Chapter Eight
Be sure to seek for holiness of heart and life only in its due order ake sure to seek holiness of heart and life in its proper order, as ordained by God, after union with Christ, justification, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. In this order, earnestly pursue holiness by faith as an essential part of your salvation.
I hope the reader will carefully observe throughout these instructions that the desired holiness, which serves as the ultimate goal in this entire discussion, does not solely rely on the grace or act of faith specifically required by the gospel. Although faith is a saving gift of Christ, it is considered here more as a preceding means to receiving Christ and His salvation, rather than a received part of His salvation. The intended holiness, on the other hand, consists of conforming to the entire moral law, to which we are naturally obligated even if there had never been a gospel or a duty such as believing in Christ for salvation.
Now, within this instruction, three crucial aspects are included that are vital in guiding us towards the achievement of this great goal, and therefore, they deserve our sincere contemplation.
First and foremost, it is of utmost importance to understand the appropriate position and order in which God has established the practice of holiness within the mystery of our salvation. It is a significant aspect of Christian wisdom to seek holiness solely in that order. We acknowledge that God is the God of order, and His infinite wisdom is evident in appointing the order of His creation, which we must adhere to in order to achieve our worldly goals. Likewise, in spiritual matters, God has established an everlasting covenant that is ordered in all things and secure (2 Samuel
23:5). The benefits of this covenant have a systematic dependence on one another, akin to links in a golden chain, although several of them and our entitlement to all of them are granted to us simultaneously. Sufficient has already been said to illustrate the order in which God leads us to the practice of the moral law. First, He brings us into Christ through faith, like branches in a vine, so that we may bear much fruit (John 15:4, 5). He initially cleanses our consciences from dead works through justification, enabling us to serve the living God (Hebrews 9:14). He first enables us to live in the Spirit and then walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:25). This is the prescribed order in the gospel, which is the power of God for salvation, even though the law prescribes a completely different approach, requiring us to first fulfill its commands in order to be justified and live. However, this approach proves to be a lethal letter for us.
Now, carefully consider the significant advantages you have in attaining holiness by seeking it in the right gospel order. You will benefit from the love that God has demonstrated towards you by forgiving your sins, accepting you into His favour, granting you the Spirit of adoption, and freely giving you the hope of His glory through Christ. These precious gifts will persuade and compel you with sweet allurements to love God in return, knowing how deeply He loves you. You will be motivated to love others for His sake and wholeheartedly devote yourself to obeying all His commands out of genuine love for Him. Additionally, you will receive the assistance of the Holy Spirit, empowering you to obey and fortifying you against your own corruptions and the temptations of Satan. With both favourable winds and currents, you will make significant progress in your pursuit of holiness.
On the contrary, if you rush into immediate compliance with the law without embracing Christ's righteousness and His Spirit along the way, you will find yourself facing contrary winds and currents. Your guilty conscience and corrupt nature will undoubtedly undermine and thwart all your endeavours to love and serve God in true obedience. Instead, you will stir up sinful desires rather than stirring yourself up for genuine obedience, or at best, you will merely engage in slavish and hypocritical performances.
Oh, how I wish people would understand the rightful place of holiness in the mystery of salvation and seek it only where they have all the advantages of gospel grace to find it! Many fail in their zealous pursuit of godliness, and after expending much fruitless effort, God brings disaster upon them, even to their eternal destruction, just as He did with Uzza, who suffered temporal destruction because he did not seek God in the proper order (1
Chronicles 13:10).
Secondly, we need to view holiness as an essential aspect of the salvation received through faith in Christ. Some individuals are so immersed in a works-based covenant that they accuse us of deeming good works unnecessary for salvation if we do not acknowledge them as conditions to secure an interest in Christ or as prerequisites to prepare us for receiving
Him by faith. On the other hand, when they are taught by the Scriptures that we are saved by faith alone, without works, they begin to disregard obedience to the law, considering it completely unnecessary for salvation.
They believe they are only obligated to it out of gratitude, and if it is entirely neglected, they have no doubt that free grace will save them without consequence. Furthermore, some have fallen into strong
Antinomian delusions, believing that freedom from the bondage of the law, achieved through the blood of Christ, entails having no conscience about breaking the law in their conduct.
One cause of these conflicting errors is that many are inclined to think that salvation means nothing more than being delivered from hell and experiencing heavenly happiness and glory. Consequently, they conclude that if good works are a means to glorification and precede it, they must also be a preceding means to our entire salvation. Conversely, if good works are not necessary for our complete salvation, they are deemed unnecessary for glorification as well. However, while salvation is often referred to in Scripture, particularly in terms of its perfection in the state of heavenly glory, its comprehensive and accurate meaning encompasses freedom from the evil of our natural corrupted state and all the holy and joyous blessings we receive from Christ our Saviour, either in this world through faith or in the world to come through glorification. Justification, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and the privileges of adoption are examples of components of our salvation that we partake in during this life. Similarly, the transformation of our hearts to align with God's law and the righteous fruits produced in us by Jesus Christ in this life are essential aspects of our salvation.
