Understanding GRACE, RIGHTEOUSNESS and HOLINESS - Part 2 In Part-1, we looked at Gods will concerning Believers Abstinence frm sin, and now in this second part, we shall take our study even deeper, and see WHY so much emphasis is placed By God on Believers Abstinence frm a life of sin, and also find out what happens when a Believer gets involved in a life of sin and refused to abstain frm it, and d resulting consequences! 1John1:6 IF we SAY that we HAVE FELLOWSHIP with Him[God], and WALK IN DARKNESS, we LIE, and do NOT the TRUTH; This vrs says that we cannot live in Sin, and claim to have Fellowship with God! If we continue in sin and yet claim to have Fellowship with God, then we Lie! In other to fully grasp the profundity of dis vrs, I will first hv to quickly explain and distinguish for u two Underlying Concepts; Righteousness and Holiness, which have been greatly confused and misunderstood among folks. Now the difference btw these two is this; RIGHTEOUSNESS has to do with the NATURE of God in our Recreated human spirits as believers, while HOLINESS has to do with the STATE or CONDITION of our spirit as a result of being called and SEPARATED into FELLOWSHIP or Communion with God. Now frm our above text, we saw that when a BELIEVER walks in darkness, which simply means dat when he walks or lives in SIN, though the sin DOES NOT affects his nature of righteousness, BUT it DOES have a great DEVASTATING effect on his fellowship with God! And dat has to do with his Holiness, the condition or state of being Separated unto God in Communion. This is one area where many christians hv missed it; they only know sm things about Righteousness but know very little about Holiness, and as a result hv gone into error not hving SUFFICIENT and BALANCED TEACHINGS in this two Crucial areas! Even worst is dat sm christians hv confused the two Concepts and taken them to mean d same thing, but they are NOT! One is a Nature while the other is a Condition a State. You might say But, Bro Godwin whats the difference btw those two terms Nature and Condition, and what difference does it make afterall? Well there is an IRRECONCILABLE difference btw those two terms, and it makes ALL the DIFFERENCE in the world btw being Righteous and being Holy! U see, some even hv dis erroneous idea that, since Sin does not affect Righteousness, then maybe they shld just go ahead and CONTINUE therein! But hey! It is not so! U see, this people hv insufficient knowledge in dis area, and failed to realise dat yes, even though Sin does NOT affect righteousness, it DOES hv a GRAVE effect on holiness, and God is far MORE Concern about our HOLINESS than our RIGHTEOUSNESS! And thats bcs our righteousness is a NATURE and a GIFT frm God which cannot be changed or defaced by Sin, BUT our Holiness is a CONDITION of our recreated human spirit in Separation unto God and constant communion with God, which can be tampered by sin through our failure to live right, and work the works of righteousness, producing the Fruits that becometh of righteousness ! That is why God said in 1Peter:16 Be Holy for I Am Holy. Now I want u to notice that God did NOT say Be Righteous for I am Righteous, rather He says Be HOLY for I am HOLY! Why???? Well, just hold on, I will show u in a moment. The word translated Holy here in dis verse is ἅγιος(Hagios.) It is taken frm d root word Hagnos frm which also sm other technical words like ἁγιασμός(Hagiasmos), ἁγιωσύνη(Hagiosune) were derived, and in Scripture, its spiritual significance Is To be Separated FROM Sin, and therefore CONSECRATED unto God, Sacred! U see, dis definition is quite different frm that of Righteousness which is a Nature. This is a call to Holy Living in Close and Constant Fellowship with God, FREE FROM SIN!!! Let me give u an example that will help u understand it better. U remember the account of JOSEPH with Portiphars wife. Joseph REFUSED to lie with her in bed, by saying How...can i do dis GREAT WICKEDNESS, and SIN against God? He didnt commit d sin, not bcs it would change who he was as Gods son and automatically change him to d devils son, BUT bcs it would have a GRAVE effect in his COMMUNION with God! Gen39:9 This is how it is with us as believers too. Though sin does not stops us frm being the Righteousness of God, BUT it does STOP us frm CONTINUING in the State of Holiness in which we have been called! Sin is just the opposite of Holiness. Sin Separates u FROM God, while Holiness means Separated UNTO God! And our Opening vrs says Sin is CAPABLE of SEPARATING us in FELLOWSHIP frm God. That means that when u sin, though u still remain Righteous, but ur Holiness is at stake! Righteousness has to do with our RELATIONSHIP with God, being made His righteousness bcs we are IN Christ His Son, while Holiness has to do with our FELLOWSHIP with God! Ofcourse u know there is a big difference btw Relationship and Fellowship. Lets say for example ur Dad travels for a business trip, spent a long time over there and hardly calls home. Though that relationship of Father and Son still exist btw u two bcs u are his biological son, BUT for the mean time there is NO fellowship or communion whatsoever btw u two, at least not UNTIL he returns back! Likewise, u can be righteous as a Believer by reason of ur being born again, but when u live in sin, ur Holiness is out of place, and God is NOT Happy about it! Let me give u one more example; when David sinned against God by sleeping with Bathsheba, though it didnt automatically stops him frm being the King of Isreal, neither does it makes his anointing to fly up into the sky, but look at what the Bible Record; ...But the thing that David had done DISPLEASED the LORD 2Samuel11:27 And God also said to David ...thou hast DESPISED me... 2Samuel12:10 As if that was not enough, God also Said to David, by dis act of urs, u have given opportunity to the enemies to Blashpheme me. 