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- Herausgeber: Booksell-Verlag
- Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
- Sprache: Englisch
In "Holy in Christ," Andrew Murray presents a profound exploration of the believer's identity in relation to Christ, emphasizing the imperative of holiness in the life of a Christian. Written in an accessible, devotional style, this work synergizes scriptural insights with practical applications, urging readers to pursue a life that reflects the character of Christ. Murray's theological reflections delve into the concept of sanctification, weaving together biblical narratives and personal anecdotes to underscore the transformative power of divine connection, all while rooted in the Puritan and Keswick movements that emphasize the deeper life through spiritual surrender. Andrew Murray, a South African pastor and writer in the 19th century, dedicated his life to serve Christ and promote holiness among believers, which undoubtedly influenced his writing and ministry. His background in theology and pastoral experience, particularly amidst the revivalist traditions of his time, shaped his deep understanding of spiritual disciplines and intimacy with God. Murray's rich legacy as an author of numerous works on prayer and spirituality underscores his commitment to guiding others in a deeper relationship with Christ. "Holy in Christ" is a must-read for anyone seeking to deepen their understanding of holiness and Christ-like living. Murray's insights challenge readers to reflect on their spiritual journey and inspire a renewed commitment to their faith. This book serves not only as a theological treatise but also as a practical guide for personal transformation, making it an invaluable resource for both scholars and laypersons alike. In this enriched edition, we have carefully created added value for your reading experience: - A succinct Introduction situates the work's timeless appeal and themes. - The Synopsis outlines the central plot, highlighting key developments without spoiling critical twists. - A detailed Historical Context immerses you in the era's events and influences that shaped the writing. - A thorough Analysis dissects symbols, motifs, and character arcs to unearth underlying meanings. - Reflection questions prompt you to engage personally with the work's messages, connecting them to modern life. - Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance. - Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023
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Holy in Christ
Table of Contents
Introduction
Holiness is not an achievement but a life received in union with Christ. In Holy in Christ, Andrew Murray presents a devotional exploration of how Christian sanctity flows from the person and work of Jesus rather than from human effort. First published in the late nineteenth century, the book gathers biblical reflection, pastoral counsel, and practical exhortation into a sustained call to live set apart for God. Without constructing a narrative, Murray shapes a progression of meditations that invite readers to consider holiness as God’s gift and calling, experienced in daily life through trust, surrender, and practical obedience nurtured by Scripture.
This work belongs to the genre of Christian devotional theology, designed for reflective reading rather than academic analysis or fiction. Emerging from the spiritual climate of the late 1800s, it addresses believers seeking a deeper, more consistent walk with God. Murray writes as a pastor-teacher, situating holiness within the entire sweep of the Bible and within ordinary Christian practice. He does not stage events or characters; instead, he engages the reader’s heart and conscience, moving from text to application. The result is a focused guide that treats holiness as a living reality grounded in Christ and accessible to the church today.
Readers encounter a steady, earnest voice—warm, insistent, and Scripture-saturated. The premise is simple yet demanding: if Christ is holy and believers are joined to Him, then holiness is both their birthright and their responsibility. Murray unfolds this premise through a sequence of biblical themes, encouraging a posture that listens to God’s promises and responds in faith. The experience is meditative rather than argumentative, favoring cumulative insight over debate. Expect concise expositions, clear transitions from doctrine to practice, and repeated invitations to examine motives, habits, and hopes under the light of God’s character revealed in Christ.
Key themes include union with Christ as the fountain of sanctification, the transforming work of the Holy Spirit, and the covenantal promise that God Himself makes His people holy. Murray emphasizes the insufficiency of self-effort when detached from grace, urging consecration that is neither anxious striving nor moral laxity. He addresses personal integrity, communal witness, and the sanctifying power of truth, weaving them into a vision in which holiness touches worship, work, relationships, and conscience. Rather than measuring success by outward rigor, the book calls readers to a God-centered life in which dependence, obedience, and love converge.
Stylistically, the book blends accessible exposition with devotional appeal. Murray’s sentences are direct and purposeful, often moving from a biblical phrase to a practical inference, then to a searching appeal. The tone is pastoral—tender yet uncompromising—aimed at producing both comfort and conviction. He returns frequently to core affirmations, using deliberate repetition to fix ideas in the reader’s memory and to encourage steady, prayerful appropriation. The emphasis falls on cultivating a receptive heart: reading slowly, meditating on Scripture, and making concrete responses in everyday choices. The effect is cumulative formation rather than quick insight.
