May 23, 2011

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is true worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."  Romans 12:1-2

Holiness happens through sanctification. After you consecrate yourself unto God, repent of your sin, and renounce your sinfulness, God cleanses away your sin nature by the blood of Jesus. Once you have been made clean you can receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit. When that happens, as Romans 12:1-2 tells you, a fundamental tranformation takes place.

God is in the tranformation business. You and I may settle for reformation but He doesn't. Perhaps that is because reformation is the best we can do - sometimes, for brief periods. But He transforms because He can and because we need it and because we can't.

Consider some of the transformational work He does in you:

SANCTIFICATION CHANGES YOUR HEART

"this is true worship"   At the heart of your sin problem is your heart - corrupted and degenerate. It is "deceitful above all things and desparately wicked, who can know it?"  The heart of the deceit is the desire to be God and that desire makes it tough to worship the true One. That is a problem. A big problem that needs to be changed. Not reformation change but transformation change. Sanctification does that fundamental transformation of your nature.

SANCTIFICATION CHANGES YOUR HEAD

"tranformed by the renewing of your mind"  It is hard to do right when you are thinking wrong. It is hard to honor God when your thoughts are ungodly. Trying to reform what you think about only causes you to think about it more. What you need is a renewed mind, a mind transformed by the power of God - a sanctified mind.

SANCTIFICATION CHANGES YOUR HABITS

"do not conform to the pattern of this world" When your heart is transformed and how you think is transformed it positively affects your habits. Behavior is the product of desires and decisions so when both of those are fundamentally changed by the power of God's Spirit, old habits are replaced by new disciplines. Those unproductive and counterproductive behaviors no longer control you. You are sanctified.

 SANCTIFICATION CHANGES YOUR HOPES

In your own strength with a sinful heart, corrupted mind, and harmful habits what is there to hope for? Reformation? Maybe. But that is more hoping than hope. However, if you were to allow God to sanctify you wholly, heart, head and habits then you would have true hope for the future! And your future can be filled with hope not hoping!

Holiness is wholeness! It transforms you spiritually, mentally, emotionally and behaviorally! As St. Paul declares, "the old is passed away and all things became new".

So, how about you? Will you settle for trying to make yourself into a more tolerable sinner or will you consecrate yourself to God for His sanctification? In view of God's mercies, it is your reasonable service!

May 22, 2011

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is true worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."  Romans 12:1-2

The word "holiness" means different things to different people. Most of those connotations are not especially positive.

Some people think pentecostal when they hear the word holiness.

Holiness might conjure up thoughts of saints such as St. Peter or St. Paul or St. John.

Often holiness is measured in terms of what you cannot do or a long list of things that you must do. Sometimes it is both. If you want to be holy you must not do this or that or the other thing. If you want to be holy you must dress in such a manner like wearing long sleeves and long dresses for ladies. Both men and women must wear their hair at a certain lengh. If you do not do those deeds or if you conform to the style you will not be considered holy.

Jesus came with a redically different style of holiness that wasn't dependent on what you can or cannot do. It wasn't about doing at all! It was about accepting what Christ had already done for you on the cross!

That is the good news I bring you today! Holiness is not about doing it is about dying - His death and yours!

No, you don't have to die physically as He did on the cross, but your selfish will must die. Your pride must die. Your spiritual independence must die. You must become a "living sacrifice" that is holy and acceptable to Him.

Holiness is less about how you live and mostly about how you love! You must love God and demonstrate it by surrendering to His will for your life. He must be the passionate love of your life!

In this great portion of Scripture Paul promises that if you will die and become as a living sacrifice, God will transform you by renewing your mind! He promises you that with this transformed mind and obedient heart, you will be able to discern and discover His perfect will for your life!

From now on, when you think of holiness or when you hear someone speak of it, don't think of holiness as doing, think of holiness in terms of dying!

Are you tired of doing all the stuff you were told you have to do to get holy? Are you weary of trying to live by the lists?  Are you burdened by hectic demands of how to dress, how to style your hair, how to think and how to worship?

 If so, will you do one last thing - will you die to Christ?

May 21, 2011

"But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.  For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come."   Matthew 24:36-42

There has been much media attention given this week to the prediction of today, May 21, 2011 will the the last day on planet earth. The Rev. Harold Camping has calculated this day using Biblical dates and chronology. He and his followers are extremely confident of his prediction and have spent several years preparing for this fateful day.

