"Just what does it mean to be holy people? First and foremost, holy people have given themselves wholly and completely to God. When they determine what is right or wrong for them to do, they do not ask "Can I do that?" but instead "Would God want me to do that?" They are more concerned with God's smile of approval than they are with public opinion. God has first place in their life." (1)
"A spark from the fire is like the fire. The tiniest twig on the giant oak, or the smallest branch of the vine, has the nature of the oak or the the vine, and in that respect is like the oak or vine. A drop of water on the end of your finger from the ocean is like the ocean, not in size, of course, but in essence, in its character, and in its nature; just so, a holy person is like God. Not that he is infinite as God is; he does not know everything, he has not all power and wisdom as God has, but he is like God in his nature. He is good and pure and loving and just in the same way God is" (2)
Holiness is simply this: the giving of oneself to God, as His own. This is our our reasonable service to God; having been redeemed from certain death through the death of His Son, what less can we do than "God, you have saved my life, I am forever indebted to you... I will be your servant." To be holy is to be set apart for God's service...another word for this "setting apart" is sanctification. If I am truly sanctified, I am wholly in God's service - there is no "but God, I wanted..." in holiness: it is "Thy will be done."
Are YOU holy? Or do you have the form of godliness without the power thereof? Which would you rather have?
God has given His children exceeding great and precious promises, such that we may have "ALL things that pertain to life and godliness." Will you claim these promises? Do not delay...God is eager to bestow upon us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. If there is a part of your life that does not conform to His law, it needs to be laid aside, because it is a hindrance. We must run this race to win: this means leaving all our baggage behind and press on toward the mark of the high calling of Christ Jesus. Look unto Christ, the author and finisher of our faith, keep Him foremost in your mind, for it by His gracious power that we began the race, and it is only through His power that we can finish it.
(1) -- Martin Hotle
(2) -- Samuel L. Brengle
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
The Old vs. The New (Covenant)
"The weakness of the law was threefold: (1) it could not cancel past sins - that is it could not justify; (2) it could not make dead men live - that is, it could not regenerate; (3) it could not make bad hearts good - that is, it could not sanctify."
(1) It could not justify, because it was the "ministration of condemnation." - II Corinthians 3:9
(2) It could not regenerate, otherwise Paul would not have been killed by it. - Romans 7:9-10
(3) It could not sanctify, otherwise it would never have been disannulled for "making nothing perfect." - Hebrews 7:18-19
"To teach that the insufficiency of the law lay in man's moral inability to meet its simple demands on human behaviour is to err most radically. If the law could not be kept, God is in a position of laying upon man an impossible burden and then punishing them for failure to do the impossible"
-- Adapted from A. W. Tozer's book "Paths to Power"
Tozer makes a very good point: that the defect in the covenant of law was not that it was too difficult to keep, but that it didn't make the comers thereunto perfect. In the new covenant, however, that has been remedied; Christ's work of grace has not only allowed our sins to be forgiven (justification), but we are made new creatures in Him (regeneration), and are given all things that pertain to life and godliness (sanctification).
(1) It could not justify, because it was the "ministration of condemnation." - II Corinthians 3:9
(2) It could not regenerate, otherwise Paul would not have been killed by it. - Romans 7:9-10
(3) It could not sanctify, otherwise it would never have been disannulled for "making nothing perfect." - Hebrews 7:18-19
"To teach that the insufficiency of the law lay in man's moral inability to meet its simple demands on human behaviour is to err most radically. If the law could not be kept, God is in a position of laying upon man an impossible burden and then punishing them for failure to do the impossible"
-- Adapted from A. W. Tozer's book "Paths to Power"
Tozer makes a very good point: that the defect in the covenant of law was not that it was too difficult to keep, but that it didn't make the comers thereunto perfect. In the new covenant, however, that has been remedied; Christ's work of grace has not only allowed our sins to be forgiven (justification), but we are made new creatures in Him (regeneration), and are given all things that pertain to life and godliness (sanctification).
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Peculiar! (The Sequel)
But what should this righteousness and obedience look like in YOUR life? That is something that would be difficult for me to say, unless I lived with you, going wherever you went, etc., which would be totally impractical. So here's what it looks like in my own life.
I'm 17 (19 now), I live at home, and I go to school at Peninsula College.
