[pg 122]
| God's Will To The Sinner. | God's Will To The Justified. |
| Repentance. “The Lord is … not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Pet. 3:9. | Sanctification. “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification.” 1 Thes. 4:3. |
| Called to repentance. “I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Mat. 9:13. | Called to sanctification. “For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.” 1 Thes. 4:7. |
| Commands repentance. “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent.” Acts 17:30. | Commands sanctification. “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” 2 Cor. 7:1. |
| The reason for repentance. “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” Luke 13:3. | The reason for sanctification. “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” Heb. 12:14. |
| Provisions Made For The Justification Of The Sinner. | Provisions Made For The Sanctification Of The Believer. |
| 1. The Word. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” Rom. 1:16. | 1. The Word. “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” John 17:17 |
| 2. The Spirit. “Jesus answered Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he can not enter into the kingdom of God.” John 3:5. | 2. The Spirit. “That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.” Rom. 15:16. |
| 3. The Blood. “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.” Rev. 1:5. | 3. The Blood. “Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.” Heb. 13:12. |
| 4. Jesus. “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:2. | 4. Jesus. “And inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me [Jesus].” Acts 26:18. |
| 5. God. “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:13. | 5. God. “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; … faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” 1 Thes. 5:23, 24. |
[pg 124]
Being Like Jesus.
Holiness is the image of God. A holy seer, in a vision, saw the Lord and his high throne. He saw the angels hovering over and heard one shouting, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.” Isa. 6:1–3. Nothing in earth or in heaven is so beautiful as holiness. The Scriptures are [pg 125] sublime in their description of the loveliness of the celestial world. Poets have sung of the exquisite delights of that better land. The crowning feature of attractiveness is holiness. Should the despiser of holiness be permitted to stroll through the fields of heaven he would find no object of beauty there. The rose of Sharon would be but a faded flower, “no beauty that we should desire him.” Isa. 53:2.
The one object and desire in the life of the sweet singer David, a holiness admirer, was to dwell in the house of the Lord all his days to “behold the beauty of the Lord.” Psa. 27:4. The beautiful holy image of God was seen upon man in his creation. He manifested the holy character of his Creator. He was in nature like God. The Almighty in looking over the works of creation saw that everything he had made, man included, was very good (Gen. 1:31); therefore we can rightly conclude that as he looked upon man he looked upon a creature as pure and holy and faultless as an angel in heaven, else he would not have pronounced him very good. Such without controversy was the state of man by creation: as holy and as pure in his nature as his Maker. But a sorrowful change came to man. He transgressed the law of his God, and as a result the holy image of the Creator was supplanted by the hideous deformity of sin.
After the transgression, God again looked upon man and “saw that his wickedness was very great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of [pg 126] his heart was only evil continually.” Gen. 6:5. This grieved him at his heart, and he repented of having made man. However he purposes that man shall yet enjoy the blessing of a holy state. Accordingly he sent his Son to this world to redeem him. This Son was in the image of the Father “in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” 2 Cor. 4:4. “Who is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature.” Col. 1:15.