THE SECRET OF HOLINESS

Morning Meditations 1/4/16

Rom. 7:18 “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.”

Phil. 3:21 “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”

Phil. 3:3 “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”

If we live for Christ from the heart and not just from outward deeds we embrace a life of brokenness.. In Psa. 51:17 David wrote, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” It is a healthy Christian experience to be continually broken before Him.

My desire has been to live a holy life. My frustrations have not been few. As a young man I sought the filling of the Holy Spirit. I just knew that there was something that I didn’t have. I also believed if I got it, I would be able to live a holy life. So I sought it in prayer and fasting. I went from one Bible conference to another to no avail. All I found was messages that made promises but offered me no practical solution. I discovered that the Bible conferences actually added to my pain. I believed the men who preached had the answer and the experience. So their lives condemned me.

I read books on the life of victory in Christ. I can remember the thrill I received as I would read these books. These men had found the answer and were telling me about it. I rejoiced in their experience but again what they talked about was always out of my reach. I did what they said but did not obtain.

I finally assumed that what they had preached and taught about was real for them. I did not doubt the experience of God in their lives. But evidently it was something that God was not going to give me.

I was not doubting my salvation. I knew I was saved. But I was having a struggle with the life of holiness. I began to notice the verses that serve as texts for this meditation. Paul said, “For I know that in me (that is in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to preform that which is good I find not.” When I saw this there began to be a glimmer of hope. I said, “You know, Paul was a holy man. Yet he had problems in the present experience of his life. He was filled with the Holy Spirit, yet there was that flesh element that kept him in trouble.” I began to realize that Bible holiness is obtained by those who still have the flesh to deal with. Of course I never believed in eradication. But I did believe that through the power of the Holy Spirit you could make the flesh your servant. It had to mind!

But Paul, the holy man of God said, “I know that in me, that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.” He also spoke of the Second Coming as the time when Christ will “change our vile body...” So Paul hadn’t changed his vile body. The filling of the Holy Spirit had not done that for him. He also said, “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh,” (Phil. 3:3). Here was a happy man, rejoicing in Christ Jesus, who also had something about him of which there could be no confidence placed.

I learned that I could not train the flesh to be better. I spent year trying to train the flesh. When you are disappointed in yourself, it is an indication that you expected something different that failure. As long as you believe that the flesh can be trained you will spend the rest of your life trying and being disappointed.

Where am I today? I am rejoicing in Christ Jesus. He shed His blood for my sins. He dealt with my adamic nature, which I often call the Old Sin Nature, at the cross. Romans 6 and verse 6 tells me that I share His death. There is only one thing that will work with the Old Sin Nature, death. I have died with Him and I also share His resurrection. He is everything to me. I do not just speak of how I feel about Him. He is my Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification and Redemption (1Cor 1:30). I cannot pray or study my Bible without Him. I am one Spirit with Him (1Cor 6:17).

I know victory in Christ. He is my life. I no longer try to change the sinful nature that continues to dwell in the same body with me. It is just not who I am any more (Rom. 7:17, 20). That is how God looks at it and that is now how I look at it. Christ is my life. I operate in His name now. When God sees me, He sees Christ. Paul says in Romans chapter 6 and verse 11 “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” When sin arises I confess it and He forgives. It is no longer I who do it. It is sin that still dwells in the same body with me. But Jesus dealt with that in His death.

This is a life of faith. I must see myself as God sees me. I must believe that this is the Truth. Satan constantly accuses me with the Old Sin Nature. Here is where faith comes in. Am I going to succumb to his accusation or am I going to believe God? We must resist Satan at this point with the Truth of God. “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect. It is God that justifieth,” (Rom 8:33).

At this point I have to ask myself the question. Do I believe that Jesus on the cross took care of who we were (by nature sinners) as well as what we had done (committed sins)? The answer is yes. So, He is the answer not only to the sins we have and do commit but also the nature out of which sins come.

Why does God wait until the rapture or resurrection to do away with the Old Sin Nature? Probably because we could not handle a holiness that originated in us.. Our chief problem is pride. God has never used me to do anything good that I was not tempted to take credit for what He had done. He tells me how to respond to that temptation and I do. Not without having to confess sin at times, but praise God He has made the way for that also. It is pure grace.

I believe there is that weakness in every Christian that makes him realize that if it were not for the grace of God, he would have to be cut off from the life of God forever. That realization is a part of our life of service to Him. In other words, we are as bad as we think we are. But where sin abounds grace does much more abound (Rom. 5:20).

May God bless these words to your heart.

In Christ

Earl White