Monday Sermon for LJUSC, as of October 22, 2012
“ FIVE KEYS TO THE CHRISTIAN LIFE’S MATURITY TO BECOME LIKE JESUS CHRIST”: FEAR OF GOD, OBEDIENCE, HOLINESS, REPENTANCE AND SURRENDER (ROMANS 8 :29-30)
Dear Precious Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
God had absolutely a purpose for creating you. He designed you for a
particular place in the Body of Christ. He designed you to become like
Jesus Christ totally fulfilled in that place. This is your destiny.
This is not to imply that you can in any way reach your destiny by your own way. Only one way is possible. God's way. You must be born again by believing in Jesus and you must commit to grow to fullness by God's process and pattern. God's process is for us to be led by Him and cooperate with the Holy Spirit to bring us in to righteousness, holiness, and redemption (freedom from sin). God's pattern is Christ, the Body. No one has any meaning outside of Christ the Body. Many are never even born into this Body. Many who are born in never discern the Body of Christ.
God's good purpose for us is to conform us, by His Spirit, into the image of Jesus Christ in Romans 8:29-30. He wants us to be transfigured--a metamorphosis in 2 Corinthians 3:18
No amount of human effort could make that happen, but God has a plan. God has a method. God has a way. God has a pattern for everything and To become like Jesus Christ is His pattern as the only way.
Today I want to talk to you about five of the most important questions any Christian could ask. First: How we fear God while we should also love Him .Second: Why obedience should be part of our faithfulness unto God? Third: “How does God lovingly motivate every Christian to progress in holiness?” Fourth: “Why is daily repentance so important for all of us in living the Christian life?” And fifth: “Why is totally surrendering our lives to God the only way to really experience life?”
Now, you don’t hear a lot from preachers today concerning the fear of God, obedience, holiness, repentance and total surrender to God. It’s not because you don’t find a lot of information about these in Scripture. The Bible is loaded with information about these topics.
Most likely, the reason you don’t hear anything about these topics is that it’s not very popular to speak on fear of God, obedience, holiness, repentance and surrendering to God. Sadly, the Christian church today seems to prefer hearing about success and positive feelings, getting health, wealth, freedom from care, good sex and happy families.
In fact, let’s take a test right now. How long has it been since you heard a sermon on fear God, obedience, holi¬ness, repentance or total surrender to God? Shall I guess? Well, stick with me and listen. Take heart that if the God of the Bible calls us to fear the God, obedience, holiness, true repentance and totally surrendering ourselves to Him, it must be for our good. If you belong to Him, then out of love and respect to God at least listen to what He has to say. It may change your life.
1.THE FEAR OF GOD
The fear of God is a theme that is mentioned throughout the Bible. But it is a subject that has been neglected by many pastors and teachers of God’s word today. The fear of God is a very important aspect in a Christian’s life because it is a characteristic of the Holy Spirit. A lack of the fear of God in a person’s life means they have a lack of sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. Without the fear of God a person becomes unbalanced in their understanding of God, and in their relationship with the Lord. The fear of God causes His children to run to Him, and His enemies to flee from Him.
The fear of God is a gift from God, given through the Holy Spirit, which He puts in our heart to keep us close to Him. “They shall be My people, and I will be their God; then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.” (Jeremiah 32:38-40)
The Bible tells us that through the anointing of the Holy Spirit Jesus delighted in the fear of the Lord. There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. His delight is in the fear of the LORD, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears; But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. (Isaiah 11:1-4 NKJV)
Jesus the Christ delighted in the fear of the LORD, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears. Jesus told us that He only said what He heard the Father say, and He only did what He saw the Father do, He only did those things that pleased the Father. We also delight in the fear of the Lord because it causes us to walk in obedience to the Father so that we have the joy of a clean heart.
True love, and true fear of God, are revealed and experienced through the Holy Spirit. God’s love is the power and motivation to do His commandments, and God’s fear is the ability to understand and walk in His righteous judgments, His commandments, and not our own decisions. Like a protective wall the fear of God keeps us walking on the right path. The joy of a clean heart does not come from our own self it comes from experiencing God’s joy when we walk in His love doing His commandments. “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:10-13)
The fear of God leads to obedience of God, which gives us confidence in our heart before God. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. (1stJohn 3:21-22) Walking in the fear of the Lord causes us to walk in righteousness, experiencing the joy of a right relationship with our God. Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous; And shout for joy, all you upright in heart! (Psalms 32:11)
The Bible tells us that we perfect holiness in the fear of God. Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (2 Corinthians 7:1). It is by God’s grace and mercy that He adopts us to be His Children, and we accept Him as our Father in humble honesty of our need for His mercy. Just as with a good human father, his children both love and fear him, the combination of this love and fear causes the children to walk in obedience. The love and fear of the Lord is also needed in our lives to bring about spiritual maturity, that we may fully depart from evil and cling to the One we love. In mercy and truth Atonement is provided for iniquity; And by the fear of the LORD one departs from evil. (Proverbs 16:6)
2. OBEDIENCE
Obedience to God is simple. DO AS YOU ARE TOLD! It's that simple.
Now your flesh will tell you that it cannot be done. Do not listen to it. Matthew 19:26 tells us that with God ALL things are possible - ALL not some. Now God cannot lie and He is no respecter of persons, so what He does for one He will do for you. So when Jesus tell His disciples that all things are possible through God then He is telling that to you also. The sinful nature of man is such that we hate correction, but Proverbs 15:10 tells us that he who hates correction will die. So we had better learn to like it. Just keep in mind that God only corrects those that He loves.
Hebrews 12:5-11 says, My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son. Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. So rejoice in Gods discipline because it means that He loves you. If He does not discipline you then it means you are illegitimate. We are corrected so that we can share in God's holiness and that we might know the righteousness and peace of God.
