The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1912-09-13

physical growth? Life. The same Is
true of the spiritual. Life in Eoo
through Jesus Christ, 1t Is TINS |"
which he refers when he speaks OF
them to whom ho writes ma having 'ob'
tanned 1tko precious faith with us IN
the righteousness Of God and Il
Saviour Jesus Christ
The Christian 10 one who has oh
tanned" something, he has not earned
1t or worked 1t out for himself, but
obtained 1t. That which he has OBJ
tanned is faith. Faith ia the gilt OF
God. The object Of this faith, that on
which It terminates, Is "the righteous.
ness of God and our Saviour Jesus
Christ" Not tho righteousness which
God is, but the righteousness which
God gives, his imputed righteousness
by which alone a nan begins to live
before him.
Word Of God the Means,
a. He next speaks Of the means
Of growth, which Is the word Of God
Verse 2-4). Grace and peace are null
tiplLed unto US through the knowledge
Of God, he says, and, indeed, he adds,
"all things that pertain unto life and
goodness" come in the anne way.
But this knowledge Is not that which
was obtained In the handiwork Of ma
ture, but in the revealed word. De
sire the sincere milk Of the Word
that ye may grow thereby"
In our hearts is evil, but In the Word
there are exceeding great and pre-
oious promises" and It Is az We See
and apprehend these that we desire
and reach out for them. And In reach
ing out for them we drop these. 1t
is what the child does when tho apple
falls out OF his hand as he opens 1t to
grasp the orange.
CD The inspired penman Is leL far
Their to speak of the nature of Chris.
tan growth in verses 81, which he
sets before lis along seven different
lines of development-~yirtue, knowl-
edge, temperance, patience, godlinegs,
brotherly kindness and charity or love.
Virtue" is not to DO limited here to
tlb lhOlbhL Vi DEhual bllhBAtlSbAt UhL
means as nearly as possible Ia a spirit
ual sense what "stTsnuousness' has
come to mean In the physical and In
tellectual. A Christian man, In 9TH
or words, Is supposed 70 have the
courage of his convictions In winners
ing to Jesus Christ. g
In the same way temperance" does
not mean simply abstinence from in.
toxicating drink, but self-contrOl in
the whole Of ones conduct, a life kept
we'll in hand for God, symmetrical.
spiritually well poised. IN all-around
sainthood. No better illustration of
this could be found than In the union
OF patience and g~odliness. which fol-
lows.
The patience Is not to be a mere
stoical endurance, but united to and
flowing from a spirit OF enlightened
trust in God. The true Christian in
deed is the IDEAL nan How sad that
there are so few OF them when the
provision for their creation Ia 80 sim
pie and 30 freely offered by divine
grace.
"a The result Of growth In grace
Is three-fold oversees Sid. First, fruit
fitness; second. assurance, and third,
reward. II there ID one thing more
than another that Christians want to
know It Is how they may be assured
Of salvation. Here Is the A, B, c of
It: IT ye do these things ye shall
never fall" This Is the way to make
our calling and election sure, Ito do
these things" This does not mean to
make our calling and election sure 30
far as God is concerned, but 80 far
as we ourselves are concerned.
God knows whether we are called
and elected or not, and 1t can't be
any gurer az to him. But II we don't
know, the way to find out Is to do
these things. When ! hear a man say
he believes In the Lord Jesus Christ.
but has no assurance OF salvation, |
generally feel that there is something
in his life not right, and which he
knows to be not right, and yet does
not put away. Get right with God and
assurance follows.