Historically, Holy in Christ stands within a broader nineteenth-century evangelical renewal that highlighted personal holiness and spiritual vitality. Murray’s contribution is to anchor that emphasis in a sustained biblical vision: God makes His people holy in Christ and calls them to live from that reality. The book resists both moralism and passivity, insisting on grace-enabled action shaped by the gospel. Its horizon is not limited to private piety; it looks toward the church’s shared identity and witness. By situating holiness within God’s initiative and promises, Murray invites readers to embrace a hopeful, God-centered path of transformation.
For contemporary readers, the book offers a countercultural proposal: true change arises from abiding in Christ and participating in His life. It speaks to exhaustion with self-improvement, confusion about identity, and the longing for integrity that unites belief and behavior. Approached as a guide for unhurried reflection—alone or in community—it encourages honest self-examination, renewed reliance on grace, and practical steps of obedience. Its enduring value lies in reorienting the pursuit of holiness away from mere effort and toward relationship. Holy in Christ remains a steady companion for those seeking deeper formation without losing sight of the gospel’s center.
Synopsis
Holy in Christ is a devotional work by Andrew Murray that examines the Bible’s teaching on holiness as fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The book proposes that holiness is the central calling of God’s people and that its realization depends on union with Christ rather than human resolve alone. Murray unfolds his argument in a sequence of Scripture-based meditations, moving from the revelation of God’s holiness to the provisions of the Old Covenant and the promises brought to completion in the New. Throughout, he blends doctrinal summary with practical application, presenting holiness as both a divine gift and an ethical obligation for everyday life.
The opening chapters focus on the holiness of God as the foundation of all holiness. Murray highlights the biblical refrain, Be holy, for I am holy, to define holiness as God’s unique separation and moral purity that shapes His people. He traces early scriptural uses of sanctify and holy, including the sanctification of the Sabbath and the setting apart of people and things for God’s service. This survey establishes that holiness in Scripture involves belonging to God and sharing His character. The call to holiness is presented not merely as a rule but as participation in God’s life, initiating the book’s central theme.
From this foundation, the book turns to Old Testament institutions that illustrated holiness under the law. Murray reviews the tabernacle, altar, sacrifices, priesthood, and anointing oil as signs of separation unto God. He notes how blood, water, and anointing symbolized cleansing and dedication, while regulations taught Israel the difference between the holy and the common. These ceremonies provided a pattern but could not impart the inward reality they signified. By emphasizing their pedagogical role, the narrative shows how the Old Covenant created expectation for a deeper sanctification, preparing readers for the shift from external rites to the inner transformation promised by God.
The argument advances with the prophetic promises of a new heart and Spirit, directing attention to the Messiah as the source of true holiness. Murray presents Jesus as the Holy One in whom God’s holiness is embodied and communicated. Christ’s obedience, death, and resurrection are described as the basis of sanctification, inaugurating a New Covenant in which holiness is imparted rather than merely commanded. Believers are portrayed as sanctified in Christ, sharing His life through union with Him. This section establishes the book’s core claim: holiness flows from participation in Christ’s person and work, not from self-reliance or external conformity.
Building on this center, the book describes the ministry of the Holy Spirit as the agent of holiness. Murray gathers New Testament texts that speak of being sanctified by the Spirit, by the word, and by faith, arguing that the Spirit applies Christ’s sanctification to the believer. Abiding in Christ is presented as the practical posture by which holiness is realized day by day. Faith receives what Christ supplies; the word clarifies God’s will; the Spirit empowers obedience. The emphasis remains on dependence: human effort has a place, yet holiness is sustained by continual reception from Christ through the Spirit’s indwelling presence.
The practical chapters explore consecration across the whole of life. Murray considers the surrender of the will, the discipline of the body, stewardship of time and possessions, and the sanctification of work and relationships. Holiness is framed as devotedness to God that shapes choices, motives, and habits. Virtues such as humility, love, purity, and obedience are treated as expressions of abiding in Christ rather than independent achievements. Prayer is urged as the means of maintaining dependence, while Scripture guides action. The treatment remains pastoral and concrete, showing how union with Christ translates into conduct consistent with the call to be holy.
The book also widens the focus from individual piety to the community of faith. Murray describes the church as God’s temple and Christ’s body, set apart for His dwelling and service. Corporate holiness appears in mutual love, shared worship, disciplined fellowship, and ministry to the world. The argument links holiness with fruitfulness, proposing that a holy church becomes an instrument of blessing and witness. Service is not treated as a separate pursuit but as the overflow of abiding in Christ. This communal perspective situates personal sanctification within the larger purpose of God to reveal His holiness through His people.
