The importance of holiness

"But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do." (I Peter 1:15, NIV)

Holiness is a virtually forgotten subject for many of us. It is associated with old, bun-wearing ladies or prudes who have no clue what the "real world" is. However, these associations are anything but correct. Did you know that the Bible makes about 600 references to holiness or towards living a life of holiness? This means that holiness is a very important subject.

Yet, the question remains. If holiness is so important, why don't we hear more about it? This is a major dilemma. In some cases, holiness is not preached from the pulpit because the pastor is afraid of either offending their congregations or they are afraid of being exposed as frauds. If holiness gets preached, they will be expected to live out their own words.

In the above verse, we are called to live a life of holiness. We are told to do so because God is first and foremost, a holy God. All of the rest of his attributes, God's love, mercy and justice flow from this primary attribute. What this means is that even though God does love us all, he is also holy. This means that he will not tolerate our sin. In other words, yes, a loving God WILL allow us to choose ourselves over him, hell over heaven. His holiness can never be forgotten.

The thing is, our "holiness", our "righteousness" before God won't cut it. We may profess to be good people, and by many of OUR standards, we are. But guess what? "Good" isn't good enough. Isaiah 64:6 tells us that our righteousness is nothing but "filthy rags" before a holy and just God. In other words, our standards and God's standards aren't the same. We don't get our good deeds measured against our bad deeds, no matter how much we want to believe that. ALL of our deeds, when taken by themselves, don't measure up.

So now what? Are we all doomed to hell? The answer, quite frankly, is yes. By ourselves, we can't cut it before a holy God. THIS IS WHY JESUS CHANGES EVERYTHING!

Through his perfect life, he was able to be the perfect covering for our inadequate righteousness. Through his sacrifice on the cross and resurrection from the dead, we are given the ability to step out of our own "filthy rag" righteousness and to take own the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ.

What's the catch? Well, we have to accept IN FAITH, that we have the need to be covered first of all. We BELIEVE that Jesus is the Lord of all and we BELIEVE IN FAITH that he will save us. This means that we confess that we are sinners who are doomed to hell before a holy God. It also means that we are confessing that we want Jesus Christ to cover us before God. In exchange for that, we agree to live a life that reflects our love for Jesus Christ.

That life of love is the essence of holiness. You see, holiness living is NOT what gets us into heaven. Remember, it's not about what we have done or will do!! It is all about the work of Jesus Christ. Because of this, we can't just sit back and relax. If we do, we are showing that we are UNGRATEFUL for the work that Jesus did. We are saying that he isn't really the LORD and SAVIOR of our lives. By continuing to live as we did BEFORE we invited Jesus into our lives, we are showing that we were really only trying to get out of going to hell. In other words, we are holding Jesus in contempt. We want to keep on doing our own thing while still holding on to heaven.

Do you see the dilemma? If we don't choose to live a life of holiness - what is called Christian maturity by some - we aren't really demonstrating the FAITH that is required of us. How does it make us feel when we really go out of our way for someone we love, when we buy a really expensive gift for them yet they don't ever use it? Wouldn't you feel like you really wasted your time and money? Is it fair to think that God is different? If God gave US the PERFECT gift in Jesus Christ, shouldn't we accept that gift and use it?

How do we "use" this gift? We do it by giving ourselves to the gift. We let him take control. We are called to "consecrate" or to surrender our lives to Jesus by asking for the Holy Spirit - the 3rd member of the Holy Trinity" to fill us with the strength that we need in order to show God that we love him and are thankful for his gift of Jesus Christ. This is a fair and reasonable thing to do. Romans 12:1 puts it like this: "I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual (reasonable) worship." (NRSV)

We are then to live a life of holiness, which is empowered by God in order to show God that we are so thankful for him and we love him. In the next few blogs, at least, I will go into what this life of holiness is about, what sanctification is about and how we can begin to live a life that pleases the Lord. Once again, holiness is not a subject to take lightly or to dismiss as archaic or Victorian. The Bible calls us to live a life that is DIFFERENT - holy- from the rest of the world. If you are wondering what that means, do this.

First, ask yourself if you are a Christian. If that is true, then what kind of things are going on in your life that would show that to be true? Is your love for God about more than one hour a week on Sunday morning? Is your Bible dusty? Have you been in prayer for more than just a minute or two lately - and I don't mean prayer for your team to win a game or some silliness like that. If someone else was watching your life, would they be able to tell that you love Jesus with all of your heart? Would what the Bible commands and what you live stack up? If not, you have some work to do. Remember, all of us are still growing, myself included. Still, progress must be shown, as demonstrated in Galatians 5, the fruit of the spirit MUST be evident in the life of a Christian, or else we aren't living by the Spirit, but by the flesh. "The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." These are the HALLMARKS of a holy life. I'll go into more detail about these later.

One final word, I am not talking about living a works-based life in order to gain God's favor. God's favor is won when we ACCEPT Jesus as our Savior. Holiness is showing our love for God with all of our hearts, souls, strengths and minds - just as Jesus commanded. To settle for anything less is to hold Christ in contempt. Next time, I'll address this statement. Did you know that you can live a life that is FREE FROM SIN and LIKE IT?? Thanks, Dr. Schenck!

The head, the heart and the body

Did you know that there is a difference between knowledge, belief and action? The head, the heart and the body were designed to work together in all areas of your life. Take the arguments for the existence of God for example. you may know them, if not, please take a look below. They are not my exclusive work nor compilation, as they were assembled, at least in this form, by Dr. Chris Bounds. There is also some explantion of what arguments rather than proofs are. Now - back to this concept of the head, heart and body.
Knowledge is a cerebral act. "I know there is a God." It implies that a body of information, facts, etc. have stayed in the brain and will reside there until they are needed in form or another - whether for a test, a question or personal contemplation. This is where most people find themselves in regards to most things that they have processed. For example, I know that there is a body of laws that exist that allow us to maintain a civil society.
The next step is taking that knowledge and synthesizing it through your being, your "heart" , in essence. This is what belief is. It is taking those facts and making them real to you in a special way. "I believe there is a God." Another way to look at it would be to take the first example and say,"There is a body of laws that allow us to run a civil society and I believe that they are the best laws, and they allow us to have the best society for me and for others." The thing is, this is not the end of the journey, although many people stop right here.
The final step on this journey is the logical conclusion, the action. In order to make anything go from your brain to your heart and then to your life is to ACT upon it. It is about taking the next step, the concrete expression of knowledge and belief. This is action. An expression of action, which puts belief into motion, is to then say "Ok, I know and believe that God is real. If he is real, then he is truly God. This means he is in charge - hence God. If he is then God, then I must be willing to accept the fact that he isn't just God in an abstract way, but in a real and tangible way. If he is God, I must then listen to him and then follow his commands." Or to finish the earlier analogy, "I know there are laws that allow for us to have a civil society, and I believe they are the best. I want the country to stay that way, so I will vote for politicians, lawmakers, etc. that will best help to maintain my beliefs."
While there are differences between knowledge, belief and actions, it is interesting to note that there is a necessary synergy that exists between the three of them. There is also a logical progression from one to the next. Knowledge, in and of itself, will only carry you so far. However, without it, belief is incomplete. Belief, by nature, is an emotional and faith-driven expression. It works in concert with knowledge but has little lasting impact without it. Actions require the engagement of both mind and heart in order to be effective and meaningful. That is what makes them so powerful. It is also why they are the logical conclusion of knowledge and belief. It is also why actions are required in order to fully express beliefs and knowledge. Actions are the final testing grounds of the head and the heart.
I would challenge you to think about what it is that you know and what you believe and to then act upon that in all areas of your life. Specifically, in the area of God, if you are convinced in your mind of his existence and know in your heart that you believe in him, what should you do about it? Action must follow up knowledge and belief in order to complete the process of complete engagement. You act upon your convictions and beliefs by implementing a new life strategy that recognizes this. In other words, in this arena, you would live as if you know and believe in God's existence. this means God is in charge of your life, and you believe that he is Lord of all. One step further, you believe what he says about himself in the Bible. You would also believe that Jesus is not only his soon, but is also God himself. If Jesus is God, you must accept and live with that fact. You then acknowledge Jesus as the Lord of your life and then live a life that reflects that knowledge and belief. By doing this, you then complete the cycle of the head, the heart and the body.

