Thoughts for Life: #68 Who Is Holy?

C. Peter Wagner: "If holiness is a prerequisite for spiritual warfare, can a person actually be holy?

Can I declare that I have attained holiness? If I can't, why do we keep admonishing one another to be holy?

At first, these may sound like confusing questions. But the confusion is cleared up if we ask two questions instead of one.

The first question is: can anyone be holy? The answer is yes. Every Christian is holy. The second question is: Can anyone be holy enough? The answer is no. No Christian is holy enough.

It is important, of course, to make sure we understand what the word "holiness" means. The Greek hagios means to be set apart; biblically it means to be set apart for God. It is synonymous to "sanctification."

But the biblical emphasis is on the relationship more than the being set apart.

In the sense of being set aside for God, every Christian has been made holy through the new birth. Peter says we are a "holy priesthood" (1 Pet. 2:5) and a "holy nation" (1 Pet. 2:9).

Jesus will "present you holy, and blameless, and irreproachable in His sight" (Col. 1:22). Paul reminds the believers in Corinth that "you are sanctified..by the Spirit of our God" (1 Cor. 6:11). If you are born again, you can truly say, "Yes, I am holy."

But you cannot say, "I am holy enough." Positionally, as a child of God, you no longer practice sin. "Whoever abides in Him does not sin" (1 John 3:6).

But while the desire of your heart as prompted by the Holy Spirit is no longer to practice sin as a life-style, you are not yet perfect. You do, in fact, sin and you might as well admit it.

"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8). This is why Jesus tells us to pray daily, "Forgive us our sins."

(Google image and emphasis added)

Warfare Prayer

#68 Who Is Holy?

By C. Peter Wagner

(pg. 118) Regal Books

Father,

I well know that I'm not holy in and of myself,

and I realize that You're the One who is!

Your holiness is mine because of Christ's

righteous blood, which covers me through my

faith and acceptance of His sacrifice on Calvary.

May I be mindful of my insufficiency, and help

me depend upon Your holiness to bring me

to the perfection You desire.

I ask this in Jesus' Name. Amen.

Today’s Bible verse: 2 Kings 14:3a "And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD."

Today’s quote: David Roper - "Until we take time to be quiet we'll not hear God. God cannot be heard in noise and restlessness, only in silence. He will speak to us if we will give him a chance, if we will listen, if we will be quiet. 'Be still,' the psalmist sings, 'and know that I am God' " (Psalm 46:10).

Some thoughts today: God is no respecter of persons. (see Rom. 2:11).

- "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus." (Rom. 3:23, 24).

- God has opened the gates of salvation to us all!

6th- Saturday’s post:  Hope Lives
Dave Branon

7th- Sunday evening's post:  The Value of Church Membership
Jean Oathout

9th- Tuesday's post:  #69 Maturing In Holiness
C. Peter Wagner

11th- Thursday's post:  #70 Reasons for Outward Standards
C. Peter Wagner

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