Friends:
Like I told my older sister, I treat other people who are carnally (worldly) minded in one of two ways: either tell them about Jesus or show them who Jesus is through my actions, but only if they decide to turn from sin and follow Jesus do I allow them a chance to be my friend. This results in my having very few friends, but for the sake of pureness of heart I refrain from allowing "evil communications" into my life [I Corinthians 15:33]. Basically, people that I know who are carnally minded are merely acquaintances, for I choose (and sometimes it is a hard choice) to be friends only to those who are Jesus' friends – those who obey Him [John 15:14]. Now, this does not mean that I do not talk or interact with worldly people, because I do (some of them may even consider me their "friend" – and I may be the best "friend" that they have), but it does mean that I do not allow them to influence my heart.
Home:
My standard for the music that I listen to is based on "evil communications corrupt good manners." [I Corinthians 15:33 and Proverbs 23:7] thus lyrics must be pure, edifying rather than degrading (e.g. "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" or "Snoopy Vs. the Red Baron" would be acceptable, whereas "Good Vibrations" or "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy" are not acceptable), and for Christian music (which most of it is, anyways) lyrics must provoke me to love and good works [Hebrews 10:24], and not lead me toward sin. I may like or dislike certain kinds of music, certain eras in music history, or certain artists, but music in and of itself is not inherently evil, but the intent of the musician (this can be difficult, if not impossible to determine, so most judgment depends on the lyrics) and the content of the lyrics are the qualities by which I judge music either good or bad.
Movies (this includes videogames), I judge by the same principle as music: I Corinthians 15:33. Knowing what scripture says about evil communications, I (and my parents and siblings) have a "three strikes and it's out/stepping into the pitch" rule: three bad words (see "Language" below) = stop and rewind or adultery/fornication portrayed in a positive light = stop and rewind. This doesn't leave many movies that are watchable, let alone well made or good… but I would rather risk the ridicule of my acquaintances than be cast into hell because the movies I watched had taught me to lust and/or to curse my Lord.
Books I hold to the same standard as movies.
Language: in scripture, we are commanded not to take the Lord's name in vain [Exodus 20:7] and again not to use filthy or corrupt language [Ephesians 4:29 and 5:3-4]. Having said that, here is a list of the words that I will not use, except in their proper manner, although sometimes not even then (for the sake of refraining from the "appearance of evil" [I Thessalonians 5:22]):
God's name – "Jesus/Christ/Jesus Christ/etc." without the respect/reverence due Him.
God's name in euphemistic form: "Gosh/Golly/Gee/Jeez/etc." all of which are God's name. In order to give people the benefit of the doubt, I do not usually credit people with knowing what they are actually doing when they say something like "Gosh darn it", unless I have already approached them about the subject.
"H---" usurping the power of God to send sinners there or belittling what God made it for. This includes the euphemistic forms such as "heck".
"D---" in a way that usurps God's authority. This also includes "less offensive" forms such as "darn" and "dang".
"S---/C---/etc." for this is filthy language to be sure. Euphemistic forms include "shoot", etc.
"F---" because as well as (in practically all uses) being vulgar and filthy, this degrades God's design for men/women in marriage. This includes euphemisms such as "frickin'".
Rather than showing myself to be filthy [Luke 6:45], I choose rather to maintain a pure heart and life…which includes the words that proceed out of my mouth.
Fortunately, because my parents are very good Christians, we do Bible study practically every night, reading about 4 chapters a night, as well as discussing any current questions or topics brought up in our home Bible study or that one of us may have had that needs addressing. Knowing the Word of God is extremely important! Keeping my sword from getting rusty and staying in practice with it are keys to using it well.
School:
Tedious and boring, I know, but in essence it is work (merely of the mind rather than the body, although those of you with writer's cramp may beg to differ); and thus I must, for conscience sake, do it as unto the Lord [Colossians 3:23], which means doing the best that I can do.
I don’t take part in many extracurricular activities, which is my own preference. BUT, if you do join the basketball team or whatever, be very careful in the "Friends" department: having to be around others who you would normally avoid can be a very good opportunity to witness, but it can also lead to their evil communications corrupting your good manners.
