hich makes it possible
for the child to grow into the likeness of its parent, so there is a
kinship in man with God to which our Lord here appeals.

1. Among the ethical qualities of divine perfection set forth in
scripture for man's imitation _Holiness_ stands preeminent. God, the
perfect being, is the type of holiness, and men are holy in proportion as
their lives are Godlike. This conception of holiness is fundamental in
the Old Testament. It is summed up in a command almost identical with
that of our Lord: 'Be ye holy, for I am holy.'[42] Holiness, as
Christianity understands it, is the name for the undimmed lustre of God's
ethical perfection. God is 'the Holy one'--the alone 'good' in the
absolute sense.[43]

If God's character consists in 'Holiness,' then that quality determines
the moral end of man. But holiness, as the most comprehensive name for
the divine moral perfection--the pure white light of God's Being--breaks
up into the {142} separate rays which we designate the special moral
attributes. These have been grouped under 'Righteousness' (truth,
faithfulness, justice, zeal, etc.), and 'Love' (goodness, pity, mercy,
etc.), though they are really but expressions of one individual life.[44]

2. In the New Testament _Righteousness_ is almost equivalent to
holiness. It is the attribute of God which determines the nature of His
kingdom and the condition of man's entrance into it. As comprising
obedience to the will of God and the fulfilment of the moral law, it is
the basal and central conception of the Christian ideal.[45] It is the
keynote of the Pauline Epistles. Life has a supreme sacredness for Paul
because the righteousness of God is its end. While righteousness is the
distinctive note of the Pauline conception, it is also fundamental in the
Ethics of Jesus. It is the ruling thought in the Sermon on the Mount.
To be righteous for Jesus simply means to be right and true--to be as one
ought to be. But human standards are insufficient. A man must order his
life by the divine standard. Jesus is as emphatic as any Old Testament
prophet in insisting upon the need of absolute righteousness. That, for
all who would share in the kingdom of the good, is to be their ideal--the
object of their hunger and thirst. It is a 'good' which is essential to
the very satisfaction and blessedness of the soul.[46] It is the supreme
desire of the man who would be at peace with God. It involves poverty of
spi