist, and in which love is absolutely foundational. Obedience, committed by the motive of Divine Love, yields Holiness. "God is love" (1John 4:8). God is Holy. "Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at His Holy Hill; for the LORD our God is Holy" (Psalm 99:9). "Holy is His Name" (Luke 1:49). God is the Standard for Holiness. "There is none Holy as the LORD: for there is none beside Thee" (1Samuel 2:2). God "was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). God has never sinned, does not sin, and will never sin.

• (1Peter 2:22) "Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth."

• (1John 3:5) "In Him is no sin."

God expects His people to be like Him.

• (1John 3:5) "He was manifested to take away our sins."

• (1Peter 1:15-16) "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."
  
  
• (2Timothy 2:19) "Let every one that nameth the Name of Christ depart from iniquity."

We are to use the free will that God has given us to recognize His worth. We are to want to be like Him. We are to want what He wants. We are to want Him. "Whom have I in Heaven but Thee? and there is none upon Earth that I desire beside Thee" (Psalm 73:25). Esteem Him by valuing His opinions, His desires, and His requirements with loving obedience. "I have esteemed the Words of His mouth more than my necessary food" (Job 23:12). "How sweet are Thy Words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" (Psalm 119:103). Only then will you know the true Beauty of that sweet Holiness that binds you and the Godhead together in blessed love. "Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love Me, he will keep My Words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him" (John 14:23).

Love works obedience in us and is the motive of our obedience. You cannot love God in disobedience. You can claim to, but it's a lie. "If 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, 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" (1John 1:6-7). Love always produces obedience. You cannot have love without obedience. It's just NOT possible! (Please read the articles listed in "Topical Links On Sound Doctrine" ---New Window for more help with this concept.)

• (2John 1:6) "And this is love, that we walk after His Commandments. This is the Commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it."
  
  
• (John 15:10) "If ye keep My Commandments, ye shall abide in My love; even as I have kept My Father's Commandments, and abide in His love."
  
  
• (1John 2:3-5) "3 And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His Commandments. 4 He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth NOT His Commandments, is a liar, and the Truth is NOT in him. 5 But whoso keepeth His Word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him."
  
  
• (1John 3:22,24) "And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His Commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight... And he that keepeth His Commandments dwelleth in Him, and He in him. And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us." And the Holy Spirit is given ONLY to those who won't grieve Him away. "The Holy Ghost, Whom God hath given to them that obey Him" (Acts 5:32).
  
  
• (1John 4:7-8; 5:2) "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love... 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep His Commandments."
  
  
• (1John 3:18) "My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in Truth."

"Come now, and let us reason together" (Isaiah 1:18). Holy living is built on love.

1. Obedience is the validation of love and cannot exist without it. "And though I... have not charity, I am nothing" (1Corinthians 13:2).
   
   
2. Holiness is the state in which obedience dwells. "Ye have purified your souls in obeying the Truth" (1Peter 1:22).
   
   
3. Holiness is beautiful because it is the fruit of love. "The fruit of the Spirit is love" (Galatians 5:22).
   
   
4. Love is what God is. "God is love" (1John 4:8).

5. Therefore love is beautiful because God is beautiful. "Yea, He is Altogether Lovely. This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend" (Song 5:16).

When you live "in the Beauty of Holiness" to and for the LORD, the fruit of your life will be a magnification of Him, for truly He is "Altogether Lovely". (Please visit the website, "Altogether Lovely" ---New Window for desktop wallpapers that tries to magnify His beauty and His Word.)



Holiness Beautifies the LORD and His People

Beauty: "splendor, majesty, Godly in appearance" --from "Strong's Concordance"

rom Baal to Buddha, the gods of this world have been tools of the Devil to lead men into "the blackness of darkness for ever" (Jude 1:13). It is only the Almighty God, Creator and "Possessor of Heaven and Earth" (Genesis 14:19), that leads men into an Everlasting Covenant of splendor and majesty. "LORD God of Israel, there is no God like Thee, in Heaven above, or on Earth beneath, Who keepest covenant and mercy with Thy servants that walk before Thee with ALL their heart" (1Kings 8:23). These Three In One: Jehovah Father and Jesus Christ, magnified by Their Holy Spirit, are Singularly worthy of Glory and Honour. "Who is like unto Thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like Thee, Glorious in Holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?" (Exodus 15:11).

The Holiness that unites us with the LORD is a Transforming Power that comes from only Him.

• (Romans 11:36) "For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are ALL things: to Whom be Glory for ever. Amen."
  
  
• (Psalm 110:3) "Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy Power, in the Beauties of Holiness from the womb of the morning."

Our "willing" is by His Transforming Power, making us "a living sacrifice, Holy, acceptable unto God" (Romans 12:1), but it is our "reasonable service" (12:1) to "present [our] bodies" (12:1), "and be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" (12:2).

