Chapter 1 A Consecrated Life - Far Eastern Bible College

Here is an analogy. God the Father is like the General Manager of
manufacturing corporation, and He gives the directive: “Be thou
perfect.” In order for this directive to be carried out, a prototype or
pattern is first needed. For no man since Adam and Eve was ever
perfect. Where can such a pattern be found? This is where God the Son
comes and provides one. By living as a man on earth, His human life
became the perfect working model of one that fulfils the divine
directive. His life on earth was truly perfect. Now with the directive and
the pattern provided, the next important question is the means of
production. Who will now work with the raw material of saved
believers to produce, out of them, copies of the pattern? This is where
God the Holy Spirit comes in. He takes on this role, by actually
dwelling in our lives from the moment we are saved, and gradually
transforming us by His Word until we are fully conformed to the pattern
of Jesus Christ.
Now all three things are therefore in place: the directive, the pattern
and the means of production. And this means that everything that is
needed for us to become perfect is already in place. When God tells us
to become perfect, He does not leave us to figure out for ourselves how
this will be done. He provides everything that we need for the whole
transformation process. All that we need to do is to yield ourselves to
the process daily.
Therefore the challenge to all of us here is this: We must all commit
ourselves to consistently let God work in our lives from this day
onward. That is not easy to do. Because what often happens is that we
start off with great zeal and resolve to practise all of these things but
after some time the desire dies down, we run out of steam, and we find
ourselves once again going back to our old sinful ways. So the fourth
and final step is important.
IV. Maintain the Desire in Our Hearts
God has provided all that we need for holy living. We have seen
what He has provided: the regenerated Conscience, the Word of God
which we can use to train the conscience, the power of the Holy Spirit.
But it is our responsibility to constantly apply ourselves to godliness.
70 A Consecrated Life