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be made like him at his appearing. That hope is a patient, certain, and grounded
expectation of all those promises in Christ which by faith we believe to belong to us.
God gives this hope through the means of grace so that we might not be tossed and
hurried up and down the world.
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So we are to purify ourselves daily, using Christ as our pattern. Colossians 3 tells
us that holiness means putting off everything that is dishonoring to our Father, who
has loved us, and the Savior, who has died to save us. It means putting on mercies,
kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, and longsuffering (3:12). Purifying
ourselves involves the whole man, says Cotton, including what we do with our
minds, affections, will, thoughts, tongue, eyes, hands, disappointments, injuries, and
enemies.
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Purifying ourselves involves loving all that the Father loves and hating all
that the Father hates. From the moment of conversion to the time we take our final
breath, we have one pursuit: to purify ourselves before our Father in order to be more
like Christ.
5.
Our relationship to the church as the family of God. As God`s adopted sons and
daughters, we have been placed in a great family. If we rightly understand this, our
attitude toward our brothers and sisters in the family of God will be profoundly
affected (1 John 3:1418). We have not been adopted to live apart from that family,
but to live within its network of relationships. God`s purpose in adopting children is
to create a family in which Christ will be glorified as the firstborn among many
brethren. He wants the love that exists between the Father and the Son and the Holy
Spirit to be extended through the love between brothers and sisters in Christ. As
Cotton says, The sons of God ought to be the men of our love and delight (3 John
1,2,5; 1 Pet. 2:11; Phil. 4:1).
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The way we behave toward other Christians proves whether or not we are adopted
children of God (3:1415). We are to love fellow adoptees of God, Cotton says,
because of (1) God`s singular love to them, (2) their love to God, and (3) the
truth that is in every Christian believer (2 John 1,2).
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Those who have experienced much love from Him cannot help but love others. As