“Keep praying
for us, for we are convinced that we have a good (clear) conscience, that we
want to walk uprightly and live a
noble life, acting honorably and in
complete honesty in all things. Heb. 13:18 (AMP)
Mary demanded,
"Tell me where you have laid him" John 20:15., implying she wanted to
carry the body of Jesus with her, on her shoulders-- a desire she was not
physically able to perform. Her affections were much stronger than her back.
The principle of
holiness in a saint, then, makes him try to lift a responsibility, which he can
barely move; he can do little more than desire with all his heart to see it
done. Paul sketches his own character from the sincerity of his will and
efforts, not from the perfection of his works: Keep praying for us, for we
are convinced that we have a good (clear) conscience, that we want to walk
uprightly and live a noble life, acting
honorably and in complete honesty in
all things Hebrews
13:18.". He was so willing to follow God into holiness that he did not
hesitate to claim " a good conscience," although he could not
accomplish everything he wanted to do.
True holiness will
not divide what God joins: "God spoke all these words" Exodus 20:1.
There God gave together the four commandments concerning Himself and the six
concerning man. And a truly sanctified heart does not want to skip over or blot
out one word God has written but desires to be a doer of the whole will of God.
"To God and
man"-- first to God and then to man; this is the sequence of a sanctified
life. Paul said the Macedonians first gave "their own selves to the Lord,
and unto us by the will of God" 2 Corinthians 8:5. A sanctified person
first obeys God and then, out of obedience to His will, serves his fellow man.
In Christianity we
cannot write a right line without a rule, or with a false one. And every
standard except the Word is a false rule-- "to the law and to the
testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no
light in them" Isaiah 8:20. Whatever the Word of God requires is the rule
of God's Spirit; apocryphal holiness-- doubtful, marginal, or extraneous-- is
not true holiness at all.”
Quoted material from, ”The Christian in Complete
Armour Daily Readings in Spiritual Warfare” by Gurnall and James S Bell.
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