You have most likely heard the Native American legend about every person having two wolves living within them, one good and one bad. The Apostle Paul expressed something similar in Romans 7. He speaks of a constant struggle between his carnal self and his spiritual self, and it is one that has upset him beyond description. In fact, he finds himself tongue-tied trying to describe it. Paul is known for eloquence in writing. He was a master of the Greek language, and likely spoke Aramaic as well. In Romans 7, however, he talks in circles. Considering the problem on which he elucidates, talking in circles may be the only way to describe it. It is the problem of two natures battling within one mind. We are talking about What We Believe. Today, We believe in Sanctification, on Christian Holiness Daily.

Here are part of his words from Romans 7, as translated in the ESV Bible:

What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”⁸ But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. ⁹ I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. ¹⁰ The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. ¹¹ For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. ¹² So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

¹³ Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. ¹⁴ For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. ¹⁵ For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. ¹⁶ Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. ¹⁷ So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. ¹⁸ For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

²¹ So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. ²² For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, ²³ but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.²⁴ Wretched man that I am!

Many people skip right over this section because they cannot understand it. Here it is in a nutshell: Because of my sinful nature – “my flesh” – I always do what is wrong. Why? Because there is nothing good within me. My spiritual nature wants to do right, but is too weak.

He then calls himself wretched.

In the next verse, he asks himself, “Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Who can help Paul? Only Jesus.

Ask any addict – whether addicted to pornography, drugs, tobacco, alcohol, or video games, and they will tell you that they cannot overcome it without help. According to the popular school of thought, alcoholics are never free of the addiction, and even a single drink can hook them again. We are weak, and must rely on a higher power. Even Christians cannot easily overcome their addictions.

What we speak of, though, is not just addictions. We speak of the bondage of sin. Satan puts us in chains and never lets us go. The vast majority of Christians go through life, still struggling against the chains by which Satan had bound them. The sad part is, it is not necessary. Christ stands with his hand outstretched, and in his nail-scarred hands, He holds the key to your chains. He is ready to free you. All you must do is allow Him.

To be clear, I speak of Christians who are still bound by sin. The reason so many Christians still live a carnal existence is that they have believed on Jesus enough to accept Jesus as Savior but refuse to believe enough to accept Him as Lord. Do you hear how silly that is? We believe that He can bring us back to life after we die, but He cannot free us from sin while we live. That is a sad statement.

He can, though. He can free us of sin. After salvation there comes a point where we must submit our will to Him, and follow Him with all our heart and mind and strength. Once we submit, He will infill us with His Spirit and free us from our sin nature. We then will have within us the nature of Christ, not the nature of sin. We call this sanctification. We are not, then, perfect, as some think. But we do become filled with His perfect love. This is called sanctification, and what I prefer to call perfect love.  More on this on tomorrow’s Christian Holiness Daily.

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Holiness is, perhaps, the most misunderstood concept in Christianity. Anyone who has striven to follow the life of Christ can likely tell you that it is impossible to do. No one can match His love, His grace, or His compassion. For no one but Jesus is perfect. Once the believer is filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit, though, he or she is filled to the brim with the love of Christ, and desires nothing more than to please God and follow in Christ’s steps. The love of sin is gone. In its place is a love and passion for others. That is Christian Holiness. This is Christian Holiness Daily.

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Marks of a True Conversion

I suppose I may take it for granted, that all of you, among whom I am now about to preach the kingdom of God, are fully convinced, that it is appointed for all men once to die, and that ye all really believe that after death comes the judgment, and that the consequences of that judgment will be, that ye must be doomed to dwell in the blackness of darkness, or ascend to dwell with the blessed God, for ever and ever.

I may take it for granted also, that whatever your practice in common life may be, there is not one, though ever so profligate and abandoned, but hopes to go to that place, which the scriptures call Heaven, when he dies. And, I think, if I know any thing of mine own heart,
my heart’s desire, as well as my prayer to God, for you all, is, that I may see you sitting down in the kingdom of our heavenly Father. But then, though we all hope to go to heaven when we die, yet, if we may judge by people’s lives, and our Lord says, “that by their fruits we may know them,” I am afraid it will be found, that thousands, and ten thousands, who hope to go to this blessed place after death, are not now in the way to it while they live.

