4. He that hath dean hands. Outward, practical
holiness is a very precious mark of grace. To wash in water with Pilate is
nothing, but to wash in innocency is all-important. Many have perverted the
doctrine of justification by faith in such a way as to treat good works with
contempt; if so, they will receive everlasting contempt at the last great day.
It is vain to prate of inward experience unless the daily life is free from
impurity, dishonesty, violence, and oppression. If our hands are now unclean,
let us wash them in Jesus’ precious blood. But clean hands would not
suffice unless they were connected with pure heart. True religion is
heart-work. The very life of our being lies in the inner nature, and hence the
imperative need of purity within. There must be a work of grace in the core of
the heart as well as in the palm of the hand, or our religion is a delusion. May
God grant that our inward powers may be cleansed by the sanctifying Spirit, so
that we may love holiness and abhor all sin. The pure in heart shall see God.
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