EXCERPTS FROM: “HOLINESS: GOD’S WAY BETTER THAN
MAN’S”
By Ethelbert W. Bullinger
[Selected Writings II. Holiness: God’s Way Better Than
Man’s. 1999, Invictus
for “Truth For Today Bible Fellowship.
Holiness of life and walk is God’s will for His children; as it is, or should be, their own
earnest desire.
God’s will on this matter has been declared and
revealed:
“This is the will of God, even your
sanctification” (1 Thess. 4:3).
God has not left His will, or the means for its
accomplishment, to chance…
GOD’S WAY.
One of God’s methods for securing holiness of
life is by “HOPE.” This hope is set upon a person – Christ (1 John 3:3). It is
part of the foundation of true Christian standing to be waiting for God’s Son
from heaven (1 Thess. 1:9,10).
Thus, looking for Christ, we are, of necessity, looking to Christ, and are
occupied with Christ, and in this manner we are “conformed to His image.”
“We beholding-as-in-a-mirror the glory of the
Lord, ARE changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Lord
the Spirit.” (2 Cor. 3:18).
Here is no restless effort, no anxious toiling,
no spiritual dissipation, no occupation with “the
ordinances of men,” but occupation of heart with a heavenly object, producing a
heavenly character and walk – and this by secret transmutation – without an
effort! This is God’s one, simple, and withal, efficacious method for securing
the accomplishment of His will in those who believe God as described in Rom.
5:12 – 8:39, and are thus counted righteous by Him.
MAN’S WAY.
Now, man has always thought that he can improve
on God’s plans; and he has ever sought to do so, or to substitute his own for
them.
As in the matter of justification, in Genesis
4, so in the matter of sanctification, “the way of Cain” is
contrary to the “way of God.”
This has been so from the first, and it is seen
in all the various forms of false
religion. They all say, “Something in my hand I bring,” though they quarrel
bitterly as to what that “something” is to be. But
that it is to be “something,” they are all at one, and are all agreed. True
religion, on the other hand, says, “Nothing in my hand I bring.”
As it is with justification, so it is with
sanctification. And those who hold that they are “justified by His grace,” too
often act as though they were deceived by the specious delusion that they are
to be sanctified by works. Whereas Christ, of God, is made
unto us sanctification, as well as righteousness (1 Cor.
… It has often been well said, that the work of
the Holy Ghost is not to direct our attention to His work in us, but to Christ’s work for us. This is
absolutely true. “HE SHALL GLORIFY ME,” was Christ’s own definition of that
which characterizes the work of the Holy Spirit… of the Holy Spirit it is
declared that His work is known by His abasing man, and glorifying and exalting
Christ (1 Cor. 1:31). When He works in us, Christ is
not a mere helper, or a makeweight, or a puppet, in my hands, but my all in
all, occupying my thoughts, filling my heart, and unconsciously influencing my
life...
…It has been well said, “what
is true is not new, and what is new is not true.”
“A cleansed heart” is one of the (religious)
commonest expressions. But the question is, which heart?
Scripture speaks of two natures – the “old” and
the “new.” Which of these two is meant when such language is used?
If it be the “old” nature, then nothing can ever cleanse it! God has
declared that it is “desperately wicked,” and impossible of renovation. “Who
can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one.” (Job 14:4.) And Christ
declares that all evil, springs from this old heart (Matt.
And if it be the “new” nature, it needs no cleansing. The old heart or
nature has been thoroughly judged and condemned by God; and for His people it
has been crucified with Christ. The NEW heart or nature CANNOT sin, for it is born
of God (1 John.)
Their diverse nature is declared in John 3:8 –
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit
is spirit.” And their hostility is declared in Gal.
… the words of Gal.
2:20, should be (and are in the R.V.) rendered, “I HAVE BEEN crucified with
Christ.” In the Epistle to the Romans we have the objective judicial aspect of
this wondrous fact; while in Gal. 2:20 we have the statement of the Apostle’s personal and subjective application of the Christian revelation, and the secret
of his life as a Christian and an
Apostle. It is a glorious summing up of his
faith, the mainspring of this wonderful activity.
… we would fain urge
upon the Lord’s people:
“A MORE EXCELLENT WAY.”
… We all desire the same conformity to Christ,
the same separation from the world, the same graces and gifts which God has
treasured up in the glorious Head in heaven, for the supply of the members of
His Body here upon earth.
But it is here that we join issue with many of
our brethren. Not with their end, but
with their means. We would say to
them and to all who are perplexed by their teaching, What
you desire is right, but you go the wrong way to get it. There is a way more honouring to God, more easy, more
simple, more efficacious – in short, “a
more excellent way,” simply because it is God’s way.
