3. Encouragements to the duty.
We have looked to some extent at the “dos” and “don’ts” connected with the quest for piety. Now let us see what one Bible passage offers in the way of encouragement. The passage is in Romans 6 but all I intend to do is attempt a loose paraphrase of verses 14, 17, 18 and 22 (you can consult your own Bible for the inspired words).
Verse 14: Sin, the tyrant to which you were in bondage, has lost its dominion over you. When you were united to Christ by faith, you were counted to have died with Him, and the claims of the law as a covenant of works came to an end. So you are no longer under the law in that respect; you are no longer the helpless slave of sin. Verse 17: You are now under grace, you are righteous in God’s sight and spiritually alive, obeying from the heart the doctrine of the gospel, and have become the servants of righteousness. Verse 18: In the past you were serving sin; now you are willingly serving a different master, that is, righteousness. Verse 22: Serving righteousness is serving God; serving God is seeking holiness, and the end of that is eternal life.
There then is the encouragement. The believer is free through union with Christ to give his whole heart to keeping God’s law, to doing what is right. The effort will go on through the remainder of life, but it is true serving of God. And the end of it is eternal life.
4. Helps in the pursuit of piety.
It is not in his own strength that a Christian can grow in grace. From first to last, salvation is from the Lord. God has elected; Christ has redeemed; the Holy Spirit calls effectually, and it is the Spirit who sanctifies. He is the first among the helps needed. He is the great Helper, the divine Agent on whom the believer must depend as he sets his face towards holiness and heaven.
The Spirit’s help comes before us in a notable way under the description of sealing. Paul says that “God has also sealed us and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts” (2 Cor 1:22); again, “After that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise” (Eph 1:13), and, “Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Eph 4:30).
The first purpose of a seal is to mark ownership: for example, Ahasuerus’ seal on Haman’s letter authorising genocide. God marks the sinner as saved by causing the Holy Spirit to dwell within and to purify him. As the sealing goes on, it increases the desire for holiness, it advances spirituality of mind and it increases dependence on God’s help.
Another use of a seal is to keep secure, as Christ’s tomb was sealed. The Holy Spirit never abandons a regenerate person but assures him that sanctification will continue until death: “kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation”. The Saviour promised that, when He would go away, another Comforter would be given, who would abide with His people for ever.
Help towards sanctification is given in God’s Word, with its urgings, inducements, examples and warnings. Prayer is a constant means of help, as is the teaching obtained in public worship, together with good Christian literature and a wise choice of Christian friends with whom one can enjoy true spiritual fellowship. Faith must be exercised in what God has spoken in Scripture about sanctification – and so must hope, whereby we expect future good.
Last of all I mention patience: “Ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise” (Heb 10:36). The whole Christian life is meant to be a doing of the will of God, for this – as I hope is clear from this paper – is what seeking personal piety consists of. So whatever God requires of us is our duty: in the sphere of faith, hope, worship, daily life and Christian profession. It is a life work but not an easy one; yet promise is given of sufficient enabling grace: “As thy days, so shall thy strength be”. It is a labouring time. It is a waiting time, and patience is needed. While it is one thing to enter seriously a course of life different from, and opposed to, our former ways, it is another thing to persevere in it. So it is by patience that holiness makes progress in you. So Rutherford’s words have been paraphrased:
I’ve wrestled on towards heaven ’gainst storm and wind and tide:
Now like a weary traveller that leaneth on his guide.
Amid the shades of evening while sinks life’s lingering sand,
I hail the glory dawning from Immanuel’s land.
A divinely-assisted patience will have its reward.
Last month’s article dealt with positive and negative aspects of the subject. This is the final section of what was originally a Theological Conference paper.