₦airaland Forum

Friends,
To belong to God we must be holy. To follow Christ we must be holy. To be in-dwelt by the Spirit we must be holy. This holiness is not merely a declared holiness in a statement. It is a holiness in reality. For the “Christian” who does not comprehend this, he is in for a horrible surprise.

It does not matter what we claim if it is not a reality. 1 John 1:6 & 2:3,4 and elsewhere tell us that such a claim is a lie. What part of this fact do most church-goers not understand? What part of 1 Cor. 6:9,10 is not understood? It says, “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived…” and it lists several sins including immorality, idolatry, greed, drunkenness, and slander –sins most “Christians” participate in. Verse 11 then says, “And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified…” Okay, good. But 2 Peter 2:20-22 tells us that these people can go back, like a washed pig will to her mud wallowing, and be worse off than if they’d never known Christ.

Does 2 Peter 3:17 warn us for nothing that we must be on “guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from you secure position.” –? Indeed it’s not a warning to take lightly, for Jesus and the apostles continually warn us to watch out and not be carelessly deceived by false teachers and their doctrines, nor by the devil, by the enticements of the world, or by the cravings of the sinful nature. We are most certainly in a war against all of that, and if we don’t think so, then we’ve been duped already and are already on the downward slope toward Hell.

The only safe place is in Jesus and the only way to know if we are truly in Him and not hearing from counterfeit spirits or our own imaginations, is to be meditating on God’s Word and moving forward in spiritual strength toward maturity, doing this by actively putting the commands into practice. I am amazed that pastors and ministers themselves do not often stress the importance of this, or if they do, their lives do not confirm that they believe it. Do they teach about the necessity of meditating on the Word day and night? Naww… because that’s Old Testament, they say. It’s Josh. 1:8 & Dt. 6:6,7, etc., but if that’s their take, then they may as well throw out most of God’s Word, including the Psalms. Besides, the New Testament commands that we be filled with, hold out, and be ready with, the Word of God continuously. (James 1:25 & Col. 3:16,17 & 2 Tim. 3:14-4:2 & Heb. 10:16 & Phil. 2:16 & 1 Peter 1:22-25, etc.) How else can we do this unless we know it thoroughly? Not so we can get puffed up with pride, but so that we can be useful –not stammering and timid and unrighteous– ambassadors of Christ!

If ministers preach about a ten percent tithe to the Lord –which is nowhere found in the New Testament, but was an ordinance for the Israelite nation so that their temple priests, who did not own land, could be provided for, then why do they not preach that we should be giving at least ten percent of our time to the reading of God’s Word? Let’s see… if we have 24 hours in a day, and we subtract 9 hours (for sleeping and eating), then we’ve got 15 hours daily. Ten percent is an hour and a half. Who’s giving that to the Lord for His honor and glory? Is money more important than quality time spent with the One who wants fellowship with us? Hmmm… but it’s the American way. It’s what they do with their “loved ones” all the time: Give them money, rather than time spent together –talking, laughing, reading, hiking, doing work or projects together… Uh-huh. Because to give money is easier, quicker, and more concrete. The dad can say, “I gave you $50 last week” and make the kid feel he’d then better do what Dad wants today. The husband can think, “I gave her a nice house. She needs to appreciate what a great guy she has and not complain when I stay out late with my buddies.”

A tithe is not a satisfactory substitute for what Christ tells us to do in following Him. There’s no tithe anymore. We are to be generous and do exactly what the Spirit commands, and that may be to give up more than ten percent of our money. However, the issue is about obedience –constant obedience in everything– which means we will be holy, pure, and just like Christ. But this can only come by spending time with Christ, the Word of God, in the Scriptures, being taught by The Counselor Himself.

http://knowgodsword./category/holiness/