The Bible says clearly that those who are born again are holy. They are as holy as they are going to become. Colossians 1:21-22 says, “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now he has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and irreproachable in His sight.” This is confirmed by Colossians 3:12 as Paul continues to address the believers there in Colosse, “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved…” In 1 Thessalonians and Hebrews 3:1 we are called “holy brethren.” In 1 Peter 2:5, 9 we are called a “holy priesthood” and a “holy nation.”
We and all born-again people have become holy by the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross. We have been completely reconciled to God through Him. It was a work of God’s grace. We had no good works or goodness in ourselves of which to boast. We have been made holy, just as holy as God, by the sinless blood of Jesus Christ, which was shed for the remission of our sins.
Therefore, I am holy in Christ Jesus. I am holy and you are holy. This is a simple Biblical fact brought about by Jesus death at the cross. God required from the beginning that anyone who wants to come to heaven must be just as holy as God. It has been written in Old and New Testament alike, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
Because we are holy, other verses in the Bible appeal to us to live a holy life. Revelation 22:11 says, “…he who is holy let him be holy still.” Colossians 3:12-13 continues with the idea that since we are holy we should then “put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another.” This is the short list of things that holy people do.
There is an old book that we have read as a family that’s called Thee, Hannah. It’s about a little Quaker girl whose family helped runaway slaves during the time around the Civil War. Early in the book Hannah is told by the nanny after the little girl has just dressed up for church, “Remember now, pretty is as pretty does.” In other words, if one is pretty what naturally should flow out of that is actions that are pretty.
It is important for us to realize the order of holiness. I am not holy because I do holy things, I do holy things because I am holy. Most people assume it is the other way around, but this is not the case. My actions are founded in my identity. What I do flows out of who I am in Christ. Who I am is the source of how I act. This is why we should be vigilant to search for ways to express holiness. Why? Because if we are holy (which we are) we do not want anything less than true holiness to be displayed.
When a person finds their identity in Christ first, then the external actions of holy living can more easily fall in place. This is because my identity makes a demand of me and the same grace that saved me now empowers me for the holy living to which my new identity calls me.
But if one tries to obtain an identity with God by external actions first then the pressure to perform will always be present and your focus will not be on who you are but on how you perform. One small misstep and you’re totally defeated. Such a person’s identity in Christ will always be clouded and they will get further and further into a system of works in an attempt to find that identity; an identity which already exists for the born-again person, but which has, for some reason, been ignored, though it is Biblically clear.
Instead, let who you are be the source of how you act.
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