From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Part seven of a series of selections from chapter three of
Profiting From the Word by Arthur W. Pink

It is at this point particularly that the genuineness of your profession may be tested and proved.

In our last article, Arthur Pink dealt with the the need for the believer to grow in his confidence in Christ through growth in knowledge of the Word. Christ cannot be trusted at all unless He is known, and the better He is known the more He will be trusted. In the next section of Profiting From the Word, Pink deals with the need for the believer to experience a deepening desire to please Christ through the study of the Scriptures:

An individual is profited from the Scriptures when they beget in him a deepening desire to please Christ. "Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price" (1 Corinthians 6:19,20) is the first great fact that Christians need to apprehend. Henceforth they are not to "live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again" (2 Corinthians 5:15). Love delights to please its object, and the more our affections are drawn out to Christ the more shall we desire to honor Him by a life of obedience to His known will. "If a man love Me, he will keep My words" (John 14:23). It is not in happy emotions or in verbal professions of devotion, but in the actual assumption of His yoke and the practical submitting to His precepts, that Christ is most honored.

It is at this point particularly that the genuineness of our profession may be tested and proved. Have they a faith in Christ who make no effort to learn His will? What a contempt of the King if His subjects refuse to read his proclamations! Where there is faith in Christ there will be delight in His commandments, and a sorrowing when they are broken by us. When we displease Christ we should mourn over our failure. It is impossible seriously to believe that it was my sins which caused the Son of God to shed His precious blood, without my hating them. If Christ groaned under sin, we shall groan too. And the more sincere those groanings be, the more earnestly shall we seek grace for deliverance from all that displeases, and strength to do all that which pleases our blessed Redeemer.

Do you sincerely pray this with the psalmist? -

Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes, and I shall keep it to the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law; indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart. Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it. Incline my heart to Your testimonies, and not to covetousness. Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in Your way. Establish Your word to Your servant, who is devoted to fearing You. Turn away my reproach which I dread, for Your judgments are good. Behold, I long for Your precepts; revive me in Your righteousness. (Psalm 119:33-40)

Next: Are You Longing for the Return of Christ?

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