Though we call ourselves Christians, and would consider it as an affront put upon us, for any one to doubt whether we were Christians or not; yet there are a great many, who bear the name of Christ, that yet do not so much as know what real Christianity is. Hence it is, that if you ask a great many, upon what their hopes of heaven are founded, they will tell you, that they belong to this, or that, or the other denomination, and part of Christians, into which Christendom is now unhappily divided.

If you ask others, upon what foundation they have built their hope of heaven, they will tell you, that they have been baptized, that their fathers and mothers, presented them to the Lord Jesus Christ in their infancy; and though, instead of fighting under Christ’s banner, they have been fighting against him, almost ever since they were baptized, yet because they have been admitted to church, and their names are in the register book of the parish, therefore they will make us believe, that their names are also written in the book of life. But a great many, who will not build their hopes of salvation upon such a sorry rotten foundation as this, yet if they are, what we generally call, negatively good people; if they live so as their neighbors cannot say that they do anybody harm, they do not doubt but they shall
be happy when they die; nay, I have found many such die, as the scripture speaks, “without any hands in their death.”

And if a person is what the world calls an honest moral man, if he does justly, and, what the world calls, love a little mercy, is not and then good-natured, reacheth out his hand to the poor, receives the sacrament once or twice a year, and is outwardly sober and honest; the world looks upon such an one as a Christian indeed, and doubtless we are to judge charitably of every such person. There are many likewise, who go on in a round of duties, a model of performances, that think they shall go to heaven; but if you examine them, though they have a Christ in their heads, they have no Christ in their hearts.

The Lord Jesus Christ knew this full well; he knew how desperately wicked and deceitful men’s hearts were; he knew very well how many would go to hell even by the very gates of heaven, how many would climb up even to the door, and go so near as to knock at it, and yet after all be dismissed with a “verily I know you not.” The Lord, therefore, plainly tells us, what great change must be wrought in us, and what must be done for us, before we can have any well-grounded hopes of entering into the kingdom of heaven. Hence, he tells Nicodemus, “that unless a man be  born again, and from above, and unless a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” And of all the solemn declarations of our Lord, I mean with respect to this, perhaps the words of the text are one of the most solemn, “except, (says Christ) ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

The words, if you look back to the context, are plainly directed to the disciples; for we are told, “that at the same time came the disciples unto Jesus.” And I think it is plain from many parts of Scripture, that these disciples, to whom our Lord addressed himself at this time, were in some degree converted before. If we take the words strictly, they are applicable only to those, that have already gotten some, though but weak, faith in Christ. Our Lord means, that though they had already tasted the grace of God, yet there was so much of the old man, so much indwelling sin, and corruption, yet remaining in their hearts, that unless they were more converted than they were, unless a greater change past upon their souls, and sanctification was still carried on, they could give but very little evidence of their belonging to his kingdom, which was not to be set up in outward grandeur, as they supposed, but was to be a spiritual kingdom, begun here, but completed in the kingdom of God hereafter. But though the words had a peculiar reference to our Lord’s disciples; yet as our Lord makes such a declaration as this in other places of Scripture, especially in the discourse to Nicodemus, I believe the words may be justly applied to saints and sinners; and as I suppose there are two sorts of people here, some who know Christ, and some of you that do not know him, some that are converted, and some that are strangers to conversion, I shall endeavor so to speak, that if God shall be pleased to assist me, and to give you an hearing ear and an obedient heart, both saints and sinners may have their portion.

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When Paul tells us that we “should mind your own business,” my reaction is to fume over his advice, say that he knows nothing of my circumstances, and blame others for not minding their own business first. If someone is in the wrong, I want to point it out. If someone makes a mistake, I wish to correct them. If something is out of my control, I want to gain control. If someone gossips, I want to slap them silent so I can repeat the gossip first. I am human… perhaps too human.

