1 Corinthians 3:16-17 “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.”Wrapping up our home Bible study on holiness and living like we belong to God the focus centered on, not only practicing holiness, but on what it means to be a child of God. 1 Corinthians 6:19 asks us, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” We saw in John 14:15-17, Jesus tell us, “If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” Those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus are not only set apart from sin, darkness & unbelief in devoted service by God for the kingdom of Heaven purposes, but given the Holy Spirit of God to indwell our bodies, therefore making it sacred ground … the holy temple of God.
1 John 1:5-7 “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
I once heard someone ask: “If God created everything, why did He create “evil”? The same can be asked about darkness, but the answers are similar. Evil is the absence of “good”. God is “good”, so the absence of God is evil. Darkness is the absence of “light”. You can bring light into a dark room and the darkness is gone, but you can not bring darkness into a lighted room and the light leaves. God is Light, so the absence of God is darkness. God does not create darkness or evil, they are both the absence of God. So we are to walk in the goodness and righteousness of His Light. The Lord said in John 8:12, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” This points directly to Jesus’ words to the Pharisee Nicodemus in John 3:19-21, saying “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”
1 John 1:5-7 “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
I once heard someone ask: “If God created everything, why did He create “evil”? The same can be asked about darkness, but the answers are similar. Evil is the absence of “good”. God is “good”, so the absence of God is evil. Darkness is the absence of “light”. You can bring light into a dark room and the darkness is gone, but you can not bring darkness into a lighted room and the light leaves. God is Light, so the absence of God is darkness. God does not create darkness or evil, they are both the absence of God. So we are to walk in the goodness and righteousness of His Light. The Lord said in John 8:12, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” This points directly to Jesus’ words to the Pharisee Nicodemus in John 3:19-21, saying “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”
1 Peter 2:9 “But, you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” It is as plain as black and white. Our practice of holiness is to be God-centered and will only become reality in our lives when we care more about God than we do about ourselves. We are not to be distracted by selfish concerns. As we take daily steps to glorify God, His holiness is seen in our separation from the concerns and distractions of this world, in our separation to our holy God. Are we living every moment of every day to glorify the God of glory? Is He the most important thing in our life? Matthew 5:16 tells us, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
Ephesians 5:8-13 “For you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light." We are to be holy as He is holy, and walk in the Light.
In Christ, Brian
2 comments:
Hi Brian,
I have a recurring atheist by the blogger name Mormon 411 come on my blog yesterday. This person has been on before and our conversation just goes in circles. Trying to explain God's word to someone who does not believe is impossible unless the Holy Spirit calls them.
It truly saddens me that a majority of people just don't get it. The wisdom of God is pure foolishness to them.
Thanks for this post, it is a joy to read.
Blessings,
<><
Child of God, I hear once that the greatest question in life is between faith and unbelief. This life, in this time and in this place, is a race to save the lost by planting the seeds of the Word of God and watering where they are planted. the Holy Spirit has the harvest of saved souls. Still, the child of God is called to be a witness for Christ and His gospel, as we follow and grow ourselves in the Lord, until we are called home to victory in heaven. Keep up the "good' fight for Jesus and the souls of the blind and lost.
Post a Comment