To be transformed by His Power to be Holy (or, Obedient) is true Beauty. Holiness reflects the splendor, majesty and appearance that radiates from the Glory of God. "His Glory is above the Earth and Heaven" (Psalm 148:13). "For who in the Heaven can be compared unto the LORD? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD?" (Psalm 89:6). "Unto you therefore which believe He is Precious" (1Peter 2:7). Yet He shares Himself with us and we partake of His Godly appearance and "Beauty of Holiness".

• (Psalm 27:4) "One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the House of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the Beauty of the LORD."
  
  
• (Isaiah 28:5) "In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a Crown of Glory, and for a Diadem of Beauty, unto the residue of His people."

There is coming soon, a time when we shall "make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD" (Exodus 28:36). The Millennium, a thousand years where King Jesus will reign over ALL the Earth, will be a time when men "give unto the LORD the Glory due unto His Name: [and men will] bring an offering, and come before Him: [and] worship the LORD in the Beauty of Holiness" (1Chronicles 16:29). The kings and priests of the Earth will be of the LORD's Own choosing, and we shall rule with Him.

• (Revelation 1:6) "And hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be Glory and Dominion for ever and ever. Amen."
  
  
• (Revelation 5:10) "And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the Earth."
  
  
• (Revelation 20:6) "Blessed and Holy is he that hath part in the First Resurrection: on such the Second Death hath NO power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years."

And "in that day shall there be [in every place, even] upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD" (Zechariah 14:20). The hosts of Heaven will shout, "Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the Earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it" (Isaiah 34:1), "HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD". And Obedience will be given joyfully from the heart. The Earth will shine with Glory in His Righteousness. In the fulness of the thousand-year-moment, they will "sing unto the LORD a New Song, and His praise from the end of the Earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof" (Isaiah 42:10). And ALL the Earth will finally see the rightness of obeying a Righteous God. "Tremble, thou Earth, at the presence of the LORD" (Psalm 114:7). The reality of it will be breathtakingly beautiful. "Let ALL the Earth fear the LORD: let ALL the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him" (Psalm 33:8). For just such a time as this, a time in which "Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in Earth, as it is in Heaven" (Matthew 6:10), our earnest prayer should be, "Come, LORD Jesus" (Revelation 22:20). "O, please, please, come!"

The world's beauty "is only skin deep". This life "is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away" (James 4:14). But this life affords us a grand opportunity to be blessed in Heaven while still here on Earth; for "blessed be the God and Father of our LORD Jesus Christ, Who hath blessed us with ALL spiritual blessings in Heavenly Places in Christ... and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in Heavenly Places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 1:3; 2:6). Our spirits are blessed by His Spirit when we obey "all things whatsoever [He has] commanded" (Matthew 28:20).

All Turned to Holiness
by C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892) ---New Window
"'In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, Holiness Unto The LORD' (Zechariah 14:20).

Happy day when all things shall be consecrated, and the horses' bells shall ring out holiness to the LORD! That day has come to me. Do I not make all things holy to God? These garments, when I put them on or take them off, shall they not remind me of the righteousness of Christ Jesus my LORD? Shall not my work be done as unto the LORD? Oh, that today my clothes may be vestments, my meals sacraments, my house a temple, my table an altar, my speech incense, and myself a priest! LORD, fulfill Thy promise, and let nothing be to me common or unclean.

Let me in faith expect this. Believing it to be so, I shall be helped to make it so. As I myself am the property of Jesus, my LORD may take an inventory of all I have, for it is altogether His own; and I resolve to prove it to be so by the use to which I put it this day. From morning till evening I would order all things by a happy and holy rule. My bells shall ring -- why should they not? Even my horses shall have bells -- who has such a right to music as the saints have? But all my bells, my music, my mirth, shall be turned to holiness and shall ring out the name of 'the happy God.'" -- excerpt from "Faith's Checkbook" ---New Window by C. H. Spurgeon. SEE TODAY'S ENTRY ---New Window.

Holiness beautifies the LORD. Obedience magnifies His Righteousness. The LORD's people, powerfully transformed by the Spirit of His Word, are a beautiful reflection of His Holiness.



The Fruit of Holiness on a Loving Mind

bedience demonstrates love, i.e., "If ye love Me, keep My Commandments" (John 14:15), and is wrought through love, i.e., "faith which worketh by love" (Galatians 5:6). Obedience, or Holy living, is the beautiful fruit which is lovingly given to the One Who is Love. "God is Love" (1John 4:8). Whenever there is True Love for the LORD, that Divinely-authored, Life-giving, spark of Heaven-sent Love will ALWAYS be demonstrated with cheerful obedience to every, single desire or command that the LORD esteems to be for the highest good of His Kingdom, and of His children. Mr. Charles Finney spoke of the "blessedness" that love, or "benevolence," has on an obedient mind:

Blessedness of Benevolence
by C. G. Finney (1792-1875) ---New Window
"What constitutes true Christian happiness.

