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III.—ITS ATTAINABLENESS
1. God commands it.
| “Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God.”—Lev. 20:7. |
| “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation.”—I Pet. 1:15. |
God never commands that which is impossible. To affirm that he does is blasphemous. It would make him out a tyrant.
2. To sanctify the soul or make it holy, is God’s work. If this can be proved, then it follows that holiness is possible. With Him things are easy that are impossible for men.
| “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh. And I will give you a heart of flesh, and I will put my Spirit within you, an cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them.” Ezek. 36:25-27. |
Here God says He will do the work, and do it thoroughly.
1. He will cleanse—not from some,—but from ALL idols, and from ALL filthiness.
2. He will give a new heart and a new spirit.
3. He will cause us to walk in His statutes and judgments. He will impart the spirit of obedience, and with it the power to obey.
| “Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth.”—John 17:17. |
| “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly.”—I Thess. 5:23. |
These passages plainly imply that it is God’s work to make believers holy.
3. Some have attained to holiness.
| “Enoch walked with God three hundred and sixty-five years.”—Gen. 5:21, 22. “Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.”—Gen. 6:9. “Job was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.”—Job 1:1. |
In the New Testament, the disciples of Jesus are called Christians but three times, never Methodists, Baptists, or Presbyterians. Over sixty times they are called Saints, or the holy ones.
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