Arguments for the existence of God

It is an incredibly valuable and rewarding thing to question and examine what we all believe in. I really don't have the time today to develop this post as I would like, so have patience, please. First things first. I'll tell you this up front. If you are looking for empirical data, concrete proof, etc. for the existence of God, you are out of luck. The bottom line is it cannot be PROVEN that God exists. However, there are a great many things that we accept as fact that fit the same bill.
What can be done is that arguments for his existence can be made. These are found, briefly, in five categories:
1. Cosmological - the argument of causality. the world and and universe exists - therefore, there must be justifiable cause behind it. Motion exists, something started that motion. From physics, no effect exists without first having cause. Contigency is in place - an interdependence between systems, organisms, etc. - ultimately, dependence lies on something being continually greater than the other, leading beyond man and his reasoning capabilities. Finally, there are grades of perfection inherent in the universe that point in an upward direction from inanimate to animate and so forth.
2. Teleological - the argument of order and design. Clearly, order exists within the universe, also, design is present and observable in all systems.
3. Humanity - the arguments present in the existence of the mind, human nature and human culture. Another aspect - why do humans have the innate conception that there is something greater than they?
4. Morality, beauty and pragmatism - the moral sense of humanity - yes, the existence of the conscience in form or another. Why does beauty exist and how does it exist? Pragmatically, look at the positive effects that believeing in God has upon humanity.
5. Ontological - since we cannot empirically prove God exists, why would we have the idea of him if it wasn't placed there by him.

Once again, none of these are proofs, rather, they are arguments. Yet, when taken together, they present a hefty case for God's existence. The same type of thinking exists when dealing with things like Einstein's Theory of Relativity, etc.
The deal is, all of this boils down to one thing. Let me assure you, though, it isn't brainwashing. The whole issue of God's existence is contained in one word: faith! Faith is the hope of surety and the certainty of the unseen. I do have enough arguments for me to logically wrap my mind around the existence of God. I can't fully understand him or explain him, but I can logically conclude in his existence.
This is a solid starting point for examining arguments for the existence of God. If they do raise issues, good. If they give you problems, good. However, I would say that your struggles lie in one area - like I said earlier, they lie within FAITH. It is wonderful to examine what and why you believe as you do. If you are going to do that, though, I urge you to do it right. Come at the issues as objectively as humanly possible - a difficult proposition, to be sure. A few last questions for thought. If you are your own God, can you take credit for ANY of the arguments that I presented earlier? Would you have you as God? Do you possess any divine attributes?
I'm not trying to position myself as one who knows all, etc. However, I have gone through the same struggles that you are presenting - every one of them that I have read so far. So, please, take time to read this post, let me know if you have ANY questions, etc. You can keep those as private or as public as you like. I'm not going to try to MAKE you believe anything, as I really can't. It is a decision that YOU alone must make for YOURSELF, as you have the ultimate responsibility of belief. However, I am obligated to help you in any way I can.

The race is ON!

