The Raymer enterprise., 1912-06-20

the teachings OF
- his word. 1t robsI
the Christian Of q
great deal Of present comfort. too. for
every true believer on Jesus Christ
Is saint, and becomes such the mo.
ment he 20 believes. Saint" 10 tho
substantive Of tho verb ito sanctify,"
q word Of two meanings.
What sanetIfy Means.
To "sanctify" means. first. to set
apart thing or person for holy
use. II 1.-THE my income. and set
aside one dollar out Of every ten for
Gods service, that dollar ID sanctined
In the instant Of its bssslg set aside.
and II 1t were . person It might be
called saint.
Again "sanctify" means to make
thing intrinsically clean. The dollar
set aside is much soiled, and after
setting 1t aside l send 1t to bank.
note company, which puts 1t through
q process Of cleansing by means Of
which 1t comes back to me almost as
fresh and crisp as when 1t was first
put into circulation. 1t is now sane
titled In a second sense. This two
fold transaction represents saintship.
For example. the moment man
takes Jesus Christ by faith to be his
Savior he is set apart by God and for
God, and becomes q saint. But In
that same moment he enters upon q
process. or rather process enters
upon or within him. 1t Is process
Of cleansing. The operator is the
Holy Spirit. who takes up his abode
in him, and the means he uses Is the
Word Of God. Nov are ye Clean"
said Jesus. through the word l have
spoken unto you"
Sanctifcation in the first case pretty
nearly agrees with justification. which
is instantaneous. but In the second
case 1t is continuous and progressive
az the Christian yields himself to the
Holy Spirit. and admits the Word Of
God into his heart and life.
We now reach the consideration Of
what think is the deepest truth re-
vealed in the Bible, for the apostle is
addressing not only the saints which
are at Ephesus. but also the faithful
in Christ Jesus" In other words,
there are saints anc there are faith.
full saints, the latter being those who
are in the experience of the process
Just referred to.
Notice the proposition "in." What
small word 1t is. and yet when II
is used as here. to indicate the rela,
ton between Christ and the believer
on Christ, 1t becomes one Of the most
important words in the Bible. How
can one be said to be In Jesus Christi
The answer is, just as a member Of
my body can be said to be in me.
Christ is represented as the head Of
the body, the church, and believers on
him are members Of that body. The
relationship thus Is not merely gov
ernmental. but vital.
"Faithful In Christ Jesus"
This suggests what 1t means to be
faithful in Christ Jesus" My eye. or
ear. or tongue. or hand, or foot, is
faithful In me as It surrenders itself
to my will. and obeys my behests. This
Is what Paul teaches when In Romans
he exhorts Christians to present their
bodies unto God a. . living sacrifice.
My members should bs faithful In mo
because live and express myself
through them. and for this Same rea.
son Christians need to be faithful In
Christ. else how shall hs be known
and maintained in the earthi
Here 10 lesson for our homo life,
our social lie and our business life
- well. Everyone who. knows
Christ should be able to say with the
apostle. For me to live 10 for Christ
to live"
The chapter now goes on to speak
Of the spiritual blessings the Christian
has In Christ 40 q member Of his
body. All the blessings Of the head
belong to the members. In Christ
they are chosen. redeemed, inherited
and sealed.
The teaching 10 not only that they
have an Inheritance In God through
Jesus Christ. but that God has an in.
heritancs In them. And this inhsri.
tance hs has made sure to himself
and to them BY giving them his Holy
Spirit to dwell within them - The
ssal Of his ownership until The 70.
dsmption Of the purchased possession
=. O.. the resurrection and glorincs.
ton Of their bodies.
He who trusts In Christ need mot
fear for his ultimate salvation, and
need not doubt the promise Of glory.
But the question arises. Have you ~
trusted In Christi The Christ Of the
Bible, / mean. not some ideal Christ
such a. many are talking about In
these days.