Here we are arrested, overwhelmed, by the greatness of this grace. No human pen can add to the fullness and blessedness of these words. We do well to pause and meditate on the vast but gracious thought: made fit to share the portion of the saints in light. Not merely to share the inheritance of the saints, or of the saints in heaven, but of the saints in light—in the light of our Father’s immediate presence.

How absolute is the effect of the work of Christ on the soul! Made whiter than snow, we stand in the light where holiness and righteousness dwell, and we find that we are made fit to enjoy the children’s portion there.

But the saints here referred to, some may suppose, must be advanced saints, those who have reached some great attainment in the Christian life. No, not so; what is said here is said of all who believe in the Lord Jesus, in every period in life, and in all ages and in all countries. The youngest as well as the oldest, the most ignorant and the most learned who believe, are made fit by the Father for the light in which He dwells. It is the word of God in Christ Jesus and can never fail.

The Christian, from the day of his conversion, is in the light as God is in the light. Practically speaking, we know, we may forget this and may not always walk according to the light—may indeed be sometimes in a dark and unhappy state. Still, the Christian is always in the light as to his place and acceptance in Christ. This makes the failure of Christians all the more serious. The grace of God, however, can never fail; and, blessed be His name, we stand in grace.

The penitent thief on the cross, we are assured, was as fit for Paradise the moment he believed as if he had lived fifty years as the most devoted saint on earth. His crown would have been different, but he himself would not have been better fitted for the realms of light and glory.

Andrew Miller