But the most important thing is to learn from your discipline and to not repeat your mistakes. Genesis 6:3 says that God will not strive with man forever. Everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God but if you continue to deliberately sin then God will turn away from you and leave you to your sin. If God corrects you it is for a reason. The Lord does nothing without a reason. In Romans 8:28 it says, And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. God works ALL things for good, even correction.
So, if you are convicted it is because God loves you (Hebrews 12:6) and you are not yet beyond hope. Correction is a blessing (Job 5:17) and will be for your good to produce righteousness and peace. In your obedience you will be blessed, but as with all of God's promises there is a prerequisite. YOU MUST OBEY!! It is not as hard as you think. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy my burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30).
I have been examining in the last few months God’s solutions to the battles that Christians fight within, that is, their own sinful desires and habits, and the fight without—circumstances, other people, the world, and temptations.
3. TOTAL HOLINESS
This is what the word holy means. It means to separate something or someone from sin unto God. You’re actually set aside for God’s use.
If God requires total holiness, how can a Christian live total holiness? Is it even possible?
Yes, It is possible to live in total holiness, but watch out for this. Do not modify holiness to be something that you can do. Do not think that holiness is something that you can do. Holiness is something that God causes you to become. You just receive it or reject it. There is a process. It is probable that no one, other than Jesus Himself, has ever walked in total holiness. During the process of walking into holiness, you will slip; you will fall; you will confess your sins; God will forgive your sins.
I asked my brother, "Isn't it true that the Bible, taken as it is written, has the promise that we who walk in the Spirit could walk right into total holiness?" My brother was silent for a moment, then thoughtfully said, "Yes; but don't we walk one step at a time?"
To understand this concept, read "Wisdom as a Process" below.
Many have lost the hope of total holiness. Some have, as a result, re-defined holiness. The Bible is very bold in stating that holiness is the kind of holiness that the Father has and that it is available to us only through Christ. When God says that whatever is not of faith is sin, He is saying that sin is anything that we think, say, or do that He has not led us to do and that He has not done through us. We miss most of His leading at this point, and also insert our fleshly selves into the process most of the time. There is only one way for you to do righteousness. That is to allow Jesus to do righteousness within you. That is what grace does. Paul said that it was not him who did the work but grace in him did the work.
Some have said that the Holy Spirit is given to help us to walk in holiness. This is only partly correct, and it misses the most important things. Actually, the first thing that the Holy Spirit does is to give you the ability to walk in righteousness. He does that by becoming our righteousness within us. He does that by doing the works of God through us. As Jesus only said the words of the Father, so the Holy Spirit only says the words of the Father through us. As Jesus only did the acts of the Father, so the Holy Spirit does only the works of the Father through us. Righteousness is what you do. Holiness is what you are becoming as you have a new mind (repent). Romans 12:1-2 states that renewing your mind is what causes you to be transformed, literally, transfigured. Transfiguration is actual redemption. All of these, righteousness, holiness, and redemption are processes that go from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18)
• We, in our nature, have no ability to walk in total holiness. The Holy Spirit not only helps us to walk in total holiness, but Christ in us is our total holiness.
• We can emulate holiness in order to impress ourselves or others that we are totally holy.
o in order to impress ourselves or others that we are holy.
o by trying to obey a set of rules or laws or principles
lines drawn in the sand.
these cannot bring true holiness.
these can lead to false hope, hypocrisy, and spiritual deadness (read the book of Galatians, which was a letter to believers, not unbelievers).
• We cannot deny the reality that
o there are thoughts that enter our minds that are not pure,
o we get angry,
o we become discouraged,
o there are times when we are not flowing in the ultimate anointing of God,
o there are times when God is not the most prominent focus of our minds,
o we have not come the manifestation of Jesus Christ in our lives,
o our bodies have not been redeemed fully.
How? What is the process to bring us to the point where we walk in total holiness?
God’s process that will bring us to the point where we walk in total holiness is walking in the Spirit.
• God's Spirit is given so that we can learn to yield our minds to Him.
o As we yield, our minds are renewed by the Spirit. (He does the work.)
o As we yield, He thinks His thoughts through us. (He is the source of all wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.)
o As we yield, He says His words through us. (We begin to speak as the oracles of God.)
o As we yield, He does His works through us. (We never do our own will, but only the will of our Father.)
• The Scriptural pattern for the church is an integral part of this transformation, which is why God is in process of restoring it.
o Spiritual Church government must be functioning.
o Spiritual Gifts must be functioning.
o Every member must be functioning as a ministry.
o Worship must follow the patterns of Scripture.
• From time to time, we see a flash of His glory in our lives.
o It is not continuous or complete.
o Mostly, we are in process of coming into His glory.
o His forgiveness is continual and perpetual, covering our missteps.
o God's desire is to continue to flow through us until we are conformed into His very image in every facet of our being. When that happens, we will be transfigured by the renewing of our minds.
Wisdom as a Process:
Remember that God does all the work. We rest from our own work and submit to Him. Righteousness and Holiness are both Free Gifts (Grace) from God. Righteousness and Love are synonyms. Love is the fulfillment of God's Law. Righteousness is what you do. Holiness is what you are becoming by submitting to God's righteousness. Holiness is stability in Love. The faith that gives access to Grace is a Free Gift from God--it is God's faith, not our own.
Now, the doctrine of holiness is made up of three specific truths; first, our positional holiness; second, our experiential holiness, and third, our ultimate holiness.
Positional holiness
What does Scripture teach about our positional holiness? The moment we put our faith in Jesus Christ and ask Him to forgive our sins, according to Romans 4, God makes a wonderful legal declaration about us, declaring that we are justified, that is, free from the penalty of all of our sins for all eternity. He will never hold those sins against us and punish us in hell because of what we have done. He gives us total forgiveness as a gift. God can give us this gift because Jesus paid for it when He died on the cross. At that time He took our sins upon Himself and paid the penalty that we deserved.
The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “Christ became sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” So, God forgave us our sins and declared us justified.