• 1. It consists in the exercise of benevolence itself. The human mind is so constructed by its Author, that the exercise of benevolence in itself, is exceedingly sweet and grateful to the mind. It has an excellent relish and sweetness that enters into the very substance of the exercise. There is a conscious happiness diffused through the mind, that seems to be woven into the very texture of benevolence itself. This is to the benevolent mind like the perennial fountain, pouring forth continually the sweet and refreshing waters of life.
  
  
• 2. Another element of Christian happiness is, that which consists in the gratification of the benevolent disposition. I have already said, there is a sweet satisfaction in the exercise itself. But still, the exercise is one thing, and its gratification another. The gratification is another ingredient that greatly augments the sum of happiness. To will to do good, is sweet, but to really succeed in doing the good that we desire, is sweeter still. [Bold emphasis by WStS.]
  
  
• 3. Another element of the Christian's happiness is the self-complacency that follows and accompanies the exercise or gratification of benevolence. This is indispensable to complete happiness. Men may experience a kind and degree of happiness, in indulging in those things in which all the powers of the mind do not harmonize; but if they are indulging in things to which their consciences are opposed, the inward mutiny and conflict thus produced, mingles in their cup of gratification the gall of bitterness. But benevolence always has the approbation of conscience. And the mind, from its very structure, necessarily feels a self-complacent satisfaction in the exercise of benevolent affections.
  
  
• 4. Another element of this happiness is the life and harmonious action of all the powers of the soul in its exercise. The mind is so constructed, that it will not, cannot harmonize in any other course of action. It was made to be benevolent. Benevolence is its proper element, and it can no more properly enjoy life in the exercise of selfish affections, than a fish can live out of water. But there is an excellent harmony, like an exquisitely tuned instrument, in the movements of all the powers of the mind in the exercise and gratification of benevolence. Like an exquisite machine, that is made of such materials, kept so clean, and so oiled as to cut off all friction as far as possible, it moves so still, so sweet, so safe, there is a loveliness in the harmony of its movements. So the soul in the exercise of benevolence is made to harmonize. Every power of the mind consents. There is no jarring, no grating, no friction, no inward mutiny or repellancy to grate like discord; but all is loveliness; quietness, and assurance for ever." --from "Blessedness of Benevolence" ---New Window by C. G. Finney, published in "The Oberlin Evangelist" ---New Window, 1840.

Also, as a helpful aid in understanding Mr. Finney's, sometimes archaic, form of speech:

1. Complacency, or Esteem: "Complacency, as a state of will or heart, is only benevolence modified by the consideration or relation of right character in the object of it. God, prophets, apostles, martyrs, and saints, in all ages, are as virtuous in their self-denying and untiring labours to save the wicked, as they are in their complacent love to the saints." Systematic Theology (LECTURE VII). Also, "approbation of the character of its object. Complacency is due only to the good and holy." Lectures to Professing Christians (LECTURE XII).
   
   
2. Disinterested Benevolence: "By disinterested benevolence I do not mean, that a person who is disinterested feels no interest in his object of pursuit, but that he seeks the happiness of others for its own sake, and not for the sake of its reaction on himself, in promoting his own happiness. He chooses to do good because he rejoices in the happiness of others, and desires their happiness for its own sake. God is purely and disinterestedly benevolent. He does not make His creatures happy for the sake of thereby promoting His own happiness, but because He loves their happiness and chooses it for its own sake. Not that He does not feel happy in promoting the happiness of His creatures, but that He does not do it for the sake of His own gratification." Lectures to Professing Christians (LECTURE I). --from a GLOSSARY ---New Window of easily misunderstood terms as defined by Mr. Finney himself. Compiled by Katie Stewart.

You CANNOT have Joy of confidence and assurance without Obedience. You CANNOT have Obedience without God's Perfect Love. And you CANNOT have the Fruits of the Spirit, which includes Love, without the Spirit, "Whom God hath given to them that Obey Him" (Acts 5:32). Circular, yes. But, it starts with the Greatest. And "the greatest of these is Charity [i.e., Love]" (1Corinthians 13:13). Love is the greatest because Love is what God is. "And we have known and believed the Love that God hath to us. God is Love; and he that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God, and God in him" (1John 4:16).

• (1John 4:17) "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment: because as He is, so are we in this world."
  
  
• (1John 4:18) "There is NO fear in love; but perfect love casteth OUT fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is NOT made perfect in love."

And again, going circular, "but whoso keepeth His Word, in him verily is the Love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him" (1John 2:5). So, you see that, the "Beauty" that there is in "Holiness" lies in the fact, that,

1. Love, as our Living Motive, works obedience in us,
   
   
2. which then allows the Holy Spirit to testify to us
   
   
3. of the confidence and assurance that we know we are truly His,
   
   
4. which then completely fills our joy!