Scriptures to consider:
Genesis 17:1
Job 28:28 + Proverbs 2:3-6
Ezekiel 18:21; 36:27
Isaiah 55:7
Matthew 4:10; 5:6; 5:8; 5:48; 6:24; 11:30; 19:21
Luke 1:6; 1:74-75
Romans 5:20-21; 6:1-23; 8:1; 14:17-18
I Corinthians 1:30; 10:13; 15:34
II Corinthians 6:16-17; 7:1
Galatians 5:16; 5:24-25
Ephesians 4:24
I Thessalonians 4:7; 5:22-23
I Timothy 6:11-14
II Timothy 2:19
Titus 2:11-14
Hebrews 7:26; 9:14; 12:14
James 2:14-26
I Peter 1:15-16
II Peter 1:3-4; 3:11; 3:14
I'm 17 (19 now), I live at home, and I go to school at Peninsula College.
Friends:
Like I told my older sister, I treat other people who are carnally (worldly) minded in one of two ways: either tell them about Jesus or show them who Jesus is through my actions, but only if they decide to turn from sin and follow Jesus do I allow them a chance to be my friend. This results in my having very few friends, but for the sake of pureness of heart I refrain from allowing "evil communications" into my life [I Corinthians 15:33]. Basically, people that I know who are carnally minded are merely acquaintances, for I choose (and sometimes it is a hard choice) to be friends only to those who are Jesus' friends – those who obey Him [John 15:14]. Now, this does not mean that I do not talk or interact with worldly people, because I do (some of them may even consider me their "friend" – and I may be the best "friend" that they have), but it does mean that I do not allow them to influence my heart.
Home:
My standard for the music that I listen to is based on "evil communications corrupt good manners." [I Corinthians 15:33 and Proverbs 23:7] thus lyrics must be pure, edifying rather than degrading (e.g. "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" or "Snoopy Vs. the Red Baron" would be acceptable, whereas "Good Vibrations" or "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy" are not acceptable), and for Christian music (which most of it is, anyways) lyrics must provoke me to love and good works [Hebrews 10:24], and not lead me toward sin. I may like or dislike certain kinds of music, certain eras in music history, or certain artists, but music in and of itself is not inherently evil, but the intent of the musician (this can be difficult, if not impossible to determine, so most judgment depends on the lyrics) and the content of the lyrics are the qualities by which I judge music either good or bad.
Movies (this includes videogames), I judge by the same principle as music: I Corinthians 15:33. Knowing what scripture says about evil communications, I (and my parents and siblings) have a "three strikes and it's out/stepping into the pitch" rule: three bad words (see "Language" below) = stop and rewind or adultery/fornication portrayed in a positive light = stop and rewind. This doesn't leave many movies that are watchable, let alone well made or good… but I would rather risk the ridicule of my acquaintances than be cast into hell because the movies I watched had taught me to lust and/or to curse my Lord.
Books I hold to the same standard as movies.
Language: in scripture, we are commanded not to take the Lord's name in vain [Exodus 20:7] and again not to use filthy or corrupt language [Ephesians 4:29 and 5:3-4]. Having said that, here is a list of the words that I will not use, except in their proper manner, although sometimes not even then (for the sake of refraining from the "appearance of evil" [I Thessalonians 5:22]):
God's name – "Jesus/Christ/Jesus Christ/etc." without the respect/reverence due Him.
God's name in euphemistic form: "Gosh/Golly/Gee/Jeez/etc." all of which are God's name. In order to give people the benefit of the doubt, I do not usually credit people with knowing what they are actually doing when they say something like "Gosh darn it", unless I have already approached them about the subject.
"H---" usurping the power of God to send sinners there or belittling what God made it for. This includes the euphemistic forms such as "heck".
"D---" in a way that usurps God's authority. This also includes "less offensive" forms such as "darn" and "dang".
"S---/C---/etc." for this is filthy language to be sure. Euphemistic forms include "shoot", etc.
"F---" because as well as (in practically all uses) being vulgar and filthy, this degrades God's design for men/women in marriage. This includes euphemisms such as "frickin'".
Rather than showing myself to be filthy [Luke 6:45], I choose rather to maintain a pure heart and life…which includes the words that proceed out of my mouth.
Fortunately, because my parents are very good Christians, we do Bible study practically every night, reading about 4 chapters a night, as well as discussing any current questions or topics brought up in our home Bible study or that one of us may have had that needs addressing. Knowing the Word of God is extremely important! Keeping my sword from getting rusty and staying in practice with it are keys to using it well.
School:
Tedious and boring, I know, but in essence it is work (merely of the mind rather than the body, although those of you with writer's cramp may beg to differ); and thus I must, for conscience sake, do it as unto the Lord [Colossians 3:23], which means doing the best that I can do.
I don’t take part in many extracurricular activities, which is my own preference. BUT, if you do join the basketball team or whatever, be very careful in the "Friends" department: having to be around others who you would normally avoid can be a very good opportunity to witness, but it can also lead to their evil communications corrupting your good manners.
Scriptures to consider:
Genesis 17:1
Job 28:28 + Proverbs 2:3-6
Ezekiel 18:21; 36:27
Isaiah 55:7
Matthew 4:10; 5:6; 5:8; 5:48; 6:24; 11:30; 19:21
Luke 1:6; 1:74-75
Romans 5:20-21; 6:1-23; 8:1; 14:17-18
I Corinthians 1:30; 10:13; 15:34
II Corinthians 6:16-17; 7:1
Galatians 5:16; 5:24-25
Ephesians 4:24
I Thessalonians 4:7; 5:22-23
I Timothy 6:11-14
II Timothy 2:19
Titus 2:11-14
Hebrews 7:26; 9:14; 12:14
James 2:14-26
I Peter 1:15-16
II Peter 1:3-4; 3:11; 3:14
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Peculiar!
Peculiar, that's what we need to be, because that's what we are (or should be) [Titus 2:14]. This does not mean that we should all wear a neon orange hat or crawl around on all fours. It does, however, mean that we ought to act from a totally different mindset [Romans 12:2]: we ought to be patient where others would lose patience, longsuffering where others would blow up, not lusting after the things that worldly minded people do, etc. [Galatians 5:22-24].
But conducting ourselves in such a way is extremely difficult – like a camel passing through the eye of a needle – practically impossible [Matthew 19:24]! So how then are we to manage to do these things, and why should we even bother trying, since we know it to be virtually impossible anyways?
I shall answer the "why" first. Why should we do what is humanly impossible? Because we are commanded to! "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God." [Romans 6:12-13] In other words, "don't sin, but rather do righteousness."
Thus, we know why we ought to do righteous things (and not do iniquity) but how shall we accomplish this, since we know it to be impossible for us? Should we, as some do, simply resign ourselves to sinning daily, since it is impossible to avoid anyway? God forbid! Those who have taken this route end up ceasing to be peculiar – looking and acting just like anyone else! Think about it... good or bad?
Not good, right? That's what I thought – like salt that has lost its flavour [Matthew 5:13]. So how then shall we conduct ourselves righteously, since we can't? Through the power of God. For although salvation and righteousness are utterly impossible for us to obtain for ourselves through our own power, there IS Someone with enough power to give both to us: "With men this [salvation] is impossible; but with God ALL things are possible." [Matthew 19:26, emphasis mine] With our own strength, we cannot serve the Lord all our days in righteousness [Luke 1:73-75], but because God has promised it to us and commanded us to do it...He will supply to us EVERYTHING we need for life (spiritual life) and godliness. [II Peter 1:3]
One last thing... "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in ignorance: but as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, 'Be ye holy; for I am holy'" [I Peter 1:13-16].
But conducting ourselves in such a way is extremely difficult – like a camel passing through the eye of a needle – practically impossible [Matthew 19:24]! So how then are we to manage to do these things, and why should we even bother trying, since we know it to be virtually impossible anyways?
I shall answer the "why" first. Why should we do what is humanly impossible? Because we are commanded to! "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God." [Romans 6:12-13] In other words, "don't sin, but rather do righteousness."
Thus, we know why we ought to do righteous things (and not do iniquity) but how shall we accomplish this, since we know it to be impossible for us? Should we, as some do, simply resign ourselves to sinning daily, since it is impossible to avoid anyway? God forbid! Those who have taken this route end up ceasing to be peculiar – looking and acting just like anyone else! Think about it... good or bad?
Not good, right? That's what I thought – like salt that has lost its flavour [Matthew 5:13]. So how then shall we conduct ourselves righteously, since we can't? Through the power of God. For although salvation and righteousness are utterly impossible for us to obtain for ourselves through our own power, there IS Someone with enough power to give both to us: "With men this [salvation] is impossible; but with God ALL things are possible." [Matthew 19:26, emphasis mine] With our own strength, we cannot serve the Lord all our days in righteousness [Luke 1:73-75], but because God has promised it to us and commanded us to do it...He will supply to us EVERYTHING we need for life (spiritual life) and godliness. [II Peter 1:3]
One last thing... "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in ignorance: but as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, 'Be ye holy; for I am holy'" [I Peter 1:13-16].
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