Saturday, March 26, 2011

A power, bent and propensity to the practice of holiness

Walter Marshall suggests, in his work The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification, that it is in our union with Christ, and that alone, that we will find the capacity, motivation, and ability to resist sin and desist sinning:

If we are joined to Christ, our hearts will be no longer left under the power of sinful inclinations, or in a mere indifferency of inclination to good or evil; but they will be powerfully endowed with a power, bent and propensity to the practice of holiness,. By the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us, and inclining us to mind spiritual things and to lust against the flesh (Rom. 8:1, 4, 5; Gal. 5:17).

The work of sanctification, that is, the becoming like Christ, growing in godliness, and the fighting of sin, is not something we could do, or should try and do, in our own power; this would be futile. Yet, when we are quickened by the Holy Spirit and are led into this fray we can be confident that He who begins a good work in us will see it through until the end.

No comments:

Post a Comment