• (Philippians 2:2) "Fulfil ye my JOY, that ye be likeminded, having the same LOVE, being of one accord, of one mind."
  
  
• (Psalm 5:11) "But let all those that put their trust in Thee REJOICE: let them ever shout for JOY, because Thou defendest them: let them also that LOVE Thy Name be JOYFUL in Thee."
  
  
• (Galatians 5:22-25) "22 But the fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, JOY, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."
  
  
• (1Peter 1:8) "Whom having not seen, ye LOVE; in Whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye REJOICE with JOY unspeakable and full of [Beautiful] Glory."

Commit just ONE sin, "for whosoever shall keep the whole Law, and yet offend in ONE point, he is guilty of ALL" (James 2:10),-- and ALL of that Beautiful Holiness is ruined forever-- "except ye repent" (Luke 13:3).

• (2Peter 1:10) "Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall."
  
  
• (Jude 1:24) "Unto Him that is ABLE TO KEEP YOU FROM FALLING, and to present you faultless before the presence of His Glory with exceeding Joy."

God's Laws, when received with a loving, trusting heart, are NEVER EVER hard to hear, nor hard to obey. God is NOT a hard taskmaster to His children.

• (Psalm 96:9)"O worship the LORD in the Beauty of Holiness: fear before Him, all the Earth."
  
  
• (Psalm 37:24) "Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with His hand."
  
  
• (Psalm 1:6) "For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish."

Walking in the Light with The Word of God Himself, we ENJOY all that the LORD was, is, and shall be-- for us and to us-- "that your JOY may be full" (1John 1:4). With a Holy heart, our confidence and assurance in God's ability to "keep that which [we] have committed unto Him against that day" (2Timothy 1:12) soars to Heaven's heights, with an Eternity of width and scope. "38 For [we are] persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the LOVE of God, which is in Christ Jesus our LORD. 9:1 [We] say the Truth in Christ, [we] lie not, [our] conscience also bearing [us] witness in the Holy Ghost" (Romans 8:38-9:1). In this most Holy and Beautiful state, we most assuredly agree with our brother in the LORD, Mr. Spurgeon, when he worships the LORD with the following:

Never Separated from God
by C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892) ---New Window
"'And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believeth thou this?' (John 11:26).

Yes, LORD, we believe it; we shall never die. Our soul may be separated from our body, and this is death of a kind; but our soul shall never be separated from God, which is the true death -- the death which was threatened to sin -- the death penalty which is the worst that can happen. We believe this most assuredly, for who shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our LORD? We are members of the Body of Christ; will Christ lose parts of His Body? We are married to Jesus; will He be bereaved and widowed? It is not possible. There is a life within us which is not capable of being divided from God: yea, and the Holy Spirit dwells within us, and how then can we die? Jesus, Himself, is our life, and therefore there is no dying for us, for He cannot die again. In Him we died unto sin once, and the capital sentence cannot a second time be executed. Now we live, and live forever. The reward of righteousness is life everlasting, and we have nothingless than the righteousness of God, and therefore can claim the very highest reward.

Living and believing, we believe that we shall live and enjoy. Wherefore we press forward with full assurance that our life is secure in our living Head." -- excerpt from "Faith's Checkbook" ---New Window by C. H. Spurgeon. SEE TODAY'S ENTRY ---New Window.

"Of Whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, Who is OVER all, God blessed for ever. Amen" (Romans 9:5).



Holiness Versus Sinfulness: One or the Other, But Not Both

he Christian does "not" and "cannot" sin, as long as he trusts God to work His Will in him. "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). The description of a Christian, is one who is "like Christ." He does not sin. "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" (1John 5:18). He "keepeth himself" from sin because he depends on God's keeping him from committing sin, i.e., "His Seed remaineth in him: and he CANNOT sin." It is truly impossible to sin while wilfully trusting God not to. You cannot be holy and sinful at the exact same time.

• "6 Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth NOT: whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither known Him. 7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is Righteous. 8 He 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. 9 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" (1John 3:6-9).

When the Christian wilfully rejects doing right, he then removes himself from God's keeping-- and sins. And while stubbornly residing in this sinful state, God says that the sinning Christian, or, in fact, "whosoever," CANNOT know assuredly in his heart that he EVER was really a Christian, or that he EVER really did know God. "Whosoever sinneth hath NOT seen Him, neither known Him." There is no Beauty, GLORY, nor honour in a God-insulting moment of sin. That moment is ruined forever. God wants the backslider to feel the condemnation of hell-- NOT the assurance of Heaven. (Please see our article, "He Will Subdue Our Iniquities" ---New Window, Or, How God Makes Normal Christians to Walk Without Sinning- Or, How Anyone Can Be Ready to Meet God at Any Time.) It is for our highest good that the LORD withdraws assurance from any "whosoever sinneth". How else can He prepare us for the Place He has prepared for us-- a Place where "there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth" (Revelation 21:27).

