In the last teaching we saw the necessity of Righteousness. In this we will look into Holiness. While Righteousnesss mainly means doing the right thing or being right, Holiness mainly means being set apart to God, while an element of it includes moral purity!
Holiness as many people relate it to is in the context of moral purity but it is much more than that. It is when one totally gives himself to God. The process of being made holy is called as ‘Sanctification’. One of the things the enemy has done is, he has tried to paint a perverted picture of holiness in the body of Christ which in turn has resulted in either legalism or lawlessness. As Isaiah had encounter with God as Holy many of us need to encounter God in His holiness to be able to know what true holiness is in our lives. As we will further see in this Chapter what true holiness is and the truths on Holiness we can work away from what it is not and walk in the true beauty of His Holiness.
True Holiness is rooted in God’s love.
The desire to be holy has to be inspired out of us seeing God’s love. When we are talking about seeing God’s love, it’s having a true revelation of Christ’s love for us on the cross (as a result of for our sins). Although we may never comprehend His love completely in all that He had to undergo for us on this earth, we have to have a basic understanding of the sacrificial love of Christ on the cross. Jesus paid the ultimate price for our sins because He loved us so much. That should be the inspiration behind us not wanting to sin and wanting to lead a life pleasing to Him. If our desire to please Him arises from anything other than His love for us on the cross we will sway to and fro in our commitment to God. But if we love Him for His suffering and His cross we will follow Him till death no matter how bad the circumstances are around us.
The disciples and the early believers in the church had been first hand witnesses of His love displayed on the cross. Others had a revelation of His sacrificial love. That is why they were inspired to live lives pleasing to Him, even until death. If we desire to know His love displayed through the cross and through His sufferings for our sakes, He will reveal it to us. Then there will not be a struggle to please Him; it would be spontaneous. When we are trying to please Him without a passion for Him there will always be struggles and the Christian life would be the most miserable life ever. A church trying to be holy without a true passion or love for Christ has turned many in the world away due to its legalistic ways. When people see the passion in us and the love we have for Christ that drives us to be holy they will be inspired to want to know Christ. Many of us due to different reasons have lost our first love. We need to get back to the cross once again. If we see Him crucified for our sakes again, we would walk refreshed and put of things that displease Him.
He walked the lonely road to Golgotha
A roadway of pain and suffering
A highway of shame and sorrow
His blood flowed freely as he struggled for every step
His accusers and His enemies all around
He did it all for me
They whipped His back, His bones exposed
A crown of thorns on His head
They spit on Him and smote Him
Placed a rugged cross behind His back
He did it all for me
His hands and feet nailed to the cross
He hung betwixt earth and sky
He freely gave His life for me
Lord! You did it all for me
True Holiness is perfected in the Fear of the Lord.
While we are inspired to walk in holiness (and we walk in it to a certain extent) by God’s love, we mature in holiness and continue to grow in it by the fear of the Lord. We see in II Corinthians 7: 1 that holiness is perfected in the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord arises in our lives by seeing the Judgment seat of Christ. In II Corinthians 5:9 to 11 we see clearly that looking forward to the Judgment seat of Christ produces the fear of the Lord. That is why the times that Paul talks on fearing the Lord it’s in the light of judgment day (See also I Peter 1:14 to 17). It is important as believers to always have in mind that one day we will stand before a righteous and holy God who will judge every man according to his deeds, words, thoughts and motives. When we begin to see that we would be one day held accountable for our life and actions we would discipline ourselves to walk right before God. In I Corinthians 9:24 to 27 we see how Paul had to discipline his body in light of the judgment seat of Christ.
God’s love provides the passion in us and gets us started; the fear of the Lord brings the necessary discipline in our lives to be perfected in it.
