Holiness : My Part

In my last blog entry, titled “Holiness: He Died for Me”, I wrote about the price that was paid for us, followers of the Messiah.

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2Cor. 5:21

Many in the Body of Messiah know and understand this very well. I hear many messages about what God has done for us, the Messiah’s love for us, and that He gave His life for you and I. But what about our part? This, I believe, is something we do not hear enough of:

For Messiah’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15

One of the most important things for us to understand is that once we said YES to Him (accepting His atonement for us) we said NO to ourselves; as new creations in Messiah, we are now to devote our lives completely to Him and for Him who died and rose again on our behalf.

It is only with this understanding that we can start to live holy lives before the Lord and follow His example in how to be holy; His act of mercy through the shedding of His blood compels us to live for Him because we are grateful for what He has done! It is the foundation for our desire to live holy lives, pleasing and honoring to Him.

Once we understand that it is not about us anymore – on the contrary, that it is all about HIM – we will start to live in obedience to His Word from a perspective of freedom. It is the freedom to choose those things that are holy and pleasing unto Him.

I want to encourage you to not fall into the trap of giving excuses for your actions. Ask yourself how willing you are to submit to God’s will for your life, which is that you be conformed to the likeness of His Son. This is not an easy journey! But it is all part of becoming holy before the LORD. Because the reality is that each one of us will face God on Judgment day and will give an account for all that we have and haven’t done. Or in other words, for those things, which are pleasing to God – holy in His sight – and those, which are not.

Today is a new opportunity to live your life holy and pleasing to the LORD; let us devote our lives to Him, and live not by our standards but by His!