“Which
of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit unto his stature?” (Matt.
4:27).
This is a very important question… You are all
“taking thought” to add to, to heighten, or deepen your spiritual “stature.”
But the Saviour’s words remind us of the Laws of
nature, and show us that “stature” is not to be added to by such means, for the
means used must correspond with the end to be reached. Given the means of
proper nourishment and pure air, stature must increase unconsciously and
without an effort. Nay, it cannot be repressed! When we use the means of eating
and breathing, the end is not ever
before our minds as an object, but we
enjoy the means which secure the end. So it must be with our spiritual stature.
“Christ is our life” – and the
mission of the Holy Spirit is to take of the things of
Christ and minister them unto us. We feed upon Christ in His death, as in
eating and drinking (John
It is the work of the Holy Spirit to witness in
our hearts of Christ… Christ’s work for
us, of whom and of which He witnesses…
THE AIM OF THE ENEMY.
And our great enemy is all the while well
content. He knows (if Christians do not) that Christ is the source of all our
strength and blessing. His one aim, therefore, is to keep the heart from being
occupied with Christ. Any means will serve his purpose so long as this can be
accomplished. Hence he will occupy:
The sinner with his sins,
The penitent with his repentance,
The believer with his faith,
The servant with his service,
And The saint with his
holiness.
Anything, so long as
to it is not Christ. This is the great blot on this modern (religious) movement. And it is certain that many souls are
perplexed and hindered by thus being directed to self-occupation.
The whole system of (religious) teaching is
calculated to centre the thoughts and the attention on self, however much the
Holy Spirit and Christ may be mentioned.
It all begins with self, and the “conditions”
which self must fulfill. It is all summed up in the significant words “if” and
“we.”
The “more
excellent way” is laid down for us in 2 Cor.
3:18:
“We, beholding-as-in-a-mirror the glory of the
Lord, ARE CHANGED into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the
Spirit of the Lord.”
The point is this. Moses, when he went up into
the mount, saw the glory of the Lord, and when he came down, his face shone
with the reflection of it.
From 1 John 3:1-3 we learn that the actual sight of the Lord Jesus will make
us really like Him in body (actions), as well as in soul (inner thoughts) and
spirit (power from on high). Even so now, it is as we behold Him with the eye
of faith, that we are transformed into His likeness. If we are occupied
with Christ we necessarily have a deeper realization of Christ, and hence
cannot but unconsciously reflect His glory. If we are occupied with a heavenly
object, we shall become heavenly, our countenances, our walk, our life, will
shine. We may not see it; we may not
know it; we may be quite unconscious of it. Moses saw not his own countenance,
but the people saw it. So it will be
with us!
It is not some standard which we have got to
reach; it is not some emotion which we have got to feel; it is not some
“blessing” which we have got to “claim”; it is not some “act of faith,” or “act
of surrender,” or any “act” of our own, but it is simply the occupation of the
heart with Christ in glory…
The great work of the Holy Spirit is to glorify
Christ, and the best evidence we can possibly have that we are “filled with the
Spirit” is this – that we are occupied with Christ. In other words, the
measure in which we are filled with the Spirit is to be known by the measure in
which our hearts are filled and taken up with Christ; and the test of this is not the excitement
of any emotional feelings, but a
readiness to receive and to be guided by ALL the teaching of God’s holy Word.
If we be not wholly occupied and satisfied with
Christ, then truly it is “another Jesus” that is being preached; “another
Spirit” which has been received; and “another gospel” which has been accepted
(2 Cor. 11:3,4). It is an
awful fact that there are other spirits
which may energize the old nature, and hence the solemn warnings to be on our
guard against them, and to “try” or prove them (1 Tim. 4:1; 1 Cor.
Now, see how the “will of God” is manifested in
securing our sanctification. “Looking off unto Jesus” is the simple means to
this great end, and to ensure that His people shall be looking TO Christ, God
has given us the “blessed hope” of looking FOR Christ. Hence this has been well
called “the purifying hope” (1 John 3:1-3).
If Conferences are to
be held at all, then those for the Study of the Truth connected with the Lord’s
Coming, are much more calculated to produce holiness of life, than those
convened especially for that purpose (to
produce holiness of life).
We may well apply
JEHOVAH’S SOLEMN WORDS TO
To the whole of this modern (religious)
movement, with all its modern methods and developments, and say:
“Behold,
I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have
not sinned. Why gaddest thou about so much to change
thy way?” (Jer. 2:35,36).
The so-called “act of faith” only tends to glorify man; but it is a life
of hope, and not a “life of faith” which causes the Christian to forget
himself altogether, and to acknowledge that this is
A MORE EXCELLENT WAY,
And that God’s way of
holiness is better than man’s.
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