Later sections address growth, testing, and perseverance in holiness. Murray acknowledges setbacks and hindrances—unbelief, self-reliance, and neglect of spiritual discipline—and outlines how they are met through renewed faith and repentance. He discusses assurance, encouraging confidence in God’s promise, and explains how trials serve to deepen dependence on Christ. Regular means of grace—Scripture, prayer, fellowship, and the Lord’s Supper—are presented as appointed channels for sustaining holiness. The balance of rest and diligence is emphasized: believers rest in Christ’s sufficiency while pursuing obedience. In this way, the book frames holiness as both a settled state in Christ and a progressive growth.
The book concludes by reiterating its principal conclusions: holiness is God’s unchanging call, grounded in His own nature and provided in Christ. According to Murray’s presentation, believers are made holy by union with the Holy One and are maintained in holiness by the Spirit’s continual work. Practical consecration expresses this reality across every sphere of life, individually and corporately. The closing appeal gathers the themes into a single focus on abiding in Christ as the way to holiness and service. The synopsis thus reflects the work’s aim: to trace holiness through Scripture and center its fulfillment in Christ’s person and provision.
Historical Context
Holy in Christ emerged in the late 1880s within the Cape Colony, where Andrew Murray (1828–1917) served as a Dutch Reformed minister in Wellington. Composed and first published in English around 1887–1888, the book belongs to a world shaped by British imperial consolidation, Afrikaner settlement, and expanding missionary networks. Murray wrote amid the aftermath of the First Anglo-Boer War (1880–1881) and before the Second (1899–1902), in a society negotiating revivalist piety and colonial modernity. The Cape’s educational institutions and printing presses linked the colony to London and New York, enabling rapid circulation of devotional texts. Murray’s pastoral base, schools, and mission associations in Wellington supplied the social setting for his sustained meditation on sanctification.
A decisive historical backdrop was the global Prayer Revival of 1857–1859, which originated in New York and spread through Britain to southern Africa. In 1860–1861 a powerful awakening swept the western Cape, notably Worcester, Paarl, and Wellington, where mass prayer meetings and conversions reshaped congregational life. Murray, then minister in Worcester, witnessed scenes of prolonged intercession and moral reform, reported in church records and local newspapers from mid-1860. This South African extension of the Third Great Awakening impressed on him the centrality of the Holy Spirit’s work in daily sanctification. Holy in Christ reflects the revival’s theology of repentance, consecration, and sustained prayer as the ordinary means through which holiness transforms communities and households.
The Higher Life or Keswick movement crystallized after 1873–1875, when D. L. Moody’s British campaigns and the Keswick Convention (founded 1875 by T. D. Harford-Battersby and Robert Wilson) popularized holiness by faith and entire consecration. Murray engaged these transatlantic currents; by the 1880s he corresponded with British evangelicals and, in 1895, addressed the Keswick Convention on the Spirit-filled life. Earlier, a debilitating throat ailment in 1879 forced near-silence for several years, pushing him from itinerant preaching into reflective writing. Holy in Christ gathers Keswick emphases—union with Christ, victory over besetting sin, and practical surrender—within Reformed covenant theology. Its late-1880s publication thus mirrors a convergence of global revivalism and Murray’s convalescent turn to sustained doctrinal exposition.
The educational and missionary milieu of Wellington profoundly shaped the book’s moral urgency. In 1874 Murray, working with American educators Abbie Park Ferguson and Anna Bliss from Mount Holyoke, helped establish the Huguenot Seminary for women. The institution fostered disciplined devotion, weekly prayer circles, and service-oriented training for teachers and missionaries across the Cape and beyond. These campus practices modeled the communal search for holiness that the book commends to lay readers. Wellington’s schools became hubs for Bible conferences and consecration services in the 1870s–1880s, generating testimonies and curricula that normalized the vocabulary of sanctification. Holy in Christ reads like a handbook for this culture of ordered piety, translating local educational discipline into a broader spiritual program.
Institutional changes within the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) supplied an additional frame. The DRC Synod of 1857, citing pastoral necessity, permitted separate services for people of color, a ruling that sanctioned segregated worship and marked church life thereafter. Two years later, in 1859, the Theological Seminary at Stellenbosch opened to train local clergy, consolidating Reformed doctrine in the colony. In 1881 the Dutch Reformed Mission Church was organized for colored congregations, formalizing institutional separation. Murray, a prominent synod leader across these decades, ministered within this contested landscape. Holy in Christ avoids partisan debate yet presses for a holiness that binds conscience and conduct, implicitly interrogating ecclesial complacency by insisting on ethical integrity that transcends convention.
