Deeper Life #22

And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.

—Luke 11:39

WHY PEOPLE WHO CLAIM TO be Christians must be told to refrain from such habits as smoking and chewing tobacco is to me an amazement. There is a big mistake somewhere, and it is either in them or God. (I rather think that man is a liar and God is true, because I know what He has done for me.)

Of course, if you refrain from all sorts of bad things that is no sign that you are regenerated, much less sanctified! Not one bit of it. Scores of people who have not a spark of salvation live a cleaner life than some folks who say they are Christians.

Entire sanctification is not mere outward cleanliness or moral living. That is your definition, not God’s. But spirituality is based on the most intense morality.

Christianity is not the annulling of the Ten Commandments; to the contrary, it is a transfiguration of the will, which allows Jesus Christ to be manifested in every fiber of your being.

Prayer Thought: Heavenly Father, I give You all that I am and all I have. I am completely Yours.

SUGGESTED READING: Luke 11:37–44