GOD GIVES US THE GRACE TO LIVE HOLY!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29, 2019.

SUBJECT: GOD GIVES US THE GRACE TO LIVE HOLY! 

Memory verse: "For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly." (Psalm 84 vs 11.)

READ: Second Timothy 1 vs 9; First Peter 1 vs 15 - 16: 

Second Timothy 1:9: Who has saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.

First Peter 1:15: He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 

1:16: because it is written 'Be holy for I am holy'

INTIMATION:

Grace has been defined as undeserved (unmerited) favor. That is one aspect of grace, probably the one that we are most accustomed to hearing about, and it is wonderful. But we have also seen that grace is much more than that. Grace is power—the power of the Holy Spirit to come into our life and overcome our own evil tendencies. It is the power of God available to meet our needs without cost to us. There is nothing more powerful than grace, and it is received by believing rather than through human effort.

God's plan for us ab initio, is to be like Him, hence His creating us in His own image and after His likeness. He wanted us to live like Him. Unfortunately, sin separated us from Him. But in His love, mercy and grace, He sent His Son, as a propitiation for our sins (First John 4 vs 10), and through His blood reconciled us back to Himself, to live for Him and be like Him. God is holy and demands that we be holy. We are to separate ourselves from the world's sinful values, and be devoted to God's desire rather than our own, and carry His love and mercy into the world. 

But while God wants us to be holy, He realizes our weakness and inability. He knows that without help we can never be what He desires for us to be or do what He wants us to do. That is why He has sent His Spirit (the Comforter, Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby, Empower, and Encourager) to help us to fulfill His design and purpose for us.

Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us, and the Holy Spirit has been sent to prepare us for that place. That is not a Scripture, but it is scriptural; that is a truth based on the Word of God. This process through which the Holy Spirit makes us holy, or leads us into holiness is called sanctification. Sanctification therefore, refers to the process that God uses to do a work in us by His indwelling Holy Spirit to make us more and more holy until finally we become just like His Son Jesus. It is God's grace (the power of the Holy Spirit) we receive that enables us to meet the need of sanctification—the transformation process to holiness.

Sanctification (being made holy) is a progressive venture. The finality of that process will never occur while we are in these earthly bodies. But you and I don't need to be concerned about that. The only thing we need to be concerned about is progress. The question we must ask ourselves is: ‘are we making progress toward holiness, are we cooperating with the Holy Spirit and allowing Him to do what He wants to do in our lives?’

As believers we are not to be anxious about holiness or the process of sanctification ('be anxious for nothing' (Philippians 4 vs 6)), but we are to be serious about it. We are to recognize that it is God's will for us. We are to desire and thirst for it with all our hearts, and sincerely ask God for it in our fellowship with Him. We are to make every effort to cooperate with the Holy Spirit Who is working to bring it to pass in us day by day. But while we are not to worry about holiness, we are also not to have a light attitude toward sin. Grace is not a license to sin.

Like the believers in Paul's day, our problem is not just a misunderstanding of sin, it is also a misunderstanding of grace. When the Holy Spirit shows us what to do to keep from sinning and walk in holiness, we immediately try to do it our own without His help. We struggle and strive and strain, eventually ending up miserable and frustrated and confused because we don't understand why we keep failing. The ultimate goal to be accomplished in us by grace is to empower us to live a holy life—consecrated and set aside to God for His sacred use and purpose.

Prayer: Abba Father, give me the grace to live holy; being sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and receiving His empowerment to comply accordingly, in Jesus’ Name I prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!