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Here's an article written by a friend a few years ago, a friend who has my utter most respect. I thought I would share it here just to see what kind of response the subject material would get from those who frequent these boards.
Grace Unto Holiness
by Desirie Echols on Saturday, July 4, 2009
God says, "Be thou holy, for I am Holy." For many Christians that is a depressing scripture. Some wish they can just skip over it, or save it for another time. They tell themselves that sometime in the future they will be more "spiritual" and finally get to the place where they feel like they're doing okay. Hoping when they read it then, it won't make them feel so bad about themselves.
Others have dealt with the matter of holiness, by simply deciding that the whole idea of holiness the bible is referring to is just a spiritual state that I automatically attain because I have accepted Jesus. They believe that they are already holy, while not accepting that there is any requirement by God that their lives reflect spiritual truth.
For years much of the church has preached a tainted Gospel, a doctrine that mixes Law and Grace which the Apostle Paul warned about. We've been taught that holiness is a means to God's presence, rather than a result of His presence. As a result our generation, so eager to get out from under the condemnation of a legalistic Christianity, has abandoned holiness altogether. Legalism has no power to cleanse the souls and hearts of men that it labels evil. Holiness and purity, while often longed for, seem so far out of reach. How precious is the blood of Christ, which has the power to both wash away my sin, and to purge my conscience from the condemnation of sin AND from dead works.
God is calling for a revival of holiness! He is looking for a people willing to be set apart. Not out of condemnation or a false religious sense of obligation, but out of a love relationship with God and the grace He has supplied that has freed us from sin.
God wants to free us from both the burden of condemnation as well as the bondage of sin. It is the work of Grace that accomplishes both in our lives. We don't understand grace. By grace I have been given access to His very throne, and by grace rather than being struck dead by His Holiness I am transformed by it into the likeness of His Son.
Lord, free us from the spirit of religion!
"Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. (James 1:27)
Pure and undefiled religion is not about us. It is not about rituals and man made tradition. It's about being a reflection of God's love to a hurting generation. How can we reflect God unless we are willing to do as He does and say what He says and keep ourselves unspotted from the world? Jesus said if you have seen Me you have seen the Father, because He did nothing of His own authority. We can not reflect God to the world until it is no longer us who live but Christ in us. The truth is, it's not about earning God's love but rather becoming a vessel of His love.
A religious spirit takes true religion and twists the life out of it, so that all that is left is a self centered legalism and the condemnation of not ever measuring up. The spirit of religion has deceived us into believing it's all about us. Doing good results in spiritual pride and doing wrong results in condemnation. So many are stuck on this spiritual roller coaster. Religion keeps us so wrapped up in self that we lose sight of the needs of the lost. We are self focused and fail to move past our issues and short comings, disqualifying ourselves from effective ministry.
Our vision is misdirected. We are too busy looking at ourselves that we have forgotten how to seek out the face of God. It is only when we behold Him that we truly see ourselves and the reality of our spiritual state. We can't be holy until we have beheld His Holiness with eyes unveiled. Then we cry out like Isaiah saying, "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts. "(Isaiah 6:5) It is then that we are purged of sin by the coals taken from the fires of the altar. It is the grace of God that reveals my wretched state, and the grace of God that has paid for the wonderful exchange of my filthy rags for His righteous garments.
We have reduced the whole idea of "walking in the Spirit" to our meager attempts to deny our flesh it's desires to "flesh out." We give ourselves kudos for not "telling off" the person who mistreats us. We think our carnal efforts of self-control amount to a spiritual walk. Self-control while fruit of the Spirit, is not in and of itself the definition of "walking in the Spirit."
Truly walking in the Spirit results in a change of our nature. Our desires change, and we become partakers of His Divine nature. We become God conscious instead of self-conscious. Our entire identity is truly in Christ. We change because we are in tune with Holy Spirit and offending Him even slightly deeply moves and grieves us. We cry out in repentance, "Lord, take not Your Holy Spirit from me!" Because as we feel Him lift due to our disobedience, we are consumed with the Holy fear of taking our next breath without His presence. Learning to "walk in the Spirit", means learning that we cannot live even one minute without Him.
It no longer matters whether or not our compromise technically constitutes sin. We guard every spiritual window and change every habit, because if it offends Holy Spirit we can no longer tolerate it. We are "set apart" as our grieving spirit, that is intimately unified with Holy Spirit, retreats into the Secret Place of His Holy presence to escape this sin infested world and find rest. We weep and cry out to God like David and say, "Rivers run down from my eyes because men do not keep your law." (Psalms 119:136) The very sight of the world around us causes us cry out in intercession, asking that the Lord would somehow give us the grace to change the world we live in.
