“That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us” (Rom. viii.
4).
Beloved friends, do you know the mistake some of you are making? Some of
you say: “It is not possible for me to be good; no man ever was perfect,
and it is no use for me to try.” That is the mistake many of you are
making. I agree with the first sentence, “No man ever was perfect”; but I
don’t agree with the second, “There is no use trying.” There is a divine
righteousness that we may have. I don’t mean merely that which pardons
your sins—I believe that, too—but I mean far more; I mean that which comes
into your soul and unites itself with the fibers of your being; I mean
Christ; your life, your purity, making you feel as Christ feels; think as
Christ thinks, love as Christ loves, hate as Christ hates, and be
“partakers of the divine nature.” That is God’s righteousness; “that the
righteousness of the law might be fulfiled in us,” not by us, but in us;
not our hands and feet merely, but our very instincts, our very desires,
our very nature springing up in harmony with His own. Have you got Him,
dear friends? He will come and fulfil all right things in you if to-day
you will open your heart.