If you asked a group of Christians what holiness meant to them, or what they understood to be the purpose of holiness, you would get a lot of different answers. This is because holiness is one of the most misunderstood religious concepts.
What is holiness?
For the purpose of this writeup, I’ll stay away from discussing the doctrines of holiness; instead, I’ll define the concept of holiness as “a life that abstains from what the Bible shows to be sin and evil, a life separated from the world and dedicated to the Lord”.
The purpose of such a life is to obey and glorify the Lord and to testify to the world that we are truly born-again as new creations in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17). In Christ, we are declared righteous, our new nature is like God: truly holy (Ephesians 4:24). This therefore makes holy living a natural result of becoming a Christian. But experience shows that holiness doesn’t always come naturally for the majority of believers, even those who’ve been born-again for many years. Why? I’ll tell you in a moment, but first permit me to make this point: the purpose of holiness is never to earn salvation.
The Bible is very firm that salvation is a gift of God’s grace because of the sacrifice of His Son for the sins of the world. That gift is received by faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). This salvation by grace is a foundational truth of Christianity that differentiates it from the other religions whose adherents must fulfill a set of rules and regulations to be accepted by God.
A misunderstanding of holiness and its purpose is the reason many Christians live defeated lives. It is impossible to live in faith, joy, and victory over sin when you believe you have to tick a list of do’s and don’ts to gain God’s favor. When you’re more conscious of your sins than you are about God, there’s no fulfillment in the Christian life. But when you embrace the truth that Jesus paid the penalty for your sins and the Holy Spirit has been given to help mould you into the image of the Son of God, holiness ceases to be a burden.
Step 1: Know your new reality as a believer
The first step in living a Holy life after you’ve become born-again is to know and believe who God says you are in Christ.
Many people refer to this new identity as New Creation Realities. And indeed, they are realities, truths about us that we must be conscious of always, because it is easier to focus on our old nature or try to live as though we didn’t receive a new nature at salvation.
It is easier to live from who you already are than it is to become someone you think you are not.
For example, when you believe you are dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:11), it is easier to live victoriously over sin than when you believe you’re just a poor sinner trying to become holy.
However, one might ask, “what about the people who claim to believe in New Creation Realities, yet live contrary to those same realities?”
I strongly believe that a majority of Christians find themselves in this situation: they claim to believe one thing but act out the opposite. It can be easier to conclude that they must not be true Christians, but that is not always the case.
Step 2: Spend time with God in His word and in prayer
To live in line with the New Creation Realities, you must spend enough time with God regularly. Until the Lord returns and completes our redemption in giving us glorified bodies, there’ll always be a battle between our flesh and our spirit. (Romans 7:15-23). We constantly find ourselves desiring or doing the things we shouldn’t.
But when you spend time with God in His word and in prayer, you give dominion to your spirit. And so you find it easier to obey God and to live in agreement with your new reality. The opposite happens when you are prayer-less and don’t meditate on the word.
You see, it’s not hard to live holy. Know who you are in Christ—declared righteous and holy—and then make intimacy with God your life focus. Even though you will still fail in some areas, your overall life will increasingly become more and more like Jesus!
Thank you and God Bless
~AkuBai
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