NOTHING TROUBLES A CHRISTIAN LIKE SIN. And there is nothing for which he prays more frequently or more earnestly than for complete deliverance from it. In Christ he is delivered from its guilt, being justified from all things. But he longs to be delivered from its power. Sin annoys, irritates, and distresses. It darkens his testimony, disturbs his peace, and troubles his conscience. Therefore he pleads, "Lord, take away all my iniquity." The prayer is put into the mouth of a backslider by the Lord Himself, and it is the first thing he should seek. By iniquity he fell, and by repentance only can he arise. By his own folly he fell: to rise again He needs the Lord's mercy. Will the Lord take away all his iniquity? He surely will. Its guilt He will remove by applying the atonement; the oppression of it by the power of His word, and the reality of it at death. Let this then be our daily prayer, "Lord, sanctify me wholly, and preserve my spirit, soul and body blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." And if this flows from our hearts as from our inner man, it will be answered to our complete sanctification. "Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it."

For Meditation:
More than for ease in mortal pain,
For purity I pray;
Whatever trial may remain,
O take my sins away!