Frontier wars and state formation created further pressures. Murray’s early pastorate in Bloemfontein (1849–1857) unfolded amid the making of the Orange Free State and recurring conflict with the Basotho, including the Free State–Basotho Wars of 1858, 1865–1866, and 1867–1868. Later British campaigns—the Anglo-Zulu War (1879) and the First Anglo-Boer War (1880–1881)—deepened regional instability. Clergy moved between scattered congregations through vast territories, confronting trauma, settler anxieties, and moral disorder. Holy in Christ answers such turbulence by redirecting reform inward: covenant holiness, practiced in family, church, and vocation, becomes the antidote to social fragmentation. Its insistence on self-surrender and obedience reflects a pastoral strategy forged on contested borders and within fragile civil institutions.
Missions and print networks anchored the book’s diffusion and purpose. In 1889 the South Africa General Mission took shape in Cape Town with Andrew Murray as a leading promoter alongside British evangelist Spencer Walton, aiming at evangelization across racial and linguistic lines. Parallel to organizational expansion, London firms such as James Nisbet and American houses like Fleming H. Revell issued Murray’s works, with Holy in Christ circulating internationally by the late 1880s. Dutch and later German editions soon followed, serving bilingual congregations. This infrastructure linked Cape spirituality to global evangelical readerships, and the book’s emphases—Spirit-enabled holiness, practical consecration, scriptural catechesis—functioned as a portable ethic for missionaries, teachers, and laity negotiating colonial modernization.
As social and political critique, Holy in Christ exposes the moral anemia of a society divided by race, class, and imperial ambition. By presenting holiness as a covenantal obligation shaping economics, speech, sexuality, and public duty, it undercuts respectable religiosity and calls for visible repentance that implicates institutions. The book’s stress on unity in Christ challenges segregated habits sanctioned by custom and policy, while its attack on self-will critiques settler individualism and colonial triumphalism alike. Its pastoral program insists that genuine revival must rectify injustice, reform domestic and labor relations, and humble national pride. In late nineteenth-century South Africa, such holiness amounted to a sustained indictment of complacent power.
Holy in Christ
PREFACE.
There is not in Scripture a word more distinctly Divine in its origin and meaning than the word holy. There is not a word that leads us higher into the mystery of Deity, nor deeper into the privilege and the blessedness of God’s children. And yet it is a word that many a Christian has never studied or understood.
There are not a few who can praise God that during the past twenty years the watchword Be Holy has been taken up in many a church and Christian circle with greater earnestness than before. In books and magazines, in conventions and conferences, in the testimonies and the lives of believers, we have abundant tokens that what is called the Holiness-movement[1] is a reality.
And yet how much is still wanting! What multitudes of believing Christians there are who have none but the very vaguest thoughts of what holiness is! And of those who are seeking after it how many who have hardly learnt what it is to come to God’s Word and to God Himself for the teaching that can alone reveal this part of the mystery of Christ and of God! To many, holiness has simply been a general expression for the Christian life in its more earnest form, without much thought of what the term really means.
In writing this little book, my object has been to discover in what sense God uses the word, that so it may mean to us what it means to Him. I have sought to trace the word through some of the most important passages of Holy Scripture where it occurs, there to learn what God’s holiness is, what ours is to be, and what the way by which we attain it. I have been specially anxious to point out how many and various the elements are that go to make up true holiness as the Divine expression of the Christian life in all its fulness and perfection. I have at the same time striven continually to keep in mind the wonderful unity and simplicity there is in it, as centred in the person of Jesus. As I proceeded in my work, I felt ever more deeply how high the task was I had undertaken in offering to guide others even into the outer courts of the Holy Place of the Most High. And yet the very difficulty of the task convinced me of how needful it was.
I fear there are some to whom the book may be a disappointment. They have heard that the entrance to the life of holiness is often but a step. They have heard of or seen believers who could tell of the blessed change that has come over their lives since they found the wonderful secret of holiness by faith. And now they are seeking for this secret. They cannot understand that the secret comes to those who seek it not, but only seek Jesus. They might fain have a book in which all they need to know of Holiness and the way to it is gathered into a few simple lessons, easy to learn, to remember, and to practise. This they will not find. There is such a thing as a Pentecost still to the disciples of Jesus; but it comes to him who has forsaken all to follow Jesus only, and in following fully has allowed the Master to reprove and instruct him. There are often very blessed revelations of Christ, as a Saviour from sin, both in the secret chamber and in the meetings of the saints; but these are given to those for whom they have been prepared, and who have been prepared to receive. Let all learn to trust in Jesus, and rejoice in Him, even though their experience be not what they would wish. He will make us holy. But whether we have entered the blessed life of faith in Jesus as our sanctification, or are still longing for it from afar, we all need one thing, the simple, believing, and obedient acceptance of each word that our God has spoken. It has been my earnest desire that I might be a helper of the faith of my brethren in seeking to trace with them the wondrous revelation of God’s Holiness through the ages as recorded in His blessed Word. It has been my continual prayer that God might use what is written to increase in His children the conviction that we must be holy, the knowledge of how we are to be holy, the joy that we may be holy, the faith that we can be holy. And may He stir us all to cry day and night to Him for a visitation of the Spirit and the Power of Holiness upon all His people, that the name of Christian and of saint may be synonymous, and every believer be a vessel made holy and meet for the Master’s use.
