The work of the Holy Spirit - pagina 473

SANCTIFIC ATION

43 3

tegral part of the confession, a mystery, just as

and therefore a

of reconciliation,

much

as the doctrine

In fact, in the treatment

penetrate the very heart of the confession, the

we

of sanctification

dog?fia.

dogma which scintillates in the doctrine of sanctification. Of course we are not to divorce sanctification from life. No child of God denies that the doctrine has its application in life there is no truth whose operation is not felt in his life. To him every doc;

trine is instinct with life, a live coal, a radiating

fire,

a lamp

always burning, a well of living water springing up to eternal life. The content of every doctrine, of every mystery, is something in the living

God

or in His creature

power, a working, a person

;

who

the confession of a condition, a actually exists,

who

lives,

who

atonement means, not those particular drops which flowed from the cross, and were lost in the inhospitable ground of Calvary but a treasure in the living Christ, unceasingly at work in heaven, by which He enriches His children on earth, the

The blood

works.

of

;

power

glorious

And

of

which they know and experience.

this is true of

every mystery, as our confession of the Holy

Trinity shows, which says of this deepest and most incomprehensible dogma " That God's children know this as well from the testi:

monies of Holy Writ as from the operations of the divine Persons, and chiefly by those we feel in ourselves" (art. ix.).

And

this applies to the doctrine of sanctification as well as to all

other doctrines

;

for

not,

it is

any more than the other dogmas, the

confession of a lifeless matter, but the confession of an awful power,

which lives and works effectually in us. Hence sanctification must be preached once again as a doctrine j it must be confessed, examined, and studied as a doctrine to be followed by an appropriate applica;

any other doctrine and godliness, spiriand good works will be the result. But to obtain this result a clear exposition of the cause and animating power of sanctifica-

tion like the preaching of tual

life,

tion

is

necessary.

When

on a cold morning the

suffers, it is foolish to

say

and get warm without fire ;

And

;

not the

fire,

:

it."

"

fire

does not bum, and the family fire does not burn remove it,

Since the

To keep from

but the cause of

this applies to sanctification.

freezing requires more

its failure,

There

is

must be removed.

a general and bitter

complaint of the coldness that has fallen upon the Church

;

and

it

requires the powerful working of sanctification to save the Church.

But the means employed frequently show poor judgment. 28

Deze tekst is geautomatiseerd gemaakt en kan nog fouten bevatten. Digibron werkt voortdurend aan correctie. Klik voor het origineel door naar de pdf. Voor opmerkingen, vragen, informatie: contact.

Op Digibron -en alle daarin opgenomen content- is het databankrecht van toepassing. Gebruiksvoorwaarden. Data protection law applies to Digibron and the content of this database. Terms of use.

Printen