XIX

THE SYMMETRY OF LIFE

"Yea, and for this very cause adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply virtue; and in your virtue knowledge; and in your knowledge self-control; and in your self-control patience; and in your patience godliness; and in your godliness brotherly kindness; and in your brotherly kindness love."

II Peter 1:5-7

"For this very cause" throws us back upon the verse preceding. God has done great things for you, do you therefore act your part. To the divine grace which is given you add your own diligence. What has God done? He has called you by his own glory and virtue. The whole energy of the divine nature is thrown into the divine call. It involves the election of the Father, the atonement of the Son, the effectual working of the Spirit. And having called you he gives you all things that pertain to life and godliness, all that is necessary to lead a godly life here and reach heaven beyond. It is his purpose that you shall become partakers of the divine nature, shall be renewed in the whole man after the image of God.

It is often said that the doctrine of election destroys the motives that lead to a holy life. If I am elected I shall be saved, do what I may. I need not concern myself about the way, for the end is sure. A good Methodist woman whom I knew used to say that Presbyterians were dangerous people, for

they taught that what is to be will be. I suppose we shall have to plead guilty. But we believe as the Scripture teaches, that God ordains the means as well as the end. If he calls me to eternal life, he calls me to repentance and faith and good works; and if these are wanting I have no claim to a place among the elect. He who is elected to heaven is elected to holiness, and no man can read his title clear to mansions in the skies unless he is trying to do the will of God. Only as I am in the way have I reason to hope that I may reach the end.

There are those who regard salvation as a bargain concluded in a moment. They get religion, and the work is done, as the title to property is passed by a stroke of the pen. ""Tis done, the great transaction's done." Religion is a clever contrivance by which God kindly engages to become responsible for our souls that we may give ourselves with undivided attention to the pursuit of the world. Make your peace with God; then your future is assured, and your life is henceforth your own. But the work of salvation is not finished when you have been born again; it is only begun. The new birth introduces you to a new life. To be born is only the beginning of living. The cradle is neither the dwelling place nor the goal, but the starting point of life. God gives the life, we must live it. God gives us grace, we must use it. God gives us salvation, we must work it out. Remember it is the believer to whom that command is given, Work out your own salvation. To the jailer who asked, "What must I do to

be saved?" Paul said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved." He could not work out his salvation until he had received it, any more than a man can live before he is born. To work out your own salvation is not to work out a salvation of your own. God opens the gate of heaven, invites us to come, prepares the way, offers guidance and help; but we must make the journey step by step. He will help us but he will not carry us. The gate is open, the way prepared, but we must climb. One man was borne to heaven in a chariot of fire-only one. The rest of us must walk. It is a long journey and all the way uphill. Elijah's chariot is not running.

So much God has done, calling us and giving us all that we need. What remains for us to do Peter goes on to show. "Adding on your part all diligence." You must throw yourself into the work. God is in earnest, you must be in earnest. Your salvation cost God the blood of his only-begotten Son; shall it cost you nothing? God labored, suffered, sacrificed that you might be saved; do you think that you have nothing to do? You work hard for the little bit of earth you get; shall you have heaven for nothing? For every dollar you earn you must pay in honest labor; shall grace and righteousness and truth and the likeness of God be had for naught? Lowell tells us indeed, ""Tis heaven alone that is given away; "Tis only God may be had for the asking." Salvation is free. But we must not forget that the Master bade us strive, agonize, to

enter in. God gives freely, but it is hard for us to take. The gate is open, but the way is long.

God has elected you and called you to be the heirs of his Kingdom. What then? Take your ease? No. Give diligence to make your calling and election sure. To God's grace add your diligence. It is easy to become a Christian, it is hard to be a Christian. The hardest task that any man can undertake is to lead a Christian life in this evil world. It requires all diligence, the continued exercise of every power and energy that we possess. But it is worth it all. "In your faith supply virtue." The Christian life is not a mere matter of addition. Modern psychology lays great stress upon the unity of the soul. It cannot be divided into faculties or groups of faculties separated by rigid walls of partition. There is one living intelligence, manifesting itself now as thought, now as emotion, now as will. We do not simply add grace to grace as if they were separate and distinct. The graces of the Christian life are indissolubly linked together. They spring from a common root. They are vitally related as manifestations of one life. Grace for grace is the divine order. As grace is exercised new grace is given; and every grace received and employed draws others after it.

The law of growth in nature and in grace is symmetry. Life tends to develop in all directions, so far as it is free. The Christian life ought to be symmetrical, well-rounded. The word rendered "supply" suggests a beautiful figure. It comes from the root from which our word "chorus" is

drawn. The Christian character should be like a well-balanced and perfectly trained chorus, in which every member bears his part, and all unite in swelling harmony to lift the song of praise.

That is the ideal that invites us. But we fall far short of it. We incline by nature to cultivate the easy virtues, the congenial graces. Character develops along the line of least resistance. We ought not to grow in a straight line. Life should throw out its branches like a tree on every side. But we are one-sided, lopsided. We develop the graces that are in harmony with our inclinations, and the others are neglected. We do what we like to do. We try to fashion grace after the model of nature, cut the new life after the pattern of the old. Let us make the personal application. You are by temperament ardent, active, energetic. You want to be doing something. You are quick in act, hasty in speech. Suppose you take a course of lessons in patience, in charity, in thoughtfulness and see what you make of it. We sometimes wonder when we see those who have been most active and useful in the service of God laid aside by sickness or infirmity. Has God so many faithful servants that he can afford to dismiss them? Why does he hide them in the sick room when the Church and the world are in such need of their service? We must recognize the physical causes that are at work. The ardent, energetic spirit often drives the body beyond its strength and whether we serve God or the world we pay the penalty if we transgress the laws of health. We often