And we are clearly informed that what the church of the hundred and
twenty received on the day of Pentecost, namely, the purifying of their
hearts by faith and the enduement of power, that is to say, entire
sanctification, with all its blessed accompaniments, was not a
privilege confined to apostolic times, and to the opening of the Holy
Ghost dispensation; for Peter boldly assured the wondering multitude
that the promise of the same blessed experience "is to you and to your
children and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God
shall call." And thus it is for the church and for every individual
believer, until Christ Himself shall come again. God help all
Christians everywhere to see and to believe and to realize it. Amen.
In the eighth chapter, we are told how Jesus showed the slavery of sin.
"Every one that committeth sin is the bond-servant of sin," and coupled
with this the glorious announcement that, "If the Son, therefore, shall
make you free, ye shall be free indeed." Yes, Jesus came to free us not
simply from the guilt and the condemnation and the penalty of sin, but
from that which brings guilt and condemnation and penalty, even from
sin itself.
Here is true Christian liberty, and it does not mean license, it does
not mean do as you please, it does not mean the liberty of making your
own choices, but it does mean be pleased with what pleases God, and in
this manner after all you will do as you please, it means the glad
acceptance of God's choices. And so, after all, you do have your own
way because it is God's way, it means liberty and choice to do
everything right and nothing wrong, or to do right in all directions
and wrong in none. May God bring all His children out of slavery and
into freedom for Jesus' sake.
In the memorable discourse of the Lord Jesus with His disciples at the
last supper, as given by John in the 14th, 15th and 16th chapters of
his gospel, He told them of the blessed Comforter, "which is the Holy
Ghost," whom the Father would send in His name, and as to the method of
His coming He says, "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." Here, I think, beyond a doubt, that the "We" refers to the Father
and the Son, and the manner of Their coming and indwelling in the heart
of the believer is through Their representative, the Holy Spirit. And
if this be true, how is it possible that such a heart in which Father,
Son and Holy Ghost abide, should not be sanctified wholly?
In his first Epistle, the beloved apostle develops beautifully the
doctrine of perfect love. He declares that God's children must not walk
in darkness or sin, and that those who do so cannot, truthfully, claim
to have fellowship with Him. "But if we walk in the light, as He is in
the light, we have fellowship one with another," (which implies
fellowship with God) "and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth
from all sin."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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