One, holiness asks that we restore relationships with God and others. This is a mark of growth along our spiritual walk. The desire to restore relationships that have been broken because of sin. We cannot earn God’s love by changing our ways. Rather, we change our ways because God loves us and gives us the grace to make a fresh start, day by day, hour by hour. There have been countless times in my life when I have screwed up and hurt others. But the more I live into God’s grace, the more I realize when I hurt people and seek both reconciliation and to prevent me from hurting them again. This change can only come from God’s Spirit, “bearing witness with our spirit”, which the apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 8: 15-17.
Two, holiness brings something new into our lives. New life, new light, new strength, and a new heart. The Spirit gives us insight into this newness so that we can seek it out and fully embrace our new status in life as a child of God, because of Christ’s death for us on the cross. Justifying grace is the moment when the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us. This means that we are declared “not guilty” because of all that Christ did for us on the cross and we experience a change in status. As we continue along the spectrum of grace, sanctifying grace is the process by which the righteousness of Christ is imparted to us - it becomes a part of us, and we experience a change in heart. Through these changes we become more like Christ, day by day, as we grow and mature spiritually.
Three, sactification moves us towards perfection. God perfects us, but not all at once. We are rising to the likeness of Christ that is in us. Sometimes this perfection involves pruning, cutting away the areas in our lives that will not lead to growth and life, which can sometimes be painful. Christian perfection is both instantaneous (as in justifying grace) and extended over tie for maturity (as in sanctifying grace), thus making conversion a process. It happens once, but not all at once. It is a lifelong process of doing what is right and resisting what is evil.
I used to really dislike the idea of being made perfect. It sounded boring and impossible. But then I stumbled upon what John Wesley felt that perfection was - growing in relationship to other people and in love with God. That is achievable. That is something I can work towards and I can find hope in!
And best of all, God does not send us out to seek perfection on our own. The Holy Spirit gives us gifts to help us grow and build up the body of Christ. As a Christian matures, his or her life displays certain qualities known as the fruit of the spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. In talking about this passage in a Bible Study a few months ago, we realized that these are the characteristics that we want, because they best exemplify Christ. They show what it means to lay our lives aside for other people, because they are the marks of God using us. And we can all have them. The fruits of the Holy Spirit, each and every one of them, are available to all of us who have gathered here today, if only we will start to use our liberty, our freedom, to live a life of service for others.
Perfecting involves pruning. The Bible tells us that every vine and fruit tree requires pruning, and so do we. A life in grace is a life in process, and some of this process is painful. Christian perfection is both instantaneous and progressive. The Greek word for perfect can also be translated “mature or complete” Just as a person can be mature or complete as a five-year old, the same person years later can be quite different and still be a mature and complete fifteen year old, or a mature twenty-five year old, or complete sixty-five year old. This is both God’s call and promise. This is the doctrine, or belief, of the more - that God has even more to offer us, and we have even more to grow into, more of the fruits of the spirit to bring to maturity in our life.
No comments:
Post a Comment