God’s Way for Being Holy (Part 2)

I must confess, searching out this matter of holiness with you has been a challenge for me. Not so much with the understanding – the Holy Spirit is a good and patient teacher. My difficulty lies almost entirely in how to share what He has been so gracious to reveal.

And so, I ask for your patience and mercy. Maybe not the best way to start an article, but it seems to be the Spirit’s direction. Perhaps it’s an encouragement to dig in for greater understanding and faith. Perhaps it’s a warning – that God’s way for being holy is as challenging as we might expect.

On the brighter side, God’s way for being holy is not as mysterious as I initially suspected, and the search has produced some exciting discoveries. We will share some of those as we address the question, “How do Christians participate in God’s way for being holy?” ?

Shared Sanctification

In a nutshell, God’s way for being holy is a matter of denial and death (see, simple… but very, very hard). This is not what I expected (how about you?), but I am now not so surprised at the revelation. Let me explain.

As we learned in the definitions of Part 1, to be holy is to be set apart for God, including those things and people He declares to be holy. This is the positional definition we enjoy in Christ Jesus, who has become our righteousness and sanctification (1Corinthians 1:30).

We first acquire this position through the justifying blood and reconciling death of the Son of God.

But?God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified?by His blood, we shall be saved?from wrath through Him. For?if when we were enemies?we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved?by His life. Romans 5:8-10

In Christ, we spiritually inherit His holiness before God. As we know, this position was acquired at great price, even the suffering of our Good King.

Now, here’s one of those exciting discoveries I promised: Jesus’ suffering – denying Himself and taking up His cross – is directly related to His and our sanctification.

For it was fitting for Him,?for whom?are?all things and by whom?are?all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation?perfect through sufferings. For?both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified?are?all of one, for which reason?He is not ashamed to call them brethren… Hebrew 2:10-11

As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And?for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. John 17:18-19

So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” John 20:21

Then He said to?them?all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him?deny?himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23

The Father does not require anything of us He has not already required of His Son. Recognizing that the Son of Man walked the same road should encourage us greatly. And there’s more!!

But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth… 2Thessalonians 2:13

Here we discover sanctification (i.e., being made holy) is a critical part of the salvation process. As many already know, salvation begins with justification “by His blood (Romans 5:9)”, progresses “through sanctification” (2Thessalonians 2:13), and ends in our glorification:

Therefore we?do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward?man?is?being renewed day by day. For?our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding?and?eternal weight of glory… 2Corinthians 4:16-17

Beloved,?now we are children of God; and?it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed,?we shall be like Him, for?we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. 1John 3:2-3

We will come back to this momentarily. But first, I’ve got to share another exciting discovery: In this matter of glory, we discover again that Jesus walked the same road, not being glorified until His work here on earth was done.

But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet?given,?because Jesus was not yet?glorified. John 7:39

And here’s another encouraging connection between Christ’s life here on earth and our own: endurance.

…looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of?our?faith,?who for the joy that was set before Him?endured the cross, despising the shame, and?has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2

Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of?evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great?is?your reward in heaven, for?so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:11-12

And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who?endures?to the end will be?saved. Matthew 10:22

I hope this encourages you as much as it does me. Not only are we positionally holy before God, in Christ, but we are unified with our Savior (“are all of one” in the Hebrews passage) through the process of shared sanctification, ours being dependent on His. Of course, this is much more than a coincidence, as we will soon discover.

So, How Do We Get There?

To answer our question – How do we participate in God’s way for being holy? – we turn back to Romans 5:8-10. Read it again and notice the phrase “much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved?by His life.”

Given the connection between salvation and sanctification – and those following justification and reconciliation, respectively – we can confidently assert that the same life that saves us also accomplishes our sanctification. This is made clearer still in 1Corinthians 1:30-31.

But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and?righteousness and sanctification and redemption— that, as it is written,?“He who glories, let him glory in the?Lord.”

This reference to glory reminds me of the promise of our transformation into the image of the Lord’s glory.

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding?as in a mirror?the glory of the Lord,?are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2Corinthians 3:18

Notice that our transformation is “by the Spirit of the Lord”, as is our sanctification (see the 2Thessalonians 2:13 passage above). The connections here are profound in their support of Christ’s life, the life of Christ in us, as the key to our being made holy. This brings us finally to the matter of denial and death as God’s way for being holy.

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then?heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,?if indeed we suffer with?Him,?that we may also be glorified together. Romans 8:16-17

I have been?crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the?life?which I now live in the flesh?I live by the faith of the Son of God,?who loved me and gave Himself for me. Galatians 2:20

Then He said to?them?all,?“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.” Luke 9:23-24

How do we participate in God’s way for being holy? We lose our life through denial and death to self, to live in and from the now sanctified life of Jesus Christ, who lives in us. We do so by grace, through belief in the truth and the transforming power of the Holy Spirit (2Thessalonians 2:13).

I must confess, I’ve spent most of my life avoiding suffering – at all costs – not realizing the threat of self-protection to my identification as an heir of God and to the promise of eternal life in His Son. I grew up believing that comfort was promised and preferable.

Denial and death did not make sense in my comfort paradigm, so I ignored the notion altogether. I was deceived, not by anyone in particular, but by conformity to the world.

Thank God, the truth will make us free. The Holy Spirit has been sent to teach, renew, and transform. We can be holy.

That seems to be a good place to stop, so we will hold the remainder for Part 3. In the meantime, I hope and pray you will be encouraged and given time to consider the eternal purposes God has ordained in the denial and death of self.

God bless you with courage to deny yourself and take up your cross daily.

Have a strong day in the Lord,

Rob

#iamjustthepen