Jesus taught that no one, including Him, will know the exact day that the Second Coming will happen. We do know that we are closer to that great event than we have ever been! Certainly, there are political, spiritual, and economic scenarios developing world-wide that look a like what the prophets foretold for the last days. Jesus made it clear that we should be able to recognize that the end is near - but He also emphasized that no one will know when the last day will come.

We will know in a few hours whether his calculations are correct or not. But rather than ridicule the good Reverend or question his calculations, let's do something more beneficial. Let's say he is right. Let's say these are your last hours on earth. How should you then live? What habits need to be ended? What relationships need to be mended? How would your priorities change? How would your practices change?

 

While there is reason to doubt Brother Camping's calculations, you should not dismiss the concept. Jesus IS coming back. Many of the prophecies have been fulfilled, most of the conditions are right, and many signs are poiniting to His soon return. With the return of the Lord imminent, today would be a good day to begin acting like it. Though it is not likely to happen today, it could happen tomorrow. The question is not as much about when it will happen but will you be ready?

May 20, 2011

^"Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord."   Hebrews 12:14

Holiness matters. Erwin Lutzer, Pastor of Moody Church in Chicago shared this sobering fact:

Addressing a national seminar of Southern Baptist leaders, George Gallup said, "We find there is very little difference in ethical behavior between churchgoers and those who are not active religiously...The levels of lying, cheating, and stealing are remarkable similar in both groups. Eight out of ten Americans consider themselves Christians, Gallup said, yet only about half of them could identify the person who gave the Sermon on the Mount, and fewer still could recall five of the Ten Commandments. Only two in ten said they would be willing to suffer for their faith."   

You don't have to have a strong understanding of holiness to know that isn't it. Obviously, there is a "holiness gap" among those who populate the churches of America.

So, what is holiness and what difference does it make?

In one word, holiness is "love". In two words, holiness is "perfect love". Holiness is "wholly" loving God and loving others in the same way you love yourself. Holiness is finding peace with God and earnestly seeking to be a peacemaker in your world. The best way to make peace is to connect people with Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Holiness promotes peace by responding to evil with goodness and by responding to hatred with love.

Holiness is difficult. It results from sanctification. Sanctification means "being set apart" and it can mean "made pure". There are two definitions because one denotes your responsibility - to set yourself apart unto God - and His part - to make you morally pure and spiritually holy.

To be made pure and holy is bound to make a difference! And it does! Consider some of the important difference:

1) You see God more clearly.

Holiness brings the fullness of the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit is the "Spirit of Truth" Who Jesus promised would "lead you into all truth"! Being made pure and filled by His Spirit enables you to see God with more clarity. Not only will you see Him more clearly but you will see His will with greater clarity. And, you will see the world around you more clearly. Holiness connects you to a new reality - spiritual reality - an eternal reality. That is the essence of faith - "the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen." God gives you spiritual eyes with the vision to see spiritual realities in the midst of a dark and fallen world. Coming into a knowledge of what is real radically changes how you live in this world and that can cause you to change the world in which you live.

Have you been filled with His Spirit?

2) You see God eternally.

Holy people get to go to Heaven where they will get to see God not just by faith - but face to face forever! Have you been made holy?

3) God is seen in you more clearly.

Jesus said, "If I be lifted up I will draw all men to myself". A loving Jesus demonstrated throught the life of a holy person makes God almost irresistable. Think about it, every one who claims to be a Christian either makes it easier to believe in God OR makes it more difficult to believe just by the witness of their life. Holy people make Christianity contagious.

What about your witness? Are people seeing Jesus in your attitudes and actions?

With holiness you shall see God! With holiness God will be seen in you!

Holiness is hard, but it is even harder trying to be a victorious Christian without it! 

May 19, 2011

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemies.' But I say to you, love your enemies. Pray for those who hurt you. If you do this, you will be true children of your Father in heaven. He causes the sun to rise on good people and on evil people, and he sends rain to those who do right and to those who do wrong. If you love only the people who love you, you will get no reward. Even the tax collectors do that. And if you are nice only to your friends, you are no better than other people. Even those who don't know God are nice to their friends.  So you must be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."  Matthew 5:43-48

Does being holy mean being perfect?

Yes, and no.

Based on my own experience working with people over many years I have discovered one of the main things that keep people from being holy is the belief that they have to be perfect to be holy.  Their efforts to be perfect prevent them from becoming holy.

Perfectly confused?

Let me clarify. Holiness requires a perfection of desire but not a perfection of doing. Holiness comes as a result of perfect dependence upon the great work Christ did FOR US on the cross.  His shed blood and the infilling of the Holy Spirit applies His perfect work to our hearts. Then it becomes incumbent upon us to walk in fellowship and obedience to God in the Spirit.

