The work of the Holy Spirit - pagina 486

— SANCTIFICATION

446

Both are righteousness i.e., the act of occupying the But the first refers to our personal standing in the position determined by God; the second to the act of conforming our thoughts, words, and deeds to His divine ent things.

position divinely ordained.

requirements. It is

unnecessary to speak particularly of righteousness with Whatever we do in relation to them is righteous

reference to men.

or unrighteous according to

conformity or non-conformity to the

its

divine ordinance, and every transgression against the neighbor be-

comes

sin only because

it is

in non-conformity to the righteousness

of God.

man's righteousness consists of two parts: be what God has determined. Second, that his thoughts, words, and deeds be conformed Briefly,

First, that his status

to the

Hence our righteousness need not be the product oj our 07V71 soul's labor. The original righteousness of Adam and Eve lacked nothing, altho they had not done anything to it persondivine ordinances.

ally.

They simply stood

in the right position before

tion not self-assumed, but divinely determined. right, after it is disturbed,

And

God — a so

posi-

may

the

be restored independently of the viola-

by a third person. The question is not how the right relation restored, but whether it agrees again with God's sovereign will. He that delivers a debtor from imprisonment by paying his debts restores him to his right relation to his former creditors, even tho the prisoner himself did not pay a farthing of the debt. Because righteousness has reference to mutual relations, the right is satisfied as soon as the disturbed relation is restored and the lost position recovered. JJo7v it was accomplished is immaterial. This gives us a deeper insight into the profound significance of the cross, and why it is that our righteousness can not be increased nor decreased, altho it does not affect our essential character. tor,

was

Entirely different

is

the soul's holiness, which touches directly

the quality of person and character; as our ancient theologians correctly expressed

it:

"Justification

SiC\.s

/or man; sanctification

inheres in man."

The ungodly

is justified, i.e.,

the very

moment

that he believes;

before sanctification has begun to operate in him, he stands before

God

perfectly right.

be right; partly right, to be a

little

He

is

more

knows

that he

not merely beginning to

right to-morrow, and per-

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