Here’s the rub: sanctified Christians don’t act that way.

Why?

When God fills us with His Holy Spirit, He changes the way we view the world. Before He fills us with His Spirit, we (the carnal Christian) look at the world and see everyone and everything as an enemy, even other Christians (especially those with whom we disagree politically or philosophically).

After God fills us with His Spirit, we (Christians whom God has sanctified) look within and realize that we were once enemies of God, and we pray that God’s will forgive and reconcile even those who oppose us.

We should mind our own business, and, instead of meddling, we should work with our hands. The best work that we can do with our hands is fold them in prayer.

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The Apostle Paul told the Timothy that elders of the Church should be paid, especially those who preach and teach. Indeed, close reading of that passage shows that Paul felt pastors should be paid double the normal salary. “Workmen,” he said, “are worthy to be hired.”

On the other hand, Paul valued his churches so much that it seems he never took payment. Instead, he earned his keep across the Mediterranean and Europe by working as a tent maker, a skill he had learned as a boy in Tarsus.

As we continue to look at 1 Thessalonians 4, we see that Paul links work – specifically working with one’s hands – to living a sanctified life. Work, in this passage, is also closely connected to living a quiet life.

The question is: why? Why does Paul link sanctification, which is an act of the Holy Spirit, to work, which is commonly considered an act of our own strength?

Here’s the thing, sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit that rids the believe of the carnal (sinful) nature and replaces it with the nature of Christ). In return, we are so full of the love of God that we want God to be in control of every aspect of our lives. We want Him to clean the muck out of even the darkest corners and replace it with the light of His love. As a result, we even give Him our work, our labor, our jobs.

Those of us who accept Jesus as our Savior but never make Him Lord of our lives… those of us who ask Him to save us but never let him have dominion over our hearts and minds… those of us who are saved, but never allow His Holy Spirit to fill us with His love, will find that we soon burn out, soon wear out, and soon return to our old habits and old ways.

By the way, I have not forgotten about the part of the verse that reads, “Mind your own business.” Well look at that, and the connection between work and peace later.

According to Apostle Paul in Thessalonians chapter 4, if we have been sanctified, then we will turn away from sexual immorality, love one another more and more, find peace and quiet in our lives, mind our own business, and earn our keep.

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In an earlier devotion on Christian Holiness Daily, we learned that it is God’s will that we be sanctified, or filled with the Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 4:3). After Paul proclaims this to his readers, he expounds on what is expected out of those whom Christ sanctifies.

• Abstain from sexual immorality
• Love one another
• In verse 11 of that same chapter, he says that we are to live a quiet life. What does Paul mean, though, when he uses the word quiet?
• Paul’s life seemed to be anything but quiet. He traveled from town-to-town preaching first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles, bringing a new message – and one that few wanted to accept – and stirred up so much trouble that he found himself often in jail, stoned and left for dead, beaten, and eventually martyred. Ask and the definition of quiet life, I doubt any of the items on that list are mentioned.
• When I think of a quiet life, I think of a cabin in the woods, off grid, and a room full of books.
• Others may think of a sailboat on a calm sea, or a fishing boat on a still lake. Some might picture a horseback ride or a cross-country trip on a Harley. Though peaceful, I doubt any of those images are what Paul had in mind when he wrote of the quiet life. Paul’s idea of quiet can be determined from his other epistles.

• The first clue that we find about Paul’s definition of quiet is Romans 12:18, where he gives similar advise:

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. – ESV

Peace and quiet are synonymous. In this passage Paul ads a qualifying clause, If possible…

In Paul’s life, peace and quiet wasn’t always possible, for it wasn’t always up to him whether he lived at peace.