There is no doubt in my mind that my life as a Christian and minister is based on the concept of a race or journey. The only proper way to navigate this course is to constantly seek to improve the way in which I run this race and journey of life. This can best be done by consciously attempting to develop my relationship with Jesus Christ. By striving to do this, by striving to live the life of holiness that we are called to live, I believe that I will be able to live a more productive and excellent life. While there is a great deal of personal risk present in such an endeavor, I must know that the potential risks are far outweighed by the potential rewards.
For so many people the hardest step to take in the field of personal development is the first one. It is almost standard operating procedure for people to assume that they are stuck with their situation in life. The old adage from Popeye, ..I am what I am.. seems to be the rallying cry for all too many. I believe that there are many different reasons for this but that the main culprit is fear. Fear keeps many from growing because they are afraid that if they were to change, their current positions in life would no longer prove to be of worth to them. In other words, so many have sold themselves short. They never cleared the bar because frankly, they never attempted to jump in the first place. Teddy Roosevelt lamented this condition when he said,.. It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed...
It is with this thought in mind that I have sought to develop and increase my devotion to my savior, Jesus Christ. I desire to pursue him because he pursued me first. Through this process, which by the way will carry me through my entire life, I know that I will be able to stand along with Paul in saying, ..I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith... (II Timothy 4:7, NIV) While this may appear to be braggadocio on the surface, I must say that I am not able to say such things of my own volition. I will be able to confidently stand in the assurance that whatever was accomplished in the kingdom through me was done in concert with the Holy Spirit. My only tasks are to surrender to his will and to strive to become all that I can be.
The ancient Greeks hit the nail on the head, so to speak, when they exalted the concept and pursuit of excellence in their lives. Through the pursuit of arête, or the Greek concept of excellence, I will find that I have for far too long settled for a cheap imitation of what my life could have been. I am willing to say enough is enough. I have had enough of complacency and even mediocrity. I no longer wish to settle for the things in my life that have had led to a numbing of my heart and soul. From this day forward, I pledge to live a life that is devoted to the pursuit of excellence and improvement in my personal, professional and spiritual lives.
I believe that the most important relationship that I have in my life is the one that I am blessed to have with Jesus Christ. As this is the most important relationship in my life, I believe that it should serve as the barometer for all other relationships in my life. However I continue in my walk with Christ will go a long way in determining how I interact with my family, my church and my community.
I believe that the first priority in the life of a Christian should be to increase and cultivate the actual time spent in communion with their savior. This means that I will need to not only increase my time spent in prayer, but that I must also seek to make that time more productive. For me, this means that I need to guard my time more wisely. It is so easy to become side-tracked, today more than ever. With so many options available to me, I find myself pulled in competing directions. To that end, I must be able to set aside more time for the development of my prayer life.
Next, I believe that it is vital that I seek to increase my time spent in the Word and with other theological works. By doing so, I not only deepen my relationship with Christ, I also gain more knowledge which can then be passed on to others. There are many tools that exist for devotional periods. For instance, I would like to spend time with Charles Spurgeon's Morning and Evening. I believe that the devotional aspect of the Christian life is overlooked, at least in our Westernized society. While we demand a go, go mentality, even in the church, there can be no substitute for acquiring a willingness to put the brakes on and to slow down and spend quality time reflecting on the beauty and truth inherent in the Word.
Another way in which my personal relationship with Christ can be augmented is ironically, through relationships of accountability with other people. By understanding that I live my life before God and man, I become more concerned about my behavior and actions. I believe that this can best be done by finding, or even starting, a group of two to three other pastors who are willing to confidentially hold the other group members accountable for living a life of holiness and excellence in their homes and churches. Making myself subject to the inspection of others can but help me to live a life that is conductive to the production of excellence.
The final way in which I am seeking to improve my relationship with Jesus is in the area of life surrender. I want to totally give myself up as a ..living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.... (Rom.12:1, NRSV). By continually seeking to live a life of holiness, I will be better equipped for ministry and will be closer in my walk with Christ. I do believe that through this process, entire sanctification will grow into continued grace and maturity which will culminate in glorification when I reach my Father who is in heaven. Until that time, I want to live a life that will match my talk. I believe that this will be accomplished best by implementing the strategies that have already been discussed in this section.
So, the ball is in the court of you, the reader, now. What are you going to improve your life? Are you going to be willing to surrender every fiber of your being to the one who gave you life in the first place? I've outlined a few personal strategies that I am working on in order to deepen my fellowship with Jesus. I'm not saying any of this in order to slap myself on the back or to ridicule you. If it sounds preachy, then thanks. I mean, hey, you go to the doctor to get treatment, right? Shouldn't one who calls himself pastor preach?
None of this talk of excellence has any relationship to making piles of money, etc. in the name of God. I am not advocating a "Your Best Life NOW" strategy. In Matt. 28:19, we are called by Christ to make disciples of all nations. This is an attempt to push for something deeper, something more committed than reciting a couple of lines of liturgy, singing a couple of hymns and nodding off during the sermon. Our life must include more encounters with Jesus Christ than just Sunday mornings. Church is beautiful and should be attended. However, your soul, your walk with Christ should be attended to. After all, what kind of relationship is based on once-a-week contact?
Is your Bible dusty? Was the last time you were on your knees last week when you dropped that quarter? Folks, a life of excellence is a life that is given over to Jesus Christ. It is a life that is characterized by holiness. This means living a life of perfect love. This means being devoted to becoming - not just being - in love with Christ. To be sanctified, to be holy means to be set apart, to be different, to be "other". It is about not just giving your heart to Christ, but your ENTIRE life. It means being SET FREE from the sin nature.
Guess what? You DON'T HAVE TO SIN! Did you know that? A Christian's life shouldn't be characterized by sin. I John 3:9 tells us that when we are born of God, we are dead to sin. This means that our sin nature is eradicated. Now, this doesn't mean that you will be perfect. It means that you can be set free from the WILL TO sin. What a concept!! The Holy Spirit can enable you to do this, to live an excellent life, one that is free from the bondage of sin and addiction. Is there a catch? Sure!
You have to be willing to do ONE thing now. You see, the thing is, you are going to do it anyway. It's just a matter of when and under what circumstance you are going to do it. Phil. 2:10 tells us that "at the name of Jesus, every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth..." We will all bend our knee before Christ. Will you do it willingly NOW or will you do it in resistance before him in judgment - when it's too late. In other words, who are you going to serve? Yourself or Christ? By the way, those are the ONLY two choices, folks. Acknowledge him now as your savior. Isaiah warns us to pursue the Lord while he is still close. In other words, if this moving you in any way to make a commitment to Jesus for the first time or to deepen your walk with him, then do it. ASK! Ask for the Holy Spirit to guide you. There are no set formulas for this. Open you heart before him and confess your need and desire for his lordship. Don't let pride and mediocrity get in the way of living a life of excellence today. The race is ON!