(1) Honesty.—Certainly the Christian, according to the apostles, must be honest. Honesty is the foundation of the virtues; without it everything else is based upon the sand. Nothing could exceed the fine scorn which the New Testament heaps upon anything like hypocrisy or deceit. The Epistle of James, in particular, is a plea for profound reality in all departments of life. Away with all deceit! The Christian life is to be lived in the full blaze of God's sunlight.
Many hours could be occupied in the class with the applications of honesty under modern conditions. Student life, for example, is full of temptations to dishonesty. To say nothing of out-and-out cheating, there are a hundred ways in which the fine edge of honor can be blunted. In business life, also, temptations are many; and indeed no one can really escape the test. The apostolic example deserves to be borne in mind; Christian honesty ought to be more than the honesty of the world.
(2) Purity.—In the second place, the apostolic Church presents an ideal of purity, purity in thought as well as in word and deed. The ideal must have seemed strange to the degraded populations of Corinth and Ephesus; but it is also sadly needed to-day. Let us not deceive ourselves. He who would hold fellowship with Christ must put away impurity; Christ is the holy One. Purity, however, is to be attained not by unaided human effort, but by the help of the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit, if he be admitted to the heart, will purge it of unclean thoughts.
(3) Patience and Bravery.—In the third place, patience and humility are prominent in the Christian ideal. These virtues are coupled, however, with the most vigorous bravery. There is nothing weak or sickly or sentimental about the Christian character. "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong." I Cor. 16:13.
(4) Love.—The summation of the Christian ideal is love. Love, however, is more than a benevolent desire. It includes purity and heroism as well as helpfulness. In order to love in the Christian sense, one must attain "unto a fullgrown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." Eph. 4:13.
In the Library.—Hastings, "Dictionary of the Bible": Strong, article on "Ethics" (II). Kilpatrick, "Christian Character." Bruce, "The Formation of Christian Character." Luthardt, "Apologetic Lectures on the Moral Truths of Christianity."