But at the same time God justified us, He also gave us a new identity, a new status—a new standing before Him in holiness and righteousness. This holy standing before Him was also a gift. It means we don’t have to perform good deeds to gain God’s love and acceptance. But here is a question for you. How righteous are we in God’s sight as we stand before Him? Well, we all know that while Jesus lived here on earth, He lived a perfect life. He never sinned once. Accord¬ing to the Bible, the track record of Jesus Christ, His perfect life, was imputed or credited from Jesus’ account to ours when we put our faith in Christ. God gave us this position, this standing, before Him as a gift. So we stand before Him each day as absolutely holy and righteous in our new position. How do I know this?
Hebrews 10:10 tells us that all who have put their faith in Jesus “have been made holy...once for all.” Here is our position before God. The Bible says we have already been made completely holy by God once for all. He has separated us unto Himself. We are His. We belong to Him. He has made it an unchanging fact that we will forever stand before Him as perfect, holy, and righteous. But then in the very same chapter we see the second part of holiness, our experien¬tial holiness.
Experiential holiness
Hebrews 10:14 says, “By one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those [that’s us] who are being made holy.”
So in the same Bible verse we who are already holy are also in the process of being made holy. In brief, because God has graciously given us our new identity and status as a gift, He then asks us to start living out and enjoying our new identity and status that He has given to us.
1 Peter 1:15 tells us, “But just as God who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written, ‘Be holy because I am holy.’”
Paul says something similar in 2 Timothy 1:9. Paul writes that God has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done, but because of His own purpose and grace.
Now, always remember this: Holiness starts with God’s calling us to Himself and saving us. Before you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you were convicted of your sins. That was God lov¬ingly drawing you to Himself. As a result, you decided to put your faith in Christ, and entered into a relationship with God in which He immediately forgave you of all your sins forever, and also gave you your new status of perfect holiness.
But then, because He has done all of this for us and because we belong to Him and are fellowshipping with Him, He asks us to live like Him in every part of our life. So God first makes us holy and then He says, “Separate yourself unto me.” Just like this glass of water, you are to purify yourselves, set yourselves apart for God’s use. As you do, you will come to know God in an even more intimate way, and you will be a Christian God will use to represent Him to the world.
By the way, has anyone ever called you a saint? Well, according to Scripture, if you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you are a saint positionally. God made you one. The word saint means, “a holy one, a person who is set apart for God’s use.” Now, sainthood is not attained by you or me doing great works. That’s the world’s definition. Biblically, sainthood is a state into which God in grace places every believer. Then God asks His saints to cooperate with Him, to sanctify or separate themselves, to make themselves pure for His use, and live up to the status He has given them. Now, before you get off the track telling me how hard it is for you to live holy, let me tell you a secret. When you placed your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, God did something won¬derful to you.
In Ezekiel 36:26 [[God]] said, “I will give you a new spirit and [in addition] I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”
According to this verse, when we believed on Christ, God gave us a new spirit, that is, a new spiritual nature. In addition, He gave us the Holy Spirit who took up residence in our life.
Further, God says in Jeremiah 31:33, “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.”
Now, here’s the secret. When you placed your faith in Christ, God gave you a new spiritual nature, which inherently desires to love and obey God. As the Bible says, your new heart “is careful to keep God’s laws.” The Holy Spirit who takes up residence in your life also moves you to live purely, righteously, and to love God. You’ll never be the same again because you have been given a new nature that loves God and wants to obey Him. Now, that doesn’t mean you’ll never sin again. No.
According to Romans 6 and 7, because of your old nature still being present, even though it has lost its legal position of mastery over you when you became a Christian, you will still be tempted to sin. But if you sin now, your new nature and the Holy Spirit will bother you, will con¬vict you, and will make you feel miserable. This struggle is described by the Apostle Paul in Romans 7 and Galatians 5.
But 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if any man be in Christ he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” That is, your true self, your new spiritual nature will always want to obey God—when all is said and done. That doesn’t mean you will, but you will be drawn that way by your new heart that God has given you. Romans 7 and 8 show that even Christians who have a new heart, a new spiritual nature, will be defeated if they try to live the Christian life in their own strength—their own self-effort. Victory comes when we turn to and depend on the Holy Spirit to live the way we should.
Ultimate holiness
Then the third biblical truth concerning holiness is our ultimate holiness. While living on this earth, none of us will experience total experiential holiness. The Apostle Paul, at the end of his life, denied that he had “arrived” or was totally holy or perfect in his walk with the Lord.
In Philippians 3:12,13 he said, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Broth¬ers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.”
Only when we die and go into Christ’s presence will we experience total, complete holiness in our existence. But today, God asks us to live as holy as we can so that we can draw closer to Him, to know Him better, to be more like Him, to walk with Him in everyday life.
Isn’t it exciting that God wants us to have a deep relationship with Him? But remember, we cannot walk with God in our own self-effort. God makes even our walk with Him possible by giving us the Holy Spirit to help us conquer the sinful desires in our life, to meet temptations, and to face the tough situations.
4. TOTAL REPENTANCE
This brings us to the next question: “What is true repentance, and why is repentance so important for us in living the Christian life?”
The word repent comes from the Greek word metanoia. It emphasizes a change of mind and attitude. To repent is to make a decision that changes the total direction of one’s life. When Jesus preached, He issued a call to repentance which was a call to people to change their mind about Him and to make a personal commitment to Him. Repentance is an abandonment of those courses of action in which we once defied God and embraced those things which God dislikes and forbids. The Hebrew word for repent signifies a turning away from sin to God, or a returning to God. The New Testament Greek word carries the sense of changing one’s mind so that one changes one’s ways. Full repentance means altering one’s habits of thought, one’s attitudes, outlook, policy, direction and behavior just as fully as is needed go get one’s life out of the wrong shape and into the right one.
