I have already said that these words are possibly no part of the
original text, but that they convey a true Christian idea, whether the
words are here genuine or no. I need not enlarge upon this part of my
subject at any length. Let me just remind you how the other verse in
this chapter, to which I have already referred as cast in the same mould
as our text, covers, from a different point of view, the same ground
exactly as our text. Here there is put first the human element: 'Ye have
purified your souls in obeying the truth,' and secondly the Divine
element; 'through the Spirit.' The human part is put in the foreground,
and God's part comes in, I was going to say, subordinately, as a
condition. The reverse is the case in the other text, which runs: 'Kept
_in_ the power of God _through_ faith'--where the Divine element is in
the foreground, as being the true cause, and the human dwindles to being
merely a condition--'Kept by' (or in) 'the power of God through faith.'
Both views are true; you may take the vase by either handle. When the
purpose is to stimulate to action, man's part is put in the foreground
and God's part secondarily. When the purpose is to stimulate to
confidence, God's part is put in the foreground and the man's is
secondary. The two interlock, and neither is sufficient without the
other.
The true Agent of all purifying is that Divine Spirit. I have said that
the moment of true trust is the moment of initial obedience, and of the
beginning of purity. And it is so because, in that moment of initial
faith, there enters into the heart the communicated Divine life of the
Spirit, which thenceforward is lodged there, except it be quenched by
the man's negligence or sin. Thence, from that germ implanted in the
moment of faith, the germ of a new life, there issue forth to ultimate
dominion in the spirit, the powers of that Divine Spirit which make for
righteousness and transform the character. Thus, the true cause and
origin of all Christian nobility and purity of character and conduct
lies in that which enters the heart at the moment that the heart is
opened for the coming of the Lord. But, on the other hand, this Divine
Spirit, the Source of all purity, will not purify the soul without the
man's efforts. '_Ye_ have purified your souls.' You need the Spirit
indeed. But you are not mere passive recipients. You are to be active
co-operators. In this region, too, we are 'labourers together with God.'
We cannot of ourselves do the work, for the very powers with which we do
it, or try to do it, are themselves in need of cleansing. And for a man
to try to purify the soul by his own effort alone is to play the part of
the sluttish house-wife who would seek to wipe a dish clean with a dirty
cloth. You need the Divine Spirit to work in you, and you need to use,
by your own effort, the Divine Spirit that does work in you. He is as
'rushing, mighty wind'; but, unless the sails are set and the helm
gripped, the wind will pass the boat and leave it motionless. He is
Divine fire that burns up the dross and foulness; but, unless we 'guard
the holy fire' and feed it, it dies down into grey cold ashes. He is the
water of life; but, unless we dig and take heed to keep clear the
channels, no refreshing will permeate to the roots of the wilting
flowers, and there will be dryness, thirst, and barrenness, even on the
river's banks.
So, brethren, neither God alone nor man alone can purify the soul. We
need Him, else we shall labour in vain. He needs us, else He will bestow
His gift, and we shall receive 'the grace of God in vain.'