Sunday, June 29, 2014

Wholly Holy


Rom 12: 2  I beseech ye therefore brethren that ye present your bodies A living sacrifice holy and acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service, your true act of worship.

Men struggle to get it right.  However, God will not let you fall. Holy, Sanctified:  (Greek word “hagios”) Set apart, and consecrated for the purpose intended by the designer.  Leviticus in the Old Testament describes holiness:  be ye holy for I am holy. There are several examples of holiness:  The fall of man separated man from God.  God's plan for reconciling man back to God was Jesus Christ.  Sin does not separate us from God, rather it's rejection of the savior from sin, Jesus Christ the Son of God.

The glory of the inner chamber is to converse with God:  we are the temples of the Holy Spirit, our heart is the holy of holies.  God calls us to live according to the spirit of life in Christ in us.  He gave us a new spiritual nature so that we could be holy and act accordingly.  Holiness is a partnership with Father and his children. 

Running the race of life and pressing toward the mark of the high calling requires discipline.  A disciple is a disciplined follower.  Though we're trapped in this carnal body, this earthen vessel, God called us to set our affections on things above and not of the things of this world.  For we have this treasure in an earthen vessel that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We need not lament the state of worldly affairs and that the political correctness of this world calls good evil and evil good.  We must embrace the political correctness of our true country:  this world is not my home.  For our conversation (citizenship) is in heaven.  The word of God is our declaration of independence (from worldly wisdom) and our declaration of dependence upon God. 

Ye are slaves to that which you obey.  The choice is slavery to the flesh or obedience to God and his word.  For the law of the spirit of life in Christ has made me free from the carnal law of sin and death.  God is still in control:  right is according to God's Word and not man's word.  God called us to be holy. According to the world, discrimination is a bad word.  However holiness starts with discrimination:  discriminating right from wrong according to the standard of the Word.  In order to receive holiness, we must separate ourselves from the bondage of the flesh and stand fast in the spiritual liberty wherewith Christ has set us free. God hears our prayer when we are obedient according to his Word.  Prayer is not asking God to do our will, rather prayer is aligning our will with his will, our heart with his heart.

Holiness is to be set apart for the purpose intended by the designer.  For example, a pen is designed for writing.  When I write with my pen, I'm sanctifying my pen by using it for the purpose for which the designer designed it.  God is the designer, we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which he hath foreordained that we should walk in it.  When we walk according to God's calling, according to his divine appointment, our lives are sanctified, set apart for God's intended purpose.

The worst sins are the sins of "omission."  These are the things that I would have and should have done.  These are the "opportunities lost" where I could have walked in fellowship with my Heavenly Father.  The biggest disappointment in life is the missing of God's divine appointment.  We have an opportunity moment by moment to walk in fellowship with Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father.  Therefore walk, redeeming the time... meet God each moment for his divine appointment... now is the acceptable day of The Lord...  The choice is life or death.  Therefore, choose life...  come to Jesus and live.


Your Brother in Christ, Michael

No comments: