Ask
I have heard a lot of talk lately about holiness and the need to turn back to God. As the world is shaken, hearts are awakening to the need for a solution. Turning back to God is, in fact, the solution. But holiness and righteousness present a problem: how does one who is unholy become holy, or how does one who is unrighteous become righteous?
The answer is so simple it is nearly ignored: we ask God for more hunger and thirst for Him!
The apostle Paul said this so well, but the connection, as a far as I can tell, is rarely made. Listen to what Paul said:
Romans 7:14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. 15 I don't really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. 17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can't. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don't. I don't want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I don't want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God's law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.
Paul was the perfect man to make this statement. He was one of the most dedicated Pharisees, or practitioners of the law. His performance of the law was second to none. He understood discipline in a way that made him a leader in the following of the law, but it took God's mercy...knocking him down and blinding him on the side of the road, stripping away all of his natural strength, to reveal Jesus to Paul. This merciful event in Paul's life was the beginning of wisdom for Paul. He had the knowledge of the law, but wisdom and life agreement with God could not be found in the practice of the law!
God IS holy. God isn't holy because He is perfect at obeying the law. God is the source of what is right, the very definition of what right is found in whatever God is. God is holy because He is wholly "other than" the created and fallen world. He created us to be "like him" but mankind exercised free will to rebel against holiness, and became unholy, or wholly other than God. In His mercy, because God is so committed to being with us, He made a way for us to reconnect with Himself, to become holy again. When we trust in Jesus' death as our payment for rebellion (sin), and commit to His leadership in our life, we begin the journey back to holiness. It starts with our spirit, which is made completely holy the moment we trust Jesus for salvation. Our spirit will never be more holy than it is when we are saved because the Holy Spirit literally comes and enters into our spirit. The trick is getting the rest of us, our heart, or our mind, will, and emotion, to be holy. Obviously, I have some work to do there still!
The real question is what kind of work do I have to do? Does acting more "holy" bring me back to the one who is wholly-other-than, or does getting closer to the one who is wholly-other-than make me actually live more holy? Holiness IS essential, but how do I get there?
Next to salvation, holiness would be the biggest treasure in the kingdom. We receive the kingdom in pieces. It will take eternity to explore and experience an infinitely large God and His kingdom! Turning from our rebellious path we were born into, back to God, or salvation, is the first step and is a free gift. But the point of salvation is to draw me back into the presence of the one who is wholly-other-than. Can I earn the rest of the journey if I can't earn salvation, which is the first step in the journey? Certainly not! This is what Paul said. Whoa is me, except for Jesus!
Jesus told me exactly how to walk back toward the one who is wholly-other-than. He paid the admission, then showed me the way, then sent God, the Holy Spirit, to live with me in the journey back! All that is required of me at this point is to take the reigns of my desire, and point it to God.
This is what Jesus said about receiving more of the Kingdom, including holiness:
Luke 18:17 I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn't receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it."
A child receives by asking for what they desire. They don't entertain the notion of earning it, the don't concern themselves with the value of it. They just decide they want it, they go to the one who they know can provide it, and they ask for it. When we try, like Saul (Paul under the law), to earn holiness by practicing the law, we arrogantly try to earn something we could never afford, rebelling against God's way. When we point our desire for holiness to God, and simply humble ourselves by asking for it...reaching for it with our words, and exercising our desire, we will certainly receive it from our good Father, who loves to give good gifts to His children. This is practicing righteousness: we ask for a hunger and thirst for righteousness when we don't have it yet. We take a personal inventory of what we lack in holiness and then we tell God about our lack and ask Him to provide. This is reaching for more of God, who is the definition of holiness. When we get more hunger and thirst for the One who is wholly-other-than, our lives naturally start to become more holy. You can't encounter God without wanting to naturally be more like Jesus. This is the chemistry of the human heart at work: you behold and become. The opposite has never worked...no one has ever become something to behold God. You behold more and more of God and become something wholly-other-than what you were.