• (1John 3:20-21) "For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things [He knows our heart better than we do, so if we know in our hearts that we have sinned, be sure of this-- He knows, too.]. Beloved, IF OUR HEART CONDEMN US NOT, THEN HAVE WE CONFIDENCE TOWARD GOD." (Please see our article, "That Ye May Know That Ye Have Eternal Life" ---New Window, Or, The Biblical Doctrine of the Assurance of Salvation- Or, Only Those Who Abide in Christ May Know That They Have Eternal Life.)

• (Hebrews 10:26-27) "For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the Truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of Judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries."

If the backslider would "walk in the Spirit" then he would "NOT fulfil the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16). But the backslider does NOT listen to the Spirit, therefore he has NO right to call himself a son of God, no matter what he has claimed in the past. "For as many as are LED by the Spirit of God, they ARE the sons of God" (Romans 8:14). The backslider could easily prove his claim to Christ by acting like a real Christian does-- and REPENT. For "if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit" (Galatians 5:25). A real Christian IS "LED by the Spirit of God", and they DO HAVE the testimony of the Spirit and the assurance that accompanies a peaceful heart. "Because ye ARE sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father" (Galatians 4:6). A real Christian enjoys God's assurance because John says, "My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in Truth. And HEREBY WE KNOW that we are of the Truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him" (1John 3:18-19). A backslider, while stubbornly entrenched in his pride and sin, will always deceive himself, and vainly attempt to console himself, that "the Spirit Itself beareth witness with [his] spirit" that he is one of the "children of God" (Romans 8:16). But the Holy Spirit of God is the "Spirit of Truth" (John 15:26) and does not lie. He comforts as "The Comforter" (John 15:26) ONLY those to whom He has been given, and He is ONLY "given to them that obey Him" (Acts 5:32). When we sin, and "our heart condemn us" (1John 3:20), assurance is denied-- until we obey and repent. After coming out of a backslidden condition, we look at our sinful period as an all-consuming waste. King David illustrates this "clearing" of himself with Divine Inspiration.

• (Psalm 51:1-5) "1 A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight: that Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest, and be clear when Thou judgest. 5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." (Please see our article, "An Urgent Call to Christian Perfection" ---New Window, Or, An Exposition of the Doctrine of Christian Perfection.)

• (2Corinthians 7:11) "For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a Godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter."

• (Psalm 147:11) "The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear Him, in those that hope in His mercy."

The Spirit Not Striving Always
by C. G. Finney (1792-1875) ---New Window

"Ye professors of religion who have lived a worldly life so long, are you not ashamed of your hope? Have you not good reason to be ashamed of a hope that has no more power than yours has had? Are there not many in this house who in the honesty of their hearts must say, 'Either there is no power in the gospel, or I don't know anything about it?' For the gospel affirms as a universal fact of all those who are not under the law but under grace, 'sin shall not have dominion over you.' Now will you go before God and say, 'Lord, thou hast said, 'Sin shall not have dominion over you;' but, Lord, that is all false, for I believe the gospel and am under grace, but sin still has dominion over me!' No doubt in this case there is a mistake somewhere; and it becomes you to ask solemnly, Shall I charge this mistake and falsehood upon God, or shall I admit that it must be in myself alone? The apostle Paul has said, 'The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.' Is it so to you?

He has also said, 'Being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.' Do you know this by your own experience? He adds also that we 'rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also; knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.'

Is all this in accordance with your experience, professed Christian? Is it true that your hope makes not ashamed? Does it produce such glorious fruits unto holiness as are here described? If you were to try your experience by the word of the living God, and open your heart to be searched by the Spirit, would not you be convinced that you do not embrace the gospel in reality?... It is the Spirit's work to make self-deceived men feel that they are now having their last call from the Spirit. When this impression is made, let it by all means be heeded. It is God's own voice to the soul. Out of a great multitude of cases under my observation, in which God has distinctly made sinners feel that the present was their last call, I do not recollect one in which it did not prove to be so. This is of a truth a solemn moment to the sinner, and ought to make the warning voice of God ring in his ear like the forewarning knell of the second death." --from C. G. Finney's "The Spirit Not Striving Always," Lecture 2 of the 1848 Download (for "HELP" with the Download, see "The Oberlin Evangelist" ---New Window, bottom of page.)

Real Christians ALWAYS repent. "It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not" (Lamentations 3:22). "Praise the Beauty of Holiness... Praise the LORD; for His mercy endureth for ever" (2Chronicles 20:21). God DOES work it in us. "Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6). Real Christians taste of, and display as "ambassadors for Christ" (2Corinthians 5:20), all the Beauty and GLORY of God's Holiness. When Christians are "partakers of the Divine Nature" (2Peter 1:4), they are "ensamples to the flock" (1Peter 5:3), displaying: 1. His mercy, 2. His compassion, 3. His praise, 4. His perfection, 5. His perseverance, and 6. His righteousness. Christians are living epistles "known and read of all men" (2Corinthians 3:2). They portray the LORD in His "Beauty of Holiness".

