HOLINESS IS CHRIST IN ME 🕊

If you’ve been a Christian for a while then you’ve probably had an experience similar to mine. For a long time I tried to be holy and failed miserably time and time again. It took about 8 and a half years of trying until I finally gave up. And that’s when Christ’s Finished Work came in. August 31st 2021 marks my first decade as a Believer.

You see the problem is that I was trying to please God (my “Abba,” Father) by the works of the Law, yet a debt  already paid two millenia ago. Those words ring true in my heart and mind now more than ever: “IT IS FINISHED.” Jesus paid it all.

The strength of sin is the Law. The more you focus on sin, magnify it, talk about it  meditate on it and then add a sprinkling of condemnation here and there, the more you’ll be stuck in the never ending cycle of the pursuit of ‘holiness’

In the New Covenant, we are not under the Law but under Grace. Watchman Nee said that grace means God does it all and I rest. Law means I do it all and God rests. There is no 50-50, 60-40 or 80-20. It’s all or nothing. To fall from grace, is to try and justify yourself before God by your works (Gal 5:4). When you do that, you frustrate grace (Gal 2:19-21). I cannot please God by my works because His standards are too high and only One fulfilled them all; Christ.

Holiness is not how hard I try to keep commandments but it is Christ in Me. Hallelujah! I fall short of God’s glory but Jesus who lives in me, is the perfect fulfilment of God’s righteous (just) demands for good.

When I try to justify myself by my works then I trample on the Finished Work of Christ. Unknowingly I communicate that what Christ did was good but not enough and I must add my own works to fill up God’s perfect demands. What utter foolishness!

The moment you accept Jesus as Lord, you become holy. Now these are not my words. I have Scripture to prove it. Read Acts 26:18; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 6:11; Hebrews 2:11; 10:10, 14 & 29 (some translations use the word sanctified which is the same Greek word translated “holy” or “saint”). Through Christ’s perfect offering we who are saved have been made Holy (set apart,  saints). That is the power of the Atonement.

I could not do what the Law demanded but I have put faith in He who paid it all and therefore His holiness becomes mine. There is a divine exchange. Crucified with Christ,  Risen with Him. Forevermore!

Henry Law (1797-1884) in his famous work, Christ is All: The Gospel in the Pentateuch, a book published in 1867, said:
“Reader, would you be holy? There is only one way. All other roads lead down to deeper  mire. Christ must come in. All is dark death, except where Jesus lives. All is pure life and 
loveliness, where Jesus reigns. Draw near 
and nearer to the Gospel-page. There gaze on Christ, until the soul’s features melt into His likeness. The Gospel heard, and read, and 
loved, are the bright wings on which the Spirit
flies. The Spirit’s presence brings the Savior  near. THE LORD JESUS RECEIVED IS HOLINESS BEGUN; THE LORD JESUS CHERISHED IS HOLINESS ADVANCING; THE LORD JESUS COUNTED  UPON AS NEVER ABSENT WOULD BE HOLINESS COMPLETE. Holiness complete is Heaven’s full blaze.”

He adds:
“Believer, this subject has a warning voice. You mourn shortcomings. You find the hated monster sin still striving for the rule. Evil is present, when you would do good. Help is laid up for you in Christ. Seek clearer interest in Him. Faith sows the seeds. Assurance brings in golden sheaves. THEY, WHO MOST DEEPLY FEEL, THAT THEY HAVE DIED IN CHRIST AND PAID IN HIM SINGS PENALTIES, ASCEND TO HIGHEST HEIGHTS  OF GODLY LIFE. HE IS MOST HOLY, WHO HAS MOST OF CHRIST WITHIN, AND RELISHES MOST FULLY IN THE FINISHED WORK. It is defective faith, which clogs the feet, and causes many a fall.”

That is the secret to holiness. Looking at what Jesus did for you on that Cross ✝️ and lifting up your hands in thanksgiving to the Father for what has already been done despite what you feel and or see and experience. That is the height of faith which pleases God. This is the Exchanged Life. Holiness, is Christ in Me 

#holiness #holy #theExchangedlife #Grace #Gospel #GoodNews