Pursuit of Holiness (part 3)
Nobody should claim that they are spiritually perfect. We all should daily repent, renew our application of the blood of Christ, and seek rekindling of the Holy Spirit. It has been my experience that the way we evangelize puts too much emphasis on getting somebody to say a prayer and little to no emphasis on encouraging authentic spiritual change. I would like to say that my life has been different, but I cannot.
I too am a victim of making a decision for Christ as my Saviour without taking into account that He is to be my Lord as well. For the first 13 years of my Christian life I did not live any different than those around. I would be willing to say that I was a Christian but I was not totally committed to Christ. It was not until I graduated high school and started college that I was able to look back at my life and realize the mistake I had made. It was at this time that I also noticed that my most Christian moments occurred while in constant community with other believers.
The journey of following Christ as both my Lord and Saviour finally got rolling when I got involved with a Christian community in college. In this group I was able to not only be myself but I was able to see that who I am is who God created me to be. This community encouraged me to put Christ first in all of my decision and also emphasized the need for me to take what Christ has done and continues to do in my life and share it with those around me. The four years that I spent with this group really brought to light a lot of the ways that God was bringing me into His presence.
God has continued to shape and mold me into the person I am today. He is continually perfecting my motives and motivations as He draws me closer to Himself. The Holy Spirit has convicted me of sinful attitudes, beliefs, and actions in my life. The desire to reach out to Muslims has also developed from a matter of curiosity to a goal that I feel so compelled to do that if I am not in some sort of ministry to Muslims or learning about how to be a better follower of Christ to my Muslim friends and family that I feel worthless. I know that I am not worthless because God created me for a purpose. This purpose is what I am to do no matter what the cost.
Sacrifice is another way in which the Holy Spirit has been bringing me to perfection. I am still human and have personal desires, but because of what God is doing in my life I am more willing to let these desires fall to the side of the road so that I can remain on the road to God’s goal of making me perfect. The more I progress on this journey of being made perfect in Christ, the fewer selfish desires I have. This is a wonderful feeling because that is what Christians are called to do.
If we do not love the Lord our God with our whole being (heart, soul, mind, and strength), then I would question whether we are really Christians. I do not want to conclude this paper on a legalistic note, but being a Christian is voluntary. If we do not want to follow the teachings of Christ, then we should not call ourselves Christian.
I too am a victim of making a decision for Christ as my Saviour without taking into account that He is to be my Lord as well. For the first 13 years of my Christian life I did not live any different than those around. I would be willing to say that I was a Christian but I was not totally committed to Christ. It was not until I graduated high school and started college that I was able to look back at my life and realize the mistake I had made. It was at this time that I also noticed that my most Christian moments occurred while in constant community with other believers.
The journey of following Christ as both my Lord and Saviour finally got rolling when I got involved with a Christian community in college. In this group I was able to not only be myself but I was able to see that who I am is who God created me to be. This community encouraged me to put Christ first in all of my decision and also emphasized the need for me to take what Christ has done and continues to do in my life and share it with those around me. The four years that I spent with this group really brought to light a lot of the ways that God was bringing me into His presence.
God has continued to shape and mold me into the person I am today. He is continually perfecting my motives and motivations as He draws me closer to Himself. The Holy Spirit has convicted me of sinful attitudes, beliefs, and actions in my life. The desire to reach out to Muslims has also developed from a matter of curiosity to a goal that I feel so compelled to do that if I am not in some sort of ministry to Muslims or learning about how to be a better follower of Christ to my Muslim friends and family that I feel worthless. I know that I am not worthless because God created me for a purpose. This purpose is what I am to do no matter what the cost.
Sacrifice is another way in which the Holy Spirit has been bringing me to perfection. I am still human and have personal desires, but because of what God is doing in my life I am more willing to let these desires fall to the side of the road so that I can remain on the road to God’s goal of making me perfect. The more I progress on this journey of being made perfect in Christ, the fewer selfish desires I have. This is a wonderful feeling because that is what Christians are called to do.
If we do not love the Lord our God with our whole being (heart, soul, mind, and strength), then I would question whether we are really Christians. I do not want to conclude this paper on a legalistic note, but being a Christian is voluntary. If we do not want to follow the teachings of Christ, then we should not call ourselves Christian.
posted by Justin at 7/19/2005 10:30:00 PM
6 Comments:
This is a profound glimpse at your life, brother. As you describe it, perfection sounds beautiful.
Amen.
I'm uncomfortable with the word perfection. I have to think more about why. But it definatly distracted me during these posts.
I will look for the definition that John Wesley gave for perfection and post it later. It helped me to get over my dislike for the word and what it seems to entail.
According to John Wesley in "A Plain Account of Christian Perfection" (section 17 - Questions and Answers on the Doctrine of Sanctification) a perfect Christian is one who loves God with all their heart, and mind, and soul (Deuteronomy 6:5) and who is cleansed of all inward sin (Ezekiel 36:29). It is a gradual process beginning from the point of justification.
I could quote the whole book but would rather you check it out for yourself.
Quoting the entire book is not needed. I really like Wesley's definiton. Did you include it in your original paper? Because I'm proably not entirely alone in my distoriton of the word, and having re-read the post in light of the new definition is really marvelous.
Post a Comment
<< Home