• Galatians 5:22 tells us the same thing that Paul tells us here in 1 Thessalonians 4, but it is more succinct: the fruit of the Spirit is peace.
• In Philippians 4:7, he urges us to allow our hearts to be guided by the peace that comes through the Holy Spirit.
• In Romans 14:19, he urges us to make every effort to bring peace into our lives.
• As with every aspect of sanctification, living in peace or living a quiet life is only possible if we allow the Holy Spirit to rule (take charge) in our lives daily.
• If He is not the King of our hearts, then the best that we can hope for is brief calm often followed by a ferocious storm.
• If we allow the Holy Spirit to reign, then we too can say (like Paul),

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

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In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, Paul speaks to Christians – those who have believed on and followed in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. He tells them they need to be sanctified. They need to live a holy life. He emphasizes that they should turn away from sexual immorality. Today, we see that he encourages them to love one another (and others) more and more.

You see, love is what sets Christians apart from the rest of the world. For mortal man, it may be difficult to love someone outside our immediate family (sometimes, it is not easy to love those within our immediate family). For Christians, love – even love for others and love for our enemies – should come as natural as love for our own children.

If loving others does not come natural, then you should prayerfully and persistently seek sanctification. Ask God to rid you of worldly love, lust, selfishness, pride, and hatred, and fill you with His Holy Spirit. He will. He will perfect His love within your life. When one is filled with the Holy Spirit, one is surprised by love… a deeper love than you thought possible.

We seem to be living near the end of days and Satan has begun one final offensive in the battle against the saints of God. As a result, many Christians have ducked for cover, and are not reaching out to others in love as they should; instead many are looking out only for themselves and their closest loved ones.

We must resist fear. We must stand up to evil and call it by name. We must look evil in the eye and expel it in the name of Jesus. And we must do it all in love.

Remember, Christ sacrificed His life for the sins of the world, not just for you and me (and not just those who agree with our viewpoint). That person that we think is so evil… that one who is causing so many problems in the world…he or she may be the next Saul who finds Christ on the road to Damascus and becomes the next Apostle Paul.

We must love our enemies. Pray for those who threaten us, abuse us, and persecute us. Remember, they, too, need to know God and His love.

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I do, though, often ask to spend time with her. Though we work different hours, we manage to eat dinner together often, go to see a good movie occasionally or watch a TV show when we can. I love spending time with her. I want to be with her and I want her to be proud of me. Why? Because I know she loves me and also wants to be with me.

Isn’t that why we want to walk with Jesus? Don’t we want to be like Jesus because we love and admire Him? And, one reason we love and admire Him because He first loved us? Didn’t He demonstrate that love for us by rescuing us from sin and death through the sacrifice of His own life?

1 Thessalonians 4, Paul urges us to live in a manner that pleases God. Then he mentions specifics. Let’s read it together. 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 (NKJV):

As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.

Paul is writing to the Christian Church; he calls them brothers and sisters. He distinguishes their behavior from that of the pagans, and tells them that God expects them to be different. The pagans are sexually immoral, depraved, and are ruled by passion and lust. He encourages Christians to control their bodies and to be act with honor, to be holy.

It is God’s will that we be sanctified, Paul says. God called us to be holy, not impure.

So what does God mean when He tells us to avoid sexual immorality? The Greek word used to express sexual immorality is porneia, which is from where we drive the terms pornography and fornication. While the term pornography likely needs no definition, many may be unfamiliar with the word fornication. Fornication means two people who are not married to each other sharing sexual relations.

So, is that the definition of sanctification? Does it mean giving up certain sexual practices that are sinful? No. There is much more to it than that. Sexual immorality is what Paul wished to address, but it is simply one small part of living a holy life.

Is we love God, we will want to please Him, and turning away from sexual immorality is just one of many things that Paul mentions in this book.

That, though, is not the real point is this devotion. I am not here to create an updated list of thou shalt nots.

I am here to tell you that God loves you and doesn’t want to see you hurt, and sexual immorality leads to destruction.

Avoid destruction and let Him rid you of sexual perversion and lust and fill you instead with His love.