If you are presently a backslider, one "that knoweth to do good, and doeth it NOT, to him it is SIN" [James 4:17]), and you have NOT allowed God to work repentance in you, how can you possibly know you've EVER let God even start a "good work" of grace in you? You CAN'T know. "But whoso keepeth His Word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him" (1John 2:5). With NO testimony of the Spirit, you have NO assurance. Our walk with Him is always in the present tense. He has Foreknowledge and Omniscience-- we do not.

Beware! You'd better start worrying if you are presently in sin, and "without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, [for] then are ye bastards, and NOT sons" (Hebrews 12:8).

• (Hebrews 12:7) "If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?"

• (1Thessalonians 2:11) "Ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children."

If this world seems "cool" to you, and money flows, and friends come easy, then beware, because you are enjoying "the pleasures of sin" (Hebrews 11:25) and not "the Beauty of Holiness".

• (Romans 8:7) "The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the Law of God, neither indeed can be."
  
  
• (James 4:4) "Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."
  
  
• (John 15:19) "If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you."
  
  
• (1John 2:15) "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is NOT in him."
  
  
• (Mark 10:25-27) "25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God. 26 And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved? 27 And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible."

Just because the Longsuffering and Patient LORD gives us "space to repent" (Revelation 2:21) doesn't mean that you can depend on that "space" to be there just "whenever you get around to it". There is coming to EVERY sinner (or, any person who is presently committing sin) a "Day of Wrath and Revelation of the Righteous Judgment of God" (Romans 2:5).

• (Romans 2:3-6) "3 And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the Judgment of God? 4 Or despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; NOT knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? 5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the Day of Wrath and Revelation of the Righteous Judgment of God; 6 Who will render to EVERY man according to his deeds:"
  
  
• (Jeremiah 8:5) "Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return."

Sin causes a hardening effect that deceptively worsens as the backsliddeness lingers."Exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin" (Hebrews 3:13).

• (Hebrews 4:7) "Again, He limiteth a certain day... To day if ye will hear His Voice, harden not your hearts."
  
  
• (2Corinthians 6:2) "Behold, NOW is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of Salvation."

We must not take God for granted. "Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in His goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off" (Romans 11:22).

• (1Corinthians 15:2) "By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain."
  
  
• (Hebrews 3:6) "But Christ as a Son over His Own House; Whose House are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end."
  
  
• (Hebrews 3:14) "For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end." (Please see, "Salvation Always Conditional" ---New Window, by C. G. Finney.)

If professing Christians die in an unrepentant condition, they prove only one thing. They never were what they professed to be. "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us" (1John 2:19). There is no GLORY, no honour, no splendor, no majesty, and there is no Beauty in sin. When you walk in sin, as opposed to Holiness, you are filthy and naked.

• (Revelation 3:17-19) "17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 18 I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent."
  
  
• (Revelation 16:15) "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame."

Sin breeds fear and leaves you "naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do" (Hebrews 4:13).

• (Genesis 3:7, 10) "They [Adam and Eve] knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons... And he said, I heard Thy Voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself."

The Beauty of Holiness and the Ruin of Sinfulness

Beauty: "8597h: tipharah -- beauty, glory" --from "Strong's Concordance"

odly parents rejoice when their children obey them. "A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother" (Proverbs 10:1). A child's obedience brings GLORY and honour to the parents, as the parents do to the LORD. "The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him" (Proverbs 23:24). Obedience shows that the child respects the parents, and that the child, in appearance, is like the parents. "Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things" (Proverbs 23:16). Everyone delights in a delightful child. "And the child grew, and the LORD blessed him" (Judges 13:24). Pleasant feelings abound. The home is filled with unity and harmony. The scene is one of Beauty. "1 Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in His Ways. 2 For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. 3 Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table. 4 Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD" (Psalm 128:1-4). The scene is like one of Heaven. Heaven is a Home for the Godly, that is, for ones who are like God. They, like God, do not sin.

• (1John 2:29) "If ye know that He is Righteous, ye know that every one that doeth Righteousness is born of Him."

Sin is morally reprehensible because it is a willful act committed against God.

• (1John 3:8) "He 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."

The willful acts committed in loving obedience to, and for God, yield the gloriously beautiful fruit of Holiness.

• (1John 3:3) "Every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure."

