#made holy

[dramoor]

“Our  salvation is a process by which we become more and more like Christ.  Our faith is a free gift from God, not dependent upon anything we can  do, but this life long process of salvation requires that we cooperate  with God's grace, that we might be transformed by the Holy Spirit, and  made holy.”

~Abbot Tryphon

(Image via holyart.com)

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Reasons for Affliction

by Hugh Baird

"I have tested you in the furnace of affliction." - Isaiah 48:10

The furnace has often been the instrument of conversion. Manasseh’s dethronement, captivity, and dungeon were a furnace. He cried to God in his affliction: he was heard and restored to his kingdom. The prodigal’s poverty and hunger made him come to himself; when he returned to his father, and was welcomed, clothed, and feasted. How many have read and listened to the word of God in the light of eternity, and prayed at the gates of death, who might never have done so in other circumstances! The furnace proves the Christian’s faith, hope, and patience. The Christian needs his faith strengthened, and his hope brightened; and he prays for this. May not God answer his prayer by casting him into the furnace, where only such blessed results can be attained? Suffering in the furnace assimilates to Christ. He suffered, and learned obedience practically by suffering; and can we expect to escape? He can feel all the better for others by having suffered himself. Is it not so with us? A few weeks’ affliction will teach us more sympathy for others than years of health. Suffering in the furnace is a check to sin. The Jewish captivity thoroughly cured them of their propensity to idolatry, and drew forth renewed covenant engagements of adherence to God; and how often has the furnace restrained us from evil, weaned us from folly, led us to Jesus, led us to holiness, and led us to heaven!

[dramoor]

“When you suffer, you are being conformed to the image of Jesus. When you pray, you are being made holy in the image of Jesus. When you quietly serve a person in need, you are being shaped into the image of Jesus. When you generously give, your heart is being remade into the image of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.”

~Allen R. Hunt

(Image via Pinterest)

[wiirocku]

Hebrews 10:10 (NIV) - And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

[hosannainthehighest-blog]

Case Point: "I am not worthy to serve God" vs. "I have been made worthy to serve God"

Before we would lead worship we would always pray this “Lord thank You for using me, we are not worthy.”

At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with this line. After all what we really mean is “Lord I am humbled that You have chosen to use me.” Yes that is well and good…

HOWEVER, I believe the prayer is incomplete. Rather than just saying Lord I am not worthy, I think what is more Biblical is to say “Lord I once was not worthy, thank You for now making me worthy of serving You.”

Before I go on any further I would like to establish the following points:

Only those who are in Christ are made worthy. ( 1 Corinthians 6:167)

When we accept Christ as our personal Lord and Savior we are made into new creations ( 2 Corinthians 5:17)

Christ does not just take away our sins, but He puts on us His righteousness. (Galatians 3:26-27, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Ephesians 4:24,)

I would like to stress on the third point. When we accept Christ as our personal Lord and Savior He doesn’t only remove our sins. He does something more. He puts on His righteousness on us, so that when God looks at us He sees His righteousness. God makes us holy by living in us. Just as the tabernacle and temple became holy when God came upon it.

Does that mean all believers will no longer sin? No. It simply means that even if we sin, we will still be children of God. Holy comes from the Hebrew word קדש, “qadash” or “Qal” which means to be set apart, to be consecrated. When God makes us holy, we are set apart from this world. But since we are imperfect beings we still make mistakes, but we are forever set apart by God for God. We will never lose our sonship though we sin, because God has already made us holy, He has already set us apart.

  “…when God looks at us He sees His righteousness.” <--- Does that mean Christians can go on sinning and God will just overlook their sins, or not see their sins because He sees righteousness? No! Not at all! Believers are now children of God, if they sin they do not lose the privilege of being a child of God. However, as our earthly father disciplines us, so the Lord also disciplines His children who are stubborn.

 As a woman and a Christian, the most common struggle I face is believing that I am worthless and useless. Satan loves to deceive us with lies about our identity in Christ.

Saying “I am not worthy” it sort of a downer. It highlights the mistakes we’ve made in the past instead of the victorious life we now live in Christ. We need to remember that our past have been ERASED and REPLACED with the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST!

I know that saying “I am not worthy” is an act of humility. But there is also what we call Holy Pride. It is taking pride in who we are in Christ. It is a type of pride that points to God instead of us. It is the confidence we have in Christ. It is the pride that says “If I may boast-I boast only this: That I know Christ.”

Let us constantly remember that we have been made new, made holy, made righteous and made worthy of serving the Lord. You were purchased with the blood of Christ; you are no longer unworthy because of Him who now lives in you.

 ********************************************************************************************

VERSES: 

1 Corinthians 6:17

But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Galatians 3:26-27

 26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:21

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Ephesians 4:24

and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

1 Peter 2:9

But you are a chosen people, a royal priest hood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

John 1:12

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God

********************************************************************************************

Well I know that I may have had my share of failing and falling But I have come to understand one thing remains By all He's done I have been made holy  worthy of serving  the One, the One who wrote eternity so deep in my heart Open your eyes and see The wonder of a life so wonderfully free Lift up your head, believe There is more, there so much more to see

-MORE TO SEE, Hillsong