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I’ll be working my way back to you, babe, with a burning love inside

Yeah, I’m working my way back to you, babe, and the happiness that died

I let it get away

That old hit (written by Denny Randall and Sandy Linzer) could easily be made into a Christian song, but it would be so wrong. In the song, released by the Spinners in late 1979, the story teller boasts to his love that, even though he has cheated and emotionally abused her, he begs her forgiveness and will be “working my way back to you.”

Too often, Christians feel the same way. We promise God that we love Him and will never go back to our habitual sins (this that we love so much). Then, when we fall into the same old trap and sin again, we set out to work our way back into His favor.

The thing is, that doesn’t work for God. When Christ died for us, His sacrifice was for all our sin, past or future. Neither salvation nor sanctification is based on our merit. We can earn neither.

Then how does one become sanctified? Through faith, just like salvation. Read Hebrews 10:10:

And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

We have been sanctified. Notice that the word “sanctified” is passive. We are not sanctifying ourselves; rather, God has sanctified us.

Because we are human, stuck in bodies, with imperfect minds, and fragile emotions, we are no more able to live a holy life than we are able to save ourselves from hell.

Why, then, so most Christians get hung up on how we live? Because we often confuse sanctification and holiness with discipleship. Nothing we do will get us into heaven. Nothing we do will make God love us more.

Likewise, so long as we are believers in Jesus Christ, nothing we do will lose is our spot in heaven, and nothing we do will cause God to live is less.

This may sound radical to many in A holiness church, but it is true. There is a place for holy living and Good sites call us to separate ourselves from the world, but we are unable to do either.

We cannot live a holy life. We can only have faith that Christ can live His life through me. Only He can sanctify me and only He can live a holy life through me.

For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

 

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“Awww… Why do I have to take a bath?” Nancy complained as her dad called her into the house. “Yeah,” agreed her little brother, Billy. “We already washed!”

Their dad tried his best to suppress his grin, but didn’t quite succeed. Mother, on the other hand, was not amused in the least. She gently swatted at Nancy’s bottom as she came in the house. “Take a bath, now, young lady.” Turning to Billy with folded arms, she said, “and you, too, young man.” The children avoided Mom’s eyes and marched into the bathroom.

Billy, four, just could not understand why he needed a bath, for – after all – they had been playing in the rain. The rain is clean, isn’t it? When he climbed up on a step and looked in the mirror, he saw was a clean face and a bright smile. He licked his finger and smoothed his curly black hair. “But, Mom!” he called. “I don’t need a bath!”

“You did it now,” said Nancy, who had already crawled into the waiting bubble bath, and was dutifully scrubbing away mud and grime.

“Get in the tub,” Mom said, grabbing Billy by the ear with just a little less force than a bulldozer. She led him to the tub and made him crawl in. “WASH,” she commanded. She stormed out of the room.

“Now look, you made her angry at us,” said Nancy.

“Did not.”

“Did, too.”‘

“It’s your fault. If you hadn’t already started taking a bath…”

“It’s not my fault,” insisted Nancy.

Dad came in and sat down by the tub. Wash cloth in hand, he checked behind their ears, and rewashed their necks. “Now,” he said. “Good as new. Now, get dressed for bed.”

Billy climbed up to the mirror again. “I don’t look any different than before.”

“You still look like a wild pig,” said Nancy, laughing at her little brother.

“You don’t think the bath did any good?” Dad asked Billy.

“Nope,” replied the boy. “I had already washed outside in the puddles.”

Dad nodded at the slow-draining tub. “Then where did all this dirt come from?”

Billy and Nancy peered into the tub of dirty water. Their jaws dropped.

“It’s all from her, Dad. I was already clean,” said Billy.

Sometimes, even when we think we are clean, our Father knows better.

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There comes a time in every Christian’s life when God allows us to reap what we’ve sown. Specifically, immature Christians often see the wages of sin, especially sin from which we have not repented. I have.

I found myself flat on my back, having sunk lower than I could have ever imagined. I had nowhere else to turn… No one else to turn to, but to God.

Actually, that has happened a few times in my life. Call me a slow learner. Each low, after that first one, was more of a plateau. As a result, each crisis led to an ever closer relationship with God.