Lord, make us holy!
Grace Unto Holiness
by Desirie Echols on Saturday, July 4, 2009
God says, "Be thou holy, for I am Holy." For many Christians that is a depressing scripture. Some wish they can just skip over it, or save it for another time. They tell themselves that sometime in the future they will be more "spiritual" and finally get to the place where they feel like they're doing okay. Hoping when they read it then, it won't make them feel so bad about themselves.
Others have dealt with the matter of holiness, by simply deciding that the whole idea of holiness the bible is referring to is just a spiritual state that I automatically attain because I have accepted Jesus. They believe that they are already holy, while not accepting that there is any requirement by God that their lives reflect spiritual truth.
For years much of the church has preached a tainted Gospel, a doctrine that mixes Law and Grace which the Apostle Paul warned about. We've been taught that holiness is a means to God's presence, rather than a result of His presence. As a result our generation, so eager to get out from under the condemnation of a legalistic Christianity, has abandoned holiness altogether. Legalism has no power to cleanse the souls and hearts of men that it labels evil. Holiness and purity, while often longed for, seem so far out of reach. How precious is the blood of Christ, which has the power to both wash away my sin, and to purge my conscience from the condemnation of sin AND from dead works.
God is calling for a revival of holiness! He is looking for a people willing to be set apart. Not out of condemnation or a false religious sense of obligation, but out of a love relationship with God and the grace He has supplied that has freed us from sin.
God wants to free us from both the burden of condemnation as well as the bondage of sin. It is the work of Grace that accomplishes both in our lives. We don't understand grace. By grace I have been given access to His very throne, and by grace rather than being struck dead by His Holiness I am transformed by it into the likeness of His Son.
Lord, free us from the spirit of religion!
"Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. (James 1:27)
Pure and undefiled religion is not about us. It is not about rituals and man made tradition. It's about being a reflection of God's love to a hurting generation. How can we reflect God unless we are willing to do as He does and say what He says and keep ourselves unspotted from the world? Jesus said if you have seen Me you have seen the Father, because He did nothing of His own authority. We can not reflect God to the world until it is no longer us who live but Christ in us. The truth is, it's not about earning God's love but rather becoming a vessel of His love.
A religious spirit takes true religion and twists the life out of it, so that all that is left is a self centered legalism and the condemnation of not ever measuring up. The spirit of religion has deceived us into believing it's all about us. Doing good results in spiritual pride and doing wrong results in condemnation. So many are stuck on this spiritual roller coaster. Religion keeps us so wrapped up in self that we lose sight of the needs of the lost. We are self focused and fail to move past our issues and short comings, disqualifying ourselves from effective ministry.
Our vision is misdirected. We are too busy looking at ourselves that we have forgotten how to seek out the face of God. It is only when we behold Him that we truly see ourselves and the reality of our spiritual state. We can't be holy until we have beheld His Holiness with eyes unveiled. Then we cry out like Isaiah saying, "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts. "(Isaiah 6:5) It is then that we are purged of sin by the coals taken from the fires of the altar. It is the grace of God that reveals my wretched state, and the grace of God that has paid for the wonderful exchange of my filthy rags for His righteous garments.
We have reduced the whole idea of "walking in the Spirit" to our meager attempts to deny our flesh it's desires to "flesh out." We give ourselves kudos for not "telling off" the person who mistreats us. We think our carnal efforts of self-control amount to a spiritual walk. Self-control while fruit of the Spirit, is not in and of itself the definition of "walking in the Spirit."
Truly walking in the Spirit results in a change of our nature. Our desires change, and we become partakers of His Divine nature. We become God conscious instead of self-conscious. Our entire identity is truly in Christ. We change because we are in tune with Holy Spirit and offending Him even slightly deeply moves and grieves us. We cry out in repentance, "Lord, take not Your Holy Spirit from me!" Because as we feel Him lift due to our disobedience, we are consumed with the Holy fear of taking our next breath without His presence. Learning to "walk in the Spirit", means learning that we cannot live even one minute without Him.
It no longer matters whether or not our compromise technically constitutes sin. We guard every spiritual window and change every habit, because if it offends Holy Spirit we can no longer tolerate it. We are "set apart" as our grieving spirit, that is intimately unified with Holy Spirit, retreats into the Secret Place of His Holy presence to escape this sin infested world and find rest. We weep and cry out to God like David and say, "Rivers run down from my eyes because men do not keep your law." (Psalms 119:136) The very sight of the world around us causes us cry out in intercession, asking that the Lord would somehow give us the grace to change the world we live in.
Lord, make us holy!