A. M.
Wellington, 16th November 1887.
First Day.
HOLY IN CHRIST.
God’s Call to Holiness.
‘Like as He which called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living; because it is written, Ye shall be holy, for I am holy.’—1Pet. i. 15,16.
The call of God is the manifestation in time of the purpose of eternity: ‘Whom He predestinated, them He also called.’ Believers are ‘the called according to His purpose.’ In His call He reveals to us what His thoughts and His will concerning us are, and what the life to which He invites us. In His call He makes clear to us what the hope of our calling is; as we spiritually apprehend and enter into this, our life on earth will be the reflection of His purpose in eternity.
Holy Scripture uses more than one word to indicate the object or aim of our calling, but none more frequently than what Peter speaks of here—God has called us to be holy as He is holy. Paul addresses believers twice as ‘called to be holy’ (Rom. i. 7; 1 Cor. i. 2). ‘God called us’, he says, ‘not for uncleanness, but in sanctification[2]’ (1 Thess. iv. 7). When he writes, ‘The God of peace sanctify you wholly,’ he adds, ‘Faithful is He which calleth you, who also will do it’ (1 Thess. v. 24). The calling itself is spoken of as ‘a holy calling.’ The eternal purpose of which the calling is the outcome, is continually also connected with holiness as its aim. ‘He hath chosen us in Him, that we should be holy and without blame’ (Eph. i. 4). ‘Whom God chose from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification’ (2 Thess. ii. 12). ‘Elect according to the foreknowledge of the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit’ (1 Pet. i. 2). The call is the unveiling of the purpose that the Father from eternity had set His heart upon: that we should be holy.
It needs no proof that it is of infinite importance to know aright what God has called us to. A misunderstanding here may have fatal results. You may have heard that God calls you to salvation or to happiness, to receive pardon or to obtain heaven, and never noticed that all these were subordinate. It was to ‘salvation in sanctification,’ it was to Holiness in the first place, as the element in which salvation and heaven are to be found. The complaints of many Christians as to lack of joy and strength, as to failure and want of growth, are simply owing to this—the place God gave Holiness in His call they have not given it in their response. God and they have never yet come to an agreement on this.
No wonder that Paul, in the chapter in which he had spoken to the Ephesians of their being ‘chosen to be holy’ prays for the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God to be given to believers, that they might know ‘the hope of their calling’ (i. 17, 18). Let all of us, who feel that we have too little realized that we are called to Holiness, pray this prayer. It is just what we need. Let us ask God to show us how, as He who hath called us is Himself holy, so we are to be holy too; our calling is a holy calling, a calling before and above everything, to Holiness. Let us ask Him to show us what Holiness is, His Holiness first, and then our Holiness; to show us how He has set His heart upon it as the one thing He wants to see in us, as being His own image and likeness; to show us too the unutterable blessedness and glory of sharing with Christ in His Holiness. Oh! that God by His Spirit would teach us what it means that we are called to be holy as He is holy. We can easily conceive what a mighty influence it would exert.
‘Like as He which called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy’. How this call of God shows us the true motive to Holiness. ‘Be ye holy, for I am holy.’ It is as if God said, Holiness is my blessedness and my glory: without this you cannot, in the very nature of things, see me or enjoy me. Holiness is my blessedness and my glory: there is nothing higher to be conceived; I invite you to share with me in it, I invite you to likeness to myself: ‘Be ye holy, for I am holy.’ Is it not enough, has it no attraction, does it not move and draw you mightily, the hope of being with me, partakers of my Holiness? I have nothing better to offer—I offer you myself: ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’ Shall we not cry earnestly to God to show us the glory of His Holiness, that our souls may be made willing to give everything in response to this wondrous call?
As we listen to the call, it shows also the nature of true Holiness. ‘Like as He is holy, so be ye also holy.’ To be holy is to be Godlike, to have a disposition, a will, a character like God. The thought almost looks like blasphemy, until we listen again, ‘He hath chosen us in Christ to be holy.’ In Christ the Holiness of God appeared in a human life: in Christ’s example, in His mind and Spirit, we have the Holiness of the Invisible One translated into the forms of human life and conduct. To be Christlike is to be Godlike; to be Christlike is to be holy as God is holy.
