The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1905, Page 75

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al Nee

The Lutheran Pioneer.

75

the} Holy Ghost Has Sanctified Me in the
True Faith.

The Holy Ghost in calling and enlightening me
has brought me to Christ and made me a partaker
of His righteousness and salvation. But here the
work of the Holy Ghost did not yet come to an end,
for I further confess that He has “‘sanctified me in
the true faith.”’

The word sanctify is here used in a narrower
sense than we have used it heretofore. Sanctifica-
tion, namely, may be used to designate the whole
work of the Holy Ghost, or it may be employed to
name a part only of His work. In the wider sense,
the work of sanctification comprises all that the
Holy Ghost has done, does, or will do in us, from
the first call until. He has brought us to glory in
heaven; but in the narrower sense the work of
sanctification is that which the Holy Spirit does in
us when He has brought us to Christ, or, what is
the same, wrought faith in us. In this latter sense
we use the word when we say, ‘‘The Holy Ghost
has sanctified me in the true faith.”

He that is enlightened by the Holy Ghost ines
become a child of God; he has been born again
and become a new crenturel Having learned to
place his confidence in Christ as his Saviour from
sin, and having experienced the blessed comfort of
justification, and heard the precious assurance, ‘‘Be
of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee,’”’ man be-
comes wholly changed in heart. Through faith he
has been brought into communion with Christ, and
the apostle says, 2 Cor. 5, 17: ‘‘If any man be in
Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed
away; behold, all things are become new.’’ The
old things are passed away; the fear of God’s wrath
has been displaced by love and gratitude to Him,
my Saviour and my Lord. The old things are
passed away, all things are become new. Faith has
renewed our hearts. What we once hated we now
love, and what we loved we now hate. An entire
renewal, a radical change, and not a mere reforma-
tion, has-taken place. Itis not cutting off the limbs
of a tree, nor shifting it to another place, that will
change a briar into a rose; the sap must be changed.
The heart must be renewed; the inner man must
be made completely new; the prayer of David must
_ be heard, ‘‘Create in me a clean heart, O God, and
renew a right spirit within me.”’

A marvelous:change! The Bible, what a dry
old book it used to be; but now it abounds in fat-
ness and marrow! Prayer, before a wearisome work,
has now become a delightful exercise. Going to
church, once an irksome duty, is now a blessed

privilege. Thus all things are altered; all things
are become new.

But let us remember, though we are made new
creatures in Christ Jesus, and though the life that
is in us, the ruling life, is new, and holy, and
heavenly, yet the old nature still survives. Though
crucified, it is long in dying and struggles hard.
Sin dwells in us, so that we see to our sorrow that,
though we are new men, we are yet men; and
though the grace of God reigns within us, yet there
is a struggle for the kingdom, and sin that dwells
within us, and its allies, Satan and the world with-
out, strive with might and main after the mastery.
We must daily experience that, though we are re-
newed sinners, we are sinners still. Our Christian
life must therefore be a constant battle against this
powerful triumvirate, Satan, world, and flesh. And
were we left to ourselves, the outcome would not
long be doubtful, for we would soon be vanquished.
But the Holy Ghost comes to our rescue and gives
us power to fight: and overcome our enemies.

The Holy Ghost, however, does not only give
us the power successfully to fight against evil, He
has also given strength ‘‘to walk in godliness and
good works.”? Our hearts have been renewed not
only to hate evil, but to love that which is good.
As God’s children we will be desirous to do what
pleases Him. St. Paul writes: ‘‘We are His work-
manship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we should
walk in them,’’ Eph. 2, 10. The Holy Ghost has
newly created us that we should do good works.
Holy labors await us, good works are expected of
us; we are created in Christ Jesus for the very pur-
pose that we might be zealous in them. He who
died for us calls us to do works like Hisown. The
Holy Spirit within us prompts us and gives us
strength to consecrate ourselves to a life of godly
service. How ungrateful, if we were not to use the
power given us by God! Christ says, ‘‘Let your
light so shine before men, that they may see your
good works, and glorify your Father which is in
heaven,’”’ Matt.5, 16. A light must shine, and
faith must show itself by good works. These good
works, however, shall not be done to glorify our-
selves, but to the glory of God, that men may praise
our Father in heaven. F. J. L.

oe

- Sin and Grace.,

The error of not knowing nor understanding what
sin is usually brings with itself another error, that of
not knowing nor understanding what grace is.

Luther.