The European Union in Prophecy The EU in Prophecy I | Page 377
The European Union in Prophecy
God's requirements. The commission of a known sin silences the witnessing voice of
the Spirit and separates the soul from God. "Sin is the transgression of the law." And
"whosoever sinneth [transgresseth the law] hath not seen Him, neither known Him."
1 John 3:6. Though John in his epistles dwells so fully upon love, yet he does not
hesitate to reveal the true character of that class who claim to be sanctified while
living in transgression of the law of God.
"He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and
the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God
perfected." 1 John 2:4, 5. Here is the test of every man's profession. We cannot accord
holiness to any man without bringing him to the measurement of God's only standard
of holiness in heaven and in earth. If men feel no weight of the moral law, if they
belittle and make light of God's precepts, if they break one of the least of these
commandments, and teach men so, they shall be of no esteem in the sight of Heaven,
and we may know that their claims are without foundation.
And the claim to be without sin is, in itself, evidence that he who makes this
claim is far from holy. It is because he has no true conception of the infinite purity
and holiness of God or of what they must become who shall be in harmony with His
character; because he has no true conception of the purity and exalted loveliness of
Jesus, and the malignity and evil of sin, that man can regard himself as holy. The
greater the distance between himself and Christ, and the more inadequate his
conceptions of the divine character and requirements, the more righteous he appears
in his own eyes.
The sanctification set forth in the Scriptures embraces the entire being--spirit,
soul, and body. Paul prayed for the Thessalonians that their "whole spirit and soul
and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1
Thessalonians 5:23. Again he writes to believers: "I beseech you therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable
unto God." Romans 12:1. In the time of ancient Israel every offering brought as a
sacrifice to God was carefully examined. If any defect was discovered in the animal
presented, it was refused; for God had commanded that the offering be "without
blemish." So Christians are bidden to present their bodies, "a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God." In order to do this, all their powers must be preserved in the
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