That’s our topic today: the life crisis that leads to surrender.

While the experiences that have led me to a deeper walk with Christ are certainly unique, the crisis experience itself is not. Most people endure at least two such experiences in their spiritual journey.

The first such crisis is the one through which God worked to lead us to salvation. Since I can rightfully assume that most of my readers and listeners are Christian, I won’t expound upon it.

The second crisis is the one that God uses to sanctify us. It is at that point that He fills us with His Holy spirit. It is that point that we realize that God is cleaning house, revealing to us or wicked hearts and asking us to repent of sins big and small. He sweeps those sins out the door and fills us with more of His love.

The great holiness preacher of the early 20th century, Buddy Robinson, described sanctification as a boiling pot in which sin rises to the top, and is skimmed away by God. At one point, he thought that if God didn’t turn down the fire, there would be nothing left to skim.

It is not a fair analogy to compare the journey of an Old Testament prophet to a Christian journey, but the parallel is so close, that I cannot resist it.

We read 1 Kings 19 where Elijah is exhausted. He’s flat on his back and tells God that he’s ready to die. He hit bottom. Here’s the lesson:

It wasn’t until Elijah told God that he was ready to die that God gave him the strength to live.

There is the parallel. Take a look at Ephesians 2. I urge you to read the entire chapter. Even will focus on verses 4 and 5 from the NIV.

…because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions —it is by grace you have been saved.

This – described in Ephesians 2 – is the crisis experience that leads to salvation.

1 Thessalonians 4:3 ESV – For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;

I encourage you to read Roman’s chapters 6-8. This describes the crisis experience and a before and after picture of sanctification. Here are some key verses: Romans 6:11-14 NIV

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

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What is your favorite sin? Come on. I know your have one. All but the most mature Christians always have a favorite sin, one that is always in the back of our minds, waiting until we are physically tired, spiritually weak, or in emotional turmoil to pounce and take control of our lives.

For many, it is uncontrollable anger or rage. For others it is sexual perversion or pornography. For some it is overeating. For some it is out-of-control spending. For someone else, it may be abusing drugs or alcohol. For a few it may be a combination of some of these or all of these things.

Truth be told Christians still struggle with sin – correction: most Christians still struggle with sin. But, why? Christ came to rescue us from sin and death, not just death! Why, then do we struggle? Is it because we have never been taught that Christ conquers sin? Is it because we have never heard of anyone overcoming sin?

We cannot fathom eternal life. Yet, we accept God at His word that we will live in His presence eternally. If we can believe that, then why can we not believe that He will presently free us from sin?

Holiness is perhaps the most difficult concept for a Christian to comprehend. It is a paradox. On the surface it is at once an

While we will NEVER be perfect while in this life, God will help us to overcome sin and fill us with His perfect love.

act of faith and an act of discipline. Our sins flee from the presence of God never to return, but then God reveals to us sins that are rooted even deeper in our lives and gives us the power to overcome even those. And He does this again and again. Holiness is not a goal to be reached only upon death, rather it is a journey that begins on the day of salvation and ends only at the foot of His throne.

Holiness is an act of mutual love. God loves us even in our sin, and he beckons us to come to Him. He loves us too much to let us continue wallowing in the filth of our sins. He demonstrates to us that we must fully abandon or sins.

Once we acknowledge those sins and ask Christ to rid us of them, then He will empower us with the power and love of His Holy Spirit, so that we may overcome those sins. As a result, we love Him too much to continue in sin. That is sanctification. It is at once an act of surrender: we surrender our life to God and lay down our sins on the altar of the cross. And it is an act of the Holy Spirit: He fills us with His love and gives us the power to walk away from those sins, never to return.

And it is a journey of discipline, for God’s Spirit moves into our lives. Daily we surrender our will to Him and ask that His love continue to empower us; we die daily.

We have God’s promise, though: He that began the good work in us will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. He will never give up on you. So never give up on Him.

If the struggle you’re facing

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I fought back but to no avail. If I ran into the backyard, Jerry pelted me in the head. If I ran into the front yard, David bombarded me, but much gentler. Eventually, I ran inside.

