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The Daily Word of Righteousness
Holiness Unto the Lord, #8
If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings [insults], evil surmisings [wicked suspicions], Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. (I Timothy 6:3-5)
Grace is the authority and power of God working in the life of an individual to re-create his nature, delivering him from all satanic influences. This is a different concept from that of grace being a legal maneuver that qualifies an individual for escape from the Day of Wrath and eternal residence in the spirit paradise.
There are situations in which the legal waiving of guilt is, for a season, the only functioning aspect of redemption. However, for most believers most of the time, true grace produces holiness. The major portion of the writings of the Apostles of the new covenant is devoted to the necessity for holy behavior.
Anyone who teaches that a religious belief is of relative importance in the eyes of God when weighed against the development of a pure and holy character is inviting delusion on himself and his hearers. There is no substitute for a Spirit-filled life of holiness to the Lord. There is no other kind of Christian experience that is acceptable to the God of Heaven.
Religious practices come and go and vary from church to church. Some are more edifying than others. But the Word of God is eternal and unchanging, and it is one from Genesis to Revelation: Israel must be HOLINESS TO THE LORD!
Christians are held accountable for their actions.
When we first are saved we bring an entire life of sin to Christ, asking for forgiveness through the blood of Christ. No one is turned away. We receive complete forgiveness.
But what about the sins we continue to commit while we are Christians? Does God bring them into judgment? Indeed He does! The contemporary evangelical belief appears to be that a Christian can lie and it is excused while a non-Christian is judged for his lie. This is a misunderstanding of the manner in which the atonement of Christ operates.
The fact is, the lie the Christian tells is of far more serious consequence than the lie of the non-Christian. The Christian is a member of the Body of Christ. Christ is the Judge of the heavens and the earth. God will examine the Christian lie with unusual interest because the Body of Christ, the eternal habitation of God, the fulfillment of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, must be utterly holy.
The Body of Christ is to be righteous and holy in all of it imaginations, motives, words, and deeds. God judges very carefully the motives, words, and deeds that proceed from each Christian.
A glance at the writings of the Christian Apostles reveals that God judges sin whether committed by a Christian or a non-Christian.
Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? (Romans 6:16)
The above passage is referring to Christians.
To be continued.