22. And indeed, whence should evil thoughts proceed, in the servant who is _as his Master? out of the heart of man_ (if at all) _proceed evil thoughts_ (Mark vii. 21.) If therefore his heart, be no longer evil, then evil thoughts can no longer proceed out of it. If the tree were corrupt, so would be the fruit; but the tree is good. The fruit therefore is good also. (_Matth._ xii. 33.) Our Lord himself bearing witness, _Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, as a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit_, Matt. vii. 17, 18.
23. The same happy privilege of real Christians, St. _Paul_ asserts from his own experience. _The weapons of our warfare_, saith he, _are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds: casting down imaginations_ (or reasonings rather, for so the word λογισμούς signifies: all the reasonings of pride and unbelief against the declarations, promises or gifts of God) _and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God; and bringing into captivity_ every thought _to the obedience of Christ_, 2 Cor. x. 5, &c.
24. And as Christians indeed, are freed from evil thoughts, so are they, _secondly_, from evil tempers. This is evident from the above-mentioned declaration of our Lord himself: _The disciple is not above his Master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his Master_. He had been delivering just before some of the sublimest doctrines of Christianity, and some of the most grievous to flesh and blood. _I say unto you, love your enemies, do good to them which hate you: and unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek, offer also the other._ Now these he well knew the world would not receive: and therefore immediately adds, _Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch?_ As if he had said, “Do not confer with flesh and blood touching these things, with men void of spiritual discernment, the eyes of whose understanding God hath not opened, lest they and you perish together.” In the next verse he removes the two grand objections, with which these wise fools meet us at every turn, “These things are too grievous to be borne,” or, “They are too high to be attained:” saying, _The disciple is not above his Master_: therefore, if I have suffered, be content to tread in my steps. And doubt ye not then, but I will fulfil my word: _for every one that is perfect, shall be as his Master_. But his Master was free from all sinful tempers. So therefore is his disciple, even every real Christian.
25. Every one of these can say with St. _Paul_, _I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me_: words that manifestly describe a deliverance from inward, as well as from outward sin. This is expressed both negatively, _I live not_: my evil nature, the body of sin is destroyed: and positively, _Christ liveth in me_, and therefore all that is holy, and just, and good. Indeed both these, _Christ liveth in me_, and _I live not_, are inseparably connected. For _what communion hath light with darkness, or Christ with Belial_?
26. He therefore who liveth in true believers, hath _purified their hearts by faith_: insomuch that _every one that hath Christ in him, the hope of glory, purifieth himself even as he is pure_. (1 John iii. 3.) He is purified from pride; for Christ was lowly of heart. He is pure from self-will, or desire; for Christ desired only to do the will of his Father, and to finish his work. And he is pure from anger, in the common sense of the word; for Christ was meek and gentle, patient and long-suffering. I say, in the common sense of the word: for all anger is not evil. We read of our Lord himself (_Mark_ iii. 5.) that he once _looked round with anger_. But with what kind of anger? The next word shews; συλλυπούμενος, being _at the same time grieved for the hardness of their hearts_. So then he was _angry at the sin_, and in the same moment _grieved for the sinners_. Angry or displeased _at the offence_; but sorry, _for the offenders_. With anger, yea, hatred, he looked upon _the thing_; with grief and love upon the _persons_. Go thou that art perfect, and do likewise. _Be thus angry, and_ thou _sinnest not_: feeling a displacency at every offence against God; but only love and tender compassion to the offender.