201

24. Holiness and Cleansing--2 Cor. vii. 1, 210

25. Holiness and Blamelessness--1 Thess. iii. 12, 13, 219

26. Holiness and the Will of God--1 Thess. iv. 3, 227

27. Holiness and Service--2 Tim. ii. 21, 235

28. The Way into the Holiest--Heb. x. 19, 243

29. Holiness and Chastisement--Heb. xii. 10, 14, 253

30. The Unction from the Holy One--1 John ii. 20, 27, 262

31. Holiness and Heaven--2 Pet. iii. 11, 271

Notes, 281

First Day.

HOLY IN CHRIST.

God's Call to Holiness.

'Like as He which called you is _holy_, be ye yourselves also _holy_
in all manner of living; because it is written, Ye shall be _holy_,
for I am _holy_.'--1 Pet. i. 15, 16.

The call of God is the manifestation in time of the purpose of eternity:
'Whom He predestinated, them He also _called_.' Believers are 'the
_called_ according to His purpose.' In His call He reveals to us what
His thoughts and His will concerning us are, and what the life to which
He invites us. In His call He makes clear to us what the hope of our
calling is; as we spiritually apprehend and enter into this, our life on
earth will be the reflection of His purpose in eternity.

Holy Scripture uses more than one word to indicate the object or aim of
our calling, but none more frequently than what Peter speaks of
here--God has called us _to be holy_ as He is holy. Paul addresses
believers twice as 'called to be _holy_' (Rom. i. 7; 1 Cor. i. 2). 'God
called us', he says, 'not for uncleanness, but _in sanctification_'
(1 Thess. iv. 7). When he writes, 'The God of peace _sanctify_ you
wholly,' he adds, 'Faithful is He which _calleth_ you, who also will do
it' (1 Thess. v. 24). The calling itself is spoken of as 'a _holy_
calling.' The eternal purpose of which the calling is the outcome, is
continually also connected with holiness as its aim. 'He hath _chosen_
us in Him, that we should be _holy_ and without blame' (Eph. i. 4).
'Whom God _chose_ from the beginning unto _salvation in sanctification_'
(2 Thess. ii. 12). '_Elect_ according to the foreknowledge of the
Father, through _sanctification_ of the Spirit' (1 Pet. i. 2). The call
is the unveiling of the purpose that the Father from eternity had set
His heart upon: that we should be holy.

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