As Jesus taught in this portion of Scripture, holiness results from being filled with and motivated by the love of God and relating to others based on that love. So, you can unintentionally hurt or offend someone while trying to respond to them in loving ways, and be yet be perfect in your motive while imperfect in your execution of your faith.

God is most concerned with the desires and motives of your heart and mind. He is less concerned than with your execution or expression of those desires and motives.

What else could Jesus mean when He demands you to "be perfect as God is perfect"? God never sins or makes a mistake. You or I can never be perfect like that! So, if holiness is just about what we do we will never be perfect, and then Jesus is demanding something of us that is impossible for us. Why would He do that?

He wouldn't and He doesn't. He invites us to receive what He has provided through Jesus - the forgiveness of sins, the cleansing of the sin nature, and the filling of the Holy Spirit. Then He urges us to walk in obedience and in the power of His Spirit.

That is the perfection that is possible.

However, if you believe you have to "perfect" yourself in order to come to God for perfection, that effort to be perfect will prevent you from becoming holy.

You can never be perfect but you CAN be holy. But you can never become holy by trying to be perfect!

May 18, 2011

"Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord."   Hebrews 12:14

So, who wants to see God?

Wouldn't that be nice? Those of us who are people of faith, make a total commitment to surrender to and serve Someone we have never seen. He is as real to us as people we know and see and visit with every day.

But, no one has ever seen Him. Adam did until he disobeyed, Moses came close, but no one can say they have seen God with their physical eyes. Many people of faith have seen the work of His hands through miracles and transformed live, but they have not seen God with their eyes.

Through and regular and disciplined study of His Word you can get a good mental picture of Who He is, but it is not like seeing Him with our eyes.

So, given how real He has become to us, and how intimately we have come to know Him and how we visualize Him in our minds, wouldn't it be nice to lay eyes on Him?

The writer of Hebrews firmly states that unless a person is holy that person will not see God. It requires a holy heart to be able to lay eyes on Him.

You may be thinking, "Brad, that verse is referring to seeing God when we get to Heaven."

Certainly, that IS true. But I don't think it is complete. I think it means more because I don't think we can clearly see God in this life until we are made holy. Anyone who is holding on to sin and who is tolerating sinfulness will not be able to have a clear vision of what God is really like. Jesus came to show the love and power of God and the Holy Spirit leads us to His truth and into His presence. So, in our mind and spirit, we are able to get a glimpse of what God is like. In our holy mind and spirit we will see God more clearly. Paul wrote to the Corinthians "now we see through a glass darkly but then face to face".

So, if you aspire to see Him face-to-face some day, you better make sure you are walking in holiness! Holiness allows you to see Him as he is.

Are you living in holiness?

Are you loving in Holiness?

Have you repented of your sins?

Have you renounced sin in your life?

Are you walking in righteousness?

                                                                                 



May 17, 2011

"Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord."  Hebrews 12:14

"Strive to live in peace with everybody and pursue that consecration and holiness without which no one will [ever] see the Lord."  Hebrews 12:14 (Amplified)

Holiness is hard!

Look at the two main verbs in this verse "strive" and "pursue". Those are extra effort type words. They require energy and determination - and desire.

What is holiness and why is it so hard?

Well, the "what it is" is "why it is" so hard.

Holiness is consecrating yourself to God, as the Amplified renders it. Consecrate means that I set myself apart from my selfish desires, my selfish ambitions, my sinful past and give myself completely to God for the purpose of being made holy by Him. You or I cannot make ourselves holy, we can only repent of our sins and renounce sin to give ourselves unreservedly to God so He can make us holy by the cleansing of His blood and the indwelling of His Spirit.

Holiness refers to the condition of your heart in relationship to God. Holy people love God with all their heart and all of their mind. Holiness allows the Holy Spirit to take up residence in your heart empowering you to overcome temptation and sin.

Holiness purifies your motives so that whatever you do is fueled by love (for God and for others). Holiness is being able to fulfill the Great Commandment by loving God and loving others as yourself.

In this verse holiness is equated with peace. You cannot be holy with God while you live in turmoil with others.

So, holiness is difficult because it requires being reconciled on two levels of relationship - holy with God and at peace with men. That doesn't happen automatically. It doesn't happen accidentally. You have to "strive" against your selfish nature and you must "pursue" God's nature.

But holiness is necessary and required of those who desire to see God - Who also happens to be holy.

Holiness really matters! Does it matter to you?

Are you pursuing holiness?

Are you making every effort to live peaceably?

Are you prepared to see God?