John Dick
In sanctification the will of the believer is rendered more and more conformable to the will of God. This is the essence of holiness. Cicero2 says that to have the same desires and aversions is the height of friendship; so we may say that to be like-minded with God, to be entirely resigned to Him, to choose what He chooses, and to refuse what He refuses, is the highest moral perfection of a creature. Absolute conformity to the will of God cannot be attained in this world but exists only in heaven, where His will is so done by its inhabitants that they are set forth as a pattern to us. But it is the effect of regenerating grace to subdue our rebellious hearts and to bring them to submit to the authority of our Maker.
This is the predominant state of believers, but it is often disturbed by the wayward movements of the will, and it is the purpose of the Holy Spirit, in operating upon it, to correct and restrain its aberrations and reduce it to a state of habitual submission. The Spirit’s object is to establish a complete moral dependence upon God and, with this view, to make the subjects of His influence cease more and more from their own views, desires and pursuits. Without pretending to explain what power the Holy Ghost secretly exerts upon the soul, we may say that the effect is produced by means of the light that He gives to the mind, in which the will of God appears not only supreme and sacred, but so just and wise and good that we should acquiesce in it without reserve and without a murmur.
Thus the people of God are led to submission, not only when His will is enforced by the nature of the duty which it enjoins, but when it demands our obedience solely because it is His will. Thus Adam was commanded to abstain from the fruit of a particular tree in the Garden, there being no reason for abstinence but the simple prohibition. The demand for submission still appears equally absolute in many dispensations of providence, of which no other account can be given than that they are the decree of heaven. It is a proof of considerable progress in holiness when the person who is tried in this manner bows to his sovereign Lord, and says, Good is His will. Job is
1An edited extract from Dick’s Lectures on Theology, vol 3.
2A noted Roman orator in the first century BC.
an example; his submission amid the greatest afflictions was expressed in these remarkable words: “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).
Does a Christian find that he is less disposed to consult with flesh and blood and more to consult the Scriptures; that he sincerely desires to know what is his duty and more diligent than before to ascertain it; that every intimation of God’s pleasure commands his attention and inspires him with holy reverence; that he is more ready and cheerful and determined in obedience; and that his supreme desire is to glorify God and to be accepted by Him? When this is the prevailing state of his mind, it is evident that God has made him willing in a day of power, and that the work of sanctification is advancing in his soul towards perfection.