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{Sermons on Ephesians 5:15
Evidence for the Absolute Necessity of Precise Godliness
From Reasons Drawn from Scripture: Six Propositions
Inward Holiness Is Compliance of Heart with Entire Will of God}
This inward habitual holiness is characterized by a universal compliance of the heart with the whole will of God. The heart that is formed after the image of God is conformed to the will of God. “Your law is within in my heart” (Psalm 40:8). This is not a piece of the law, but the whole, every word and tittle127 of it. Your law is “within” me. The law is said to be within the heart of a saint in a double sense:
First, the law is published, revealed, and made known in the heart, and it is understood by the soul. There is the light of the Word shining in every Christian.
Second, the law is embraced, approved, and consented to. There is the love of the law in the heart of a Christian; the heart closes with128 it and all that it requires as a good Word and worthy of acceptance.
A Christian not only accepts the promises of the Gospel as good and comfortable words, but can heartily write “Good is the Word of the Lord” on every precept. He likes his duties as well as his privileges, his work as well as his reward. This heart-acceptance is set forth in expressions regarding a willing mind, a ready mind, and an eager mind. And as his heart is toward his work, so it is for any work to which the Lord calls it. He has respect for all the commandments. He would not wish to be without one leaf, no, not one line of the whole Word of God. He is ready for every good work. He would not wish one duty lifted from him of all that God requires. He would not have one sin allowed to him of all that God forbids. He who says concerning any one word in the whole will of God, “This I must have struck out or be dispensed with before I can be a Christian,” is one whose heart is not upright. He who wishes to have any one sin to be no sin, any one duty to be no duty, any one sin to be allowed to him, or any duty to be lifted from him is no Christian.129
127tittle: the smallest stroke of a pen in the Hebrew alphabet, similar to dotting an i.
128closes with: to fully embrace and accept without reservation.
129These appear to be overly strong and severe statements, but there is an excellent reason why they are true: God is innately and essentially perfect and holy in His being. His law is not an arbitrary choice, but is a reflection of His holy character and very being. If He were less than perfect and holy, He would be something other than God, or in the context of the present discussion, an idol of one’s imagination. A believer may indeed struggle with interpretations and applications of God’s Word, and he will often find putting off sins and accepting duties to be difficult. But the believer is a bondslave (δοῦλοσ [doulos]) of Christ, and, perhaps after a struggle with his own sinful desires, will thus willingly submit his will to the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Such struggles need not rise to the level of wishing God would change His mind about His Word. Still, Alleine perhaps might have better said something like, “He who unrepentantly wishes to have any one sin …” Also, it should be noted that some new believers may not live long enough to reach this level of sanctification, such as the thief on the cross.
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