The call equally reveals the power of Holiness. ‘There is none holy but the Lord;’ there is no Holiness but what He has, or rather what He is, and gives. Holiness is not something we do or attain: it is the communication of the Divine life, the inbreathing of the Divine nature, the power of the Divine Presence resting on us. And our power to become holy is to be found in the call of God: the Holy One calls us to Himself, that He may make us holy in possessing Himself. He not only says ‘I am holy,’ but ‘I am the Lord, who make holy.’ It is because the call to Holiness comes from the God of infinite Power and Love that we may have the confidence: we can be holy.
The call no less reveals the standard of Holiness. ‘Like as He is holy, so ye also yourselves,’ or (as in margin, R.V.), ‘Like the Holy One, which calleth you, be ye yourselves also holy.’ There is not one standard of Holiness for God and another for man. The nature of light is the same, whether we see it in the sun or in a candle: the nature of Holiness remains unchanged, whether it be God or man in whom it dwells. The Lord Jesus could say nothing less than, ‘Be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.’ When God calls us to Holiness, He calls us to Himself and His own life: the more carefully we listen to the voice, and let it sink into our hearts, the more will all human standards fall away, and only the words be heard, Holy, as I am holy.
And the call shows us the path to Holiness. The calling of God is one of mighty efficacy, an effectual calling. Oh! let us but listen to it, let us but listen to Him, and the call will with Divine power work what it offers. He calleth the things that are not as though they were: His call gives life to the dead, and holiness to those whom He has made alive. He calls us to listen as He speaks of His Holiness, and of our holiness like His. He calls us to Himself, to study, to fear, to love, to claim His Holiness. He calls us to Christ, in whom Divine Holiness became human Holiness, to see and admire, to desire and accept what is all for us. He calls us to the indwelling and the teaching of the Spirit of Holiness, to yield ourselves that He may bring home to us and breathe within us what is ours in Christ. Christian! listen to God calling thee to Holiness. Come and learn what His Holiness is, and what thine is and must be.
Yes, be very silent and listen. When God called Abraham, he answered, Here am I. When God called Moses from the bush, he answered, Here am I, and he hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. God is calling thee to Holiness, to Himself the Holy One, that He may make thee holy. Let thy whole soul answer, Here am I, Lord! Speak, Lord! Show Thyself, Lord! Here am I. As you listen, the voice will sound ever deeper and ever stiller: Be holy, as I am holy. Be holy, for I am holy. You will hear a voice coming out of the great eternity, from the council-chamber of redemption, and as you catch its distant whisper, it will be, Be holy, I am holy. You will hear a voice from Paradise, the Creator making the seventh day holy for man whom He had created, and saying, Be holy. You will hear the voice from Sinai, amid thunderings and lightnings, and still it is, Be holy, as I am holy. You will hear a voice from Calvary, and there above all it is, Be holy, for I am holy.
Child of God, have you ever realized it, our Father is calling us to Himself, to be holy as He is holy? Must we not confess that happiness has been to us more than holiness, salvation than sanctification? Oh! it is not too late to redeem the error. Let us now band ourselves together to listen to the voice that calls, to draw nigh, and find out and know what Holiness is, or rather, find out and know Himself the Holy One. And if the first approach to Him fill us with shame and confusion, make us fear and shrink back, let us still listen to the Voice and the Call, ‘Be holy, as I am holy.’ ‘Faithful is He which calleth, who also will do it.’ All our fears and questions will be met by the Holy One who has revealed His Holiness, with this one purpose in view, that we might share it with Him. As we yield ourselves in deep stillness of soul to listen to the Holy Voice that calls us, it will waken within us new desire and strong faith, and the most precious of all promises will be to us this word of Divine command:
BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.
O Lord! the alone Holy One, Thou hast called us to be holy, even as Thou art holy. Lord! how can we, unless Thou reveal to us Thy Holiness. Show us, we pray Thee, how Thou art holy, how holy Thou art, what Thy holiness is, that we may know how we are to be holy, how holy we are to be. And when the sight of Thy Holiness only shows us the more how unholy we are, teach us that Thou makest partakers of Thy own Holiness those who come to Thee for it.
O God! we come to Thee, the Holy One. It is in knowing and finding and having Thyself, that the soul finds Holiness. We do beseech Thee, as we now come to Thee, establish it in the thoughts of our heart, that the one object of Thy calling us, and of our coming to Thee, is Holiness. Thou wouldst have us like Thyself, partakers of Thy Holiness. If ever our heart becomes afraid, as if it were too high, or rests content with a salvation less than Holiness, Blessed God! let us hear Thy voice calling again, Be holy, I am holy. Let that call be our motive and our strength, because faithful is He that calleth, who also will do it. Let that call mark our standard and our path; oh! let our life be such as Thou art able to make it.
