Daily Devotionals

Spiritual Treasury For The Children of God

Devotional: March 6th

Striving against sin.- Hebrews 12:4.

’What poor, low, legal work is this?’ say some. ’We are happy in Christ without such a strife.’-’We are perfect, fully born again, perfectly sanctified and freed from all sin; therefore our strife is at an end,’ say others. Alas! poor, honest, upright Christian, thou art ever in danger; on the right hand, of licentiousness; on the left hand, of pride and delusion, and also from a deceitful heart within. What with the white devil of pride, and the black devil of lust, thou art ever liable to be seduced from the truth. What a mercy to have a true touchstone to try men and doctrines by! The experience of Christians of old, as recorded by the Spirit of truth, affords us quite different sentiments of the influence of gospel-grace.

The regenerate soul being restored to the life and love of God by the faith of Jesus, ever, while it is imprisoned in the body, is surrounded, within and without, with foes of every kind. These, like mighty combatants, strive and fight against its rest, holiness, and comfort. Here the Christian, under the influence of the Spirit, cannot, will not dare be passive to suffer sin, in its tyrannizing nature, to lord it over him: but he will be active; fighting, striving, wrestling against his bosom inmate, his worst foe, indwelling sin. It reflects a dishonor upon the author and the grace of faith, to suppose that it leaves the soul in an idle kind of waiting, or melancholy sitting still; or that it can be satisfied with carnal gratifications, and sensual delights of a perishing world. No: being alive to God, possessing the faith of Jesus, we shall strive for the mastery, and be temperate in all things. Our very sighs and groans, sensible weariness and heaviness, evidence our conflicts and struggles; our cry to Jesus for strength proves our wisdom, and forebodes our victory; our patient enduring, submissive waiting, steady persevering, and constant striving, till deliverance, perfect deliverance is granted, shew that "we have the mind of Christ"-the life of Christ-the Spirit of Christ; that we are the beloved brethren of Christ, and that soon we shall be for ever with Christ.

Now the Lord’s promise is, "I will drive out your foes by little and little." In a very, very short time, (O Christian, lift up thy head with joy, thy redemption draweth nigh) the joyful sound of perfect victory shall be proclaimed, "and the enemies you this day see, feel, and groan under, strive and fight against, you shall see them no more for ever."

Lord, I esteem thy judgments right,

And all thy statutes just:

Thence I maintain a constant fight

With ev’ry flatt’ring lust.

In vain we boast perfection here,

While sin defiles our frame;

And sinks our virtues down so far,

They scarce deserve the name.

And that he died for all, that they who live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him who died for them, and rose again. 2 Corinthians 5:15.

Christ died for all, “whom the Father gave to him.” (John 17:9.) Sooner or later, all these willingly and cheerfully come unto, or believe on Christ. Joyful to remember, we are drawn to Christ by the love of the Father, or else we never should have come to him. (John 6:44.) Now, we have done with working for life, and asking, what must we do to be saved? For now, we actually are saved, and really do live. (1st.) We are saved from the love of sin, from our natural hatred to the doctrines of grace, and from our aversion to full justification and final salvation by the word of Christ only. Legal self-righteous professors exclaim, ‘Do not tell us of doctrines of grace, but of what we must do to be saved.’ Truly, the way is plain: there is work enough for them to do. If they will enter into life by keeping the commandments, let them perfectly fulfil the law, and salvation is sure. So say they, no matter how you live; live as you like-your salvation is sure. This is very true. Salvation is not only possible, but sure and certain to every believer in Christ. And all such strive to live as they like. (2d.) We live-A life of faith on the Son of God: not under the legal threats and terrors of the law in our consciences, striving to pacify its wrath by fulfilling its commands, but perfectly justified from all its condemnation. We do not like to live and walk in our sinful lusts, to obey our depraved wills, to gratify our sensual affections, to live to sinful self at all; nor to righteous self neither. Our souls are equally averse to sinful lusts, as to self-righteous pride. Both are opposite to the love and glory of our dear, once dead, but now risen Saviour. As by him we live, so to him we live. This is what we like and prefer above all things. Say, O my soul! is not this thy chief, thy one desire? We have no greater pleasure on earth than to walk in the truth. O, thou life of our souls! thou Jesus and our all! without thee we can do nothing: help us to consider, what a little while we have to live unto thee, and to glorify thee, before we shall live and reign with thee. Lord, in the belief of this, fire our hearts with a holy zeal for thy glory, unremitting diligence in thy service, and unwearied constancy in obeying thy will, “being ready to every good work.” (Titus 3:1.)

Christ died for us, that we should live

No more to self and sin:

This truth is precious to believe,

And makes us pure within.

O! may the love, the dying love,

Of Christ possess my soul,

By living faith to soar above,

And all my pow’rs control!