He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time. – 2 Timothy 1:9 (NIV)
“I Need You, Lord.” Know the song? I like to play it when I am in crisis.
Toward the end of my sciatica, I kept it on auto-repeat on my phone as I worked. Thank God my job allows me to listen to music.
My favorite part is “Holiness is Christ in me.”
This speaks to me.
Most people think that holiness is doing everything right, following every law and regulation in the Bible.
If we define holiness as doing everything right, following everything in the Bible, we will never be holy.
How should we define holiness then?
1 Peter 1:16 tells us to be holy as Christ is holy.
We cannot possibly be holy as Christ is holy because we are only human. We make mistakes. We have addictions. We do things we never thought we would do when push comes to shove.
The only way for us to be holy is for Christ to live in and through us. Christ made us holy when He took our place at the Cross.
In Leviticus 4:1-35, the Hebrews relied on the blood of animals to atone for their sins.
Being all God and all human, Jesus came to Earth to be the only human to ever live who followed every regulation, every commandment, every ordinance of the Law.
He fulfilled the Law for us (Matthew 5:17.)
Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins (Hebrews 9:22.)
Jesus, the sinless Son of God, shed His blood to not only atone for our sins–once and for all (Romans 6:10)–but to justify us as well (Romans 3:23.)
He took the wrath and punishment of God for every sin we would ever commit, so we wouldn’t be separated from God. Now and eternally.
In exchange, He gave us His righteousness (2 Corinthans 5:21.) We are in right standing not because of anything we did or didn’t do (Ephesians 2:8.) We are in right standing because of Jesus and Jesus alone.
As long Jesus’ sacrifice is good in the eyes of God, then we are in right standing with God. Not because of us. Because of Jesus.
We are holy because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross.
When we believe the Truth of God’s Word, we start doing the right things without thinking about it. Believing right comes first not the other way around.
Start believing that you are righteous through Christ, that you are holy through His sacrifice at the Cross. Meditate on it until it is an ingrained part of you.
Then watch how your life changes.
#Jesus #Bible #HolySpirit #God #dream #holiness #Annagail #Lynes
Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com–CHRISTIAN WRITERS
