Description
Pursuing True Holiness
Explore the essence of true holiness in the Christian faith through a reflection on Jeremiah 17:… (visit YouTube for more)
Transcript
One of the distinctive things about the Christian faith is that God doesn’t want us to act holy. He wants us to be holy. Let’s meditate today on Jeremiah chapter 17, verse 10. “I the Lord, search the heart and test the mind to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”
This is sobering, isn’t it? The idea that God can see into what we are thinking and what we’re feeling, so when we react in an angry way, even if that doesn’t come out, God knows that’s in us.
When we’re feeling jealous or lustful or full of pride, God knows all these things. And there are just a few of many ways in which we can fail to meet the standards of holiness of our God, which we know is not a huge problem because Jesus’ holiness covers ours.
Whatever is passing through our mind, whatever we are dwelling on, whatever we’re fantasising about, God knows about this. He is going to give rewards according to what’s in our heart and minds.
This is confirmed by Jesus himself in Matthew 16:27, when Jesus talks about bringing rewards in accordance with what we’ve done. This has nothing to do with salvation. We can be, and we are unholy and saved.
But God does have standards. And if we wish to be dutiful and obedient, sons and daughters of our Father then we will be looking for complete holistic change inside and out. Inside first, because if our internal state is correct, then what we do will also be correct.
The Holy Spirit has been sent to us to teach us and to sanctify us, to purify us, to transform us more into the likeness of Jesus. We can’t make it happen. This is nothing to do with our works. This is everything to do with how he works through us.
So Lord God, we recognise that you are a holy God and we cannot be holy in our own strength. Thank you that you are changing us and transforming us. And Lord, please help us do our bit to press into the things that you have for us. May your Holy Spirit have his way in our lives and transform us completely, for your glory and for the sake of the gospel. Amen.
