Focus: 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 - KJV
12. And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: 13. To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
1 Thessalonians 4:1-10
Our God is holy. He therefore expects nothing short of holiness from every of His children. Now, being holy is not just by wearing long dresses, covering all parts of the body and at times, including the face; or standing on a raised platform which some do call altar to deliver motivational talk. No! God has His standards which we are to grow into through the revelation of His person. It was that, man was incapable of being holy that made God to send His only begotten son, Jesus Christ to take up the body of canal man, to bear what man bears, and still show us an example of how to be holy; such that there is nothing we go through that He did not go through and yet He remained holy until He laid down His life.
Really and truly, the Bible sets out what we are required to do to be holy. Do not kill, do not commit fornication, do not covet and so on. That in itself is just guiding injunctions. The Lord expects us to know Him for it is in knowing Him that we start to grow to the fullness of the stature of Christ. Even Christ taught us that the injunctions, though true, are not as simple as they appear. To be holy therefore, there must first of all be internal purity. It is not until a man lays with a woman that he fornicates: mere lustfully looking at her has completed the act. It follows that most people who think they stand because they have not completed the act of fornication but had been lustful in their looks are not holy, in that regard. Well, as the entire laws and prophets border on love, holiness can be attained if we can achieve true love from our inner man.
Holiness is not based on how men see us. Rather, it is about how the one who judges the heart, sees us. Samuel had approved Eliab in Jesse’s house based on his appearance. However, he was not even near qualified. It is possible people rate us as holy because of the way we feign our appearances and looks. God is not mocked. He expects us to be pure from inside out, based on His own approval. That is not a thing achieved in one fell swoop. It is attained through revelation of whom God is and what He likes or dislikes. It is growth from one level of glory to another until we have Christ fully formed in us. That is the level at which God declared that Jesus is His beloved son in whom He is well pleased. When He is thus fully formed, then we also qualify for such testimonial from heaven. It is something for which we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, and not assuming things that do not glorify.
SOLUTION: Enroll in the school of the Holy Spirit for Him to teach you all things and bring to your remembrance those things that Christ laid down. Never assume you have attained until you can say like Christ that you are in God and He is in you, which is the very first parameter towards being approved of God, as being holy.
Please pray thus: Father, like Paul prayed, please let me know you, that you may be fully formed in me, so that I may be pleasing unto you fully, in Jesus’ name. Help me to live in holiness all the days of my life so that like you, I may start to call those things that are not as if they are and they may become, in Jesus’ name. Do let today mark the turning point in my life for true holiness in Jesus’ name.
Kindly share with others if you have been blessed by this Guide. God bless you as you do so, in Jesus' name.
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