But changing in this way is only possible for Christians, believers who have been set free from sin’s dominion and made alive to God. Repentance comes as a result of putting one’s faith in Jesus Christ. Repentance flows out of true faith. It is the fruit of faith and as such, is a gift of God, according to Acts 11:18. Repentance is not that which saves, but it is the opposite side of the same coin as faith. One cannot have true faith unless one turns away from believing in himself and turns to believe in Christ alone to save, forgive and empower him to change.
Once again, true repentance is only possible for Christians because it’s only the Christian who in relationship with God starts to have God pull off the blinders of his life. The Bible tells us we do not even know how self-deceived we are about our sins, according to James 1:22 and 1 John 1:8. So once we place our faith in Christ, bit by bit God shows us that our deeds, our lifestyle, our thinking, our acts have offended Him. This awareness that we have offended a holy God is the basis or the seed bed from which repentance grows all during our life. True repen¬tance includes a contrite heart, sorrow and remorse in having dishonored God’s goodness and love to us. The kind of repentance that is a false repentance is that which shows only regret for sin prompted by fear for oneself, not love for God. Repentance brings on our reverent request of God’s pardon, cleansing of conscience and help not to lapse into the same sin again.
In his book, Rediscovering Holiness, J. I. Packer says repentance is 1) a person discerning the perversity, folly and guilt of the sin he or she has done; 2) the desire to find forgiveness, and the willingness to abandon the sin and live a God-pleasing life from now on; 3) deciding to ask God for forgiveness and power to change, and then actually talking to God; 4) demonstrating, whether by testimony, confession, or by changed behavior that one has left one’s sins behind.
Martin Luther taught that all of life was to be repentance toward God. That is, as we walk with God, He will reveal to us things about ourselves that we didn’t know—sins and habits which need to be abandoned.
Such recurring repentance is the life of the adult disciple. Keep in mind that when you put your faith in Jesus Christ, He gave you a new heart that desires to obey God. You will only be happy and joyful when those things that offend God are turned away from and you’ve asked God to forgive you and to cleanse you.
Paradoxically, such action brings more joy because God draws closer to you and you experi¬ence more of Him. You can refuse to repent. But you should know that you will run the risk of being disciplined by God. Read Hebrews 11 and 12. God disciplines His children because He loves us and He won’t stand by and allow us to ruin our lives.
5. TOTAL SURRENDER
This leads, then, to our third important question: “Why is totally surrendering our lives to God the only way to really live and experience life to the fullest?”
Proverbs 3:5,6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own under¬standing. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.”
Well, you and I both know we have a lot of decisions to make about our future. We have a lot of decisions that we must make today to get through this day. God says He wants to lead and direct you moment by moment. Of course, you can always depend just on your own intellect and experience.
But if I were to ask you this question, “Who is smarter, you or God? Who knows more about the future, you or God?”
When put that way, we would all say, “Of course, God is smarter than I am. He knows every¬thing—even the future. He’s God.”
Well then, why don’t you allow Him to lead you in the decisions that you need to make con¬cerning the future, concerning the decisions you need to make today? Can you trust Him? That question is almost blasphemous to ask.
If you need proof that you can trust God and that He loves you dearly, just draw a picture in your mind of Jesus dying on the cross, shedding His blood, and ask yourself, “Why was He there?”
The answer will come back, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son....” God loved you and made your salvation possible before you ever knew Him. He didn’t have to do it. He gave it to you as a gift. If He went that far to show you that He loved you, don’t you think you can trust Him and surrender your life to Him so that He can love you even more by guiding you with His great wisdom and care?
Dear Precious Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
So let’s summarize the conclusion of the message : The five keys of spiritual things we need to have as a matured Christian to become like Jesus Christ in these Last Days to enable us to reach our divine destiny.
The fear of God is a very important aspect in a Christian’s life because it is a characteristic of the Holy Spirit. A lack of the fear of God in a person’s life means they have a lack of sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. Without the fear of God a person becomes unbalanced in their understanding of God, and in their relationship with the Lord. The fear of God causes His children to run to Him, and His enemies to flee from Him.
But the most important thing is to learn from your discipline and to not repeat your mistakes. Genesis 6:3 says that God will not strive with man forever. Everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God but if you continue to deliberately sin then God will turn away from you and leave you to your sin. If God corrects you it is for a reason. The Lord does nothing without a reason. In Romans 8:28 it says, And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. God works ALL things for good, even correction.
God has called us to Himself by convicting us of sin. One day we re¬sponded and placed our faith in Jesus Christ and God gave us His gift of salvation. God’s gift included complete forgiveness of our sin and the status of being righteous and holy before Him. From the moment we believed, we positionally stand before God just like this pure glass of water. We have no sin and are clothed in Christ’s righteousness.
But we’ve also seen that experientially, God calls us to live holy, to purify ourselves. In brief, we are asked by God to separate ourselves unto His personal use. Ultimate experiential holi¬ness will not be achieved until we go to glory.
Then we saw that true repentance is daily for the Christian. It includes being open to God, allowing His Spirit to show us anything that might displease Him. We are to bring that to Him, confess it as sin, and to leave it, abandon it. As we do so, God will draw closer to us and bring us great joy and contentment. We will experience God’s dynamic, living presence all day long.
And finally, why should we totally surrender our lives to God? It’s because He is the One who knows what’s best for us. He loves us more than anyone else. All the real blessings of life are in His hand. He gave us our bodies and our talents and abilities and knows just how to use them if we will surrender them to Him. To the extent that we are lazy and undisciplined and keep God from certain parts of our life, we will do this to our own detriment. But God gives us that choice. It’s part of the learning process as Christians. Remember, He gave us a spirit, a heart that loves to obey Him, wants to be with Him, and so when we sin, we are really going against our true nature, what our heart really desires.
Right now, in light of all of these things God has done for you, would you say, “Lord, help me to live a holy life. Lord, the sins of my life that I know about that you’ve shown me, I have of¬fended you, please forgive me and cleanse me. And Lord, I totally surrender my life to you. I love you. Use me as you see fit. Let me not miss out on any part of the adventure that you have for me. Please help me to have the five keys to live in the Fear of the Lord, Obedience unto the Lord, Holiness, Repentance and Total Surrender unto the Lord to make me like You Lord Jesus according to Your Holy Word in Romans 8: 29-30.
