ChristV God pledges his own word, that " he will not suffer them to be tempted above that they are able™," but that "he will perfect that which concerneth them." When therefore we " pray to God that our whole spirit, soul, and body may be preserved blameless unto his heavenly kingdom," we are authorized to add, " Faithful is he who hath called us ; who also will do it"."]
2. Their ultimate acceptance — [" He will preserve us, that we may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." " Blameless" in some respect his people already are, inasmuch as the Lord Jesus Christ has washed them in his blood, and pronounced them "clean"." But in the last day we shall be blameless in ourselves, as well as in him ; being not only justified, as we now are, by his blood, but sanctified also by his Spirit, and transformed into the perfect image of our God. Then " will Christ present us to himself, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing ; yea, holy, and without blemish ?:" and in the meantime he will, by his almighty and all-sufficient grace, "strengthen, and esta- blish, and settle us even to the end"i."
Thus does God assure to his people their continued preser- vation, and their ultimate acceptance with him: and he pledges his own faithfulness for the performance of his word.
But let no man imagine that these truths supersede the necessity of care and watchfulness on our part ; for God will never fulfil his promise to us but through the instrume7itality of our exertions. Hence he requires every exertion on our part, precisely as if he had left the final issue solely dependent on our own eflforts ; and suspends his promised mercies altogether on the performance of our duties. To obtain his final accept- ance of us as blameless, we must hold fast our faith : " He will present us holy and unblameable, and unreproveable in his sight, if we continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospels" We must also abound in love; we must " increase and abound in love one towards another, to the end that he may establish our hearts unblameable in holiness before God even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints ^'' We must also use all diligence in every duty ; for it is by dili- gence that we are to " make our calling and election sure" and that we are to be "found of him at last in peace, without spot and blameless^."
' Rom. viii. 38, 30. "' 1 Cor. x. 13. " 1 Thess. v. 23, 24.
" .John XV. 3. P Eph. v. 27. i 1 Pet. v. 10.
"■ Col. i. 22, 23. s 1 Thess. iii. 12, 13.
♦ 2 Pet. i. 10. and iii. 14.