Childhood memories like these are precious, but I am reminded of the Bible story of the woman caught in adultery. When the Pharisees brought her to Jesus, they asked Him to sentence her to death by stoning. This incident is found in the 8th chapter of the gospel of John if you want to read it. The only thing I can think right now is how much those rocks would have hurt, given how much the snowballs hurt.

If you are familiar with this incident in the life of Jesus, then you know that Jesus rescued the woman by challenging the Pharisees. “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”

This week here at Christian Holiness Daily, we begin studying holiness and sanctification, two sides of the same coin, both of which are widely misunderstood.

Holiness is loving God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit that enables believers to love God in such a manner. One result of loving God so fervently is that we learn to love other people in the same way that we love God, even our enemies. We’ll discuss that as well.

One of the misconceptions about holiness is the belief that those who are sanctified are suddenly sinless, or perfect, or believe that they are miraculously without sin. This is not true. I know of no true Christian who, if challenged by Jesus to cast the first stone, would have thrown the rock. I wouldn’t have. Living the life of holiness doesn’t mean you are perfect. It means that God has filled you so full of His love that there is no room for the love of sin.

We’ll talk more about the perfect love of Christ as we travel together on this journey. For now, let’s just say that I wish I had had the wisdom of Jesus during that late winter snowball fight. Maybe I wouldn’t have gotten beaned upside the head.

Until next time, put down those rocks. None of us are without sin.

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There’s an old joke about a Sunday school teacher who asks her students if they want to go to heaven. Everyone raise their hands but little Tommy. The teacher asks why he doesn’t want to go to heaven, he responds, “I do. I just thought you meant right now.”

Most of my life, I felt that way. I wanted to go to heaven, but not yet. When I was a child, my Sunday school teacher was also my first and second grade school teacher, Mrs. Alice Ada Orrell. I thought she was ancient, but she was only about 60. She taught nearly 20 more years after teaching me. She played piano when called upon, organized Vacation Bible School, and was always ready to testify when given the opportunity. I remember many times she testified that she was ready to “go home.” She meant that if she were to die that very day, she would be happy, for the life that awaited her on the other side would be far superior to this life, weighed down by the burdens and cares of this world. 

I didn’t understand that then. I do now. I am ready. I am ready end the battle against sin and death. I am ready to be done with health issues. I am sick of the struggle of wondering where my next meal is coming from, and wondering if I will make enough money to pay my bills next month. I am sick of the aches and pains of an aging and abused body. I am ready to go home, and ready to be the person God intended me to be. 

That’s not to say that I will be discontent to stick around until God calls me home, even if it is many years in the future. My prayer is for God to continue to sanctify me, lead me into holiness, and allow me to continue to feel His presence on a daily basis. Still, I let Him know that I am ready. 

The Apostle Peter tells us that Christ has prepared us a new life in heaven…

according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 

1 Peter 1:3-5

Are you ready? We never know when we will be called home. 

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A few moments later, the guide turns on an insignificant, old fashioned penlight. At that point, one can here multiple sighs of relief, for in a world of utter darkness, the smallest of lights can point the way. 

Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. 

         – Matthew 5:16

At different points in the Gospel, Jesus says that He is the light (John 8:12), and He says that you and I are the light (Matthew 5:14-16). Both are true statements. When I look back on the state of my mind when I lived in sin, I realize now that there was no light in me. Had God not been merciful, I would have perished and spent eternity cast into utter darkness, in torment, drowning in endless fire. He showed me the Light, and – praise God – I followed that Light. 

Now that He lives in me, His light shines through me (no credit to me). My prayer is that those around me may also see the light. I pray that everyone from my family to complete strangers may see something of Jesus in me, something that will compel them to follow the Light of Jesus Christ. 

I was a fool to wander and stay

Straight is the gate and narrow’s the way

Now I have traded the wrong for the right

Praise the Lord, I Saw the Light. 

                    – Hank Williams

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