Ask God for a hunger and thirst for God, and you will be satisfied! Holiness is found in wholeheartedness. No one is born wholehearted. It is the pearl of greatest price that you can only receive like a child. There is no other road to holiness!
1 John 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
The answer is so simple it is nearly ignored: we ask God for more hunger and thirst for Him!
The apostle Paul said this so well, but the connection, as a far as I can tell, is rarely made. Listen to what Paul said:
Romans 7:14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. 15 I don't really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. 17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can't. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don't. I don't want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I don't want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God's law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.
Paul was the perfect man to make this statement. He was one of the most dedicated Pharisees, or practitioners of the law. His performance of the law was second to none. He understood discipline in a way that made him a leader in the following of the law, but it took God's mercy...knocking him down and blinding him on the side of the road, stripping away all of his natural strength, to reveal Jesus to Paul. This merciful event in Paul's life was the beginning of wisdom for Paul. He had the knowledge of the law, but wisdom and life agreement with God could not be found in the practice of the law!
God IS holy. God isn't holy because He is perfect at obeying the law. God is the source of what is right, the very definition of what right is found in whatever God is. God is holy because He is wholly "other than" the created and fallen world. He created us to be "like him" but mankind exercised free will to rebel against holiness, and became unholy, or wholly other than God. In His mercy, because God is so committed to being with us, He made a way for us to reconnect with Himself, to become holy again. When we trust in Jesus' death as our payment for rebellion (sin), and commit to His leadership in our life, we begin the journey back to holiness. It starts with our spirit, which is made completely holy the moment we trust Jesus for salvation. Our spirit will never be more holy than it is when we are saved because the Holy Spirit literally comes and enters into our spirit. The trick is getting the rest of us, our heart, or our mind, will, and emotion, to be holy. Obviously, I have some work to do there still!
The real question is what kind of work do I have to do? Does acting more "holy" bring me back to the one who is wholly-other-than, or does getting closer to the one who is wholly-other-than make me actually live more holy? Holiness IS essential, but how do I get there?
Next to salvation, holiness would be the biggest treasure in the kingdom. We receive the kingdom in pieces. It will take eternity to explore and experience an infinitely large God and His kingdom! Turning from our rebellious path we were born into, back to God, or salvation, is the first step and is a free gift. But the point of salvation is to draw me back into the presence of the one who is wholly-other-than. Can I earn the rest of the journey if I can't earn salvation, which is the first step in the journey? Certainly not! This is what Paul said. Whoa is me, except for Jesus!
Jesus told me exactly how to walk back toward the one who is wholly-other-than. He paid the admission, then showed me the way, then sent God, the Holy Spirit, to live with me in the journey back! All that is required of me at this point is to take the reigns of my desire, and point it to God.
This is what Jesus said about receiving more of the Kingdom, including holiness:
Luke 18:17 I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn't receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it."
A child receives by asking for what they desire. They don't entertain the notion of earning it, the don't concern themselves with the value of it. They just decide they want it, they go to the one who they know can provide it, and they ask for it. When we try, like Saul (Paul under the law), to earn holiness by practicing the law, we arrogantly try to earn something we could never afford, rebelling against God's way. When we point our desire for holiness to God, and simply humble ourselves by asking for it...reaching for it with our words, and exercising our desire, we will certainly receive it from our good Father, who loves to give good gifts to His children. This is practicing righteousness: we ask for a hunger and thirst for righteousness when we don't have it yet. We take a personal inventory of what we lack in holiness and then we tell God about our lack and ask Him to provide. This is reaching for more of God, who is the definition of holiness. When we get more hunger and thirst for the One who is wholly-other-than, our lives naturally start to become more holy. You can't encounter God without wanting to naturally be more like Jesus. This is the chemistry of the human heart at work: you behold and become. The opposite has never worked...no one has ever become something to behold God. You behold more and more of God and become something wholly-other-than what you were.
Ask God for a hunger and thirst for God, and you will be satisfied! Holiness is found in wholeheartedness. No one is born wholehearted. It is the pearl of greatest price that you can only receive like a child. There is no other road to holiness!
1 John 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
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