I love that we are already "a chosen people, a royal priesthood (and) a holy nation" and yet we are usually far from being clean and pure at times. A passage that has gone through my mind over the past number of weeks is Ephesians 4:
"...to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold....
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you".
It is important that we don't become so fixated on personal purity that we are never content with who we are and how we interact with people but it is also important that every ounce of our lives is an acceptable sacrifice of worship. We want to live clean lives in a way that means we don't become self-centred. We want to live in the power and the freedom of the Holy Spirit and so Paul gives us some advice on how to do that with particular reference to how we can treat others, how we speak to others and what grieves the Spirit.
I think the Holy Spirit acts as a seal not only to identify us as His but to protect us, therefore, if this seal is broken we become vulnerable to all sorts of things. I guess maybe the term grieving could imply that the Holy Spirit grieves for us because He knows the cost and pain that sin can cause us and how we lose out on perfect communion with God.
So, the way we live matters.
"Take your everyday, ordinary life - your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life - and place it before God as an offering". Romans 12:1-2
Any thoughts??????????
3 comments:
Hey Claire!
Was great to see you guys in Stoke!
Really good points on purity. In fact it touches on something I've been dealing with alongside a friend who is really struggling in the area of purity. Our tendancy as christians can be to focus on the problem, and in so doing try to solve it - looking at the source of impurity and trying to snuff it out so that we are more Christlike.
In my experience, this has been a really hard path to follow. It's like saying to yourself "must not think of beer" over and over, when in fact all you're doing is focussing your mind on it all the more! I think that this is the sort of struggle the apostle Paul documents in Romans 7, where he's really stuck in the gap between good intentions and being a fallen human being. But he also identified the key:
"The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.
With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ's being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death."
So the question for me isn't whether we should strive for purity or not, but more about how we do it. Our hope lies in the Spirit of God spurring us on, not our own ability to deal with sin - Jesus has freed us from that. It doesn't mean it's easy, but by focussing on God completely, surely we are open to His transforming power and thus more able to deal with sin problems as they arise.
When I read that passage written by Paul hope never fails to rise up in me, as does a feeling of freedom. Not freedom to do as I like but freedom to take my focus away from sin and onto the living messiah. Wow!
Thanks so much for such a great post Kev. I really appreciate you taking the time to give your thoughts on this stuff. I love the spirit you bring to this conversation and I feel encouraged.
Great to meet your wife - pass on her website.
Claire
Hey Claire I got married recently and I hate to disappoint my wife. Why? because I love her. Every question that I pose to myself on scripture,doctrine,theology or philosophy I try (emphasise try!)to look at it in the context of relationship......... ie me and God
In the 50's there was a movement called the holinesss movement. It did have a great effect on the church but many people became victims of a Religious spirit. This only bred a people of guilt The only people Jesus seemed to want to make feel guilty were the Pharisees and we don't want to be like them!
Kevvo b is so right when he says that concentrating on the sin just ties us to it with even stronger ties. Whilst we don't ignore our sinful behaviour we DO concentrate on the One who has/does/will save us. That's our inspiration for worship. That's were our thankful hearts come from. That's were my heart begins to be filled with His love and I don't want to disappoint Him in my life. That's were I just want to call on(pray -harp and bowl an all that!) the 'Rescuer' to change me not so I am burdened with guilt but that He makes me more like Him so others can meet Him in me and so He gets the Glory.........you know the song 'It's all about You, Jesus'
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