To God Be All The Glory And Honor, A m e n .
Daniel Pasaribu
This is not to imply that you can in any way reach your destiny by your own way. Only one way is possible. God's way. You must be born again by believing in Jesus and you must commit to grow to fullness by God's process and pattern. God's process is for us to be led by Him and cooperate with the Holy Spirit to bring us in to righteousness, holiness, and redemption (freedom from sin). God's pattern is Christ, the Body. No one has any meaning outside of Christ the Body. Many are never even born into this Body. Many who are born in never discern the Body of Christ.
God's good purpose for us is to conform us, by His Spirit, into the image of Jesus Christ in Romans 8:29-30. He wants us to be transfigured--a metamorphosis in 2 Corinthians 3:18
No amount of human effort could make that happen, but God has a plan. God has a method. God has a way. God has a pattern for everything and To become like Jesus Christ is His pattern as the only way.
Today I want to talk to you about five of the most important questions any Christian could ask. First: How we fear God while we should also love Him .Second: Why obedience should be part of our faithfulness unto God? Third: “How does God lovingly motivate every Christian to progress in holiness?” Fourth: “Why is daily repentance so important for all of us in living the Christian life?” And fifth: “Why is totally surrendering our lives to God the only way to really experience life?”
Now, you don’t hear a lot from preachers today concerning the fear of God, obedience, holiness, repentance and total surrender to God. It’s not because you don’t find a lot of information about these in Scripture. The Bible is loaded with information about these topics.
Most likely, the reason you don’t hear anything about these topics is that it’s not very popular to speak on fear of God, obedience, holiness, repentance and surrendering to God. Sadly, the Christian church today seems to prefer hearing about success and positive feelings, getting health, wealth, freedom from care, good sex and happy families.
In fact, let’s take a test right now. How long has it been since you heard a sermon on fear God, obedience, holi¬ness, repentance or total surrender to God? Shall I guess? Well, stick with me and listen. Take heart that if the God of the Bible calls us to fear the God, obedience, holiness, true repentance and totally surrendering ourselves to Him, it must be for our good. If you belong to Him, then out of love and respect to God at least listen to what He has to say. It may change your life.
1.THE FEAR OF GOD
The fear of God is a theme that is mentioned throughout the Bible. But it is a subject that has been neglected by many pastors and teachers of God’s word today. The fear of God is a very important aspect in a Christian’s life because it is a characteristic of the Holy Spirit. A lack of the fear of God in a person’s life means they have a lack of sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. Without the fear of God a person becomes unbalanced in their understanding of God, and in their relationship with the Lord. The fear of God causes His children to run to Him, and His enemies to flee from Him.
The fear of God is a gift from God, given through the Holy Spirit, which He puts in our heart to keep us close to Him. “They shall be My people, and I will be their God; then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.” (Jeremiah 32:38-40)
The Bible tells us that through the anointing of the Holy Spirit Jesus delighted in the fear of the Lord. There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. His delight is in the fear of the LORD, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears; But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. (Isaiah 11:1-4 NKJV)
Jesus the Christ delighted in the fear of the LORD, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears. Jesus told us that He only said what He heard the Father say, and He only did what He saw the Father do, He only did those things that pleased the Father. We also delight in the fear of the Lord because it causes us to walk in obedience to the Father so that we have the joy of a clean heart.
True love, and true fear of God, are revealed and experienced through the Holy Spirit. God’s love is the power and motivation to do His commandments, and God’s fear is the ability to understand and walk in His righteous judgments, His commandments, and not our own decisions. Like a protective wall the fear of God keeps us walking on the right path. The joy of a clean heart does not come from our own self it comes from experiencing God’s joy when we walk in His love doing His commandments. “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:10-13)
The fear of God leads to obedience of God, which gives us confidence in our heart before God. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. (1stJohn 3:21-22) Walking in the fear of the Lord causes us to walk in righteousness, experiencing the joy of a right relationship with our God. Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous; And shout for joy, all you upright in heart! (Psalms 32:11)
The Bible tells us that we perfect holiness in the fear of God. Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (2 Corinthians 7:1). It is by God’s grace and mercy that He adopts us to be His Children, and we accept Him as our Father in humble honesty of our need for His mercy. Just as with a good human father, his children both love and fear him, the combination of this love and fear causes the children to walk in obedience. The love and fear of the Lord is also needed in our lives to bring about spiritual maturity, that we may fully depart from evil and cling to the One we love. In mercy and truth Atonement is provided for iniquity; And by the fear of the LORD one departs from evil. (Proverbs 16:6)
2. OBEDIENCE
Obedience to God is simple. DO AS YOU ARE TOLD! It's that simple.
Now your flesh will tell you that it cannot be done. Do not listen to it. Matthew 19:26 tells us that with God ALL things are possible - ALL not some. Now God cannot lie and He is no respecter of persons, so what He does for one He will do for you. So when Jesus tell His disciples that all things are possible through God then He is telling that to you also. The sinful nature of man is such that we hate correction, but Proverbs 15:10 tells us that he who hates correction will die. So we had better learn to like it. Just keep in mind that God only corrects those that He loves.
Hebrews 12:5-11 says, My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son. Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. So rejoice in Gods discipline because it means that He loves you. If He does not discipline you then it means you are illegitimate. We are corrected so that we can share in God's holiness and that we might know the righteousness and peace of God.
But the most important thing is to learn from your discipline and to not repeat your mistakes. Genesis 6:3 says that God will not strive with man forever. Everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God but if you continue to deliberately sin then God will turn away from you and leave you to your sin. If God corrects you it is for a reason. The Lord does nothing without a reason. In Romans 8:28 it says, And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. God works ALL things for good, even correction.
