THE EFFECT OF HOLINESS
Therefore God has given us a strict charge: "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled" (Hebrews 12:14-15).
When a Christian sees holiness sparkle in the life of another believer, the grace within him springs up as the baby in Elizabeth leaped at the sound of Mary's voice. Truly, one holy man is enough to put life into a whole society; but on the contrary, the looseness of a single professing Christian endangers the entire group of people who know him. Therefore God has given us a strict charge: "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled" (Hebrews 12:14-15).
A scab on the wolf's back in not dangerous to the sheep because they cannot easily be lured to spend time with him. But if the sore spreads into the flock, among Christians who feed, pray, hear, talk and walk in fellowship together, then there is a great fear and danger it might spread. Thus a careless Christian helps the devil with more efficiency than whole troops who never profess to believe. In fact, Satan had a whole fistful of sins and errors that he did not know what to do with until he found a way to hire unholy professors of the faith as his brokers to recommend and dispense them to others.
In a word, then, the man who will not keep up the
power of holiness in his life, in some measure, makes
himself useless to Christ. Do you want to pray for
others? A heathen could tell an evil man to hold his
peace and not let the gods know he was aboard the
ship when a storm swept in. Is it comfort you want
to speak to a grieving person? Or counsels to a
friend? They will think you are only joking until
your commendation of holiness is joined by holiness
in your own life; that is to say, until you commend
it to yourself.
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