Holiness from the cross...
been thinking/studying a lot about holiness lately. It seems like a huge subject, but I find it's far simpler than we make it. Here's my take on biblical holiness.
God created man in a state of innocence. Man sinned with that whole apple deal. So sin entered our being and made our nature dirty. So thousands of years later, a woman bore a son by the power of the holy spirit. His name was Jesus. Because His Father was not a man, but God, Jesus was born with the nature of God. He lived without sin, never giving in to corruption, never receiving the lies of the enemy, never being stained by sin. Then a miraculous thing happened at the cross. He took all the sin of the world- all our sin, and killed it with Himself. He put it to death on the cross and finally conquered it in His resurrection.
There it is. There's holiness! Our sin is already dead. Christ crucified it. What makes us holy? When we finally agree in faith that Christ killed our sin. He didn't just provide atonement. He didn't just forgive us. He KILLED our sin. When we agree with God in faith and receive that freedom, we are made holy and innocent.
Scripture describes Christ as the "second Adam." Born under the first Adam, we receive a nature of sin. Christ's cross not only takes away that sin nature, it also replaces that old nature with a new one- Christ's nature! We receive (by faith!) the nature of the "second Adam." Under the Grace of God in Christ, we can be "born again" into the family of God. We receive His Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God. We receive the nature of God. 1 John 3 talks about this.
Anyway, those are my thoughts on holiness. Think over it and pray about it. Holiness is freedom for the sake of intimacy. It's incredibly important. It is our right and our duty as lovers of God to cast off the cords that bind us in sin that we might draw closer in love to God. So whether or not my Theology sounds good, PLEASE seek the blessing of holiness.
God grant you freedom from all that separates you from Him.
God created man in a state of innocence. Man sinned with that whole apple deal. So sin entered our being and made our nature dirty. So thousands of years later, a woman bore a son by the power of the holy spirit. His name was Jesus. Because His Father was not a man, but God, Jesus was born with the nature of God. He lived without sin, never giving in to corruption, never receiving the lies of the enemy, never being stained by sin. Then a miraculous thing happened at the cross. He took all the sin of the world- all our sin, and killed it with Himself. He put it to death on the cross and finally conquered it in His resurrection.
There it is. There's holiness! Our sin is already dead. Christ crucified it. What makes us holy? When we finally agree in faith that Christ killed our sin. He didn't just provide atonement. He didn't just forgive us. He KILLED our sin. When we agree with God in faith and receive that freedom, we are made holy and innocent.
Scripture describes Christ as the "second Adam." Born under the first Adam, we receive a nature of sin. Christ's cross not only takes away that sin nature, it also replaces that old nature with a new one- Christ's nature! We receive (by faith!) the nature of the "second Adam." Under the Grace of God in Christ, we can be "born again" into the family of God. We receive His Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God. We receive the nature of God. 1 John 3 talks about this.
Anyway, those are my thoughts on holiness. Think over it and pray about it. Holiness is freedom for the sake of intimacy. It's incredibly important. It is our right and our duty as lovers of God to cast off the cords that bind us in sin that we might draw closer in love to God. So whether or not my Theology sounds good, PLEASE seek the blessing of holiness.
God grant you freedom from all that separates you from Him.
posted by I Believe We Shall Win at 8:52 PM
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