302 when I say that Christ is our sanctification, or our holiness, I mean that He is the AUTHOR of our holiness. not only does He make it available to us by His atonement and intercession, but by His direct contact with the soul, H produces holiness. he is not the remote but the direct cause of our being sanctified. He works in us by the influences of His Spirit in a way perfectly consistent with our freedom.
sanctification is received by faith. by faith Jesus is receved and enthroned as King in our hearts. when the mind yields to Christ, it is led by His Spirit and guided and controlled by His hand. the act of the mind that throws the soul into the hand of Christ for sanctification is faith. nothing is necessary except for the mind to SEVER ANY CONFIDENCE IN itSELF and to GIVE itSELF UP TO BE LED AND CONTROLLED BY HIM.
imagine a child who offers his hand to his father to have him lead wherever he pleases. if the child is distrustful or unwilling to be led, or if he has confidence in his own wisdom and strength, he will break away and try to run alone. but if all that self confidence fails,
303 he will come and give himself up to his father again to be led entirely at his will. similarly, by faith an individual gives his mind up to be led and controlled by Jesus Christ. He ceases from his own efforts and leaves himself in the hands of Christ for sanctification.
Jesus is our redemption . I corinthians 1.30 this refers to the jewish practice of redeeming estates or relatives that had been sold for debt. when an estate had been sold out of the family or an individual had been deprived of liberty for debt, they could be redeemed by paying a price. there are frequent allusions in the Bible to this practice of redemption.
while we are in our sins, under the law, we are sold as slaves in the hand of public justice. we are bound over to death and have no possible way to redeem ourselves from the curse of the law. but Christ Himself is the price of our redemption. 'Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. galatians 3.13 He redeems us from the power of sin.
under this covenant of grace, works of law have no more to do with our salvation than if we had never existed. one must differentiate between salvation by works and salvation by grace. salvation by grace is founded on a reason entirely separate from ourselves. under the law, salvation depended on ourselves. now we receive salvation as a free gift. Jesus Christ is the sole author, founder and reason for our salvation.
our own holiness does not enter at all into the reason for our acceptance and salvation. we are not indebted to Christ for a while, until we are sanctified, and then stand in our own righteousness. however perfect and holy we may become, Jesus Christ will forever be the sole reason that we are not in hell. however holy we may become, it will be forever true that we have sinned. in the eye of justice, nothing in us short of our eternal damnation can satisfy the law. but Jesus Christ remains the sole ground of our salvation.
304 faith in Christ puts us in possession of Jesus. He was the very blessing promised in the Abrahamic covenant. throughout the Scriptures, He is held forth as the sum and substance of all God's favors to man. He is the bread of life, the water of life, our strength and our all.
faith puts the mind in possession of these blessings. it annihilates those things that stand in the way of our relationship with Christ. He says, 'behold, I stand at the door and knock. if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me. revelation 3.20
why don't we receive Christ as our wisdom? because we depend on our own wisdom and think we know the things of God. as long as we depend on this, we keep the door shut. throw open the door and give up your wisdom. when we are empty of any available knowledge concerning the way of salvation, then Jesus will teach us. until we do this, there is a closed door between us and Christ. we have something of our own instead of coming and throwing ourselves perfectly into the hands of Jesus.
how does faith put us in possession of the righteousness of Christ? until our minds take hold of the righteousness of Christ, we are engaged in working out a righteousness of our own. until we cease entirely from our own works and throw ourselves on Jesus for righteousness, we cannot come to Him. He won't patch up our own righteousness to make it suitable. if we depend on our prayers, our tears, our charities, or anything we have done, He will not receive us. but the moment an individual takes hold of Jesus, he receives all Christ's righteousness through grace.
this is also true in regard to holiness and redemption. until an individual receives Christ, he does not cease from his own works. but the moment the mind yields itself up to Jesus, the responsibility is His the believer by faith pledges Christ for his obedience and holiness. when the mind properly recognizes Christ and receives Him in unwavering faith, nothing is left contrary to the law of God.
whenever you come to Christ, receive Hm for all that He is - 'wisdom and righeousness and sanctification and redemption'. nothing
306 but unbelief can hinder you from enjoying it all now. no preparation will help. you must receive salvation as the free gift of grace.
true faith always works by love Galatians 5.6, purifies the heart. acts 15.9, and overcomes the world. I john 5.4 whenever you find any difficulty in your way, you have a lack of faith. no matter what happens to you outwardly - if you find yourself backsliding or if your mind is confused - unbelief is the cause and faith is the remedy. if you lay hold of Jesus and keep hold, all the devils in hell can never drive you away from God or put out your light.
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