Holy Father! I bow in lowly worship and silence before Thee. Let now Thine own voice sound in the depths of my heart calling me, Be holy, as I am holy. Amen.
1. Let me press it upon every reader of this little book, that if it is to help him in the pursuit of Holiness, he must begin with God Himself. You must go to Him who calls you. It is only in the personal revelation of God to you, as He speaks, I am holy, that the command, Be ye holy, can have life or power.
2. Remember, as a believer, you have already accepted God’s call, even though you did not fully understand it. Let it be a settled matter, that whatever you see to be the meaning of the call, you will at once accept and carry out. If God calls me to be holy, holy I will be.
3. Take fast hold of the word: ‘The God of peace sanctify you wholly: faithful is He which calleth you, who also will do it.’ In that faith listen to God calling you.
4. Do be still now, and listen to your Father calling you. Ask for and count upon the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Holiness, to open your heart to understand this holy calling. And then speak out the answer you have to give to this call.
Second Day.
HOLY IN CHRIST.
God’s Provision for Holiness.
‘To those that are made holy in Christ Jesus, called to be holy.’—1Cor. i.2.
‘To all the holy ones in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi. Salute every holy one in Christ Jesus.’1—Phil. i. 1, iv.21.
Holy! In Christ! In these two expressions we have perhaps the most wonderful words of all the Bible.
Holy! the word of unfathomable meaning, which the Seraphs utter with veiled faces. Holy! the word in which all God’s perfections centre, and of which His glory is but the streaming forth. Holy! the word which reveals the purpose with which God from eternity thought of man, and tells what man’s highest glory in the coming eternity is to be; to be partaker of His Holiness!
In Christ! the word in which all the wisdom and love of God are unveiled! The Father giving His Son to be one with us! the Son dying on the cross to make us one with Himself! the Holy Spirit of the Father dwelling in us to establish and maintain that union! In Christ! what a summary of what redemption has done, and of the inconceivably blessed life in which the child of God is permitted to dwell. In Christ! the one lesson we have to study on earth. God’s one answer to all our needs and prayers. In Christ! the guarantee and the foretaste of eternal glory.
What wealth of meaning and blessing in the two words combined: Holy in Christ[3]! Here is God’s provision for our holiness, God’s response to our question, How to be holy? Often and often as we hear the call, Be ye holy, even as I am holy, it is as if there is and ever must be a great gulf between the holiness of God and man. In Christ! is the bridge that crosses the gulf; nay rather, His fulness has filled it up. In Christ! God and man meet; In Christ! the Holiness of God has found us, and made us its own; has become human, and can indeed become our very own. To the anxious cries and the heart-yearnings of thousands of thirsty souls who have believed in Jesus and yet know not how to be holy, here is God’s answer: Ye are Holy in Christ Jesus[1q]. Would they but hearken, and believe; would they but take these Divine words, and say them over, if need be, a thousand times, how God’s light would shine, and fill their hearts with joy and love as they echo them back: Yes, now I see it. Holy in Christ! Made holy in Christ Jesus!
As we set ourselves to study these wondrous words, let us remember that it is only God Himself who can reveal to us what Holiness truly is. Let us fear our own thoughts, and crucify our own wisdom. Let us give up ourselves to receive, in the power of the life of God Himself, working in us by the Holy Spirit, that which is deeper and truer than human thought, Christ Himself as our Holiness. In this dependence upon the teaching of the Spirit of Holiness, let us seek simply to accept what Holy Scripture sets before us; as the revelation of the Holy One of old was a very slow and gradual one, so let us be content patiently to follow step by step the path of the shining light through the Word; it will shine more and more unto the perfect day.
We shall first have to study the word Holy in the Old Testament. In Israel as the holy people, the type of us who now are holy in Christ, we shall see with what fulness of symbol God sought to work into the very constitution of the people some apprehension of what He would have them be. In the law we shall see how Holy is the great keyword of the redemption which it was meant to serve and prepare for. In the prophets we shall hear how the Holiness of God is revealed as the source whence the coming redemption should spring: it is not so much Holiness as the Holy One they speak of, who would, in redeeming love and saving righteousness, make Himself known as the God of His people.
