“If you really
want to be holy, be humble, because the two are clasped together.
Satan's policy is
to crack the breastplate of righteousness by beating it out farther than the
metal can bend. And every time you trust in this distortion you destroy the
very nature and purpose of the armor-- your righteousness becomes
unrighteousness and your holiness degenerates into wickedness.
Is anything worse
than pride, such a pride, which runs rampant over the way, which God Himself
has made for saving souls? If you really want to be holy, be humble, because
the two are clasped together. "What doth the Lord require of thee, but to
do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God Micah 6:8. God
has not asked you to earn heaven by your holiness but to show love and
thankfulness to Christ who earned it for you. Thus we have insight into the way
Christ persuaded His disciples to walk in holiness: "If ye love me, keep
my commandments" John 14:15.. It is as if He had said, "You know why
I came and why I am going out of the world-- I lay down My life and take it up
again to intercede for you. If you value these deeds and the blessed fruit you
reap from them, prove it by loving Me enough to keep my commandments."
When everything
the saint does through Christ is offered up as a thanksgiving sacrifice to Him,
then this is gospel holiness bred and fed by this love. Because Christ has
loved us with "love... strong as death," our response is that of a
bride: "I will give thee my loves" Song of Solomon 8:6 and 7:12 And this
bride explains what is in her expression of love: "All manner of pleasant
fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my Beloved" (v. 13).
The saint in
Solomon's Song had confessed her faith in Christ and had drunk deeply of His
love for her. And now to return His love in thankfulness, she stirred herself
to entertain Him with the pleasant fruits of His own graces, gathered from her
holy behavior. She did not lay these fruits up to feed her pride and
self-confidence but reserved them for her Beloved, so He could have all the
praise.”
Quoted material from, ”The Christian in Complete
Armour Daily Readings in Spiritual Warfare” by Gurnall and James S Bell.
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