So, if you are convicted it is because God loves you (Hebrews 12:6) and you are not yet beyond hope. Correction is a blessing (Job 5:17) and will be for your good to produce righteousness and peace. In your obedience you will be blessed, but as with all of God's promises there is a prerequisite. YOU MUST OBEY!! It is not as hard as you think. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy my burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30).
I have been examining in the last few months God’s solutions to the battles that Christians fight within, that is, their own sinful desires and habits, and the fight without—circumstances, other people, the world, and temptations.
3. TOTAL HOLINESS
This is what the word holy means. It means to separate something or someone from sin unto God. You’re actually set aside for God’s use.
If God requires total holiness, how can a Christian live total holiness? Is it even possible?
Yes, It is possible to live in total holiness, but watch out for this. Do not modify holiness to be something that you can do. Do not think that holiness is something that you can do. Holiness is something that God causes you to become. You just receive it or reject it. There is a process. It is probable that no one, other than Jesus Himself, has ever walked in total holiness. During the process of walking into holiness, you will slip; you will fall; you will confess your sins; God will forgive your sins.
I asked my brother, "Isn't it true that the Bible, taken as it is written, has the promise that we who walk in the Spirit could walk right into total holiness?" My brother was silent for a moment, then thoughtfully said, "Yes; but don't we walk one step at a time?"
To understand this concept, read "Wisdom as a Process" below.
Many have lost the hope of total holiness. Some have, as a result, re-defined holiness. The Bible is very bold in stating that holiness is the kind of holiness that the Father has and that it is available to us only through Christ. When God says that whatever is not of faith is sin, He is saying that sin is anything that we think, say, or do that He has not led us to do and that He has not done through us. We miss most of His leading at this point, and also insert our fleshly selves into the process most of the time. There is only one way for you to do righteousness. That is to allow Jesus to do righteousness within you. That is what grace does. Paul said that it was not him who did the work but grace in him did the work.
Some have said that the Holy Spirit is given to help us to walk in holiness. This is only partly correct, and it misses the most important things. Actually, the first thing that the Holy Spirit does is to give you the ability to walk in righteousness. He does that by becoming our righteousness within us. He does that by doing the works of God through us. As Jesus only said the words of the Father, so the Holy Spirit only says the words of the Father through us. As Jesus only did the acts of the Father, so the Holy Spirit does only the works of the Father through us. Righteousness is what you do. Holiness is what you are becoming as you have a new mind (repent). Romans 12:1-2 states that renewing your mind is what causes you to be transformed, literally, transfigured. Transfiguration is actual redemption. All of these, righteousness, holiness, and redemption are processes that go from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18)
• We, in our nature, have no ability to walk in total holiness. The Holy Spirit not only helps us to walk in total holiness, but Christ in us is our total holiness.
• We can emulate holiness in order to impress ourselves or others that we are totally holy.
o in order to impress ourselves or others that we are holy.
o by trying to obey a set of rules or laws or principles
lines drawn in the sand.
these cannot bring true holiness.
these can lead to false hope, hypocrisy, and spiritual deadness (read the book of Galatians, which was a letter to believers, not unbelievers).
• We cannot deny the reality that
o there are thoughts that enter our minds that are not pure,
o we get angry,
o we become discouraged,
o there are times when we are not flowing in the ultimate anointing of God,
o there are times when God is not the most prominent focus of our minds,
o we have not come the manifestation of Jesus Christ in our lives,
o our bodies have not been redeemed fully.
How? What is the process to bring us to the point where we walk in total holiness?
God’s process that will bring us to the point where we walk in total holiness is walking in the Spirit.
• God's Spirit is given so that we can learn to yield our minds to Him.
o As we yield, our minds are renewed by the Spirit. (He does the work.)
o As we yield, He thinks His thoughts through us. (He is the source of all wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.)
o As we yield, He says His words through us. (We begin to speak as the oracles of God.)
o As we yield, He does His works through us. (We never do our own will, but only the will of our Father.)
• The Scriptural pattern for the church is an integral part of this transformation, which is why God is in process of restoring it.
o Spiritual Church government must be functioning.
o Spiritual Gifts must be functioning.
o Every member must be functioning as a ministry.
o Worship must follow the patterns of Scripture.
• From time to time, we see a flash of His glory in our lives.
o It is not continuous or complete.
o Mostly, we are in process of coming into His glory.
o His forgiveness is continual and perpetual, covering our missteps.
o God's desire is to continue to flow through us until we are conformed into His very image in every facet of our being. When that happens, we will be transfigured by the renewing of our minds.
Wisdom as a Process:
Remember that God does all the work. We rest from our own work and submit to Him. Righteousness and Holiness are both Free Gifts (Grace) from God. Righteousness and Love are synonyms. Love is the fulfillment of God's Law. Righteousness is what you do. Holiness is what you are becoming by submitting to God's righteousness. Holiness is stability in Love. The faith that gives access to Grace is a Free Gift from God--it is God's faith, not our own.
Now, the doctrine of holiness is made up of three specific truths; first, our positional holiness; second, our experiential holiness, and third, our ultimate holiness.
Positional holiness
What does Scripture teach about our positional holiness? The moment we put our faith in Jesus Christ and ask Him to forgive our sins, according to Romans 4, God makes a wonderful legal declaration about us, declaring that we are justified, that is, free from the penalty of all of our sins for all eternity. He will never hold those sins against us and punish us in hell because of what we have done. He gives us total forgiveness as a gift. God can give us this gift because Jesus paid for it when He died on the cross. At that time He took our sins upon Himself and paid the penalty that we deserved.
The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “Christ became sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” So, God forgave us our sins and declared us justified.
But at the same time God justified us, He also gave us a new identity, a new status—a new standing before Him in holiness and righteousness. This holy standing before Him was also a gift. It means we don’t have to perform good deeds to gain God’s love and acceptance. But here is a question for you. How righteous are we in God’s sight as we stand before Him? Well, we all know that while Jesus lived here on earth, He lived a perfect life. He never sinned once. Accord¬ing to the Bible, the track record of Jesus Christ, His perfect life, was imputed or credited from Jesus’ account to ours when we put our faith in Christ. God gave us this position, this standing, before Him as a gift. So we stand before Him each day as absolutely holy and righteous in our new position. How do I know this?
