whether you let Jesus Christ into your minds or not, but if you
do let Him in, He will be Master. There is no such thing as taking
Him in and not obeying.

And so the requirement of the Gospel which we call faith has in it
quite as much of the element of obedience as of the element of trust.
And the presence of that element is just what makes the difference
between a sham and a real faith. 'Faith which has not works is dead,
being alone.' A faith which is all trust and no obedience is neither
trust nor obedience.

And that is why so many of us do not care to yield ourselves to the
faith that is in Jesus Christ. If it simply came to us and said, 'If
you will trust Me you will get pardon,' I fancy there would be a good
many more of us honest Christians than are so. But Christ comes and
says, 'Trust Me, follow Me, and take Me for your Master; and be like
Me,' and one's will kicks, and one's passions recoil, and a thousand
of the devil's servants within us prick their ears up and stiffen
their backs in remonstrance and opposition. 'Submit' is Christ's
first word; submit by faith, submit in love.

That heart obedience, which is the requirement of Christianity, means
freedom. The Apostle draws a wonderful contrast in the context
between the slavery to lust and sin, and the freedom which comes from
obedience to God and to righteousness. Obey the Truth, and the Truth,
in your obeying, shall make you free, for freedom is the willing
submission to the limitations which are best. 'I will walk at liberty
for I keep Thy precepts.' Take Christ for your Master, and, being His
servants, you are your own masters, and the world's to boot. For 'all
things are yours if ye are Christ's.' Refuse to bow your necks to