Secondly as important as it is to know the love of God it is equally important that we know the fear of the Lord to be not led astray. We need to know that we are still living in our corrupt bodies. Our thoughts that arise from our unsanctified mind can be deceptive at times. We can be mislead by them. When we have a revelation of the fear of the Lord (knowing that our motives and thoughts would be brought to the light on judgment day) our hearts cry would be like David’s asking God to search our hearts and try our thoughts and lead us in the right way. He will respond to us accordingly and reveal to us when we are going astray or our reasoning are wrong and lead us in the right way.
One of the most powerful deceptions the enemy has used that has come from our
unsanctified self is that our God is a God of love so He will overlook our wrongs because of Christ’s blood. That is just a partial truth and not the complete truth. This has lead many in the church to live ungodly lives. This will change in the days ahead. The complete truth is God loves us and forgives us but at the same time He is righteous towards His children.
Finally having the fear of the Lord keeps us walking holy during times we don’t sense God’s love or feel love towards God. In a marriage there are times where either the husband or wife or both don’t feel their love for the other. During such times they have to discipline themselves to continue acting in love and be loyal to each other. In our relationship with God the fear of the Lord brings in that necessary discipline in our lives and helps us to stay loyal to God and walk holy before God during the dry times.
Many of us when we started our walk with Lord were sensitive to the convictions of the Holy Spirit even in little things. But then we started listening to our unsanctified thoughts and reasons drowning the echoing voice of our conscience and we were gradually led astray. Now we do, say and think a lot of things we never possibly could have imagined doing when we started our walk with Christ and it doesn’t even seem wrong. Out hearts need to be softened again and we desperately need the fear of the Lord to get back on track.
The end of all things has begun even now. His messages of eternal judgments have gone forth. They will be heard even more clearly in the coming days.
Elohim is Holy.
Firstly we need to understand that just as our Heavenly Father is a God of love, He is holy and righteous. Each one of us needs to have an encounter with our holy God. Isaiah had a powerful encounter with God in His Holiness and the first thing that came out of His mouth was “Woe is me I am undone I am a man of sinful lips!” Then one of the seraphs touched his lips with burning coal from the altar and his iniquity was taken away. It changed Isaiah’s life and ministry. God hates sin and the very sight of it will invoke His wrath. We see the wrath of God on Jesus as He took the sins of the world. It was the most horrifying thing that ever happened in the history of mankind, when God in all of His anger punished Jesus for our sins. The punishment was so great that Jesus underwent the greatest emotional, spiritual and physical torture any human being has ever undergone. This should invoke us to hate sin as God does in all fear and reverence.
Brethren we should not be deceived that the blood of Jesus will cover our sinful life style (note: lifestyle). God loves us but at the same time He hates sin and if we continue in it He will punish us (for our own good). If we are continuing in sin we should repent of our sinful ways and lifestyles and cry out for true holiness in our lives. Beloved, God is not mocked whatsoever a man sows that shall he reap. If we sow to the flesh we will of the flesh reap corruption. Therefore let us make every effort to walk in holiness.
Secondly holiness of Christ is best expressed in Revelation. John says His eyes were like flames of fire and His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace. Out of His mouth proceeded a two edged sword. His expressions to the seven churches clearly reveal His Holiness. His messages show forth His hatred to sin and His anger towards it. Since we are in either one of these church ages, it would do us good to check our hearts and see where we stand before Him and then change our ways accordingly.
Finally when coming to the third person of Trinity. We find this attribute in His name. He is the HOLY Spirit. He is the most gentle and loving person but His number one attribute is revealed in His name. If we have really known His Spirit we will not and cannot sin easily. Having known His Spirit intimately I have experienced the agony of the Spirit when I went away from God because of my sins. We grieve and wound the Holy Spirit when we sin. If we want to have a constant intimate relationship with His Spirit we cannot love or continue in sin. So beloved let us cast of all sinful deeds of darkness and walk as children of the light.
Many will encounter God in His Holiness and everything that is a hindrance to Him will be burned. There will be a radical shift from lawlessness to true holiness because of the Fear of the Lord.