Hebrews 10:10 tells us that all who have put their faith in Jesus “have been made holy...once for all.” Here is our position before God. The Bible says we have already been made completely holy by God once for all. He has separated us unto Himself. We are His. We belong to Him. He has made it an unchanging fact that we will forever stand before Him as perfect, holy, and righteous. But then in the very same chapter we see the second part of holiness, our experien¬tial holiness.
Experiential holiness
Hebrews 10:14 says, “By one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those [that’s us] who are being made holy.”
So in the same Bible verse we who are already holy are also in the process of being made holy. In brief, because God has graciously given us our new identity and status as a gift, He then asks us to start living out and enjoying our new identity and status that He has given to us.
1 Peter 1:15 tells us, “But just as God who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written, ‘Be holy because I am holy.’”
Paul says something similar in 2 Timothy 1:9. Paul writes that God has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done, but because of His own purpose and grace.
Now, always remember this: Holiness starts with God’s calling us to Himself and saving us. Before you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you were convicted of your sins. That was God lov¬ingly drawing you to Himself. As a result, you decided to put your faith in Christ, and entered into a relationship with God in which He immediately forgave you of all your sins forever, and also gave you your new status of perfect holiness.
But then, because He has done all of this for us and because we belong to Him and are fellowshipping with Him, He asks us to live like Him in every part of our life. So God first makes us holy and then He says, “Separate yourself unto me.” Just like this glass of water, you are to purify yourselves, set yourselves apart for God’s use. As you do, you will come to know God in an even more intimate way, and you will be a Christian God will use to represent Him to the world.
By the way, has anyone ever called you a saint? Well, according to Scripture, if you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you are a saint positionally. God made you one. The word saint means, “a holy one, a person who is set apart for God’s use.” Now, sainthood is not attained by you or me doing great works. That’s the world’s definition. Biblically, sainthood is a state into which God in grace places every believer. Then God asks His saints to cooperate with Him, to sanctify or separate themselves, to make themselves pure for His use, and live up to the status He has given them. Now, before you get off the track telling me how hard it is for you to live holy, let me tell you a secret. When you placed your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, God did something won¬derful to you.
In Ezekiel 36:26 [[God]] said, “I will give you a new spirit and [in addition] I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”
According to this verse, when we believed on Christ, God gave us a new spirit, that is, a new spiritual nature. In addition, He gave us the Holy Spirit who took up residence in our life.
Further, God says in Jeremiah 31:33, “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.”
Now, here’s the secret. When you placed your faith in Christ, God gave you a new spiritual nature, which inherently desires to love and obey God. As the Bible says, your new heart “is careful to keep God’s laws.” The Holy Spirit who takes up residence in your life also moves you to live purely, righteously, and to love God. You’ll never be the same again because you have been given a new nature that loves God and wants to obey Him. Now, that doesn’t mean you’ll never sin again. No.
According to Romans 6 and 7, because of your old nature still being present, even though it has lost its legal position of mastery over you when you became a Christian, you will still be tempted to sin. But if you sin now, your new nature and the Holy Spirit will bother you, will con¬vict you, and will make you feel miserable. This struggle is described by the Apostle Paul in Romans 7 and Galatians 5.
But 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if any man be in Christ he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” That is, your true self, your new spiritual nature will always want to obey God—when all is said and done. That doesn’t mean you will, but you will be drawn that way by your new heart that God has given you. Romans 7 and 8 show that even Christians who have a new heart, a new spiritual nature, will be defeated if they try to live the Christian life in their own strength—their own self-effort. Victory comes when we turn to and depend on the Holy Spirit to live the way we should.
Ultimate holiness
Then the third biblical truth concerning holiness is our ultimate holiness. While living on this earth, none of us will experience total experiential holiness. The Apostle Paul, at the end of his life, denied that he had “arrived” or was totally holy or perfect in his walk with the Lord.
In Philippians 3:12,13 he said, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Broth¬ers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.”
Only when we die and go into Christ’s presence will we experience total, complete holiness in our existence. But today, God asks us to live as holy as we can so that we can draw closer to Him, to know Him better, to be more like Him, to walk with Him in everyday life.
Isn’t it exciting that God wants us to have a deep relationship with Him? But remember, we cannot walk with God in our own self-effort. God makes even our walk with Him possible by giving us the Holy Spirit to help us conquer the sinful desires in our life, to meet temptations, and to face the tough situations.
4. TOTAL REPENTANCE
This brings us to the next question: “What is true repentance, and why is repentance so important for us in living the Christian life?”
The word repent comes from the Greek word metanoia. It emphasizes a change of mind and attitude. To repent is to make a decision that changes the total direction of one’s life. When Jesus preached, He issued a call to repentance which was a call to people to change their mind about Him and to make a personal commitment to Him. Repentance is an abandonment of those courses of action in which we once defied God and embraced those things which God dislikes and forbids. The Hebrew word for repent signifies a turning away from sin to God, or a returning to God. The New Testament Greek word carries the sense of changing one’s mind so that one changes one’s ways. Full repentance means altering one’s habits of thought, one’s attitudes, outlook, policy, direction and behavior just as fully as is needed go get one’s life out of the wrong shape and into the right one.
But changing in this way is only possible for Christians, believers who have been set free from sin’s dominion and made alive to God. Repentance comes as a result of putting one’s faith in Jesus Christ. Repentance flows out of true faith. It is the fruit of faith and as such, is a gift of God, according to Acts 11:18. Repentance is not that which saves, but it is the opposite side of the same coin as faith. One cannot have true faith unless one turns away from believing in himself and turns to believe in Christ alone to save, forgive and empower him to change.
