BIBLICAL HOLINESS (LESSON THREE)
1 PETER 1:13-19
13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
HEBREWS 12:14
Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.
PRINCIPLES OF HOLINESS CONTINUED
In our last lesson we considered Philippians 2:12-13 in an attempt to understand the balance between human responsibility and divine enablement.We will continue to “pitch our mental tent” there before moving on to examine the purpose of holiness.
In lesson two, we noted that in verse twelve of Philippians 2, Paul focused on human responsibility and in verse thirteen he emphasised divine enablement. We said that these two provide a perfect balance which must be kept if the Christian life is to be lived at its best. This balance is seen at work throughout the Bible in the lives of the individuals whom God has called. God has a special purpose for each person to fulfil, and each person is unique and not an imitation of somebody else. For example, it took God forty years to bring Moses to the place where He could use him to lead the people of Israel. As Moses tended the sheep of his Father-in-law during those forty years, God was working in him so that one day He might work through him. God is more interested in the workman than in the work. If the workman is what he ought to be, the work will be what it ought to be. As E.M. Bounds noted, “Men are God’s method. The church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men.”
The power that works in us is the power of the Holy Spirit. The power is there, but how do we use it? What “tools” does God use, by His Spirit, to work in our lives? There are three very important “tools”: the Word of God, prayer, and suffering.
The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to release divine energy in our lives. The Word of God is vitally important for spiritual growth. It is impossible to ignore the Bible and be a strong and fruitful Christian.
In 1 Thessalonians 2:13, Paul wrote: “For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.”
The same Word that spoke the universe into being can release divine power in our lives! But we have a responsibility to appreciate the Word, and not treat it the way we treat the words of men. The Word of God is unique: it is inspired, authoritative, and infallible. If we do not appreciate the Word, then God’s power cannot energize our lives.
But we must also appropriate the Word, we must receive it. This means much more than listening to it, or even reading and studying it. To receive God’s Word means to welcome it and make it a part of our inner being. God’s Word is to the spiritual man what food is to the physical man. We must daily spend devotional time in the Word, seeking the mind of God. The members of the Chinese church used to have a saying, “No Bible - no breakfast!” If we followed that motto in the western world, many Christians would die of hunger.
Finally, we must apply the Word; God’s Word works only in the lives of those who live it out in their daily lives. When we read God’s Word, believe it, welcome it, allow it to transform our inner heart-life and act on it, then God’s power is released in our lives and the will of God will be accomplished in us. God will work through us! In Isaiah55:10-11, we read the following: “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it” (New Living Translation).
The angel said to Mary in Luke 1:37,“For with God nothing shall be impossible.” The Amplified Bible renders this verse in the following way: “For with God nothing is ever impossible and no word from God shall be without power or impossible of fulfillment.” The Word of God has in it the power of accomplishment, and faith releases that power.
We see this truth operating in the life of Jesus. He commanded the crippled man to stretch out his hand, and the very command gave the man the power to obey and be healed (Matthew 12:13). He commanded Peter to walk to Him on the water, and the command enabled Peter to do so, as long as he exercised faith (Matthew 14:22-33). It is faith in God’s Word that releases God’s power. He will provide us with the power to do whatever He has commanded. The Holy Spirit wrote down the promises for us in the Word, and He gives us the faith to lay hold on these promises. 2 Corinthians 1:20 says, “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.” The Message renders this verse in the following manner: “Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God’s Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident.”
I am convinced that if we will appreciate, appropriate and apply the Word of God, we will see miracles in our lives both internally and externally.
If we want God’s power working in us, we must spend time daily with the Word of God. But we must also pray, because prayer is another important “tool” that God uses to work in the lives of the saints. The following passages indicate that the Holy Spirit is closely related to the practice of prayer in the lives of the saints: “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27).
“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints” (Ephesians 6:18).
“But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost” (Jude 20).
In the Old Testament tabernacle, there was a small golden altar standing before the veil that separated the holy place from the most holy place.
It was on this altar that the priest burned the incense (Exodus 30:1-10). The incense is a picture of prayer. It had to be mixed according to God’s specification and could not be counterfeited by man. The fire on the altar is a picture of the Holy Spirit, for it is He who takes our prayers and “ignites” them in the will of God. It is possible to pray intensely and loudly in the flesh and never get through to God. It is also possible to pray quietly, but earnestly in the Spirit and see a great move of God.
In Romans 8:26-28, Paul write:“And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will” (New Living Translation). The Holy Spirit groans with us and feels the burdens of our weaknesses and suffering. But the Spirit does more than groan. He prays for us in His groaning so that we might be led into the will of God. We do not always know God’s will. We do not always know how to pray, but the Spirit intercedes so that we might live in the will of God.
According to Ephesians 6:18, prayer is the energy that enables the Christian to effectively wear the articles that comprise the “whole armour of God” and to employ the sword of the Spirit. We cannot fight the battle in our own power, no matter how strong or talented we may think we are. Prayer is the power for victory, but not just any kind of prayer. Paul advises the Ephesians how to pray in order to defeat Satan.
