Holiness   

Seeking  holiness:

Many want a deeper commitment, and want to be holy, but just how to do it they do not know.
 

    The Christian life is like a staircase with steps of varying heights, some are easy to clime and some are hard. It is when they get hard to clime that we look to the side and see an easy, deceptive path leading away. It looks so appealing compared to the struggle of the daily climb towards God that many times we take it. However, we have to remember that there is a hand reaching down to us. God is there for us, waiting for us to grab hold of his hand and allowing Him to carry us.  We do not have to continue in torment.  The path does not have to be hard.

    So, how do we stop sitting at the foot of a large step? How can we see God's hand, stand and, climb on?

    When trying to live the life He wants, do you repeatedly fail? Are you so frustrated that you have let out a cry for help. "I JUST CAN'T LIVE THE LIFE YOU WANT FROM ME!"

    Well, that is exactly it.

    No one can live a life of Holiness without allowing God to do it.

   Trusting in good works, possession, and things that bring you a profit are all a loss compared to the grace of God. They are not bad in and of themselves, indeed it is good to read the Bible and pray but when we put our confidence, our trust in them (actions, which is trusting in ourselves) to become holy then we are no longer trusting God.

    When we talk about our initial salvation, we are so determined to attain it by faith alone, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith not by works, so that no one can boast." (Eph 2:8,9)  You do remember that Salvation is a gift of God given by the sacrificial Blood of Jesus to those who have Faith in Him? Well, it is also by Faith in God that we can become Holy.  Holiness is achieved by trusting in Him to make us Holy and allowing him to come into our lives and change us.

Imagine appearing before God and He says, "Why should I let you into my perfect heaven?"

    How do you think He would respond to you if you gave Him those reasons- I read the Bible and I prayed and I talked with others about you?  Maybe He would say, "Excuse me, do you hear all those angels and people singing, because you are righteous in and of yourself?" Of course not, Heaven is where God is glorified. There is no room for us to go around saying, "look how great I am", but rather "look how great God is that He saved me when it was impossible for me to save myself".

    If we give God the glory for saving us, and believe that we are saved by Faith, then why do we turn around and live out our salvation in an entirely different way. Salvation includes taking one's eyes, one's trust off oneself and placing it on God as our only confidence for salvation. Holiness is taking one's eyes off oneself and placing it upon God as our only confidence for rightful living.

    Holiness is not actions, but a state of being Holy.  No matter what you do, you can not be Holy.  It is Christ in you who is Holy, which sanctifies you and transfers the Holiness upon you.  Through God you are Holy, just as through God you are saved.

Romans 3:22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.

    This does not mean that we stop reading the Bible, praying and all those other Good things. Rather it means that we take on a whole new attitude. We do them because we want to. We do not do them out of ritual, but out of relationship.  With Holiness comes a desire to serve God, a desire to separate ourselves from the world.  We can separate ourselves from the world by reading the Word of God, praying, fellowshipping with other Christians and praising God.  But remember to give God the Glory and trust in Him to set you free and to help you grow in Him.

Keep an opened mind and go to God with a sincere heart and in reverence, pray:

You are a Holy, Righteous and Omnipotent God, free from blemish-completely set apart. I am your child, loved and precious to You, called also, to be holy - set apart for You. I stand here now as Your servant before Your Holy Presence and before Your people. Expose the sins of my heart that I may confess them, repent, and have You cleanse me.  Do not let me go, cleave my heart to Yours, that I may know You. Touch my lips that You may speak through me. Fill my lungs with Your breath and strengthen my voice. Light my path that I may go were You lead. Help me to truly serve You. Help me be an example for others as Your Son Jesus is for the World. For the will of Christ, Amen."

Philippians 3:8-9 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.