The Need Of Cleansing
There is something within every one at birth that is at enmity with God. This something every one inherited through the fall of Adam. Paul called it the "sin within him." The Bible teaches that there is something within man that is evil. "The wickedness of man was great and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." (Gen. 6:5). "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." (Jer. 17:9). This is the picture of the natural man at birth. All humanity have fallen below the lofty state that God initially created them in.
Jesus' ultimate purpose was to redeem mankind from this condition, restoring them to spiritual perfection. So Jesus taught repentance. We must all repent of our committed sins, and when we have been forgiven and have quit sinning, then we must come to God again and ask Him to cleanse our hearts of inherited sin. Sanctification is essential to full salvation because the fruits of the unsanctified life are sure to manifest themselves. Such has been the case too many times. Selfishness, pride, jealousy, unbelief, intemperance, etc., are indications of this carnal nature. We all have this nature from birth. God will cleanse our hearts, infilling us with His Holy Spirit.
In the plan of salvation there are two works of grace to be accomplished in every one of us before we are complete in Christ. Our part is to surrender our all to Him and then God can and will do the work. He will create in us a new heart and put a new spirit within us. Then we can live the godly life which Jesus taught us to live. Until we have this second work of grace, sanctification, wrought within us, we at some trying time will fail to let our light shine as we would want it to.
This grace of sanctification is for all now. Let us never deny the power of Jesus to give us this experience, "for this is the will of God, even your sanctification." (I Thess. 4:3). "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (I Thess. 5:23). "Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?" (Acts 19:2). -Selected
FAITH PUBLISHING HOUSE
P. O. Box 518, Guthrie, OK 73044
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