And when the meaning of the word has been somewhat opened up, and the deep need of the blessing made manifest in the Old Testament, we shall come to the New to find how that need was fulfilled. In Christ, the Holy One of God, Divine Holiness will be found in human life and human nature; a truly human will being made perfect and growing up through obedience into complete union with all the Holy Will of God. In the sacrifice of Himself on the cross, that holy nature gave itself up to the death, that, like the seed-corn, it might through death live again and reproduce itself in us. In the gift from the throne of the Spirit of God’s Holiness, representing and revealing and communicating the unseen Christ, the holy life of Christ descends and takes possession of His people, and they become one with Him. As the Old Testament had no higher word than that Holy, the New has none deeper than this, in Christ. The being in Him, the abiding in Him, the being rooted in Him, the growing up in Him and into Him in all things, are the Divine expressions in which the wonderful and complete oneness between us and our Saviour are brought as near us as human language can do.
And when Old and New Testament have each given their message, the one in teaching us what Holy, the other what in Christ means, we have in the word of God, that unites the two, the most complete summary of the Great Redemption that God’s love has provided. The everlasting certainty, the wonderful sufficiency, the infinite efficacy of the Holiness that God has prepared for us in His Son, are all revealed in this blessed, Holy in Christ.
‘The Holy Ones in Christ Jesus!’ Such is the name, beloved fellow-believers, which we bear in Holy Scripture, in the language of the Holy Spirit. It is no mere statement of doctrine, that we are holy in Christ: it is no deep theological discussion to which we are invited; but out of the depths of God’s loving heart, there comes a voice thus addressing His beloved children. It is the name by which the Father calls His children. That name tells us of God’s provision for our being holy. It is the revelation of what God has given us, and what we already are; of what God waits to work in us, and what can be ours in personal practical possession. That name, gratefully accepted, joyfully confessed, trustfully pleaded, will be the pledge and the power of our attainment of the Holiness to which we have been called.
And so we shall find that as we go along, all our study and all God’s teaching will be comprised in three great lessons. The first a revelation, ‘I amholy;’ the second a command, ‘Be ye holy;’ the third a gift, the link between the two, ‘Ye are holy in Christ.’
First comes the revelation, ‘I am holy.’ Our study must be on bended knee, in the spirit of worship and deep humility. God must reveal Himself to us, if we are to know what Holy is. The deep unholiness of our nature and all that is of nature must be shown us; with Moses and Isaiah, when the Holy One revealed Himself to them, we must fear and tremble, and confess how utterly unfit we are for the revelation or the fellowship, without the cleansing of fire. In the consciousness of the utter impotence of our own wisdom or understanding to know God, our souls must in contrition, brokenness from ourselves and our power or efforts, yield to God’s Spirit, the Spirit of Holiness, to reveal God as the Holy One. And as we begin to know Him in His infinite righteousness, in His fiery burning zeal against all that is sin, and His infinite self-sacrificing love to free the sinner from his sin, and to bring him to His own perfection, we shall learn to wonder at and worship this glorious God, to feel and deplore our terrible unlikeness to Him, to long and cry for some share in the Divine beauty and blessedness of this Holiness.
And then will come with new meaning the command, ‘Be holy, as I am holy.’ Oh, my brethren! ye who profess to obey the commands of your God, do give this all-surpassing and all-including command that first place in your heart and life which it claims. Do be holy with the likeness of God’s Holiness. Do be holy as He is holy. And if you find that the more you meditate and study, the less you can grasp this infinite holiness; that the more you at moments grasp of it, the more you despair of a holiness so Divine; remember that such breaking down and such despair is just what the command was meant to work. Learn to cease from your own wisdom as well as your own goodness; draw near in poverty of spirit to let the Holy One show you how utterly above human knowledge or human power is the holiness He demands; to the soul that ceases from self, and has no confidence in the flesh, He will show and give the holiness He calls us to.
It is to such that the great gift of Holiness in Christ becomes intelligible and acceptable. Christ brings the Holiness of God nigh by showing it in human conduct and intercourse. He brings it nigh by removing the barrier between it and us, between God and us. He brings it nigh, because He makes us one with Himself. ‘Holy in Christ:’ our holiness is a Divine bestowment, held for us, communicated to us, working mightily in us because we are in Him. ‘In Christ!’ oh, that wonderful in! our very life rooted in the life of Christ. That holy Son and Servant of the Father, beautiful in His life of love and obedience on earth, sanctifying Himself for us—that life of Christ, the ground in which I am planted and rooted, the soil from which I draw as my nourishment its every quality and its very nature. How that word sheds its light both on the revelation, ‘I am holy,’ and on the command, ‘Be ye holy, as I am,’ and binds them in one! In Christ I see what God’s Holiness is, and what my holiness is. In Him both are one, and both are mine. In Him I am holy; abiding and growing up in Him, I can be holy in all manner of living, as God is holy.
BE YE HOLY, AS I AM HOLY.
