Ephesians 1:3-6 “Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every
spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just
as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be
holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us
to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good
pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by
which He made us accepted in the Beloved.”
I vividly remember my great
old mentor for Lamb of God church, Bill Stiles, emphasize the foundational
truth of the Christian necessity of being holy and blameless before God in love
as the Christian purpose. That marker to measure our Christian growth and mature
in the process of holy sanctification has never left the lenses by which I view
myself and provided purpose in my Christian ministry to others. I recently read
an article on this very subject that I’d like to share that states that in the
grand purpose of our “selection” into God’s family, two key words are used:
First, be “Holy”
(Greek “hagios”) stresses dedication. As stated yesterday, the 1828
Webster’s dictionary defines the word “holy” as: 1. Properly, whole, entire or perfect, in a moral sense. Hence, pure in
heart, temper or dispositions; free from sin and sinful affections. Applied to
the Supreme Being, holy signifies perfectly pure, immaculate and complete in
moral character; and man is more or less holy, as his heart is more or less
sanctified, or purified from evil dispositions. We call a man holy, when his
heart is conformed in some degree to the image of God, and his life is
regulated by the divine precepts. Hence, holy is used as nearly synonymous with
good, pious, godly. 2. Hallowed; consecrated or set apart to a sacred use,
or to the service or worship of God; a sense frequent in Scripture; as a holy
priesthood. 3. Proceeding from pious principles, or directed to pious purposes.
A holy man or woman is distinctively God’s, set apart for God’s use, separated
from the secular, and consecrated to God’s service. All who are “chosen” are
chosen to be holy. In Colossians 4:5-12, the Colossian Christians were told to
“mortify” the physical appetites, to “put off” their sinful mental attitudes
and habits, and to “put on the new man . . . as the elect of God, holy and
beloved”. The focus is character … the character of holiness.
In 1 Corinthians 1:4-8 ,
the Apostle Paul writes: “I thank my God
always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ
Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by Him in
all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ
was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift,
eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will
also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day
of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Secondly, be “without blame”
refers to our reputations. The 1828 Webster’s dictionary defines the word “blame”
as: Censure; reprehension; imputation of a
fault; disapprobation; an expression of disapprobation for something deemed to
be wrong. Blame is not strictly a charge or accusation of a fault; but it
implies an opinion in the censuring party, that the person censured is faulty.
Blame is the act or expression of disapprobation for what is supposed to be
wrong. By knowing and understanding this definition, we are able to better
grasp the Webster’s definition of the word “blameless” as: “Without fault;
innocent; guiltless; not meriting censure” for life application. This character
of blamelessness will only be fully realized in heaven, but there is a present
responsibility to “present your bodies a
living sacrifice and be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind” - Romans 12:1-2.
The character of holiness
will become the cause of a lifestyle of blamelessness. We are to be the “sons and
daughters of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse
nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world” - Philippians 2:15. This
holy and blameless condition will result in “the praise of the glory of his grace”, where God will someday
“gather together in one, all things in Christ”. What a magnificent thought!
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