God has given us freedom from sin:
When we want to live lives pleasing to Him, one of the important things we should know is that the sinful nature in us is the primary cause of sin in our lives and not the devil. In many of us it is our master enslaving us to sin. The word of God says in Romans 6:6,7 our sinful nature (the root of all that is sinful in our being) was crucified with Christ. It means our sinful nature was destroyed on the cross and it no longer exists (our minds need to be renewed still). We see this also in Colossians 2:11,12 that Christ put our sinful nature away. This means we have been set free from our slavery to sin. This is so powerful, the cross not only provides forgiveness of sins but it sets us free from our sinful nature. Christ has accomplished the perfect act for us on the cross enabling us to walk free of the control of sin and its passions. Sin no longer has power over our lives (Romans 6:14). Any person who has this revelation is free from all addictions instantaneously.
Also In Titus 2:11,12 we find that the same grace of God that brought salvation unto men is the same grace that teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly lusts and live lives pleasing to God. We can’t ask for more than this. God has not only set us free from the control of sin in our lives but He has also has provided us His grace which teaches (mentors) us to say no when we are tempted by the evil around us and helps us to yield to His righteousness.
I’ll illustrate these truths with an imaginary example. Lets say you are a slave in the Middle East around 10 B.C. This meant you had no rights are privileges and you are totally under the control of your master. Your master’s name is Sin and he is very cruel and evil. (You have been with your master since birth). All your life your master has made you work hard and do wrong things, many of it was under the pretext that it is good and enjoyable. You have tried to resist Him sometimes from doing wrong but failed because you were too weak in your will and there was nobody to help you. Eventually it has led you to the place where you can’t see right from wrong properly. A wealthy man comes to town and finds out about your situation. He has mercy on you, then binds your master and sets you free for life. He lets you live in his home as a son and He assigns one of His friends called Grace to teach you and show you how to WALK RIGHT because sin’s influence is still everywhere and you need to learn to differentiate from right from wrong.
This is similar to what Christ has done and is doing in our lives in relation to us walking in holiness. If we have a revelation of these truths, we will no longer struggle with sinfulness. There is a desperate need for this to be preached in the body of Christ. Only when people hear the truth faith arises in them and only when they have faith they can overcome. Some of the saints of the past who walked close to perfect simply had a revelation of these truths and yielded themselves to God and nothing more. If we will just believe this, walking in holiness will not be a struggle anymore.
Sanctification by faith:
When talking about sanctification, one important thing we must have in mind is that we have been made totally Righteous and Pure before God by the blood of Jesus. This is in regards to our position before God! On the other hand Righteousness can be likened unto a gift that is deposited in our spirit but needs to permeate our soul and bodies as we yield to God or it is like an external clothing that we need to allow or yield to, to penetrate our inward parts [Romans 6: 17, 18 and 13].
The process of God’s Spirit and WORD purifying and replacing our old mindsets and destroying our sinful nature is called Sanctification. It takes places in spirit, soul and body (I Thessalonians 5:23).
Sanctification in our soul
When we are born again we receive a new heart and spirit (Ezekiel 36:26) {Heart is one’s innermost character, feelings or inclinations (Websters-Merriams)}. From II Corinthians 5:16 we see “If any man be in Christ he is a new creation, old things are passed away behold, all things have become new”. Combining both these verses we can say we receive a new nature in us when we are born again. Our innermost character, feelings and inclinations have been totally made new in Christ according to His plan and purpose for lives. While this process has been instantaneous, the process of our minds being renewed (sanctified) like Christ’s is throughout our lives (Romans 12:2). (Websters-Merriams Dictionary defines mind as the element or complex of elements in an individual that feels, perceives, thinks, wills and especially reasons).
Before we came to Christ our minds were subject to the evil influences of the enemy and the wrong influences of society and traditions. Many of them affected us negatively and shaped our way of thinking, perception, reasoning and feeling contrary to the word of God. Some of them affected us deeply (in a wrong way) that it developed in us very strong perceptions and reasoning. These are called strongholds. When we become born again, the Spirit starts working with our minds in line with God’s word to make it like Christ’s. Let’s understand this further with a few examples.
If we grow up in an environment where there is hatred and have been influenced negatively by it [ due to hurts and abuses], we will naturally develop a stronghold [ thought patterns] in our mind that prevent us from properly recieving love and freely loving people. When we come to Christ, He starts working in our minds and changing that area in accordance with our willingness. He convicts us of our wrong thinking and subsequent actions and as we repent and yield to His promptings of walking right, allowing GOD’S word to replace our wrong thinking, we are being sanctified into His image.
Another example; Let’s say in our early years we had to be always good to earn a reward from our parents and teachers and on the contrary even the slightest mistake earned us severe punishment! Even after knowing Christ we wont have a proper understanding of God’s great love, always striving to earn His favor and are easily condemned by the slightest of mistakes. Therefore when we see weaknesses (sin) in people, we judge them harshly through/because of our mindset [ thought accumulations and feelings] that God will punish them.
This wrong thought pattern is a stronghold. When we come across the reality and depth of God’s unconditional love, we are convicted and changed in our minds as we allow God to work in that area. As God changes us we are secure in GOD’S love and also begin to proclaim God’s mercy and love over peoples’ shortcomings and genuinely want to see them to repentance. This process of our minds changing is being sanctified!
Sanctification could also occur in the heart. We saw that when we are born again we receive a new heart, but in the course of our life our hearts could get hardened and defiled falling prey to sinful lifestyles esp sexual sins or deep hurts that were not resolved. If this happens we need to have a cleansing even in our hearts. That is why Proverbs asks us to guard our heart with all diligence.
Sanctification in our body
In II Corinthians 7:1 we are urged to cleanse ourselves [abstain] from all filthiness of flesh [ body] and spirit. Romans 12:1 tells us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice holy (or set your bodies apart to God) and acceptable to God.
Santification in this context has to do with setting ourselves apart to GOD and abstaining from things that the Spirit wants us to, not necessarily evil at times. When we obey God in matters of food, dressing, taking care of ourselves, sports, etc we are sanctifying ourselves unto Him. This is on a personal level most of the times and should in no ways be generalized to others.
It also includes abstaining from sexual sins. Sexual immorality from I Corinthians 6: 13 to 19 is a sin that defiles the body. In I Thessalonians 4: 3 to 6 we see that when we keep ourselves pure in this area we are setting our bodies apart to Him (This is sanctification).
Sanctification in our spirit
Corinthians 7:1 Then having these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves [abstain] from all defilements of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
I Thessalonians 5:23 And may the God of peace Himself sanctify you, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blamelessly at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In relation to the human spirit, it would be good to have an understanding first on certain truths before talking on its sanctification. One of the areas the human spirit plays a major role is in ministering for the Lord and to the Lord. We see this in John 4:23 where Jesus says that they that worship God must do it in spirit (human) and in truth. Also in Romans 1:9 Paul says he serves God with his spirit (human spirit). Without going into details, ministry to the Lord and for the Lord should be done with the right motives and in His will.
When we do it for His glory and purposes to fulfill His will, refraining from ministering for our purposes and agenda, we are setting our spirits apart unto Him. If we fail to do that there will come a time where we would need cleansing by Christ’s blood from the wounds and weeds of the enemy in our spirits. The born again spirit can be defiled!! [ Proverbs says that the spirit can be wounded, ungodly unions also defile the spirit].
Matthew 7:21 to 23 talks about the sad story of many who are rebuked by Jesus on judgment day. The reason Jesus gives them is that they practice lawlessness and He has not “known” them. The word known in the original is usually used in the context of a husband having intimate sexual union with his wife. The wife by that act is giving herself totally to her husband. She has nothing left of her that she can hold back. From this we can clearly understand what Jesus is saying, “you did not let Me be intimate with you because you held back areas of your life from Me”. In other words “you did not allow Me to sanctify you or you did not sanctify yourself for Me”.
“Brethern let us allow the Spirit to sanctify us, till we think, speak and act like Jesus”!!!
