Holiness and Sanctification - 2 This is such a big subject that I would like to post one more paper to simply define what holiness is and explore some practicalities in seeking it, for we have to hunger and thirst after it. To start with, it has a double meaning – set apart from sin, set apart to God! It is possible for the old sinful nature to set itself apart from outward sin and look so sanctimonious, but it can never set itself apart to God! Sin and God don’t mix! While the Christian is very much ‘in the world’, they are not ‘of it!’ They are not characterised by the world, it certainly is not their home, Christians long to be in heaven! Christians long to be with Christ, for it is far better, Phil 1:23. Heaven is the Home they long for! Now, that longing for heaven will make us holy, 1John 3:3; because the wonderful vision of Jesus exposes how ugly our sin is and the more we experience His presence the holier we will become. The problem for most people who claim to be Christians is that they have not seen many holy people for a very long time; plenty of religionists, but not many Christians, in the New Testament sense of the word – the Christlike ones, Acts 11:26. This is so serious that I doubt that many young believers have ever seen a real Christian life! So, practically, how do we become holy? I’ve talked about plenty of principles and characteristics, but how does it actually happen? As I often say, the main issue is we have to desire to be holy and when God sees that we are serious about pleasing Him, then he will sanctify us, He reckons us holy and the Spirit is free to guide and help us in amazing ways! What happens in heaven is this – Satan is there, accusing us before the Father; he says – huh, look at that Graham Stock again, he is useless, he has sinned again and again, let me have him! But a nail scarred hand is raised and Jesus says, no, no, I paid the price of His sins! And Satan has to go! – It’s as simple as that! Calvary! As our desire to please God starts to get real, we will find out that many of our long held attitudes are not up to scratch; they don’t fit into the picture of holiness! We will feel uncomfortable about certain attitudes and the actions that come from them. We will say something and then check ourselves – would Jesus have said that? That question is one of the best ways to help us achieve the holiness that God wants for us, that awesome question – what would Jesus do, right here and now? Too many church leaders have encouraged a church culture of meeting attendance, so that being in all the church services is holiness. Oh dear! That has only produced a miserable religion and God hates it and so we have tens of thousands of closed churches. When we realise we can’t pigeon hole God, saying – God won’t do that, or, He must do this - then we have a big wake-up call and hopefully seek to be holy! This is true of the many little ‘holy huddles’ and the huge mega churches that never have prayer meetings! Again, Rev 3:16 is a staggering view of what God thinks about such churches; I will vomit them out of my mouth! This really is the reason behind the tens of thousands of closed churches in the western world! I hope some will get serious with God and beg for His forgiveness and desire to be fruitful worshippers. So, some practical ways to holiness, given that we have woken up to the seriousness of our situation. Many who write on this subject advocate keeping a journal, or a diary, or some kind of list of the things that the Holy Spirit brings into our mind as we pray and read; we really do have to be listening. As we pray much, we will feel uncomfortable about some of things that previously have been the norm in our lives; it is the Spirit prompting us to holiness. This is the main work of the indwelling Holy Spirit in the life of the child of God, He always tries to make us realise that our lives are barren and miserable. Let’s get real for minute, who knows what it is to - live in love? Do we know the Lord’s presence as real to us as our family and friends are? Come on - what do we know about the nine fold fruit of the Spirit, remember 1=9 and 9=1! So, write down in that journal whatever the Spirit brings to your mind, date it and pray about it for a week. Write down the negatives and the positives; things that you think – I should do that - as well as the dubious things to quit! After a week review the journal and ask – what do I feel about that now – am I comfortable about it now; if not, make serious plans to quit; or, do those things I should. There’s no set timing in this, it’s all about our sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, but keep reviewing your journal until you can put a big tick, or a big cross about the items you have written – I’ve quit/I’ve done it! Remember, God wants to bless you with this amazing Christian life, He wants you to know, do and enjoy His good and perfect Will for you; He is anxious to tell you, but He won’t, until you really hate your sin like He does! So it really is down to you to get your New Nature working and fruitful, as it always is! This might be a lengthy process for us older ones who have been long conditioned by our church culture and we will find it hard to ditch some of our preconceptions about church, about doctrine, that we long held to be correct, but it wasn’t. For far too long we’ve allowed all manner of clutter to cloud our vision of Jesus, we need to start all over again and say – Lord what do want me to do; what’s the cost of holiness? I am prepared to pay it! One of the big preconceptions is – there are few to be saved – we just don’t expect blessing; that will have to change! For younger ones it will be hard to go against what parents or church leaders say, but when they really see the barrenness of the status quo, they will find it easier to change than us old fogies! If a few young people were to go for it and become really fruitful, a few older ones would follow. I know a few older folk who are really tired of the current religion and would welcome the reality of Christian living and the blessing of Christ’s presence. If this would happen, perhaps, just perhaps, it might be the start of the Greatest Revival the world will ever see, just before the Saviour comes again! I am sure [as are many others] that will happen, the Lord will Rapture a glorious church home and there will be a wonderful revival for a short time. If we are holy then we will enjoy that revival and the Bema interview that will be one of the first experiences of heaven. Pray and Act!!!
Posted on: Sun, 30 Jun 2013 06:29:10 +0000
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