Some Vital Truths Simply Stated for Young Believers. ^ t ó „ The Separated Life in Christ By MR. GEORGE GOODMAN England
II. Christ Sanctified Himself “For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified by the truth” (John 17. 19). In what sense did Christ sanctify Him self? To understand this aright, we should turn to Leviticus 27. 28, 29, where we read: “ Every devoted thing is most holy unto the Lord. None de voted, which shall he devoted of men, shall be redeemed; but shall surely be put to death.” * Recognizing that God had sanctified and sent Him into the world to die for sinners, and anpinted Him as Prophet, Priest, and King, He devoted Himself a whole burnt offering to do the whole will of God. “Lo, I come,” He said; “in the volume of the book it is written of Me to do Thy will. ... by the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb. 10. 7, 10), Thus He sanctified or devoted Himself that we might, be sanctified, or, as it is written: “That He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered with out the gate” (Heb. 13.12). So the Fath er sanctified Him, and He sanctified Him self. He was, even in this sin-stricken world, III. “Holy, Harmless, Undeflled, and separated from sinners.” Here we have in view His holiness of character. He was the Lamb of God, “without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1. 19). Neither inward blemish nor outward spot; no stain inherently nor by contraction. IV. He Walked Holily
OLINESS has been defined as spiritual “ wholeness.” It is the believer enjoying the new life he has in Christ with
good spiritual health. It is “ life and peace” resulting from a spirit ual mindedness (Rom. 8. 6). It is ac cordingly an unaffected and beautiful thing. The beauty of holiness is the beauty of the Lord pur God upon us. It is “His comeliness put upon us” (Ezek. 16. 14). It is also a happy, or blessed, thing. “ Blessed are the pure in heart,” the Lord said. All forced and artificial piety is sad and gloomy. Ranks and aims are typical of this. It is best defined, I suppose, as inward and outward likeness to Christ. The “mind that was in Him” exhibited in the “walk as He walked.” You will observe that the exhortation to holiness is based upon the fact of His holiness: “ Be ye holy for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). We cannot, then, do better if we wish to study holiness than see what is written about Him, the Holy One of God. He was essentially and eternally holy as the Son, Goff tire Son “ blessed forever,” but in relation to His walk and work upon earth there are four things said about His holiness: 1. God the Father Sanctified Him ' “Whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world” (John 10. 36). The Father did not, of course, add any thing to His perfect impeccable purity and sanctity, but in view of the media- torship He had undertaken, He set Him apart, or sanctified Him, for it. This is the first idea we have, then, of His holi ness: Separated and anointed for His office and work.
“He did no sin.” That, of course, is negative only. He did always those “ I WILL SHEW THEE GREAT THINGS!”
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