He informed them to pray always. This means that we should always be in communion with the Lord. The receiver of the “Royal Telephone” must not be hung up for too long. The saints should never have to say when they kneel in prayer, “Lord, we come into Thy presence,” because we should always be in His presence! A Christian must “pray without ceasing” because he is always subject to temptations and the attacks of the devil.
We must keep on praying. The word perseverance simply means “to stick to it and not quit.” Perseverance in prayer does not mean we are trying to twist God’s arm to get what we want, but rather, that we are deeply concerned and burdened and cannot rest until we get God’s answer. It has been rightly said that “Prayer is not getting man’s will done in heaven; it is getting God’s will done on earth.” Not everybody is so constituted that he can sincerely spend a whole night in prayer, but all of us can persevere in prayer far more than we do.
Unless the Christian takes time for prayer, God cannot work in him and through him. In the Bible and in church history, the people God used were people who prayed.
The Word of God and prayer go together in spiritual growth. If all we do is read and study the Bible, we will have a great deal of light but not much power. However, if we concentrate on prayer and ignore the Bible, we may be guilty of zeal without knowledge.
We will consider one more “tool” that God uses to work in the lives of the saints. That “tool” is suffering. The Spirit of God works in a special way in the lives of those who suffer for the glory of Christ. In 1 Peter 4:12-19, we read the following: “Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world. So be happy when you are insulted for being a Christian, for then the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you. If you suffer, however, it must not be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying into other people’s affairs. But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his name! For the time has come for judgment, and it must begin with God’s household. And if judgment begins with us, what terrible fate awaits those who have never obeyed God’s Good News? And also, “If the righteous are barely saved, what will happen to godless sinners?” So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases “God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you” (New Living Translation).
In the Greek the words “don’t be surprised” or, as the King James Version renders it “think it not strange”, are literally “stop thinking it a thing alien” to you.
The Christians to whom Peter wrote were thinking that the suffering which they were enduring was a thing foreign or alien to their Christian lives, as if Christianity provided immunity from suffering. They were exhorted by Peter to think it a natural and expected thing that such suffering for righteousness’ sake would come in view of the world’s hatred of Christ, and therefore to one who bears His name and reflects Him in his life.
Peter speaks of these sufferings as a “fiery trial.” The words “fiery trial,” are the rendering of a Greek word which literally means “a burning,” but is used in here to refer to a smelting furnace and the smelting process in which gold or silver ore is purified. The sufferings which the saints to whom Peter’s letter was addressed, were undergoing constituted the smelting furnace in which their lives were being purified. Even this suffering for righteousness’ sake is all within the plan of God. It is used by Him to purify our lives from sin.
Instead of thinking it a strange or alien thing to them, the saints were exhorted not only to expect such suffering, but to rejoice in the fact that they could be partakers of Christ’s sufferings. Their rejoicing should arise from the fact that they share in common with Christ in suffering for the sake of righteousness. The sufferings of Christ spoken of here are not His sufferings on the Cross in the place of the sinner, but the sufferings which He had to bear while enduring the opposition of sinners against Himself while living out His beautiful life on earth.
In this first epistle of Peter, christian suffering appears to be limited in its primary application and reference to suffering which is the result of persecution by the world because of one’s testimony for the Lord Jesus. However, a secondary application may be made in the sense that suffering in general, acts as a purifying agency in the life of the Christian when the latter reacts toward it in a meek and submissive way. The “fiery trial” has a way of burning away the impurity in the life of a Christian and empowering him to serve Christ.
In the furnace of persecution and suffering, we often have more light by which we can examine our lives and ministries. One question we should ask ourselves as we examine our own lives is, “Why am I suffering?” It is important to note that not all suffering is a “fiery trial” from the Lord. If a Christian breaks the law and gets into trouble, or becomes a meddler into other people’s lives, or disobeys God’s Word, then he ought to suffer! There is no glory in that kind of suffering. The fact that we are Christians is not a guarantee that we escape the normal consequences of our wrongdoing. We may not be guilty of murder, but what about stealing, or meddling? When we suffer, let us ensure that we are suffering because we are Christians and not because we are criminals.
The Word of God, prayer, and suffering are three “tools” that God uses in our lives. Just as electricity must run through a conductor, so the Holy Spirit must work through the means God has provided. As the Christian reads the Word and prays, he becomes more like Christ, and the more he becomes like Christ, the more the unsaved world opposes him. This daily “fellowship of His sufferings” (Philippians 3:10), drives the Christian back to the Word and prayer, so that all three “tools” work together to provide the spiritual power he needs to glorify Christ.
THE PURPOSE FOR HOLINESS
The primary reason for holiness is to please God. We belong to God in a double sense: by creation and by redemption. We have no right to live contrary to God’s will because we belong to Him. The following passages indicate this: 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body” (New Living Translation).
2 Corinthians 5:14-15
“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.”
Paul states emphatically in 1 Corinthians 6:19, that our bodies are “the temple of the Holy Spirit” This is a remarkable statement! The living God dwells in the inner heart-life of the Christian as truly as He dwelt in the Tabernacle in the wilderness and in Solomon’s Temple! In the same way that the Tabernacle and Temple and all of the vessels in them were holy, separated from all common and profane uses, and dedicated alone to the service of God, so the bodies and spirits of genuine Christians are holy, and all their members should be employed in the service of God alone.