Once again, true repentance is only possible for Christians because it’s only the Christian who in relationship with God starts to have God pull off the blinders of his life. The Bible tells us we do not even know how self-deceived we are about our sins, according to James 1:22 and 1 John 1:8. So once we place our faith in Christ, bit by bit God shows us that our deeds, our lifestyle, our thinking, our acts have offended Him. This awareness that we have offended a holy God is the basis or the seed bed from which repentance grows all during our life. True repen¬tance includes a contrite heart, sorrow and remorse in having dishonored God’s goodness and love to us. The kind of repentance that is a false repentance is that which shows only regret for sin prompted by fear for oneself, not love for God. Repentance brings on our reverent request of God’s pardon, cleansing of conscience and help not to lapse into the same sin again.
In his book, Rediscovering Holiness, J. I. Packer says repentance is 1) a person discerning the perversity, folly and guilt of the sin he or she has done; 2) the desire to find forgiveness, and the willingness to abandon the sin and live a God-pleasing life from now on; 3) deciding to ask God for forgiveness and power to change, and then actually talking to God; 4) demonstrating, whether by testimony, confession, or by changed behavior that one has left one’s sins behind.
Martin Luther taught that all of life was to be repentance toward God. That is, as we walk with God, He will reveal to us things about ourselves that we didn’t know—sins and habits which need to be abandoned.
Such recurring repentance is the life of the adult disciple. Keep in mind that when you put your faith in Jesus Christ, He gave you a new heart that desires to obey God. You will only be happy and joyful when those things that offend God are turned away from and you’ve asked God to forgive you and to cleanse you.
Paradoxically, such action brings more joy because God draws closer to you and you experi¬ence more of Him. You can refuse to repent. But you should know that you will run the risk of being disciplined by God. Read Hebrews 11 and 12. God disciplines His children because He loves us and He won’t stand by and allow us to ruin our lives.
5. TOTAL SURRENDER
This leads, then, to our third important question: “Why is totally surrendering our lives to God the only way to really live and experience life to the fullest?”
Proverbs 3:5,6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own under¬standing. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.”
Well, you and I both know we have a lot of decisions to make about our future. We have a lot of decisions that we must make today to get through this day. God says He wants to lead and direct you moment by moment. Of course, you can always depend just on your own intellect and experience.
But if I were to ask you this question, “Who is smarter, you or God? Who knows more about the future, you or God?”
When put that way, we would all say, “Of course, God is smarter than I am. He knows every¬thing—even the future. He’s God.”
Well then, why don’t you allow Him to lead you in the decisions that you need to make con¬cerning the future, concerning the decisions you need to make today? Can you trust Him? That question is almost blasphemous to ask.
If you need proof that you can trust God and that He loves you dearly, just draw a picture in your mind of Jesus dying on the cross, shedding His blood, and ask yourself, “Why was He there?”
The answer will come back, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son....” God loved you and made your salvation possible before you ever knew Him. He didn’t have to do it. He gave it to you as a gift. If He went that far to show you that He loved you, don’t you think you can trust Him and surrender your life to Him so that He can love you even more by guiding you with His great wisdom and care?
Dear Precious Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
So let’s summarize the conclusion of the message : The five keys of spiritual things we need to have as a matured Christian to become like Jesus Christ in these Last Days to enable us to reach our divine destiny.
The fear of God is a very important aspect in a Christian’s life because it is a characteristic of the Holy Spirit. A lack of the fear of God in a person’s life means they have a lack of sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. Without the fear of God a person becomes unbalanced in their understanding of God, and in their relationship with the Lord. The fear of God causes His children to run to Him, and His enemies to flee from Him.
But the most important thing is to learn from your discipline and to not repeat your mistakes. Genesis 6:3 says that God will not strive with man forever. Everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God but if you continue to deliberately sin then God will turn away from you and leave you to your sin. If God corrects you it is for a reason. The Lord does nothing without a reason. In Romans 8:28 it says, And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. God works ALL things for good, even correction.
God has called us to Himself by convicting us of sin. One day we re¬sponded and placed our faith in Jesus Christ and God gave us His gift of salvation. God’s gift included complete forgiveness of our sin and the status of being righteous and holy before Him. From the moment we believed, we positionally stand before God just like this pure glass of water. We have no sin and are clothed in Christ’s righteousness.
But we’ve also seen that experientially, God calls us to live holy, to purify ourselves. In brief, we are asked by God to separate ourselves unto His personal use. Ultimate experiential holi¬ness will not be achieved until we go to glory.
Then we saw that true repentance is daily for the Christian. It includes being open to God, allowing His Spirit to show us anything that might displease Him. We are to bring that to Him, confess it as sin, and to leave it, abandon it. As we do so, God will draw closer to us and bring us great joy and contentment. We will experience God’s dynamic, living presence all day long.
And finally, why should we totally surrender our lives to God? It’s because He is the One who knows what’s best for us. He loves us more than anyone else. All the real blessings of life are in His hand. He gave us our bodies and our talents and abilities and knows just how to use them if we will surrender them to Him. To the extent that we are lazy and undisciplined and keep God from certain parts of our life, we will do this to our own detriment. But God gives us that choice. It’s part of the learning process as Christians. Remember, He gave us a spirit, a heart that loves to obey Him, wants to be with Him, and so when we sin, we are really going against our true nature, what our heart really desires.
Right now, in light of all of these things God has done for you, would you say, “Lord, help me to live a holy life. Lord, the sins of my life that I know about that you’ve shown me, I have of¬fended you, please forgive me and cleanse me. And Lord, I totally surrender my life to you. I love you. Use me as you see fit. Let me not miss out on any part of the adventure that you have for me. Please help me to have the five keys to live in the Fear of the Lord, Obedience unto the Lord, Holiness, Repentance and Total Surrender unto the Lord to make me like You Lord Jesus according to Your Holy Word in Romans 8: 29-30.
To God Be All The Glory And Honor, A m e n .
Daniel Pasaribu
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