Day 38: Mature Holiness
Reading: The Cross of Christ pg. 307-314
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1.2-4
Three graphic images are developed in scripture to illustrate how God uses suffering in pursuance of his purpose to make us holy, in other words, Christlike. They are the Father disciplining his children, the metalworker refining silver and gold, and the gardener pruning his vine.
All three metaphors describe a negative process, disciplining the child, refining the metal and pruning the vine. But all three also underline the positive result-the child’s good, the metal’s purity, the vine’s fruitfulness. We should not hesitate to say, then, that God intends suffering to be a “means of grace…” For if God’s love is holy love, as it is, then it is concerned not only to act in holiness (as in the cross of Christ), but also to promote holiness (in the people of God).
| Stott pg. 308,309
Think of your favorite character in the Bible. In what ways did God use suffering to produce mature holiness in that person? How might He use the suffering you go through to make you more mature and holy?
When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.
-Edward Mote 1834