The wealth of this world is temporary, "for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away" (Proverbs 23:5). Scripture often teaches in an oxymoronic fashion. For example, take the contradictory descriptions of a monetarily rich, yet wicked man. "There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing" (Proverbs 13:7). A wicked man works this world's system to "treasure" for himself all that his heart desires. "So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God" (Luke 12:21). Being poor "toward God" is to have "nothing". The LORD is the ONLY True Wealth. That's why "there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath Great Riches" (Proverbs 13:7). In this world, "we have this Treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the Power may be of God, and not of us" (2Corinthians 4:7). But the Treasure is Eternal, "that in the ages to come He [God the Father] might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:7).

• (James 5:1-3, 5) "1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. 3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days... 5 Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a Day of Slaughter."
  
  
• (Luke 12:33-34) "Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a Treasure in the Heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Sin strips naked, but Holiness covers and "worketh for us a far more exceeding and Eternal weight of GLORY" (2Corinthians 4:17).

• (Isaiah 52:1) "Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the Holy City: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean."
  
  
• (Isaiah 48:2) "For they call themselves of the Holy City, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The LORD of Hosts is His Name."
  
  
• (Revelation 21:2, 22-27) "2 And I John saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of Heaven, prepared as a Bride adorned for her Husband... 22 And I saw no temple therein: for the LORD God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple of it. 23 And the City had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the GLORY of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the Light thereof. 24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the Light of it: and the kings of the Earth do bring their GLORY and honour into it. 25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. 26 And they shall bring the GLORY and honour of the nations into it. 27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's Book of Life."

A Holy heart is sinless-- pure and clean. A Holy soul is at home in Heaven, "and there shall in no wise enter into [Heaven] any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie" (Revelation 21:27). The "Beauty of Holiness" is that it leads us all the way Home to God. "An highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it" (Isaiah 35:8). The ruin of sinfulness stops us dead, and diverts us out of "The Way of Holiness". But, praise the Son of God, "Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from ALL iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works" (Titus 2:14). Praise Him for His mercy, for "he that covereth his sins shall NOT prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have MERCY" (Proverbs 28:13).

• (1John 1:9) "If we confess our sins, He is Faithful and Just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness."
  
  
• (Psalm 32:5) "I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin."

Life's Heavy Burdens Are Too Grievous to Bear

ife always lays backbreaking problems on man. "Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens... And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour" (Exodus 1:11, 14). Man's labour is meant to be God's method of refining. "What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?... this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith" (Ecclesiastes 1:3,13).

Considering man was created out of mere dust, it would seem that the arduous task of living life would just be too much grief. [See our article, "What the Bible Says About Suicide" ---New Window]

• (Genesis 2:7) "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."
  
  
• (Genesis 3:19) "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."

But the LORD's plan was to create man to have an "inbuilt" need of Him. God never intended that man should "bear the brunt" by himself. He wants us to trust Him. "For He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust" (Psalm 103:14).

• (Exodus 3:7; 6:7) "And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of My people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows... And I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I Am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens."
  
  
• (Psalm 10:14) "Thou hast seen it: for Thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with Thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto Thee; Thou art The Helper of the fatherless."
  
  
• (Psalm 90:14) "O satisfy us early with Thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days."
  
  
• (Psalm 22:11) "Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help."
  
  
• (Psalm 68:5) "A Father of the fatherless, and a Judge of the widows, is God in His Holy Habitation."
  
  
• (Nahum 1:7) "The LORD is good, a Strong Hold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that trust in Him."
  
  
• (John 10:14) "I am the Good Shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of Mine."
  
  
• (Matthew 6:24-34) "24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the One, and love the other; or else he will hold to the One, and despise the other. Ye CANNOT serve God and mammon. 25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His RIGHTEOUSNESS; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."

In the flesh, life is burdensome-- crushingly so, in fact. But Relief does come to the rescue for those ONLY who have learned to "cast" ALL their problems on the Sustainer! "Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and He shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved" (Psalm 55:22).

Burdens Cast on Him
by C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892) ---New Window
"'Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and He shall sustain thee; He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved' (Psalm 55:22).

It is a heavy burden; roll it on Omnipotence. It is thy burden now, and it crushes thee; but when the LORD takes it, He will make nothing of it. If thou art called still to bear, 'he will sustain thee.' It will be on Him and not on thee. Thou wilt be so upheld under it that the burden will be a blessing. Bring the LORD into the matter, and thou wilt stand upright under that which in itself would bow thee down.

Our worst fear is lest our trial should drive us from the path of duty; but this the LORD will never suffer. If we are righteous before Him, He will not endure that our affliction should move us from our standing. In Jesus He accepts us as righteous, and in Jesus He will keep us so.

What about the present moment? Art thou going forth to this day's trial alone? Are thy poor shoulders again to be galled with the oppressive load? Be not so foolish. Tell the LORD all about thy grief and leave it with Him. Don't cast your burden down and then take it up again; but roll it on the LORD and leave it there. Then shalt thou walk at large, a joyful and unburdened believer, singing the praises of thy great Burden-bearer." -- excerpt from "Faith's Checkbook" ---New Window by C. H. Spurgeon. SEE TODAY'S ENTRY ---New Window

God loves you. "Who is this King of Glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle" (Psalm 24:8). He is the Strong One Who really cares about you. "Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you" (1Peter 5:7 ). Give ALL of the worry, care, and responsibility to Him. Let it be His problem!

