Grace for Living a Holy Life Author: Creflo Dollar Summary Many Christians believe that holy living is impossible. It is indeed impossible in our own strength. But with God’s grace we can live a holy life. He gives us the strength and the ability to live a life that is pleasing and acceptable to Him. However, we cannot expect His grace to just fall upon us without any effort on our part. We have to cooperate with grace. Our part is to continue to do all we know to do according to His Word, while completely trusting and relying on Him. We need the grace of God to operate in true holiness (Hebrews 12:14, 15, AMP). When we are at our weakest point, God’s ability is at its strongest (2 Corinthians 12:7-9). His grace is sufficient. “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 1:24). We must cooperate with His grace. God has His part, and we have our part. Our part is to spend time in His Word daily, renewing our minds and obeying the Word. We also cooperate by resisting our sins, shortcomings, failures, bad habits, and addictions. We resist temptations knowing that God will help us overcome them. In resisting the urges to do wrong, we train ourselves to do what is right. This is proof that we are growing spiritually (Hebrews 5:13, 14, AMP). When we operate in God’s grace, we are invincible. Our vicious enemies, including Satan, cannot overtake us (Isaiah 35:8-10). This promise does not apply to Believers who do not walk in true holiness. If we do not walk in true holiness, there are certain benefits we miss out on—both here on earth and in heaven. If we develop holiness, we will not fall away and return to our old sins (2 Peter 1:9, 10, NLT). By becoming born-again, we escape the wickedness of the world. Those who get entangled in sin after they have been born again are in a worse position than they were before (2 Peter 2:20-22). God does not expect us to be perfect, but He does want us to pursue holiness. Holiness is being of one mind with God; it is agreeing with His Word. In the last days, there will be many worldly Christians. Sin will be rampant everywhere (2 Timothy 3:1-5; Matthew 24:12, NLT). These Christians will reject holiness and live in a lawless manner. Their love will grow cold. Christians who are not committed to living holy will ultimately become fruitless. We are slaves to whomever we obey. We cannot say we are serving God and serving sin simultaneously (Romans 6:16, AMP, Contemporary English Version). Living in a way that goes against God’s Word produces death of all kinds (Romans 6:16; Romans 8:12; 1 John 5:16; Jude 1:12,13 ) Those who endure in holiness will be saved. Scripture References Hebrews 12:14, 15, AMP 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 Jude 1:24 Contemporary English Version Hebrews 5:13, 14, AMP Isaiah 35:8-10 2 Peter 1:9, 10, NLT 2 Peter 2:20-22 2 Timothy 3:1-5,NLT Matthew 24:12, NLT Romans 6:16, Romans 6:16 Romans 8:12 1 John 5:16 Jude 1:12,13
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 12:54:37 +0000
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