" How
plainly it is taught! And yet, many of God's dear children do not
believe it is their privilege to be free from sin and pure in
heart in this life. But, may we not? Let us consider this.
1. It is certainly _desirable_. Every sincere Christian--and
none can be a Christian who is not sincere--wants to be free from
sin, to be pure in heart, to be like Christ. Sin is hateful to
every true child of God. The Spirit within him cries out against
the sin, the wrong temper, the pride, the lust, the selfishness,
the evil that lurks within the heart. Surely, it is desirable to
be free from sin.
"He wills that I should holy be:
That holiness I long to feel;
That full Divine conformity
To all my Saviour's righteous will."
2. It is _necessary_, for "without holiness no man shall see
the Lord." Sometime, somehow, somewhere, sin must go out of our
hearts--all sin--or we cannot go into Heaven. Sin would spoil
Heaven just as it spoils earth; just as it spoils the peace of
hearts and homes, of families and neighbourhoods and nations
here. Why God in His wisdom allows sin in the world, I do not
know, I cannot understand. But this I understand: that He has one
world into which He will not let sin enter. He has notified us in
advance that no sin, nothing that defiles, can enter Heaven, can
mar the blessedness of that holy place. "Who shall ascend into
the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place? He
that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up
his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully" We must get rid of
sin to get into Heaven, to enjoy the full favour of God.
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