• (Psalm 31:7) "I will be glad and rejoice in Thy mercy: for Thou hast considered my trouble; Thou hast known my soul in adversities."
  
  
• (Psalm 37:5) "Commit thy way UNTO THE LORD; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass."
  
  
• (Proverbs 16:3) "Commit thy works UNTO THE LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established."

Trusting God is the act of a loving obedience to Him and confidence in Him. Obedience works a beautiful Holiness that shines with contentment and peace.

• (Isaiah 58:6,9) "Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?... Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity."

Men lust for power over other men. No one is too low in the succession. Preying upon each other, they reveal the ugliness of greed and hate. The lowest man finds someone that he can "lord over". Men bind impossible burdens. They are truly "grievous to be borne."

• (Matthew 23:4) "For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers."
  
  
• (Luke 11:46, 52) "And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers... Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered."
  
  
• (Matthew 23:13, 15, 23-24) "13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in... 15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves... 23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel."

But the LORD's people are not so. They imitate their God, and the fruit of it is beautiful. "O worship the LORD in the Beauty of Holiness: fear before Him, all the Earth" (Psalm 96:9).

• (Galatians 6:2) "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the Law of Christ."
  
  
• (Romans 15:1) "We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves."
  
  
• (2Timothy 2:19) "Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The LORD knoweth them that are His. And, Let every one that nameth the Name of Christ depart from iniquity."

Conclusion

worship the LORD in the Beauty of Holiness: fear before Him, all the Earth" (Psalm 96:9). What Beauty is found in Holiness? The LORD. "Let the Beauty of the LORD our God be upon us" (Psalm 90:17). And what Beauty "upon us" does He work? "Establish Thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish Thou it" (90:17). The beautiful "work" of Holy living God will "establish... upon us".

And Love? Well, Love is the "greatest" (1Corinthians 13:13) of all spiritual assets, and without Love, we are nothing" (13:2). Love is the motive for Holy living. All Scripture hangs upon the Love demanded by the Moral Law of God. "37 Jesus said... Thou shalt LOVE the LORD thy God with ALL thy heart, and with ALL thy soul, and with ALL thy mind. 38 This is the first and Great Commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt LOVE thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two Commandments hang ALL the Law and the prophets" (Matthew 22:37-40).

"hang v. tr. : 1. To fasten from above with no support from below; suspend. 2. To suspend or fasten so as to allow free movement" --from "American Heritage Dictionary"

Of what value is law, if it is not esteemed and obeyed? God obeys His Law, and He expects the same of us.

• (John 15:10) "If ye keep My Commandments, ye shall abide in My Love; even as I have kept My Father's Commandments, and abide in His Love."

• (Psalm 89:35) "Once have I sworn by My Holiness that I will not lie unto David."
  
  
• (Psalm 60:6) "God hath spoken in His Holiness."
  
  
• (2John 1:6) "And this is Love, that we walk after His Commandments."

God's Moral Law depends on, and is supported only by Love. Mr. Finney (1792-1875) ---New Window stresses the importance of Love in our obedience and moral obligation to the Moral Law.

"Moral law invariably holds one language. It never changes the spirit of its requirement. 'Thou shalt love,' or be perfectly benevolent, is its uniform and its only demand. This demand it never varies, and never can vary. It is as immutable as God is, and for the same reason. To talk of letting down, or altering moral law, is to talk absurdly. The thing is naturally impossible. No being has the right or the power to do so... The totality of its requisitions are, both in its letter and its spirit, 'Thou shalt love, &c., with all thy heart, thy soul, thy might, thy strength.' That is, whatever there is of us, at any moment, is to be wholly consecrated to God, and the good of being, and nothing more nor less." -- excerpt from "SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY" --New Window by Charles G. Finney, Lecture II.

"Obligation is a bond, or that which binds. Moral obligation is oughtness. It is a responsibility imposed on the moral agent by his own reason, and by the authority of God." -- excerpt from "SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY" --New Window by Charles G. Finney, Lecture III.

As simply as any man needs to hear it, "Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love Me, he will keep My Words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make our abode with him" (John 14:23). Holiness is the state we're in when we love God with our joyful obedience. "For this is the LOVE of God, that we KEEP His Commandments: and His Commandments are not grievous" (1John 5:3). Holiness is beautiful because it is the fruit of Love.

"O worship the LORD in the Beauty of Holiness"
(Psalm 96:9).

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Read "The Beauty of Holiness" (Part 2) ---New Window
by Tom Stewart.



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