Holiness, not happiness, is the chief end of man.
- Oswald Chambers
Initially, depending on circumstance and character, adopting a Christian behavior and world view may seem relatively easy. Over time the honest Biblical student and would be disciple will confess sanctification is as difficult as it is important.
All endeavoring to seriously and conscientiously follow Jesus are confronted with not only the incomparable cross of Christ, but the all but impossible task of shouldering our own.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of modern believers are investing less and less time considering, much less acting on, the greater claims of the Gospel. It's far easier and self satisfying to receive Christianity as merely a kind of eternal fire insurance for the hereafter rather than Christ as Lord (Master) in the here and now.
Of the small percentage truly interested in "going on to perfection" most fall prey to various and increasingly gross doctrinal and lifestyle errors. All this leaves but a remnant of a remnant with any Scriptural hope of successfully wrestling with the trinity of sin Above, About and Within.
Eventually Prophetic Christians come to recognize the Bible's principal or levels of descent into righteousness. Winnowing away at self, all are invited to follow Christ and His apostles down through an inverted pyramid of denying our will in favor of God's. Level by level, all are challenged to deepen their understanding and obedience. Yet even such as these soon and repeatedly encounter spiritual impasse, the reality and veracity of Paul's lament:
- "But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge. I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question? The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different." Romans 7:17-25 MSG
This passage from Roman's 7 has rightly inspired much reflection and conversation along with the age old question: Was Paul bemoaning his pitiful existence before or after his conversion to Christ? Not easily answered, the preponderance of evidence weighs in on the side of "before." One would be hard pressed to describe the life of Christ's apostle and author, prisoner and martyr as lacking discipline. Particularly given Paul's continued explanation in Romans 8:
- "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God." Romans 8:1-8 NKJV
What's all but inescapable is the reflection in Romans 7 is too often a dead ringer for the vast majority of the tiny minority of modern would be disciples. The Good News is that millennia before our birth our dilemma was clearly identified by the Holy Spirit through none other than "the apostle of grace." The bad news is were left with little or no excuse to remain less than wholly and holy dedicated to the cause of Christ, being assured that the more fully we embrace the cross the greater our diminishment and thus access to increased levels of inner transformation to nothing less than an entirely New Creation!
Even those today passing for above average believers suffer scores of "doubtful habits" and sins common to man. To such Scripture has much to say by way of warning and encouragement. Often challenging to separate:
Paul repeatedly reinforces the need for Christian transformation:
- "Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us." Romans 12:3 NLT
- "Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality. Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody. Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it.” Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good." Romans 12:9-21 MSG
- "Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?" 1 Corinthians 3:1-4 NIV
Echoing Paul's refrain, each New Testament author in turn joins in calling Christians into the deeper life of Christ:
- "Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you—your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust. So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can’t see what’s right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books. So, friends, confirm God’s invitation to you, his choice of you. Don’t put it off; do it now. Do this, and you’ll have your life on a firm footing, the streets paved and the way wide open into the eternal kingdom of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 1:3-11 MSG
- "Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?" James 2:14,17 MSG
- "Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That’s just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them? Use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands?" James 2:19, 20 MSG
- "Dear friends, I’ve dropped everything to write you about this life of salvation that we have in common. I have to write insisting—begging!—that you fight with everything you have in you for this faith entrusted to us as a gift to guard and cherish. What has happened is that some people have infiltrated our ranks (our Scriptures warned us this would happen), who beneath their pious skin are shameless scoundrels. Their design is to replace the sheer grace of our God with sheer license—which means doing away with Jesus Christ, our one and only Master. These people are warts on your love feasts as you worship and eat together. They’re giving you a black eye—carousing shamelessly, grabbing anything that isn’t nailed down. They’re— Puffs of smoke pushed by gusts of wind; late autumn trees stripped clean of leaf and fruit, Doubly dead, pulled up by the roots; wild ocean waves leaving nothing on the beach but the foam of their shame; Lost stars in outer space on their way to the black hole. But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God’s love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life! Go easy on those who hesitate in the faith. Go after those who take the wrong way. Be tender with sinners, but not soft on sin. The sin itself stinks to high heaven. And now to him who can keep you on your feet, standing tall in his bright presence, fresh and celebrating—to our one God, our only Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Master, be glory, majesty, strength, and rule before all time, and now, and to the end of all time. Yes." Jude 1:3, 4, 12, 13, 20-25 MSG
These verses, while hardly representing the tip of the iceberg of passages on this theme, amply exemplify the challenging course set before believers. As Paul famously warns in Ephesians:
- "And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels. Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out." Ephesians 6:10-18 MSG
Florence Nightingale put it this way: "Life is a hard fight, a struggle, a wrestling with the principal of evil, hand to hand, foot to foot. Every inch of the way is disputed. The night is given us to take breath, to pray, to drink deep at the fountain of power. The day, to use the strength which has been given us, to go forth to work with it till the evening."
Considered the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale, was also known as "The Lady with the Lamp" for her dedication late into the night. Unfortunately Churchianity, not to mention the modern world, uses the night if not much of the day as well serving themselves rather than others. I have long noted the alarming cycle of awaking a resistance fighter only to find myself a sympathizer by noon and a collaborator by evening.
If under Biblical scrutiny such a trend is habitual for one having dedicated 70,000 hours strategically seeking and serving God, what might be said for the less diligent? Perhaps that we all have much to learn and quickly given the inexpressible extent of our individual and collective need not to mention the inescapable fact that each and every one of us are unarguably running out of time.
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