2Samuel12:14 Now many times, when we do some wrong things, we dont fully realise how grave the spiritual implication of it is, until God in His Infinite Mercy open our eyes, to prevent us frm being destroyed! And it is not just bcs it is fornication, any other sin at all, as long as is does not reflect ur Nature of Righteousness, is detrimental to us! Yes no condemnation but there are consequences! Infact, let me tell u dis; the very reason why we were even made righteous in the first place, is so we can REMAIN in that State of HOLINESS in which we have been Called by His Grace! But one thing that can break that link of our Fellowship with God, is SIN! Now here is a little exposition of Romans6 to help u understand GRACE, RIGHTEOUSNESS and HOLINESS. Romans6:14,15,16,18 and 19 For Sin SHALL NOT hv dominion over u; for u are NOT under law but under GRACE. When Paul The Apostle first PROCLAIMED dis Truth of GRACE to d Romans Christians, they were very excited about it BUT did NOT understand it fully, bcs they lack ACCURATE Understanding of the concepts of Righteousness and Holiness, they thought it was a LIBERTY to CONTINUE in Sin, therefore they asked Paul; Shall we Sin, bcs we are not under Law but under Grace? Well, just take a look at Pauls response to them; he didnt even use the word No, rather he used an even more hash word and tone to SHARPLY REBUKE their ignorance. He said God FORBID!!!! Hahahaha! *Paul does have a sense of humour!* doesnt he? *smile!* U see, he had PROCLAIMED it to them b4, but dey did NOT quite get it, so he had to EXPLAIN it this time around to them. And watch dis, watch what Teacher Paul said to them; Know ye not, that to whom ye YIELD urselves SERVANTS to OBEY, his SERVANTS ye ARE to WHOM ye obey;... I.e u are servants of whatever u yield urselves to obey, whether it be Sin or Righteousness. ...Being then made FREE FROM SIN, ye became the SERVANTS of Righteousness Paul says, You were FREE, but not so that u could do whatever u like or continue in sin, but to become SERVANTS OF[not TO,but OF] RIGHTEOUSNESS..... [Therefore] NOW[not Later but NOW] yield your members SERVANTS to RIGHTEOUSNESS unto HOLINESS. Now did u NOTICE that last part; it says RIGHTEOUSNESS Unto what? HOLINESS!!!! So HOLINESS is the AIM of our LIBERTY in Christ, not a free lifestyle of Sin! And God is MORE Concerned about our Holiness, than in our righteousness, bcs one can be altered by sin the other cannot! And one was given in other to ENABLE us maintain the other. God cannot expect unbelievers to be Holy, without first making them righteous, bcs it is Righteousness that qualifies one to live a Holy Life. When God said Be Holy for I am Holy, He was Talking to The BELIEVERS not to the Unbelievers. Righteousness is therefore the PREREQUISITE for Holiness! That is why God does not get surprised when an unbeliever commits sin, bcs it is in their Nature to sin, they cannot help but sin, unless they get born again! But in our case it is different; Holiness is EXPECTED of us! Then again in 1Thess4:7, The Same Teacher Paul still explaining the Message of Grace, but this time not to Romans, but to the Christians in Thessalonia, says to them, For God hath NOT Called us unto UNCLEANNESS, but unto HOLINESS(ἁγιασμός) Hagiasmos! Now u might want to ask, but HOW does SIN Affects our Holiness? GOOD QUESTION!!! Yes very easy, u remembered our Opening text in John1:6 says Sin Separates us FROM fellowship with God, and Holiness means a State of Separation UNTO God in Fellowship. Therefore when u sin, it DIRECTLY affects ur Holiness by taking u OUT of fellowship with God. And that is why a Believer can NOT be said to be Holy when they continuously lives in sin. You might say ok I understand it now, but what about that vrs in the Bible that calls us HOLY Brethren? There are many greek words in the Scriptures that render technical meaning of d word Holy or Holiness. But d word used here in d context of dis vrs, classify all believers COLLECTIVELY as a Holy People based on their position as Special people to God, set apart FROM the rest of d world. It does NOT infer that every believer is Holy irrespective of d sins he commits. Yes, in a sense, we can say we Believers as individuals are Holy bcs Christ Indwells us, and therefore we are Sanctified - Holy, bcs of His Presence in our lives, but then, we are still EXPECTED to REMAIN in that STATE or Condition of SANCTIFICATION by ABSTAINING COMPLETELY frm Sins! - 1Thess4:3 Just like Kenneth E. Hagin once said, that we should live our lives, refusing to compromise our faith by involving in sin and any other thing that brings reproach to God. We shld just abstain COMPLETELY frm it! Someone might protest and say but its too difficult, we cant do it. Says who? Was that not the very reason why we were made RIGHTEOUS in the first place, to ENABLE us live right and REMAIN in FELLOWSHIP with God? Therefore we hv no excuse, and what God required frm us is simply this; Be HOLY for I Am HOLY! THE REASON IS BECAUSE; TO whom MUCh is given, MUCH is expected OF him. Likewise, To whom RIGHTEOUSNESS is given, HOLINESS is EXPECTED OF him!!! In Part-3 I will show u HOW God Disciplines and Chastised His Sons who hv refused to desist frm d live of sin, some of the methods which also include the taking of their lives, resulting to premature deaths among believers! LETS PRAY: Eternal Rock of Ages we thank You. We are continually Instructed, Blessed and Refreshed by the Truth of ur Word. We Bless Your Holy Name. We repent of our ignorance, and drop our pride aside, and humbly accept Your Unchangeable Word as it is. Thank You for Your Grace and Great Mercy toward us. We ask that You help us to live by the Words we have received today. In Jesus Name. Amen. GOD BLESS YOU.
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 01:26:34 +0000
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