G. MacDonald - The Hope of the Gospel

I call George MacDonald "G Mac."   Last post I said that I would discuss what interferes with prayer.  Sin interferes with prayer, sin in what we think about,  what we say, what we do, and what we fail to do.  G Mac is spot on with his argument that in dealing with sin and the spiritual life we make the mistake of seeking knowledge rather than obedience.  The teaching of Jesus in the sermon on the mount (Matt. 5-7) makes it clear that spiritual knowledge alone does not bring a person  into a father and child relationship with God.  In his discussion of obedience G Mac says this about repentance:

That he may enter, clear the house for him. Send away the bad things out of it. Depart from evil, and do good.  ...

They must cleanse, not the streets of their cities, not their houses or their garments or even their persons, but their hearts and their doing.  ...

George MacDonald, The Hope of the Gospel  (Ward, Lock, Bowden & Co. 1892). 

After the house is cleared, Jesus has to come in.  But this movement away from sin and toward the Lord is not something that can be done by force of the will.  It is a movement of the grace of God in a person's life.   This life of the believer who "sends away" sin to make room for Jesus will be the subject of a series of future posts.