April 22

But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy.—1 Peter 1:15, 16.

THE Gospel requires an entire holiness in all our faculties, an equal respect to all our duties. We are commanded to cleanse ourselves from all pollutions of flesh and spirit, to be holy in all manner of conversation; we are enjoined to be perfecting holiness in the fear of God; to be holy, as he that hath called us is holy. A certain measure of faith, and love, and obedience, a mediocrity in virtue, we must not content ourselves with. It is not a counsel of perfection given only to some Christians of a peculiar order and elevation, but the command of a law, that without exception, binds all, Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. The gospel gives no dispensation to any person, nor in any duty. The doctrine that asserts there are some excellent works to which the lower sort of Christians are not obliged, is equally pernicious, both to those who do them by presumption, as if they were not due, and were therefore meritorious; and to those who neglect them, by a blind security, as if they might be saved without striving to reach the highest degrees of obedience. It is a weak pretence, that because the consummate measure of sanctification can only be obtained in the next life, therefore we should not endeavor after it here. For by sincere and constant endeavors we make nearer approaches to it, and according to the degrees of our progress, such are those of our joy. As nature hath prescribed to all heavy bodies their going to the centre, and although none come to it, and many are at a great distance from it, yet the ordination of nature is not in vain; because by virtue of it, every heavy body is always tending thither in motion or inclination: so although we can not reach to complete holiness in this imperfect state, yet it is not in vain that the gospel prescribes it, and infuses into Christians those dispositions whereby they are gradually carried to the full accomplishment of it. Not to arrive to perfection is the weakness of the flesh; not to aspire after it is the fault of the spirit.

To excite us, it will be of moment to consider the great obligations that the gospel lays upon Christians to be holy. By that covenant the holy God is pleased to take them into the relation of his children; and as the nature of sanctification, so the motives of it, are contained in that title. For so near an alliance obliges them to a faithful observance of his commands, and to imitate him with the greatest care, that the vein of his Spirit, and the marks of his blood, may appear in all their actions. Who-scever is born of God, doth not commit sin. The allowed practice of it is inconsistent with the quality of a son of God; it is contrary to the grace of his divine birth. Nay, the omission of good, as well as the commission of evil, is inconsistent with that relation. It is for this reason that holiness is so much the character of a true Christian, that to be a Christian and a saint are the same thing in the writings of the apostles. The venerable title obliges him to a higher practice of virtue, than ever the Pagans imagined. He is far behind them, if he do not surpass them; and if he is surpassed by them, he will be clothed with shame. Besides, our Redeemer who hath a right to us by so many titles, by his divine and human nature, by his life and death, by his glory and sufferings, as he strictly commands us to be holy, so he hath enjoined example to his authority, That we may walk as he walked, and be as he was in the world. St. Paul makes use of this consideration, to restrain the disciples of Christ from all sin, and to persuade them to universal holiness. He opposes to the prevailing vices of the world, the pattern that Christ set before us, But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ. The expression intimates the duty, that as the garment is commensurate to the body, so we are to imitate all the parts of his holy conversation.

Jesus Christ as by his doctrine and life he clearly discovered our duty, so he offers to us the aid of his Spirit for our assistance, by which the commands of the gospel are not only possible but easy. And to enforce our obligations, he hath threatened such vengeance to the rebellious, and promised such a reward to those that obey the gospel, that it is impossible we should not be deeply affected with them, if we seriously believe them. And he hath given such evidence of their truth, that it is impossible we should not believe them, unless the god of this world hath blinded our minds. It is matter therefore of just astonishment, that Christians should not express the efficacy of the gospel in their actions.