God saves us not only from the consequences of our sinful state in the future, but also from our present sinful impurity through the regenerating and renewing work of the Holy Spirit (Ezekiel 36:29; Titus 3:5).
Christ was named JESUS, meaning "Saviour," because He saved His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). Therefore, part of our salvation includes being delivered from our sins, which begins in this life through justification and sanctification, and is perfected in glorification in the life to come. Can we reasonably doubt whether it is a proper part of our salvation through Christ to be revived and live for God when we were spiritually dead in trespasses and sins? Is it not part of our salvation to have the image of God restored in holiness and righteousness, which we lost through the Fall? Isn't it part of our salvation to be freed from the dishonourable slavery to Satan and our own desires, and to become servants of God? Moreover, we are honoured greatly to walk by the Spirit and produce the fruits of the Spirit. All of this constitutes holiness in heart and life.
Therefore, we conclude that holiness in this life is absolutely necessary for salvation, not only as a means to the end, but also as an integral part of the end itself. Although we are not saved by good works as a cause of salvation, we are saved for good works as the fruits and effects of saving grace, which God has prepared for us to walk in (Ephesians 2:10). Indeed, one aspect of our salvation is being delivered from the bondage of the covenant of works, but the purpose of this deliverance is not to grant us the freedom to sin (which is the worst form of slavery), but rather to enable us to fulfil the royal law of liberty and to serve in newness of spirit rather than in the oldness of the letter (Galatians 5:13; Romans 7:6). Moreover, holiness in this life is a necessary means to make us suitable to partake in the inheritance of the saints in heavenly light and glory. Without holiness, we can never see God (Hebrews 12:14), and we are as unfit for His glorious presence as swine are for the chamber of an earthly prince. I acknowledge that some individuals may be converted when they are near death and have little time to practice holiness in this world. However, the grace of the Spirit is active like fire (Matthew 3:11), and as soon as it is given, it will immediately produce inward love for God, Christ, and His people. This will be sufficient to manifest God's righteous judgement in saving them on the day of judgement, even though some may not have enough time to demonstrate their inward grace through outward works, like the thief on the cross (Luke 23:40, 43).
The third and final aspect to consider in this guidance is that holiness of heart and life should be earnestly sought through faith as an essential part of our salvation. Many ignorant people who live under the gospel harden their hearts in sin and ultimately destroy their souls by placing their trust in Christ for an imagined salvation that does not involve holiness but only forgiveness of sin and deliverance from eternal torments. They desire to be free from the punishment deserved by sin, but they love their sinful desires so much that they hate holiness and have no desire to be liberated from the bondage of sin. The way to confront this harmful delusion is not to deny, as some do, that trusting in Christ for salvation is a saving act of faith, but rather to show that no one can truly trust in Christ for salvation without also trusting in Him for holiness. Furthermore, those who do not wholeheartedly desire true salvation do not truly desire to be made holy and righteous in their hearts and lives. If God and Christ grant you salvation, holiness will be a part of it. If Christ does not cleanse you from the filth of your sins, you have no share in Him (John 13:8).
How strange is the salvation they desire, those who do not care for holiness? They want to be saved but remain completely dead in sin, estranged from the life of God, devoid of the image of God, disfigured by the image of Satan, enslaved to their own filthy desires, utterly unfit for the enjoyment of God's glory. Such a salvation was never purchased by the blood of Christ, and those who seek it are abusing the grace of God in Christ and turning it into licentiousness. They want to be saved by Christ but remain outside of Christ in a carnal state. However, God does not free anyone from condemnation except those who are in Christ, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Alternatively, they would try to divide Christ, taking only a part of His salvation and disregarding the rest. But Christ cannot be divided (1 Corinthians 1:13).
They desire their sins to be forgiven not so that they may walk with God in love in the future but so that they may continue their enmity against Him without any fear of punishment.
But let them not be deceived, for God cannot be mocked. They do not comprehend the true nature of salvation, nor have they ever truly grasped the extent of their lost condition and the enormity of sin. What they trust in Christ for is merely a figment of their own imagination, and therefore their trust is a glaring presumption. True faith in the gospel compels us to approach Christ with a deep thirst, longing to drink from the wellspring of living water, which is His sanctifying Spirit (John 7:37-38). We earnestly cry out to be saved, not only from hell, but from sin itself, saying, "Teach me to do Your will; Your Spirit is good" (Psalm 143:10), "Turn me, and I shall be turned" (Jeremiah 31:18), "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10). This is the pathway that the doctrine of salvation by grace compels us to follow towards a life of holiness, by compelling us to seek it through faith in Christ as an integral part of the salvation that is freely given to us through Him.