TNT-Cell

Saturday, July 29, 2006

1:41 PM

"Pursue peace with all people and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:"
Hebrews 12: 14

We have discussed often the meaning of righteousness in cell and now we talk about holiness. Righteousness is our positional standing with God, that because of Christ's sacrifice on the cross, God now views us as blameless in His eyes. Holiness, on the other hand, speaks of our acts and deeds, the lifestyle that we lead and whether it is a life with or without sin.
You see, we can be conferred the title of prince or princess upon us, yet not walk in a very princely manner. I hope this loose analogy helps.
So what then is holiness really?
It is really many things. As Christians, we have a whole long lists of things we should not do, and an even longer list of that which we should do. Read Galatians 5, Ephesians 5 and 1 Timothy 6 to have a brief idea. I read once in a book that if Christianity was a list of don'ts, then every dead person would qualify as one. So then Christianity should not be just about dos and don'ts, but also about wanting to do and not wanting to do. We should allow our will to be transformed by God that we seek to please Him, rather than be constrained by legalism.
I propose then, that holiness is really to have the mind of Christ, to see things as He does, to love things that He does, to hate things that He does. But even then, such a definition is still staggering to say the least. How can we, as mere fallible men, ever hope to aspire to such a standard? Well, the answer is, we can't. Not by ourselves. Read Galatians 2:20. And John 15:5.
Lastly, some thoughts about holiness.
Pursue holiness as an end in itself. People forget that holiness by itself is valuable. They desire perhaps, spiritual gifts or perhaps advancement in their ministries, and these become a source of motivation for being holy. Spiritual gifts are good, and advancement in our ministries of importance as well, but if these should supplant pleasing God as our reason for holiness, then we might need to do more reflection in our lives. Holiness in our lives must be to please God. That we may draw closer to His presence and meet Him in our secret place.
Well, just an entry about how I view holiness. But enough of theorizing. Its the doing that is counted for.

Always open to differing views,
the van man

+ AMEN

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We believe in one God,
Christ Jesus.

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Galatians 3:26

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